Any thoughts on driving holidays?

We’ve done a couple of long drives in the states.
New England in the fall and a round trip from San Francisco we went via Salt Lake City and Yellowstone, Vancover, Banff and back down the coast again.
Fantastic.
The New England trip didn’t involve the huge distances that the eastern side did and was much easier.
I should think that you would enjoy France enormously. Just have lots of hotel breaks on the way.
Your hat and a cover for your knees are a must along with factor 50 just in case the roof gets stuck! It happened to my sister in her husbands car on the M25 on a very, very sunny day. They were in a traffic jam for about 2 hours.
She said it was very hard keeping up appearances ?. It’s quite a posh car!

I think if you enjoy journeys in cars then it sounds a lovely holiday. A lot of the pleasure will be in the planning too.

For me? No. I’m not keen on travelling in a car. Even travelling around the U.K. drives me mad, although it is worth it in the end to get to where we want. This year our first break - covid restrictions allowing- is in Northumberland and we will be travelling from the South Coast. My idea of hell! Every minute in the car is a minute away from the sun and air. I guess it would be better on empty roads?.

grannyrebel7

Sounds great to me - go for it! We had a driving holiday in New England and drove all around the six states staying in lovely hotels along the way. We drove about 800 miles in total, but it didn't seem like it. The autumn colours were stunning and we had lovely chats along the way and never got bored throughout the whole trip. France is beautiful too so I'd say you'll enjoy it.

I’ll whisper it quietly... we don’t ‘chat’ ?. Not really. He’s the silent type. Meryl - I can’t read while travelling as it makes me sick but think an audio book would be good.

Sounds great to me - go for it! We had a driving holiday in New England and drove all around the six states staying in lovely hotels along the way. We drove about 800 miles in total, but it didn't seem like it. The autumn colours were stunning and we had lovely chats along the way and never got bored throughout the whole trip. France is beautiful too so I'd say you'll enjoy it.

Go for it but have a good book and lots of good music to listen to.
We drove backwards and forwards to Bulgaria twice year for 5 years ( car and motorhome.
Visited every country in Europe. Driven a fare way in Morocco.
The longest trip was from La linea ( near Gibraltar) to Turkey.
What I would advise, is, buy a copy of The lonely Planet. The books are invaluable.

SusieB50

Oh I would love it ! My late DH and I did just that when I retired so I was 64 , he was 67 . But we did take a 24 hr ferry to get to Santander and then 2- 3 weeks to drive back through France . Maybe suggest that to him? We had an amazing time ,loved the ferry, cabin and dolphin -watching . We took very few motorways and stayed in small hotels and logis, a few days in each place. We booked on line a day or two ahead , deciding which place would be our next stop, we never had any issues with the bookings . We also went late May/early June ( beware of lots of public holidays then!) not unbearably hot . Great fun but certainly not glamorous as my wardrobe was limited and often crumpled and my hair suffered from constant wind blowing !

I’ve suggested exactly that! My thoughts now are booking a couple of stays in Wales where we went last year and driving round there. Then France next year ??

France is nice for driving, buy yourself a scarf and a warm coat, you’ll be fine, don’t drive too far each day. Try to make each stop 2 days visiting places of interest around each stop, you choose the hotels, or at least vet them, book in advance. Enjoy it, on your terms, Italy is good too, Switzerland lovely but hotels expensive.

If it’s an oldish sports car make sure he has proper breakdown insurance

Oh I would love it ! My late DH and I did just that when I retired so I was 64 , he was 67 . But we did take a 24 hr ferry to get to Santander and then 2- 3 weeks to drive back through France . Maybe suggest that to him? We had an amazing time ,loved the ferry, cabin and dolphin -watching . We took very few motorways and stayed in small hotels and logis, a few days in each place. We booked on line a day or two ahead , deciding which place would be our next stop, we never had any issues with the bookings . We also went late May/early June ( beware of lots of public holidays then!) not unbearably hot . Great fun but certainly not glamorous as my wardrobe was limited and often crumpled and my hair suffered from constant wind blowing !

Hmm, as long as driving isn’t the main part of the holiday....

When I was about 13, my folks thought driving around Scotland would be a nice idea. So I was always sitting in the back with Jackie, or whatever it was, with one or other parent crossly saying, ‘Put that away and look at the beautiful scenery!’
Stuff the beautiful scenery! - I’d have loved to reply, to me it was mindlessly boring.
We’ve driven the garden route in S Africa, finding places to stay as we went, but driving was just the getting from A to B -

I dare say I can blame that Scottish saga, but I have to say that sitting in a car isn’t my idea of a holiday.
Each to their own, though.

My Dh has a sports car. When he got it we made a plan to travel round the coast of the UK, in stages, over time. Various events have prevented us from finishing the trip but so far we’ve done around the top of Scotland, north from Aberdeen (our base) to Ullapool, then Aberdeen, down the east coast, continuing into England, as far as London. We already know the SE of England so we then carried on from Brighton, along the south coast, round the West Country and ending up in Bristol. When were allowed to travel again, that’s where we’ll pick up our trip.

It’s been really enjoyable. We avoided motorways, except for an essential bit here and there, and have loved beetling along quiet roads, stopping in small towns and villages, taking unexpected ferries, visiting old haunts.

I didn’t find it boring at all, there was so much to see. We’ve generally gone in Spring, so not full tourist season, and stayed in whatever place took our fancy. Oh to be able to go out and explore again!

I think it sounds a wonderful trip if you plan it well. Decide how long you can bear driving without a stop, and take it from there. Plan lovely lunches and hotels on the way down England and then down through France. Build in site seeing events, local fetes, wine tastings (in the evenings!) and get to know the French countryside. Then repeat at different stops on the way home!

Thanks all. Much appreciated ?

Suggest that you do a trial run around the UK before you try the South of France. He may find he hates it. You may find you love it.

Oh yes go for it - I’ve had holidays like this. My preference though is not to do one nighters but have a couple of days per hotel. I’ve done this in France, Spain, New Zealand, Baltic States, Nordic Countries. Excellent restaurants and a swimming pool pretty essential

DH and I drove from home here in Devon to Southern Greece to visit a friend who lives there. Admittedly not in a sports car but we had a wonderful time and would happily do it again. It involved more forward planning than you would need just doing France because of prebooking ferries, but whenever we could between those fixed points we just followed our noses. It was 12 years ago, so both in our 60s then and age certainly no barrier. It was the first time we had owned a laptop computer and we managed to cope with looking up hotels for the place we fancied visiting and then booking online or by phone. I could write a book about all our adventures! There is a book called The European Job by Jonathan Booth, a young Australian who did a driving tour with his then girlfriend. Quite a good read to whet your appetite although probably a bit dated now. If your OH wants the roof down, make sure you have a good hat and long sleeved tops to protect you from sunburn. Also make sure you do frequent stops to explore, no point in just rushing from place to place! PM me if you want more information.

In the past we did a similar trip in DHs sport’s coupe. DH collects old Michelin guides, so armed with a couple of the newer ones we set off. We booked our first night in Reims and then hopped through France using the Michelin guides and just turning up in places to find the hotel for the night. It was far from boring, we kept to the country roads and found many interesting places. Our final destination was across the border to Switzerland. On the return journey we cut across Germany.
We have also driven to the Med, but took a more direct route.
I’d go for it. Currently we have a postponed hotel booking in Arles, but of course can’t get there yet!

Any advice, you say? Mine would be definitely not to do it. From what you say, I can't see that such a trip would suit you in any way and, you say it's not something that you discussed (very much?) before he bought the car.

I feel it actually might do your relationship quite a lot of harm since you seem to be treading on a dream he has. You've said that you don't do well in the sun (so a soft top would be a nightmare), you'd be bored staring out of a window for hours on end, (so not a lot of interest in travelling any distance or touring), and you'd find it tiring and you'd prefer to go for trips in the UK and in Yorkshire. Nothing wrong in that, except it's at cross purposes with what he plans and he sees himself somewhere else in his new toy - he's said already that he may as well have not bought it! Already some disappointment and cross words about the car then? I think you've been very honest in how you feel and speaking about what you clearly don't want. But please think about the advisability of trying to 'make the best' of something that you're really not keen to do - that usually ends with no one having any fun. I'd encourage him to do the trip without you - but with your blessing - and in the meantime go out and about together in your lovely County and enjoy such trips when you're able.

My mid life crisis car was a powerful sporty thing with a roof that came down. It was great to drive but I was terrified of the roof mechanism and very rarely had the confidence to put it down. I soon realised that it was a huge mistake as the boot was so full of the roof when it was down that there was no room for my camping gear. I soon sold the car and bought a Campervan instead. So much more fun.

The travelling and getting there is all part of the holiday----it always was to me anyway.

Actually if you look at cars in the Mediterranean area in the summer, they drive with windows up and A/C on, unless you are one of those very glamorous jobbies who likes to be seen?

DH bought me a sports car for my 55th birthday, something I thought I had always wanted. But in fact driving with the top down wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I expected - wind, dust, sunburn - and I was secretly glad when the birth of GD1 provided the excuse to trade it in for something more sensible as you couldn’t fit a baby car seat in a two-seater. So I sympathise, Polarbear, though the climate in the south of France is probably more suited to it than Yorkshire!

Ps I’m ignoring any Covid comments. It’s not relevant to my question.

Thanks Urms. That sounds wonderful. I’m suddenly feeling more positive. ?. I think my hesitation comes from french road trips with kids back in the day. We always arrived frazzled and tired. Maybe it was the kids ??

hithere. No I didn’t get a say in the car. It’s his money. We’re not married. He never mentioned travelling round France when he bought it. But, that’s ok. I’m cool with that. Re Covid of course we’re not planning for this year. We’re thinking ahead.
emily49 I think that’s a great idea. I’m keen on travelling up over the NYorks moors and going down south too is a great idea. Get us used to doing it and iron out any problems. I’d suggested a camper van as I think that’d be more fun but he wants to drive his car. Am sure it’ll be ok.

South of England has gorgeous scenery and posh hotels , and maybe less virus than vaccine phobic France