hobson Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 We're off for a few months travel soon in the 110, and are planning on spending a bit of time in France, we don't have any specific places to be, we just want to spend some time exploring! so has anyone got any reccomended routes, greenlanes, campsites, villages etc for us to visit, or any places to avoid?! and does anyone have any reccomended maps for the more rural routes? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike4444244 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 erm 3 pieces of advice 1. take your time and use the D roads, as the autoroutes are expensive and whilst they are usually traffic free and great for covering distance you see more of france going on the D roads 2 always keep a full-ish tank, the whole country grinds to a halt on sundays so finding fuel may be tricky, your card may or may not work at the unattended garages! 3 France is beautiful but my particular recommendations are to visit Fontainbleau (big forest full of boulders for climbing - kids love it so do climbers!), theres a great campsite at Milly-La-foret, and around Dijon is fantastic too, My wife and I spent 4 weeks travelling round living in the 110 going climbing, if you take a hammock and have a roof rack you only need to find 1 tree for instant accommodation! You may find that the local Carrefour hypermarket sells all sorts of useful things for the landy too... Enjoy it Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 For maps, I'm getting the IGN Top 25 maps of France for Memory Map in preparation for when I eventually go back there, but will also be taking some route-planner maps (AA etc.) Carrefour is great, L'Eclerc (I think that's how it's spelled) is good too. And DeCathalon is sort of like an outdoors type store. I can reccomend the Central Massif if you like mountains, some impressive passes and gorges around there. The Tarn is verynice, Millau is a favourite of mine. I have stayed in a campsite called Les Rivages which is on the bank of the river Dourbie The gorges around the area are spectacular, plenty to do whether it's just exploring or white water rafting down the river. You can also para-sail off the top of the hills around the town, the views from up there are sublime. And there's also the brilliantly beautiful Viaduc de Millau to look at in the background. Probably my favourite part of France Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 and just up the road from the viaduc is Gorge du Tarn, well worth a visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobson Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Thanks for the replies, we've spent a fair bit of time on the autoroutes as we've always had big vehicles, so it'll be nice to be able to go theough all the samll villages and get off the beaten track to do some exploring! and yes mike, we have a huge family sized hammock that fits us both! though it seems like a long time since we were in good enough weather for it! does anyone know the french law on what we'd call greenlanes or unsurfaced roads? and the best way to find them? are they on plenty of maps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmagnet Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 as far as im aware you can drive a track in france if it dosent say private this was the impression i got from the guy who runs the 5 piliers off road site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bristol Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 not really an off road thing but I would advise taking wet wipes with you! Oh and if you like history Orodour-sur-glane is worth a visit theres a big museum there about the massacre that happened during ww2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Wet wipes are ace for getting bugs off the screen. I personally would stick to the autoroutes - yes they are costly, but the never ending changes in speed limits on the D roads drove me mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles tout terrain Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 as far as im aware you can drive a track in france if it dosent say private this was the impression i got from the guy who runs the 5 piliers off road site Is the Cinq pillers site still open?? I last went there in 2006 or 2007 i think as it was supposed to be closing!?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road Toad Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 The Auvergne is beautiful - so much so i bought a house there! brilliant fishing on the river Allier and Kayaking etc etc. Lots of trails. Generally if a trail is not marked private or a sign saying no access to cars etc you can drive it. Over in the Ardeche you'll find Rod Newman www.newman4x4.com He's a very helpful english guy who's been running a landrover business for 30 years there. very helpful should you have any problems. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2learn Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 yeah watch out for the french women they can be really flirtatious and i myself had tzo fight em off!! and err,,dont abuse the natives and take advantage of their friendly nature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henk Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Is the Cinq pillers site still open?? I last went there in 2006 or 2007 i think as it was supposed to be closing!?? We went to cinq Pillier last year with the Belgian LR club and it had a new old owner (The old guide is now the owner) @maps: I have digital maps for Ozi 25K, 100K and 200K, total size 33Gb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmagnet Posted April 2, 2010 Share Posted April 2, 2010 Is the Cinq pillers site still open?? I last went there in 2006 or 2007 i think as it was supposed to be closing!?? went there in feb this year fantastic place driving in caves that were used by the germans in the war and a large offroad site above going back in july with the www.fourwheeldriveclub.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henk Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 went there in feb this year fantastic place driving in caves that were used by the germans in the war and a large offroad site above going back in july with the www.fourwheeldriveclub.com The owner/guide alse organises tours by foot in the cave. Very interesting They organised some years ago a cycle cross of almost 60km in the caves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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