DeeC has indicated that this thread is about France
August will be busy and you won't have time to see everything. Go South for better weather.
This coast has no shortage of campsites, but in August you may need to stay a little inland unless you have a very small tent. Best to be away early and find a site mid afternoon.
I don't know your interests, but here are some places to see / stop that I've seen in the past :
- Head along the coast towards Caen stopping to see the D Day landing beaches
- Head for La Rochelle via Rennes and Nantes (you can divert to Sables d'Olonnes, etc if you wish)
- Stay and explore La Rochelle
- Wonderful seafood and cheap area to stay at Fouras
- More expensive but nice - have a look at Ile d'Oleron, Ile d'Aix, etc
- See if you can find time to visit Oradour-sur-Glane
- Head for Royan and take the little ferry to Medoc
- Stay Lacanau - it has ocean and lake beaches and plenty of campsites
- Continue towards Arcachon (eat seafood) and stay in one of the big campsites at Pyla
- Follow the main road towards Bayonne, pick up a road to the coast at Capbretton, Hossegor, Labenne Ocean, etc and stay on a beach campsite
- From here you can go to San Sebastien (best tapas in the world), up into the Pyrenees (St Jean Pied de Port), explore the plain (Dax), check out the coast (Biarritz, St Jean du Luz, etc).
- Think about a day trip to Spain including Pamplona
- If you have spare time , you can return via the autoroute and explore the Bordeaux and Dordogne areas on the way home.
- Use wikipedia to research places you could visit
- Use google street view to preview interesting places
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=cherbourg+france&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.915634,56.513672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Cherbourg-Octeville,+Manche,+Lower-Normandy,+France&ll=43.388505,-1.672475&spn=0.008343,0.013797&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.38843,-1.672767&panoid=bR9xf9FADKkU_5bGCyGlxQ&cbp=13,288.92,,1,2.03
Have fun
Peter
Think about Mont St Michel and the Bayeux tapestry. Poitiers has the Futuroscope theme park. Oradour-sur-Glane is just a short drive from Limoges and is worth a visit as the whole town is a war cemetery. I have been to Pamplona and found it a dull gray town "in the middle of nowhere". I would head east from France into Spain and spend a few days there.
This is the busiest time of the year and the French too are on holiday then. Roads and everywhere will be packed. Most motorways are toll roads but smaller roads are OK but of course take longer. Food and fuel on motorways is expensive but there are plenty of supermarkets elsewhere with both a lot cheaper. You can buy sandwiches and other food in supermarkets if you are on the road. Bottled water is just 17 cents for a 2 litre bottle in Lidl's. Most shops shut before 7 pm and are not open Sundays. In some cases, not Mondays either. While some have 24 hour unmanned pumps, these will only work with a French credit or debit card, so make sure you have enough fuel. Plenty of ATM's about.
Get a road atlas of France. Remainder book shops have them cheap. Or at least a good road map. Road signs are a rarity at times and not always that good, as you will find if you take the country lane to Orodour.
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