camper by motorail to south of france

Post by **dingle** » 07 Oct 2007, 21:05

Evening all...
Planning a trip to the south of france for 3 weeks in the summer. (gonna be a big leap of faith trusting the old girl but if you don't try....) Anyway had a chat with a bloke from work who mentioned putting the camper on the motorail service http://www.raileurope.co.uk/frenchmotorrail/default.asp

It looks like you can take 4x4s and MPVs so perhaps they might take the VW - not much bigger than an MPV!! Could be a blessing as all the travelling is done in one go to make best use of the time on the med!

So back to the point has anyone done this or similar? In the mean time i will try and get some more info..as the headroom could be prohibitive.

Cheers
Dingle

Post by **Tex Ritter** » 13 Oct 2007, 09:43

I seem to recall Dirk Bogarde used to take his Rolls on the motorail service. It used to travel on an open cargo wagon. I would be very surprised if there were any passenger vehicle height restrictions - except coaches ect - especially for your van.

I guess any tunnel heights will be the deciding factor.

Good luck for your forthcoming holiday...are you sure you wouldn't rather drive down to the S of F ?...it's part of the fun, and it'll only take you a couple of days leisurely driving.

You'll never forget the thrill of seeing the Med for the first time as you come over the crest of the hill on the autoroute.

bonne vacance,

Tex Ritter

Post by **jamesc76** » 13 Oct 2007, 14:43

soryy but looking on there web site a camper cant go (well thats what i think any way, there to tall!

10.2 Your vehicle must be in good order, comply with the manufacturer's specifications and also with the following maximum dimensions:

Destination:
Brive
Narbonne
Avignon
FrÃƒÂ©jus/St RaphaÃƒÂ«l Destination:
Nice
Toulouse
Maximum overall car height (including roof bars*) 1.80m (5'10") 1.55m (5'1")
Minimum ground clearance 0.10m (4.0") 0.10m (4.0")
Maximum track 1.85m (6.0') 1.85m (6.0')
Maximum width 2.5m (8'2") 2.5m (8'2")
Maximum length** 6.0m (19'2") 6.0m (19'2")

Post by **Ian Hulley** » 14 Oct 2007, 09:08

Not checked out the prices but they were hellish expensive for a Ford Escort back in 87 ..... which is why we drove down ... twice

As has been said there's nothing to beat the view of the Med as you drop down off the Autoroute de Provence down to Ste. Maxime.

One word of advice ... Sepember's very nice down there, but (from memory) most of the campsites close the 3rd week.

Ian.

Post by **lhd** » 14 Oct 2007, 11:33

its about £600 return last time I looked.....

Rob.......

Post by **1989T25** » 14 Oct 2007, 16:51

we did germany and austria this year, had a great time. we covered 2,600 miles in 3 weeks we took it nice and steady not doing anymore than about 60mph all the way with no problems. we had the camper motd and serviced just before we left. our plans for next year are 3 weeks in france touring down through provence. go for it, drive the van all the way.

Post by **dingle** » 14 Oct 2007, 19:54

Thanks for the replies, Makes good reading and food for thought. One of the resons why we saw this and thought Hmmmmm was just to a, take it easy with the old girl (the vw not the wife!) b, to spend more time travelling around the med and c, to avoid the ropy aires that we have heard a bit about but as people have posted a bit of common sense is all thats really needed!!!

So the upshot is I think we will give it a go and i must admit seeing the med by VW would be flippin fantastic!!!! Plus I only think we would save a couple of days. And yes the price puts us off too!!!

Cheers
Dingle

Post by **Tex Ritter** » 14 Oct 2007, 22:27

Glad you have decided to drive South, you will have a trip to remember ... in the nicest possible way of course.

The autoroute aires are something to behold, some cover vast acreages, avoid the small ones (although some smaller ones are very well equipped for lunch breaks, taking on water, smelly toilets, pic-nic tables and kiddies play areas etc) but very insecure for overnighting, unless your van is equipped to repel all boarders, like mine.

Be aware that some toilets have that old stahlwart 'le toilette Turque' so if you have to use one of them make sure you have nothing in your trouser/shorts pockets, otherwise anything could end up 'down the hole' if you get my drift

Oh! and they can be icredibly smelly

and watch out for the flush if you don't want your ankles washed.

A TIP: after you have been and got your strides on;
1, open the toilet door,
2, using your foot, push the flush button -situated about 18" up the water pipe - and
3 most important, beat a hasty retreat

In my opinion you can overnight quite safely in the larger aires en-route, especially the ones equipped with restaurants/ shops etc, and of course they are completely free. But they can be quite noisy and very busy at all times.

The last trip we covered 4,000 miles in 3 weeks ( it took 500+ miles just to get to the ferry and back) and we still had a great time even with all the driving.

bonne vacance et bonne chance

Tex Ritter