Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations. Where in France can we drive to relatively easily from London for a week-long holiday around Easter time??
Will have an 18 mo in the back so want to keep the travel time to a minimum. Ferry to St Malo, then drive to South Brittany. Very child friendly, and lots of places to go. Or if you want a shorter ferry trip, Dover to Calais or Newhaven to Dieppe then down into Normandy, somewhere near Bayeux. For minimum journey time, I wouldn't do the ferry - takes 6.
I'd take Eurotunnel because you only need to get there half an hour before your booked train and the train only takes 35 minutes to Calais. From Calais you can get to the Loire Valley in 4 and a half hours. I love France and find it perfect for those first few family holidays.
Perfect change of scenery and pace of life, mild weather, delicious food and wine, spot of art, shopping etc. Sorry to be such a pessimist but I'd be a little worried about the potential post-Brexit travel disaster around Eurotunnel or Folkestone ferries next Easter.
Whether we should believe the scaremongering or not they're forecasting enormous queues at ferry ports and not sure of impact on Eurotunnel. If it does all go pear-shaped I wouldn't want to be doing that journey with a toddler. Hope you have a lovely time. We stayed at a campsite in Guines about 5 miles out of Calais for a week en route to EuroDisney. So much to see in this area.
