Road Trips

Road Trip From UK to Nice France

Road trip from UK to Nice, France in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Total distance 2026 miles, Fuel Consumption 49.7 mpg.

Tomas

07 Dec 2024 — 4 min read

Road Trip From UK to Nice, France

This road trip was our first of its kind, traveling by car to destinations other than our usual trips to Lithuania. The trip spanned from the 26th of May to the 3rd of June 2023.

We consistently choose DFDS because it is more affordable than LeShuttle by train. Additionally, we reserve our ferry tickets for an early morning crossing around 2 AM when the prices are lower. Some might argue that traveling by train is faster, but ultimately, using a ferry can save money, potentially enough to purchase an extra tank of fuel with the savings.

The most stressful time is often the day of departure, when we have to prepare the car for the journey and pack up everything we need to bring.

On the evening of Friday, May 26th, at around 9 PM, we left home and headed straight to the Dover DFDS ferry terminal.

After swiftly managing our affairs, we finally arrived in Calais, France, at approximately 5 AM on Saturday, the 26th of May.

Throughout the trip, we have been avoiding toll roads as much as possible, unless time was not on our side to reach the hotel in time for check-in.

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Day 1 - Destination: Orléans

Palace of Versailles

The first point of interest was the Palace of Versailles. We did not enter inside of the palace, as we did not have sufficient time but just walked around the main front entrance area.

Palace of Versailles was constructed between 1623 and 1715.

Chartres Cathedral

Second stop was Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres. Constructed between 1194 and 1220, the spires reach heights of 105 meters and 113 meters.

Les 3 Vallées Hotel

The final destination for first day was the hotel Les 3 Vallées. We have stayed 1 night at the hotel.

Day 2 - Destination: Millau

In the morning we have left hotel about 11 AM and visited Lidl just around the corner to buy some food and refreshments for our trip.

Honestly saying we have left hotel late and knew that us is waiting a long drive so we haven't stopped to visit any places except one location.

Château de la Ferté Saint Aubin

This is a view of the Garabit Viaduct from a motorway service rest area.

And finally, our destination for day two was the Campanile Hotel in Millau, which offered a stunning view of the landscape.

Day 3 - Destination: Nice

In the morning, we located a local fuel station to fill up on diesel and stopped by Lidl to purchase some groceries. Once we completed our essential morning tasks, we set off towards the Millau Viaduct.

Millau Viaduct

We made stops at two locations to get a better view of this remarkable feat of engineering. The first stop was a drive under the Millau Viaduct to the nearest visitor parking area.

The second stop was the Millau Viaduct Viewing Point.

Day 4 - Destination: Nice - Monaco

Nice

Today was a break from driving. We spent most of the day exploring Nice, purchased a day ticket for the tram to get around. We also visited the beach and even attempted to swim, but the water was so cold.