Is the North or South of France better for Van Life? This is a question that lots of van lifers may be considering if they plan to travel France. For us, we much preferred the North of France.
Although the South of France is quite obviously very beautiful, there were some places which just didn’t live up to what we thought they were going to be like, we didn’t enjoy the driving as much as the North and the South was a lot busier.
We also enjoyed the things that we did in the North over the South, such as Mont Saint Michel.
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The North of France is 100 times easier for driving than the South! In a small van you’d obviously find it a lot easier, but for us in a large motorhome, some of the roads we had driven on in the South of France were just not enjoyable at all!
The South of France is also a lot more mountainous than the North so there are lots and lots of narrow, winding, mountainous roads, which also, when there is traffic, do not make for enjoyable driving in a large motorhome.
The North of France we feel had a more chilled out, relaxed and calm feel to it than the more bustling South.
We also found that there was more option when it comes to good, free park-ups in the north of France than there was in the South.
Vanlife France – The North or South
| North | South |
| Easier driving | Harder Driving |
| Easier access to supermarkets | More mountainous |
| Cheaper fuel | More expensive fuel |
| Easier to find good free park-ups | Warmer weather |
| More of a relaxed and chilled vibe | More busy |
| Beautiful sights such as Mont Saint Michel | More “touristy” |
| Beautiful sights such as Verdon Gorge |
We do not want to put anybody off travelling to the South of France in a campervan or motorhome, because we did it and we really did see some beautiful places. The scenery is stunning, cliffside towns and crystal clear sea. But for us, the North was a lot more suited to us, and a lot less stressful driving!
You can take a look at some of our other van life posts which include lots and lots of hints and tips on all things van life here – Van Life – Travel Information, Hints, Tips and Advice (threeasabird.com)
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I love everything about travel, from seeing new places, learning about new cultures and trying new foods! I believe that travel is one of the best forms of education you can get, I have learnt so much about myself and about the world from travelling all over. Travel is something I feel so passionately about, and I love the fact that we are now lucky enough to have this opportunity to do what we love as much as we can, it’s a dream come true.
Before we started travelling, I worked in local government in administration. I had been in this job for several years and had reached a complete brick wall where I was so fed up, but didn’t know what else to do. The only thing I knew that I wanted to do was to travel, and had wanted to do that for many years.
There were hundreds and hundreds of places on my wishlist that I wanted to go to, and I knew that going on a weeks holiday maybe twice a year if we were lucky wasn’t going to cut it.
After being in lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, and working from home staring at the same 4 walls every day, 2021 seemed like the perfect time for us to take the risk to finally do what we had dreamed of for so long.
It was a hard decision to completely change our lives, but so far it has been the best decision we have ever made!
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