South of France road trip itinerary for French Riviera sunshine
This 9-day road trip itinerary to the south of France starts from Cherbourg and takes the fastest route to Eurocamp’s Les Prairies de la Mer, with a stop over in historic, medieval Bourges. The return route to Cherbourg also includes a stay at a second delightful apartment in Bourges. The end accommodation at the Eurocamp near Port Grimaud and St Tropez was a mobile home on a beachside site. This South of France road trip itinerary is geared towards families with young children (ours were 2.5, 7 and 9.5 years old at the time).
We did this trip in the May half term holidays (which are only one week long, plus inset days), and as it is a long route, I’d only recommend to those who are happy with a couple of long driving days and minimal stopovers. If you were to go at a slower pace, I’d ideally stop off a second time along the way, somewhere near Valence or Avignon.
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French road trip itinerary
In 2022, following months of lockdown travel restrictions, pregnancy sickness and gruelling newborn nights, we felt like we were in desperate need of some fun family time, Vitamin D, a change of scenery and the laid-back, outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with French holiday sites.
With the promise of warmer weather in May half term, and cheaper Eurocamp accommodation prices at this time of year, we booked ourselves into Les Prairies de la Mer near St Tropez. The photos on the site were particularly enticing, as was the promise of guaranteed sunshine on the Mediterranean side of the South of France.
But, as we were packing the final pieces into our car, we received a call from Eurocamp, explaining there had been a fire incident at Les Prairies de la Mer which had resulted in them having to shut the entire camp, just two days before our arrival. Given the VERY short timeframe to choose another place to stay, we scanned five star campsites on the Eurocamp website, and ended up at Camping le Brasilia (a total gem and one of our favourite places ever to stay in France.
As a gesture of goodwill, Eurocamp held the price we had booked Les Prairies de la Mer for an entire year and so it was, that in 2023, we eventually made it to this beautiful part of France.
We LOVE holidaying in France. The ferry ports are easy to get to from our home in the UK, we like taking our own transport and it’s much cheaper than flying for a family of five.
Both my husband and I spent our summers camping in France as kids, tasked with asking for baguettes each morning in French, heading off to the shower blocks to do the washing up, and left to our own devices to whizz off on our bikes around the site.
As we live in the South West of England, we tend to go for SW ferries like Plymouth or Poole – these are so much closer and always seem to be much easier and relaxed than Dover-Calais. While the SW ferries are a bit more expensive, we tend to save on fuel and tolls. A return crossing from Poole-Cherbourg for five of us was £616.80.
If you’re doing a road trip in France with a toddler (as we were), check out my tips here.
Tips for doing this France road trip itinerary
Plan your stopovers to include beautiful French towns. I like to plan out the route on Google maps and then figure out a rough halfway point. I then do a bit of research on towns of interest on the area and look for AirBnBs or hotels, so that even if we’re only there for a night, you feel like you’re straight into the holiday experience. This time around, we stayed in Bourges, a small city in central France known for its half-timbered houses, grand, Gothic-style Bourges Cathedral and medieval streets. It was stunning.
Book all accommodation in advance, especially if you’re travelling in the European summer holidays. We’ve had incidences where we’ve left booking the return stopover hotel until we were in France and there has only been very expensive ones left, especially in a family of five, when some places require you to book two rooms.
Pack scooters. As we were only staying for a week (and didn’t yet have a tow bar on our car), it was much easier for us to pack scooters for the kids rather than put the bikes on the roof/rear of the car.
Our South of France road trip itinerary
As mentioned above, as we booked this French Riviera road trip for May half term, and there was a lot of driving involved due to the tight time scale. As kids, we were often loaded in the car while our parents drove through the night, so it’s something we’re accustomed to. I was actually really impressed and surprised with how well our kids handled the driving (especially as our youngest was 2.5 years old at the time). If you wanted a more relaxed road trip, definitely add yourself in a couple of extra stopovers.
Day 1: Ferry from Poole and overnight in Bourges
- Driving time from Poole: 5 hours 20 minutes
- Where we stayed: Casa d’Esteve (£96)
If booking with Eurocamp, make sure you figure out what ferry times you want and then ask them to book it for you – you can make HUGE savings on crossings this way.
Our ferry got into Cherboug at 2pm French time and we got straight on the road. Be sure to make sure your satnav is not set to ‘avoid tolls’ if you want the quicker route and not the country roads.We had made this mistake and added extra time to our journey.
We made it to our apartment in Bourges around 8pm in the evening. It was a beautiful apartment, with free, enclosed parking in the courtyard outside (the gate is quite low though so be aware if you have a roofbox on). The building overlooks the stunning building of Musée Estève, which was one of the venues involved in an illumination projection show during our time there – an exciting discovery on our return home from dinner.
There was lots of room for five of us and as we arrived late in the day, was easily walkable to a lots of restaurants. We chose La Scalata pizzeria and ate al fresco while city life buzzed around us.
Day 2-8 Bourges to Les Prairies de la Mer
- Driving time: 7h 26mins
- Read my review of Les Prairies de la Mer
Les Prairies de la Mer in Port Grimaud is a large, sprawling five-star campsite on the French Riviera, offering a tropical vibe thanks to its abundance of palm trees. It’s an ideal base for exploring France’s answer to Venice – Port Grimaud, and upmarket St Tropez and enjoying the sunny Mediterranean climate.
The campsite has direct access to a sandy beach with calm waters, as well as outdoor pools surrounded by sandy areas and sun loungers.
Families will find plenty to keep the kids entertained, including two playgrounds, a mini fun fair with trampolines and a bouncy castle, and various sporting activities like volleyball. Accommodation options range from beachside lodges to standard mobile homes, though some pitches are quite close together, which might be a consideration for those seeking more privacy.
Even though it was May, it was busy with Dutch and German families, groups of teens and the odd English family.
Check availability and prices at Prairies de la Mer
Day 8-9 Les Prairies de la Mer to AirBnB in Bourges
- Driving time: 7.5hours
- AirBnB in Bourges where we stayed, near Rue Geoffroy Tory (cost £90). Alternate option: Ace Hotel Clermont Ferrand La Pardieu
On the way home I’d actually considered stopping slightly earlier in Clermont Ferrand at this hotel for £70. It was nothing fancy, close to the motorway and easy for a stopover.
However, we’d enjoyed our previous time in Bourges so much, that we decided to return and stay in an AirBnB there (our previous lodging wasn’t available). It was nice as well, although the parking was on a nearby street rather than onsite this time. We walked out for dinner on a sunny evening which felt good after a long car journey.
Bourges dining options – rooftop restaurant, L’Incontournable.
Day 9 – return to Cherbourg
- Driving time: 5.5 hours
After a sunny week away, it was time to return to England.
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