Serignan Plage – Isle sur la Sorgue – St Laurent du Pape – Annecy – Turckheim (for Colmar) – Leipvre (for Haut Koeningsbourg) – Molsheim (for Strasbourg) – Laon

This is a trip that we did by Motorhome, but of course it can be done in a car staying in hotels. Some places we visited would make a great long weekend trip accessed by plane. We did this as part of a round trip with Spain, but for clarity I’m separating it out and writing in South to North order.

Serignan Plage

This is further along the coast from the better-known Narbonne plage on the south coast of France. It’s what I call a wild beach – no organised amenities, just the sand and the waves and whatever you bring with you. There seemed to be a surprising amount of driftwood on the beach, which allowed people to have fun building little shelters out of it. The most impressive part of stepping out onto the beach was the view of the Pyrenees. At this time of year (April), they were snow-capped which just added to the beauty of it all.

The town of Serignan is a little inland from the beach, there is a cycle path at the side of the road which makes it very accessible. This is the first point that you can cross the river l’Orb so if you want to cycle over to Valras Plage you need to come here first, then follow the cycle path through the lovely countryside before arriving at the marina side of town.

It was Easter Sunday when we visited Valras so it was pretty busy. Some extra attractions were on offer in the form of fairground rides and donkey rides. This was quite a traditional seaside town with a golden beach, promenade and the usual touristy shops along the front. There were plenty of restaurants available, we managed to get a table at La Phare which was serving lots of seafood, but also a good number of other dishes. Since it was Easter Sunday, we indulged in the 3-course menu which was reasonably priced at 26.90 Euros considering the dishes that were on offer.

For the campers

We had originally planned to stay at Narbonne Plage, but as it was the Easter weekend all the campsites were full even though we were booking 2 months in advance. We managed to get a standard pitch at the Sandaya Aloha. This is a full-on campsite with all the amenities you could want (we indulged since it was Easter). We did find the pitch rather tight for a 7m van with bikes on the back and found the best way was to go on diagonally. We had avoided the Motorhome specific pitch as we thought it would just be a glorified parking space but after exploring the site we discovered they were more generous than that and were facing the beach so would have been the better option.

Isle sur la Sorgue

This is a really pretty village in Provence, surrounded by the River Sorgue on two sides making the old town into an Island. There are several small waterwheels dotted around adding to the beauty of it all. There are lots of restaurants and ice cream shops available and the old town has many old buildings to admire. There is of course much reference to the lavender grown in this area.

Provence is a beautiful area to explore and we chose to cycle out to Gordes and to Fountaine de la Sorgue.

Gordes sits on the top of a hill with a glorious view across the countryside (not so much fun when you’re cycling up). As you approach there is a view point where you can admire all the houses perched on top of each other up the hill. On the top is the original fortress which you can visit. There are lots of narrow cobbled streets winding up and around the town for you to explore. If you come by car, you can go right up to the fortress and there is a car park just up the hill from there. We did struggle to find any bike racks which has been a frequent problem, but found a convenient tree in the car park. We found a little café called L’Ardoise which was doing pizzas which suited us. We then had a little wander around the gardens and nosied in the shops. We considered looking in the fortress but decided there would be a lot of steps and our jelly legs from cycling didn’t fancy that.

Fountaine de la Sorgue, so named because it is the source of the river, is much closer to the town and a flatter cycle. They did have a few cycle racks in the car park this time. There is a path alongside the river to walk to the top. Unfortunately, you can no longer get access to the very start of the river as the hillside surrounding it is no longer stable and there is a risk of falling rocks.

On the path there, there are plenty of touristy shops and ice cream shops and if you are feeling indulgent there is Restaurant Phillip, serving top notch French food. We chose to walk back down to the main part of the village and stopped for lunch at the Brasserie la Colonne. We ordered ravioli, which looked like it had been baked in the oven. A bit odd but it still tasted good and had a lovely salad with it.

For the campers

We managed to get into Camping La Sorguette, which is located to the bottom of the village in reasonable walking distance. Just up from the site if you cross the little bridge it takes you onto the cycle/foot path away from the traffic and runs alongside the river. It was a popular site due to its great location so may be worth booking a few days ahead. Due to some ‘technical difficulties’ we weren’t able to book ahead but managed to get a space by being prompt. However, due to the weather from the previous couple of days the pitch that was available was pretty muddy which made it more interesting. The amenities were good but for some reason they seemed to think they should clean them around 8am just as everyone wants to use them, so a bit of a game to work out which block would be open. They had a café/restaurant but it wasn’t open on the nights we were there.

St Laurent du Pape

This is a small village on the edge of the Ardeche. For us it was mostly a stepping stone, but it is a lovely place to spend some time. A cycle route has been made utilising the old railway line and is accessible from the old station in St Laurent du Pape. It’s called the ‘Dolce Via’ and covers 90km which you can do over 2 or 3 days or just do a section. We cycled to the end of stage 1 at Les Ollieres sur Eyrieux which was around 15km from where we were staying. We went to the restaurant Le Siecle for lunch which had a covered outdoor area next to the river. They were serving beef entrecote which was from the Charolais breed, with potatoes and veg and a choice of sauce. I have to say it was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.

Within the village of St Laurent du Pape there was also a lovely bistro where we had lunch one day. It seemed to be a popular lunch stop for the cyclist coming the other way.

For the campers

We stayed at La Garenne which was a bit of a hilly site but we had a pitch at the bottom on the riverside. The site had good amenities and a swimming pool but it wasnt open when we were there. They also have a bar and a restaurant which was mostly doing Pizzas, but also had a dish of the day. Note this site does not have a motorhome waste point but there is one in the nearby Intermarche supermarket.

Lake Annecy

The town of Annecy stands at the top of the lake. It’s a beautiful old town and very walkable with lots of bars and restaurants. The waterfront is busy with lots of pedalos and boats for hire along with the larger boats doing trips of the lake.

One of the best-known sites is the Palais de l’ile, sat in the middle of the river. It’s been a house, a prison and an admin centre in its time and is open to the public. It’s not the biggest place but I found it interesting. You can buy a ticket for the castle at the same time to get a discount but we chose not to do this.

Just wandering round the streets looking at the buildings is a pleasant way to spend some time, especially if you have stopped at one of the ice cream shops which have a huge number of flavours on offer (we picked Maison Perriere). A walk along the waterfront is also a lovely way to while away the day, watching the sailing schools dotted about the lake.

We took a boat trip with the Compagnie Des Bateaux d’Annecy. They offer a few different trips, we chose to go for the 1h 30 minute trip that went all the way to the bottom of the lake which cost 22 Euros each. If you don’t mind standing, go up to the top of the boat where you can lean on the railings to get the best views. There are castles and pretty villages to admire, along with numerous paragliders appearing from all the mountain tops around the lake.

If you are feeling energetic, there is a cycle path that goes round the lake side that is 42K long. If you don’t want to do the complete route you can just do the Western side which utilises the old railway line and makes for a wide and family friendly option. There are a few cafes along this stretch so you can have a well-earned coffee break – and cake perhaps.

We decided to do the full route; the big decision was to go clockwise or anti clockwise. We chose clockwise so we would be through the busyish Annecy early on and to meet the climb up the hill near Talloires before lunch, giving us the easier second half. From our campsite we joined onto the railway track part of the route which led onto the sectioned off roadside part through Annecy. It wasn’t long before that moved onto a separate pathway and down the eastern side. It does switch back onto the road and there are parts that are just on the road with a cycle painted on to indicate this space should be respected, and I must say our general experience is that drivers are really good about this. These are only short sections with the path mostly being separate. I would say to beware of the ‘serious’ cyclist who will happily speed past you even on the more narrower sections.

The top of the hill at Talloires is a great place to stop to catch your breath and get a close view of the paragliders jumping off the spiky mountain top and landing in a nearby field.

We dropped down the hill (carefully, its steep and on the roadside) and pulled into Talloires village. We spotted a place called Café Gisele doing salads and Croq. I had the Croq Savoyard which was really tasty with a lovely side salad. I also had an Orange Blossom cake afterwards which was equally good. We took a walk down to the waterfront which was lovely and where there were more options for lunch.

After lunch we continued on the path which now hugged the lakeside before going cross country to join up with the old railway line. We took a diversion into Dingt to look at the chateau before rejoining the path and cycling through the tunnel – slightly odd feeling, before returning to our campsite

For the campers

There are lots of campsites down the Western side and we chose Le Rive as it was on the Lakeside. However, it wasn’t quite as we expected as there is only a small section of lakeside that you can get onto, its more about being able to have a boat on the lake as they have a pontoon you can use – most of the pitches did not have a view of the lake. It was a pleasant enough site though it was one of those with a lot of don’t notices.  It was however, directly on the cycle path and wasn’t too far to the bus stop outside the Lidl if you wanted to use it. The 15A costs 2.50 Euros and the best place to get off is at the Hotel D’Ville which is handy for the old town.

Turckheim

This is part of the Route De Vin through the Alsace region. It’s not so easy to follow the route in a large van so we took the option to make 3 stops close together to allow us to access as much as possible.

Turckheim is a small village where the main streets are still much as they were in medieval times, with 3 tower entrances to protect the village. It sits nestled beneath the vine covered hills and a stream runs passed on the other side.

 It’s also part of a programme to help increase the numbers of white storks which have been in decline, so don’t be surprised to see poles with rings on the top with giant nests on them.

It has a train station which does go into Colmar but it’s not very frequent. It’s better to get the bus in. There are 2 buses, the A line and the C line which go into Colmar, the A to the north side and the C to the south. They both go to the Theatre stop which is the best for access to the old town. The A line is not very frequent so check the timetable to see which is your best option.

For the campers

Camping Le Medieval is right next to the village on the other side of the stream. It was a very busy campsite so best to book a few days ahead. We had a normal space on grass with hedges but I did see some people stopped on a large paved area with hookups. Im not sure if they were just one nighters or were waiting for other pitches to come free. The amenities were good and access to the town was great. There was an Aire space just along the road where you could park but as far as I could see there were no amenities at all. The mini market in the village looks small but was bigger inside and had some really good items in it so worth an investigation.

Colmar

There are many places when you visit them in person, that feel a bit of a let down from the hype around them. This is one of the few places that went way beyond my expectations. When you enter the old town, it feels like you walked onto a Disney set, except all of these are original medieval buildings.

There are lots of interesting shops selling local classics like kugelhopf which is made in a mould and looked a lot like a teabread. There are a lot of gingerbread sellers and Xmas shops as well.

 Keep wandering the streets and you will find an area called Little Venice where you can have a boat ride.

There are loads of bars and restaurants around, with some of the bars being winstubs where you can do some tasting of the regional wines.

Colmar was the home of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi who designed the statue of liberty and there is a museum dedicated to him which you can visit. If You leave Colmar heading north you will pass a replica in the middle of a roundabout in his honour.

Liepvre

This is a small village 10km from Haut Koenigsbourg Castle. The sole purpose of visiting here was for the campsite. We had thought we could cycle from here, but it’s a very steep climb and with the temperatures starting to hit the 30s we decided this was not an option!

For the campers

This is quite a busy site, but a lot of people were only staying for one night for the purpose of visiting the castle. Its very wooded and gave a lot of shade which we were grateful for. We timed it badly as it was a bank holiday Monday so the mini market and the bar in the village closed at lunchtime which we discovered at 3pm! The reception does sell cold drinks and ice creams which were much appreciated. The amenities were a bit basic, mostly quite open under a covering, but there was a smaller enclosed building which I preferred.

When visiting the castle beware that there are a few routes that are not suitable for over 3.5 tonnes. We went through the villages of Chaternois and Kintzheim on the way which felt a bit neat, but on the way back we went straight through Kintzheim and onto the A35 which I would recommend doing. There is a flat area at the bottom of the roadside parking (thank you, street view) that is more suitable for bigger vehicles. As it was a bank holiday, we arrived in time for it to open at 10am and joined some other campers without too much trouble – worth backing in though as it was completely full when we left and we had to negotiate passed the parked cars in front.

Haut Koeningsbourg

There is a one-way system round the castle, with parking on both sides of the road on the uphill side. There is some disabled parking at the top and a bus stop for the shuttle bus which goes to Selestat station (at the weekends). Given it was a bank holiday it was pretty busy but the queue for tickets wasn’t too bad. The castle has been heavily restored by Kaiser Wilhelm II – the one who started WW1, parts of Alsace have changed borders several times. The building is made out of pink sandstone and is very dramatic looking, with a great outlook across the countryside.

Molsheim

This is another cute little town with pretty houses and it also has a Bugatti museum. Unfortunately, it was closed on the day we would have liked to have visited. It is also part of the white stork breeding programme with more nest on poles dotted around. This time I was more aware of them flying over the campsite and greeting each other by clattering their bills together. It also has a railway line that goes into Strasbourg.  It costs 11 Euros for a return ticket and its takes around 17 – 25 minutes.

For the campers

This is a municipal campsite with quite a lot of shade and good size pitches. Opposite the campsite is a lido which you have free access to as part of the campsite fee. The amenities were good, solid, dependable, as Ive come to expect from a municipal site, the only failing being the Motorhome waste point which was just a simple standard road drain in the middle of the road round the pitches so you could end up blocking people heading for the exit. There was a bit of fun checking in as we arrived shortly after 2pm when it seems everyone else was arriving. They were a bit slow processing everyone and there weren’t many places to pull over so people were getting blocked in. If you can arrive a little later it might be advisable.

Strasbourg

This was another place where I had no idea quite how pretty it was. From the train station it’s a straight forward walk towards the old town. It’s ringed by the river going round the outside of it. The best thing to do is to get on one of the Batorama open top boats for a great view of the city. We went on the red trip which lasts around 1 hour 15 and costs 16.20 Euros, covering the main circle as well as going out to the European Parliament. Headphones are provided for you to listen to the commentary in the language of your choice. The boarding point is just to the south of the Cathedral.

The city is also great to walk round. As well as the cathedral there are yet more medieval buildings and in particular the area known as Petit France is very pretty.

 There are lots of bars and restaurants, we found a lovely shaded restaurant down a side street called Café Rohan. I had a traditional Alsatian flambe and of course a glass of Gewurztraminer to go with it.

Laon

For us this was a means of crossing back in the direction of Calais, but we still wanted somewhere with a bit of interest. Laon happily provides this with its old town built up on a ridge that you can see in the distance as you approach. It still has some ramparts that you can walk along giving great views across the countryside. It is a medieval city though its houses are rather plain in comparison to Alsace. The dominant feature is the cathedral, with its striking twin towers and ornate frontage.

Further up the hill are the remains of the Citadel though its really just the outer walls that remain. Underneath there are some underground passages that are open to visitors where you can learn how these were used.

Back down the hill is the Porte d’Ardon one of the original gateways to the city which is still in very good condition.

There are a few restaurants and bars around, we chose to stop at Creperie Agora where there is more to the menu than just crepes.

For the campers

We stopped at Camping La Chenaie which is a pick your own pitch site. There are plenty of trees around so you should be able to get some shade. There were quite a few people that were one nighters with this being their first stop from the ferry. The facilities were a bit average but there was hot water etc so we were fine. There is also a glass covered swimming pool available if you fancy a dip. It is next to a rifle range, and we did hear them one day practising but it wasn’t too loud and not for long. At the end of the entrance road, you can pick up the bus into town if you don’t fancy the uphill walk/cycle Take the No 1 bus to Condal which will cost 1.20 Euros and only takes a few minutes.

Additional camper info

We aimed to get down to the south coast as soon as possible, so just made a couple of overnight stops at some Aires.

Aire de Etangs –Mutigny Champagne

This is a simple Aire with water, grey waste and chemical waste disposal and 8 pitches but is Free. The water connection was not the most typical and despite having many different attachments we couldn’t connect. There were some vineyards in the village you could visit so a convenient stopping point with lovely views                

Aire Cheix sur Morge near Clemont Ferraud

This one is run by Camping Carpark, so you need to have their app and to add money on to make payment. We hadn’t previously used them but the process was fairly straightforward. There was water with a normal attachment, grey waste and chemical waste with 7 pitches. This cost around 14 Euros. We found a Pizza restaurant called Atelier Gourmet de L&A in the village which was very good.

On our return from Spain, we wanted to head over to the east so just made 2 quick stops at campsites

Camping du Lac – Marciac

The hosts at this site were lovely and they had a little bar and a pool, but for me the facilities were a little bit too rustic. I wanted to do a wash but there was a problem with the hot water in one of the blocks so I just got an error on the machine. The lady did give me another token so I could use the machine in the other block so fair dues.

Camping L’Evasion – Fontes

The owner seems to be a bit Harley Davidson mad as the bike was sat in the bar area. It’s quite a fun set up and a nice pool and play area for the kids. They had some of the Lyon Free Chapter riders staying and had laid on a band for entertainment. The restaurant was busy and everyone was having a good time.

One the way home we wanted an overnight stay near to Calais port

Camping des Noires Mottes – Sangatte

This is located about a 20 minutes’ drive from the port. Whilst a good few of us were 1 nighters, there did seem to be quite a few people set up for a longer stay. Again, we arrived quite prompt so a queue to check in and not a lot of space to stop in. The opening hours of reception are quite tight so you might just have to put up with it. There were also some surprising rules around the showers closing at 9pm which I haven’t experience before. Its situated just across from the seafront where there is a lovely walk along the promenade. This is something of a windsurfers and kitesurfers paradise and there would appear to be a steady breeze along here. We were busy finishing off the food in the fridge so didn’t dine out, but there looks to be a few restaurants in the area.