Park the Car in France then Cycle Tour

[bikes4two]

A last minute decision to take the tandem off somewhere warm for a two week cycle camp left us with the usual question of how to get to a warm destination quickly (tandems and trains don't go together). It was far too late to book the EBE so we contacted a Brit run campsite in Airvault, France and made arrangements to park the car (with tandem on roof rack) and then peddle off for a couple of weeks - 1.5 euro a day for safe parking was a good deal.

Have others found and/or made use of similar arrangements in France or other nearby countries/UK as this method of getting the tandem to a distant location worked well for us?

[eileithyia]

Except tandem goes in car, but have mentioned elsewhere have left car at; Minnigaff YH, (across the estuary at Dartmouth whatever it was called) YH, campsite in Scotland, and Campsite in Poland, YH's in Ireland... need I go on.....

[simonhill]

I left my camprervan at a campsite at St Jean Pied de Porte before cycling the Camino. I think it was free for a fortnight. We paid for our camping at either end of th eride.

Did something similar in a small campsite in Oxfordshire for a round the canals ride and they charged me normal (albeit cheap) camping charges for each night!

On a ride to France, arranged to park in a residential street outside a friend of a friend's house in Newhaven. No problems.

With a little bit ofthought, you can normally find somewhere safe toleave your vehicle.

[Hypocacculus]

We've arranged to leave our car in the car park of a hotel in France before now, for no charge. I forget the chain but it was along the lines of a Campanile. We stayed there one night on arrival, then picked it up to go home. Just ask when you book. I'd guess you'd probably have more success with an out of town hotel with ample parking and of course, it was at our own risk.

[bigjim]

I don't understand why anybody would pay for parking when you have a bike. I leave my car in a decent residential neighbourhood and cycle away. Left it for 2 weeks at a time with no problems. My car is not worth that much but if it was, thats what insurance is for.

[bikes4two]

I don't understand why anybody would pay for parking when you have a bike. I leave my car in a decent residential neighbourhood and cycle away. Left it for 2 weeks at a time with no problems. My car is not worth that much but if it was, thats what insurance is for.

Simple answer: peace of mind. Your philosophy is OK for UK areas you're familiar with I'm sure, but exactly how do you determine 'peaceful neighbourhood' in a country/area that you're visiting for the first time. And a fat lot of good insurance is when after a 500 mile testing tour you come back to a wrecked car in a foreign country where knowledge of the language is sparse.

Thanks to others for their other experiences/ideas.

[bigjim]

And a fat lot of good insurance is when after a 500 mile testing tour you come back to a wrecked car in a foreign country where knowledge of the language is sparse.

Still don't understand why anybody would wreck your car. How many wrecked cars do you come across on your travels? A bit of the language and a phrase book is useful. But whatever.
Nice polite reply by the way.

[Cyclenut]

Still don't understand why anybody would wreck your car. How many wrecked cars do you come across on your travels?

It does happen, ask anyone who lives in Portsmouth. I asked several locals about on street car parking when planning a tour, since with bikes we didn't need to park right at the port. The answer was don't even think about it. Lots of ferries, to the Isle of Wight as the continent, combined with a congested virtual island city site makes parking difficult enough for locals; so any unfamiliar car will be in somebody's way and gets noticed pretty soon. And if it doesn't move for a day or two, someone else who might move it (if you get my drift) will be told about it!

I'll second the campsite idea. We arranged cheaper (than the ferry port) parking for the group's cars at a campsite a little way out of Portsmouth.

[roberts8]

I like the idea of leaving the car in a safe place in France.
Recently I used a carpark at Hardway at Gosport which is used by sailors so there is no charge for 7 days. It is easy to cycle to the Gosport ferry which pulls in next to the IOW ferry or is a 10 minute ride to Brittany Ferries.
Still fancy the French option though.

[iviehoff]

I know a cycling couple who decided, for their honeymoon, to drive to Marseille, leave the car there, parked in what they thought was a quiet street, and take the ferry to Corsica. (This was in the days before regular direct flights to the place.) It may not surprise you to learn that they found the car trashed on return to Marseille.

[johnb]

A bit off topic,a few years ago I stayed at a campsite in Airvault, Camping de Courte Vallée which was run by Alistair & Johanna and if that is the same site you are going to you have chosen well as its a fantastic site which is run to the highest standard with free wi fi and loads of local knowledge about cycle routes and sightseeing.

[horizon]

I really dislike combining a car journey with a bike tour (apart from the fact that with a bike alone the holiday starts when you leave the front door!). If you take the car, you have that horrible feeling that there are things that you want/need on the car journey that you don't want on the bike but don't want to leave in the car... And things that you like having in the car and would like on the bike but cannot take on the bike.... And when you get there it's raining and maybe too soon to cycle off yet.... And how fast and comfortable the car is... And that feeling that you have left something in the car that should be on the bike..... And that feeling all the way through your holiday about the car being OK.... etc etc But I accept it might otherwise be a good option.

[Hypocacculus]

I really dislike combining a car journey with a bike tour (apart from the fact that with a bike alone the holiday starts when you leave the front door!). .

I too love it when we leave the car at home. Mr H is much more wedded to his car and hates public transport.

However, this year I prevailed. Organising the public transport to get bikes from home, to Copenhagen, then after we do our ride, from Berlin, back to home has been quite a complex exercise. 10 train rides and two ferries.

What can possibly go wrong?????

Last time I did this, for a trip to France, we got to our local station.... no trains. We cycled to the nearest alternative station. We were told at the ticket office that we were not allowed to put bikes on trains because the platform was too short. We considered the knock on effect of missing connections. Red mist descended and we just put our bikes on the intercity train anyway The "train manager" came along after the train had pulled out of the station and told us that we weren't allowed to do that. What, we politely asked, as the scenery thundered past, would she like us to do about it?

[theopr]

I leave my car in a decent residential neighbourhood and cycle away. Left it for 2 weeks at a time with no problems. My car is not worth that much but if it was, thats what insurance is for.

If a strange car was left outside my house for two weeks I would assume it had been stolen/abandoned and report it to the police.

[Hypocacculus]

I leave my car in a decent residential neighbourhood and cycle away. Left it for 2 weeks at a time with no problems. My car is not worth that much but if it was, thats what insurance is for.

If a strange car was left outside my house for two weeks I would assume it had been stolen/abandoned and report it to the police.

When the gas board dug up the road so we couldn't use the drive or park outside our house, Mr H parked the car round the corner. It was reported to the Police in two days.