Any thoughts on driving holidays?

We had a great time driving through France - didn’t book anything in advance and if we liked a place we stayed longer. Loire, Lot and Tarn valleys on way down and after Med headed back via Le Puy, Vichy, Paris. Go for it - you’re a long time in that box as my friend says!

If you can afford it ( and maybe he should treat you?) Tilley and Rohan have great clothes and underwear for travelling light. I especially recommend the insect repellant scarf from Rohan - it looks glamorous, is light enough for a warm day, but adds some warmth in the evening

My DH loves his sports cars. i wasn't keen on the thought of a driving tour but we discovered European Driving Tours. They will either put together a bespoke tour for you and book everything and provide a preprogrammed sat nav or you can join one of their escorted tours (max 14 cars). We've done 4 escorted tours and they are just brilliant. Mark and Ali are superb and you certainly won't be bored. Yes, there are a couple of long motorway days but the detail, the points of interest, the historic towns etc are well worth the travelling. You will get to places you hadn't thought of. You can socialise with your fellow travellers or do your own thing. I never thought that my DH would be an organised tour sort of man but he was very impressed. We're booked on the 3 weel Croatia tour in September but I can't see it happening - sadly.
Give them a ring. Very friendly people. Nothing is too much trouble.
I too am fair. Factor 50, big linen scarf and long loose shirt for travelling!
www.europeandrivingtours.co.uk/

Before Covid, we used to drive in Europe every year. We used to go Jun/July before schools came out. We would decide where to go and I would book a B & B for 5 nights.
We have driven in Austria, Germany and France last holiday was in the South of France.
We stayed in a lovely small small holding and we also had evening meal as well. From there we went all around the region every day.
We normally would stop half way and get a B & B for the night we found that Campanile were clean and inexpensive and you can eat and drink there as well.
It seems easier to find places to stay in Europe and you can spend days driving from place to place and there are a lot of reasonably priced places to stay.
Hoping to do it again this year, if we can.
Go and explore, Austria is also very beautiful.

Why did DH say that 'he might as well have not bought the car'? Is it due to Covid and you can't go anywhere anyway, or was it something you said?
Perhaps he's had this dream for many years (imagine the glamorous likes of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck) and was hoping that retirement would be a good time which seems perfectly reasonable.
However, the reality of sitting in the passenger seat of a car for hours on end can be uncomfortable and tiring. At least you can sit back and hopefully enjoy the view. And if it rains - oh dear, not pleasant.
Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy your holiday.

DH used to love driving so we had many touring hols here and abroad but I'm one of those people who fall asleep on car journeys so I didn't even get to appreciate the scenery. Hated all the staying in different places, prefer to stay in just a couple of places and see more of them.

I can assure you it’s fantastic fun. We have driven the ‘Stelvio Pass’ in the Italian Alps in an aged MGF - oh such happy times. So much to see, different places to explore. We have also driven twice to Sweden to see our son - again the most wonderful trips. Go for it while you can, just sit back & enjoy!

I'd suggest you at least do some shorter trips at first. Plenty of the UK to see!
As a non driver, believe me, it is not boring "staring out of a car window" in fact, you get the best part of the deal as you can see the passing scenery , places of interest that you might go past - all without the stress of having to make sure you are on the right road, avoid traffic etc that is all involved in driving any distance.
Not much luggage space? no problem! Most people take too much anyway. All you need is a couple of changes of clothing that you can roll up in your bag/ case plus extra changes of undies and toiletries, not forgetting a good sunscreen and sunglasses. Doesn't matter if you have to wear an outfit more than once - no one will be seeing you for more than that anyway and you can buy clothing that can be washed in the sink if needed and will dry overnight.
It's also surprising what you can squeeze into nooks and crannies around a car if needed!
Oh, just make sure that the distance you plan to travel each day is sensible - no point in going for 100+ miles and not enjoying the trip because you are both too exhausted - it's not a race and you can always re visit the bits you don't reach!

I think it sounds wonderful, as long as he is good at driving on the "eewrong" side of the road and doesn't drive for more than two and a half hours straight.You could make that a condition.

Ive done the South of France many times. Once as a driving holiday doing exactly what your OH wants to do. It was hell. Lugging suitcases in and out of hotels, never unpacking properly. Never getting to see any one place properly, and the cost of the tolls on motorwarys. Done the journey with a caravan lots of times but in those instances it was just a means of getting there.
Have also done a touring holiday if Devon, Cornwall and south coast. Hated that too, I like to stay in one place and get to know it and surrounding areas, not haring off to the next destination as soon as breakfast is over.
Now divorced so do as I like ?

Oh you lucky, lucky thing!!! when I was married to ex we went to the Cannes Film Festival every year (working, not celeb gazing). we would then take a week to drive North throughout most of France, taking the byways and staying in chateau hotels which were reasonably priced then. It was wonderful, I loved every minute of it. we did this for about 12 years.

Now I live in SW France and we hardly every leave the valley! I still have to pinch myself that we actually live here (and have done for 16 years), the scenery is wonderful, far far less crowded than the UK and the roads are good, even the motorways are usually uncrowded, except the dreaded Autoroute du soleil down the East of the Massif Central, so avoid that, but there are many, many fabulous routes away from this.

We did recently go with friends for a few days in Brittany when lockdown allowed. still a wonderful trip.

Just go Granny go! take maps (nag nav takes the fun out of it), music, knitting, story CDs etc. Have a load of fun.

You certainly will not be bored, as there will be plenty of beautiful things to see, as long as you don't use the motorways but take the routes nationales.

Don't drive too far each day, and brush up your French before you go!

Surely a compromise would be a trip in this country and trip doing what your OH wants to do. Let's face it, it is only a couple of weeks out of your life to give him the trip of a lifetime he wants. Take part in the planning, look up where you would like to stop too and maybe you won't spend hours being bored.
My husband, for some unfathomable reason, loves staying at DisneyWorld. I've done it 3 times with the kids and it doesn't float my boat at all but we've compromised. We go somewhere else for a week (last time we did Memphis) and do all the cultural stuff I want to do. He doesn't hassle me out of museums no matter how long I take and after we have exhausted everything including ourselves, we head to Disney to relax.
DH is also a beach person, I'm not. When we visit countries with a beach, we do one day lazing and the next visiting where I want to go. It works really well.

I would limit it, if I were you. Insist he comes on a holiday of YOUR choice as a condition of you going on his jaunt. Can he not put you on the insurance and share the driving? I would be bored rigid and be uncomfortable sitting in the passenger seat of an open-topped car for hours/days. Last time I did that was when I was 1969. I was 18 and boyfriend drove me in his MG back from his parents' holiday cottage in Devon back to Newcastle. I was looking forward to it. However, the weather was red hot, so the roof was down all the way and it took 2 full days. I ended up deaf from the wind noise, whipped to ribbons from my own hair (a headscarf would have been so uncool!) and badly sunburned. Never again!

In my head I am staying in a luxury room by the way but in reality I am the basic room at that price it looked fantastic though

l love my convertible - best of both worlds - and to me, this sounds really exciting!
As you have plenty of time to plan, you could spend time together over a glass or two of wine (French?), working out an itinerary and route and booking hotels and visits to places of interest rather than driving aimlessly. That way you both have an input and will have something to do now and something to really look forward to when you go (I'm thinking nice Boutique hotels or Spa hotels, a few vinyards (where of course, you will be the wine taster!) ... hope this helps!

Do you ever watch that program where they feature spectacular hotels? They showed Torridon www.thetorridon.com/ on this weeks/last weeks? and I thought wouldn't it be marvellous to do a road trip with a mixture of air bnbs so you could wash your clothes intertwined with a luxury stay here and there. I got quite lost in my thoughts about it all. I think sometimes it is just confidence. I am so out of practise at 'doing things' that I can talk myself our of or worry too much about doing something different. So I would just do a few small runs first to get used to it? and then a bigger trip in future? It will be good fun

Storey49 - you can drink the water in France!

We usually drive around Scotland, there is always something to see, the scenery s well as the wildlife. We rent a cottage in the Galloway Forest usually twice a year and tour around the borders as well as the west coast, which is stunning, we also rent a caravan in the north east of Scotland to visit the north coast which is spectacular. Wouldn't dream of going abroad, there is so much to see in this country, plus you can drink the water and usually understand the locals.

We’ve driven all over France and Spain both in car and camper van (from N Yorkshire). Had some great holidays, albeit with the odd panic when accommodation was scarce. We always go from Hull to Zeebrugge, much easier driving through Belgium and N France than hacking down the M1 and round London to Dover and you get a good night’s sleep and a fresh start in the morning. How about sussing out places YOU want to see en route and suggesting 2-3 nights stays to explore an area. I love planning holidays!

Sounds great fun! Give it a go & you might really enjoy it.

At least try it and then if you find it’s not your thing, you don’t have to do it again.

You wouldn't be staring out of the window of a convertible driving in France unless it was raining. There's is a statistic somewhere showing Brits have the highest proportion of convertible cars per head of population in Europe. Tells us something about us - ever the optimist. Driving about for no purpose would be so so boring. Given the country will go mad holidaying once restrictions are removed would think a bit of planning and booking ahead would be needed.

Neither my DH or I are confident driving abroad. When my sister and her DH invited us to join them on a trip through France, which they did regularly because their DD lives there, we jumped at the chance.

We saw so much of the country, stopped at their favourite spots. It was probably our best holiday, because they knew the country and where we were heading. My geography at school would have been greatly improved with such a trip in those days.

Going without someone who knew the area might not be quite so good, but who knows!!

Polarbear2, friends of ours had that plan too, in a nice sport car... somebody forgot that they don’t travel light?. It never materialised!!

My partner and I drove to the South of France for my 70th birthday to a villa my daughter had hired for a double birthday celebration with MIL. They all flew down, but as i won't fly, we drove. My partner also shared some driving but I drove most of the way. We stopped once on the way down and twice on the way back at hotels/B&Bs in France. It was lovely and at times we used toll roads but at other times used smaller roads. We drove from Derbyshire so we had an overnight in Ashford before using Eurotunnel shuttle. It was a great holiday I suggest you go for it.