Routes that work

How to read these routes

Daily drives are short on purpose. In a motorhome, 150km is a comfortable day and 250km is a long one. Each route lists rough distances, two overnight options per leg (aires or Camping-Car Park network sites, typically free to around €15 with services), and whether tolls will sting. Motorhomes over 3m high pay Class 3 on French autoroutes, close to double the car rate (see Roads and driving), so toll character matters. Prices shift yearly; check when booking.

One thing sets these routes apart: they are planned around fire season as well as sights. Where a leg crosses country with real wildfire history, we say so, name the risk, and give an alternative that keeps the trip good. Two facts drive this. Southern fires close roads and campsites with little notice. And smoke travels: air quality can be poor well beyond the burn zone, 50–300 km downwind depending on fire size and wind. Rerouting a day early costs nothing, and every swap below is a trip we would happily take in its own right.

One week, first-timer: the Channel loop

Sail Portsmouth to Caen and loop through Normandy, or take the short Dover crossing and run the Somme and Champagne. Both keep you within a day of your return port, which takes the pressure off a first trip.

Days 1 to 2, Caen to Honfleur (70km): D-Day beaches first. Arromanches for the Mulberry harbour, then Honfleur's old dock, slate and fishing boats. Overnight: the large paid aire at Honfleur, or the Camping-Car Park site at Courseulles-sur-Mer near Juno Beach.
Days 3 to 4, Honfleur to Mont-Saint-Michel (200km): split it at Bayeux for the Tapestry; the museum queues move fast midweek. Overnight: Bayeux's town aire, then the big motorhome parking at Beauvoir below the Mont.
Days 5 to 7, Saint-Malo and back (150km plus the return): the walled town earns an afternoon. Overnight: the Saint-Malo aire near the ferry port, or the quieter Camping-Car Park site at Cancale for oysters off the quay.

Somme and Champagne alternative: Calais to Le Crotoy on the Baie de Somme (110km, 50-space aire by the marsh), then Épernay (240km, central aire around €12 to €13 with electricity, champagne houses on foot), back via Arras.

Fire notes: nothing on this route needs planning around. The north is lower risk, not no risk (the Fontainebleau forest, 60 km south-east of Paris, burned in July 2026), but nothing on this loop goes near fire country. A two-minute look at europefiremap.com before you sail covers it.

Budget character: toll-light. D-roads cover almost everything; skip the A13 and A16 and you will pay nearly nothing.

Two weeks classic: Loire, Dordogne and back over the top

The greatest-hits run. Ports to châteaux to duck country, a southern taste, then the empty roads of the Massif Central home.

Days 1 to 3, port to the Loire (300 to 400km): two driving days, then settle. Overnight: Camping-Car Park Amboise, walking distance from the château and Clos Lucé, or the riverside aire at Montsoreau downstream.
Days 4 to 7, Loire to Dordogne (250km): Sarlat makes the obvious base. Overnight: Sarlat's Grande Aire, ten minutes' walk from the medieval centre, or the aire below the clifftop bastide at Domme. Fire note: the Dordogne's oak and pine hills dry out in heatwave summers and barbecue bans are common from July. Nothing here needs rerouting; just assume no open flame.
Days 8 to 10, the southern taste (200km): Albi's red-brick cathedral city, or on to Carcassonne. Overnight: Albi's town aire by the Tarn, or the large motorhome parking below Carcassonne's citadel. Fire note: Carcassonne sits at the edge of the Corbières, where the August 2025 fire burned over 16,000 hectares, the largest in Mediterranean France in over 50 years. The citadel was never threatened, but the garrigue hills around it are real fire country and smoke can reach the city on a bad day. If the Aude is running red alerts, take the swap: base at Albi and day-trip the Gorges du Tarn instead. Same south, no fire belt, and the gorge road is a drive you will talk about for years. Check europefiremap.com/france in the days before this leg; it shows which areas to avoid this week.
Days 11 to 14, home via the Massif Central (700 to 800km over three days): the A75 is the trick: a proper autoroute, state-run and free apart from the Millau viaduct crossing. Overnight: the aire at La Canourgue in the Lot valley, or Camping-Car Park Saint-Flour under the old town. Then two steady days north.

Budget character: tolls light to moderate. The A75 return costs only the viaduct; pay for the A10 or A20 southbound if you want speed, or take the free N-roads and add a day.

Three weeks, the south: Atlantic down, Rhône back

The full run to the Med: down the Atlantic, across Languedoc, home up the Rhône corridor or the free A75. In July and August this route crosses most of France's serious fire country, so the checks and the alternatives are built in, not bolted on.

Days 1 to 5, ports to Royan (600 to 700km): three driving days, then the Charente coast. Overnight: the Royan aires, which fill by early afternoon in August, so arrive by lunch, or a Camping-Car Park site along this coast as backup.
Days 6 to 9, the Landes, or the inland swap (200km): Biscarrosse and the big lakes. Overnight: the Navarrosse lakeside aire at Biscarrosse, or Camping-Car Park Mimizan. Fire note: this is pine plantation country and it burns. The 2022 La Teste-de-Buch fire took the forest beside the Dune du Pilat and the five campsites at its foot; the July 2026 Gironde fire passed 42,000 hectares, still burning at the time of writing, with more than 220,000 people evacuated (reported as France's largest peacetime evacuation, including the whole Cap Ferret peninsula) and smoke fouling the air far beyond the burn. Check europefiremap.com/france in the days before you commit; the live map shows exactly where is burning and where is clear this week. If it looks bad, take the swap: hold the Charente coast two more days, then cut east up the Dordogne (Sarlat's Grande Aire, the aire at Domme) and drop to the Med from there. River swimming and duck country instead of surf lakes; not a downgrade.
As of late July 2026: a separate Landes fire at Biscarrosse has burned more than 3,500 hectares, with well over 20,000 people evacuated, including 18,000 from Biscarrosse itself and around 5,000 from a single campsite at Parentis. Both overnight stops on this leg sit in the affected area. Do not head for the Navarrosse aire or Mimizan without checking the Landes prefecture's current orders first. The authorities' word is final: if they say an area is closed or evacuating, it is. In danger, call 112.
Days 10 to 14, across to the Med (450km): Canal du Midi country to the Hérault coast. Overnight: the aire at Marseillan by the Étang de Thau, or Camping-Car Park Gruissan. Fire note: the Corbières fire of August 2025 started in exactly these hills, and the Aude and Hérault run red alerts in hot, windy tramontane spells. On red days hold the coast and skip the garrigue detours: the étang villages, Bages and Peyriac-de-Mer, give you flamingos and oyster shacks with nothing lost.
Days 15 to 21, Provence and home (800 to 900km): the pinch point. The Var's Maures hills burned in 2021, around 7,000 hectares with campsites evacuated, and the Var and Bouches-du-Rhône close their forest massifs on high-risk days, the Maures and the Calanques included. Plan Provence around towns and markets, not forest tracks: base inland at Fayence and take the train to the coast from Les Arcs, checking massif access each evening for the next day. The A7 jams solid on summer Saturdays; move on weekdays. Return up the Rhône, or cut northwest to the free A75 at Montpellier.

Budget character: toll-heavy if you use the A63, A9 and A7 throughout; the A75 escape and the free coastal N-roads pull it back to moderate. August heat and crowds are the real cost: book coastal stops ahead, carry water, and keep one inland fallback per leg.

One month grand tour: Channel to Med and back over the Alps

Around 3,500km in 31 days with no desperate driving. The shape: Normandy, the Atlantic, an inland south-west, the Med arc, then the Alps and Champagne home. It strings the best of the shorter routes into one loop.

Days 1 to 4, Caen to Saint-Malo (250km): D-Day beaches, Bayeux, Mont-Saint-Michel. Overnight: Bayeux's town aire, then the big motorhome parking at Beauvoir below the Mont.
Days 5 to 9, down the Atlantic (450km over two drives): La Rochelle's old port, then the Charente coast. Overnight: the big motorhome parking at Port des Minimes in La Rochelle, then the Royan aires (arrive by lunch in August).
Days 10 to 14, the south-west, inland by design (250km): the direct run south is the A63 through the Landes pines, past the 2022 La Teste burn scar, and the 2026 Gironde fire was still burning at the time of writing, having forced more than 220,000 people from homes and campsites, the whole Cap Ferret peninsula included, with its smoke reaching coasts well outside the fire zone. So we route this leg inland, and it is no sacrifice: Saint-Émilion's cellars and vineyard lanes, then the Dordogne. Overnight: the motorhome parks on the edge of Saint-Émilion, then Sarlat's Grande Aire. Check europefiremap.com/france in the days before this leg to see which side of Bordeaux is clear this week.
Days 15 to 20, across to the Med arc (400km): Albi, Carcassonne, then the Languedoc coast. Overnight: Albi's town aire by the Tarn, the motorhome parking below Carcassonne's citadel, then Camping-Car Park Gruissan. Fire note: the Corbières hills between Carcassonne and the sea burned hard in August 2025. On red-alert days skip garrigue walks and keep to the citadel and the étang villages; the coast stays open when the hills close.
Days 21 to 25, Provence, chosen carefully (350km): Aigues-Mortes' walled town, Avignon, then the Verdon. Overnight: the aire under Aigues-Mortes' ramparts, then the aires at Moustiers-Sainte-Marie for the gorge. Fire note: we deliberately skip the Var coast here; the Maures burned in 2021 and its massifs close on red days. The Verdon's trails can close on extreme days too, but the rim drive and the Lac de Sainte-Croix usually stay open. Check the prefecture massif map each evening and pair a lavender morning at Valensole with a lake plan B.
Days 26 to 31, the Alps return (1,100km over four drives): north on the Route Napoléon, then the lakes, then wine country. Overnight: the Camping-Car Park aire at Sisteron under the citadel, a France Passion vineyard host around Beaune (prime territory), and the central aire at Épernay for a last-night champagne.

Budget character: moderate. Most of the loop is D-road country; the toll money goes on the Languedoc crossing and the A26 run home. Skip both and add two days.

Six weeks: the whole country at ease

Six weeks turns the grand tour into a saunter: the same loop, three extra weeks, and room for the corners shorter routes cut. Two-night minimums everywhere, one no-drive day a week, and an ending of your choice.

Weeks 1 and 2, Channel and Brittany slowly (600km): the one-week loop, then keep west: the Pink Granite Coast around Ploumanac'h and the wild Crozon peninsula, Med-blue water without the Med crowds. Overnight: the small village aires at Camaret-sur-Mer, or Camping-Car Park Cancale for oysters off the quay. Fire is not a factor up here; spend the attention on tides instead.
Week 3, Loire and down to the Atlantic (500km): châteaux, then the coast. Overnight: Camping-Car Park Amboise or the riverside aire at Montsoreau, then Port des Minimes at La Rochelle.
Week 4, the south-west, map in hand (400km): Saint-Émilion and the Dordogne, with the same fire logic as the month route: the Landes pine belt burned in 2022 and again at record scale in 2026, when the Gironde fire forced what was reported as France's largest peacetime evacuation, and smoke carries far beyond the burn, so let the map decide whether the Dune du Pilat detour is on. Check europefiremap.com/france in the days before each southern leg; it shows exactly which areas to avoid this week. Overnight: the Saint-Émilion motorhome parks, or Sarlat's Grande Aire.
Week 5, the Pyrenees leg (450km): the cool alternative to an August Med sprint. Gavarnie's cirque, the Col du Tourmalet, valley villages 10°C fresher than the plains. Overnight: the municipal Camping-Car Park aire at Luz-Saint-Sauveur, or the motorhome aire at Gavarnie for an early walk in. Fire note: the central high Pyrenees are low risk, a relief after the lowlands, but the range's Mediterranean end is not: the Pyrénées-Orientales run tramontane-driven fires most summers, so if heading east on a red day drop to the coast road early and save the Albères hills for another trip.
Week 6, ending one, the Med and home: Gruissan, Aigues-Mortes, inland Provence (Fayence, Moustiers), then the Alps return from the month route via Sisteron and Beaune. Same fire logic as before: the Corbières burned in 2025 and the Var's Maures in 2021, so it is towns, markets and étangs on red days, massif walks on green ones.
Week 6, ending two, Corsica: ferry from Toulon to Bastia or Ajaccio, booked months ahead for August; under 6m opens up the island. Overnight in campsites, not wild (banned island-wide): Les Oliviers at Porto for the Calanques de Piana, or Les Castors at Calvi. Fire note: the maquis is some of the most fire-prone ground in France. Check the official daily risk map at risque-prevention-incendie.fr/corse (updated each evening for the next day) before any inland walk, and expect smoke to sit over coasts far from a burn. Beaches stay open; the hills behind them may not.

Budget character: the gentlest of the five. With six weeks the free roads work almost everywhere; keep tolls for the two long transit days, and let France Passion and municipal aires hold the nightly spend near zero between coasts. Corsica swaps toll money for ferry money, so budget accordingly.

France's answer to the NC500: the Route des Grandes Alpes

The Route des Grandes Alpes is France's signed high-mountain drive: roughly 700 km from Thonon-les-Bains on Lake Geneva to Menton on the Mediterranean, crossing 16 or so great cols (counts vary with your exact routing). Two headliners: the Galibier (2,642 m), Tour de France royalty, and the Iseran, at 2,764 m the highest paved pass in the Alps. It has the same bucket-list, badge-earning pull as the NC500: a named route, a kilometre-zero marker in Thonon, bragging rights at the far end. The food along the way is considerably better.

Van practicality

Most motorhomes manage. These are engineered alpine roads, not single-track: buses and delivery lorries cross the big cols all summer. Long rear overhangs need care on tight hairpins, so swing wide and take a stacked bend in two bites rather than clipping the inside wall.

Descend in the gear you climbed. Engine braking does the work and brakes are for correction only. If you smell hot pads, stop and let them cool.
Fill the tank in valley towns. Fuel stations thin out fast above the treeline.
Resupply is easier than on the NC500. The route drops into a proper valley town every day or two, and Thonon, Sallanches, Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Briançon and Barcelonnette all have full-size supermarkets. Shop there: above the valleys you are down to village épiceries at resort prices.
Aires are regular. Bonneval-sur-Arc has a free municipal aire in the village just below the Iseran, Briançon runs a year-round municipal aire at its Parc des Sports, and Barcelonnette has aires close to the town centre.
The route works in either direction, and in halves. Briançon splits it neatly if you only have a week: Thonon to Briançon one trip, Briançon to Menton the next.

When to go

The high cols open roughly June to October. The Iseran is usually the last to clear, opening in mid June and shutting around early November, with snowbanks lining the road well into July. September is the month we would pick: every col open, school holidays over, roads close to empty, and the larch forests turning gold on the descents.

The honest fire angle

The high Alps are historically low wildfire terrain: too high, too damp, too green to burn the way the Mediterranean scrub does. That makes this route the great August alternative when the coast is smoky or closed. You spend two weeks at altitude breathing clean air while the beaches sit under haze. Only the final descent to Menton touches fire country, and europefiremap.com/france shows that day's picture before you commit to the sea.

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