Why avoid planes? - you get boarded first with babies! Why not fly easyjet then pick up a hire car? We did that last year and it worked out really well. You could always look at the motorrail, but that can be just as expensive and still involves a long journey, even if you're not driving all the way.

Gill

It will be our first baby and we are both really dubious about flying with a 8 month old baby. We are worried about the baby crying for the whole journey, and I hate the thought of people staring at us and tutting!!

They may also be thinking about the babies future in the light of global warming, the UK having the highest asthma rates in Europe, noise pollution etc. You can be as green as you like with insulation, electric cars, cycling to work, compost toilet, grey water use etc.; but one plane journey a year blows this all away.

A friend of mine goes to the south of France every couple of years for his family hols and goes by train. Looking on line gives high prices. He says you need to speak to a human being to get the fares at much less than the online prices. I'll try and get the number. He says the train is very relaxing and does not take that much longer. Also, if you are in the south coast area the public transport is good and you don't need a car.

We travelled to Australia with our son when he was 6 months old and he was fine - having said that my sister ended in tears after a flight back from Spain where her 2 year old cried the whole journey - she was upset and worried about the other passengers!

Although transport links are fairly good along the south coast, it depends where you are based, and a car gives a lot more flexibility.

Gill

Thanks nafuk - that number would be great if you could get your hands on it!!

I am probably being silly with the travelling thing, but I just have NO idea quite what to expect and I'm afraid I'm one of those people who hate being stared at, having people moan about you etc etc etc!! You were lucky with a 6 month old on a flight to Australia! Your baby must be an angel! x

my daughter took her 5 month old to Florida last May, he went in September when he was 9months, January when he was 1 yr and 2months and he's coming back with us next week.

They are very adaptable.

My baby is 18 years old next month!!! Yet it doesn't seem that long since I was in your position.

Honestly, I would say don't let it worry you - especially as it will only be a short flight.

Gill

It's a long sail but Brittany Ferries sail from either Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander in Northern Spain. From there it's a relatively short drive over into France.
Our experience has been that it is so much less stressful to drive in Europe than in this country. We're in Scotland and going to Brittany this summer but we are sailing Rosyth-Zeebrugge and driving through Belgium and France rather than battle the M6.

It's probably expensive but you can load your car onto a train and then be 'carried' down to the south of France.

My parents live in SW France (near Bordeaux) and if driving we usually go for an overnight crossing portsmouth - st malo or caen and then take it easy. if you split it into 2/3 sections, it means you only need do 2-3 hours at a stretch and then stop for a couple of hours. With a baby that age you'll find you may well be able to the driving around his napping routine.

When our's were very small we used to get a late afternoon short Dover calais boat and then take turns driving all night, BUT we did have a grandparent at the other end so we could crash out

We often drive if we're going for more than a week as we have a big MPV with lots of space and car hire in France is expensive. Also French service stations ar second to none. Big ones have playgrounds and proper facilities for heating baby food/bottles etc. We can be flexible about exploring other regions 'en route' as well - this year we will go to the house for a big birthday weekend and stop in the Vendee for a week camping on the way back

Hope your baby is a good traveller who sleeps a lot - ours have been on the road since 6 and 8 weeks old respectively!

tm

Hi there

Just a quicky - we took my 9 month old son on Easyjet to Nice from Bristol a couple of years ago & it was fine. Really easy

We are driving down to the South in September & are getting the Frejus Paris autotrain (car goes on a separate train to you) on the way back as I don't fancy a 2 way drive with a 2 & 3 year old.

It cost £430 is for 4 of us overnight in a 1st class couchette (4 berth ) (one way) through SNCF. I think that Motorail (Calais to Frejus) may be better value, but it only runs until mid Septmeber

Hi, my advice having traveled with 3 children at various ages over the past 14 years would be to get the journey over as fast as possible...
Don't feel guilty IF your little one causes a fuss whilst flying - he/she isn't likely to be the only one......

Sarah,

I my experience it depends where in the South you are planning to visit. Are you talking French/Italian border; French/Spanish border or central sothern france? Either way you are looking at a very, very long one day drive or more probably a two day with an overnight stop in or around Orleans, Troyes or Bourges (if your coming from Calais)

As an alternative may I suggest you have a look at the Vendee. The climate is very similar to Southern France and more importantly it can easily be reached inside a day, especially from Caen (Britanny Ferries) or Cherbourg (shorter crossing - slightly longer drive). Without sounding like a smart a**e i've done it many times. The roads are very good and mostly toll free. As a reference point Caen to St. Jean De Mont takes me about 5-6 hours max (with stops).

We did this with a 1 year old in 1991.
It was my first driving trip to France and I thought I had it all planned. In those days I thought that I could drive 4-500 miles a day easily.

How wrong I was.

Yeah, you can do it, but isn't it boring. If I remember correctly we stopped two nights at Dijon, then drove to Argeles for about 7 nights, then Gastes (west coast) for the other nights. The holiday was good but the driving was too much.

All these years later and I drive through France to Tunisia, we do about 4000 miles in 24 days and it is far less stressful as we plan it better.

Early morning Eurotunnel £49. Arrive in France with a full day to drive to Beaune, near Dijon but right on the Autoroute. Next day drive to Orange, last year it was Nice as we sailed from Genoa, then from there head west toward the cheaper areas than the Rivera.

Good stopovers are Villages Hotels, similar to Travel Lodge, but you can get breakfast, our room cost under £40 for all four of us, including breakfast.

I would say keep the daily driving distances short, have a list of places that you could stop enroute (with phone no's, all available from the internet) and don't stretch yourselves too far.

BTW I'm the only driver in our group.

Villages Hotel website

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

What are the rooms like at villages hotels? we have 2 children 15 and 12,

are the beds suitable for them in the family rooms?

Looked on the web site but doesn`t give much informationaway.

Many thanks.

Theresa

Hi Theresa,

My two Boy (15) and Girl (13) last trip, had no problems at all, one bed is on the floor as is the double, the other goes across the top of the head end of the double as a bunk bed.
The shower/toilet is in a small room off the bedroom.

The room quality varies from one hotel to the other, we stayed in one in Beaune, which was excellent. The other in Villeneuve was a little more "well used". Both were good value for money though.
You have to look on the site to make sure your choice has a 4 person room some only have 3.

I think they are good for overnight stops, I wouldn't want to spend a week in one. Also only meal available is breakfast.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks, going to the south of france and have booked a cottage/

house, Because we decided to fly this year and hire a car there we need

to find some where to stay on the friday night before flight home. Booked

to stay at the one in Marsielle but did it before asking you about the

rooms, then i realised would the beds be big enough for teenagers.

Had never heard of this company before you posted, normally use

holiday inns / novotels but are more expensive.

Once again, many thanks.

Theresa

Hi Theresa,
Yeah we sometimes use Novotel still. Unfortunately though they all seemed to have reduced the restaurant facilities to cafe style on the nights that we stayed which reduced the choice of meals, for the difference in the price Villages will suffice for me.

Bon vacances

Hi Sarah Jane

I'm a bit like you when it comes to worrying about our children affecting others, however I would say go with what is best for the two of you and the baby. Those of us who have flown with little ones know what it is like and won't worry and I think the majority who can see that you are trying your best with a crying baby won't worry either. Speaking from a personal point of view, it's those with misbehaving kids who are obviously more interested in their own comfort than those of fellow passengers that get to me and you obviously aren't one of those!!

As someone else said the Vendee is also a good bet- if you go Portsmouth to caen, it's really a very reasonable drive and it all becomes part of the holiday. The self drive does also make it easier to pack up the mountain of stuff that an 8 month old requires.

Pam