Family vacation in France with the Mercedes Sprinter

From Paris to Normandy - our family road trip with the Mercedes Sprinter through France

Bon Jour.
My name is Johanna and I traveled through France for three weeks with my husband and our one-year-old son in June '22.

The destination determined the route

After watching a documentary about Mont-Saint-Michel, we knew that we really wanted to go there.

France is also my absolute favorite streetcar destination. This country is so diverse and caters to all tastes. Whether it's shopping in Paris, cycling along the Loire or splashing around on the Atlantic coast - there's something for everyone.

Travel planning

As our little passenger doesn't like to travel long distances, we set the intermediate destinations quite close together and planned enough of a buffer.

In order not to miss the best sightseeing spots on our route, we worked through the Lonely Planet travel guide for France and also referred to it again and again during the trip. We also printed out a map and marked all the important points on it, as well as campsites that we had already picked out in advance. 

Our pitches

In the beginning, we mostly stayed at campsites that we had searched for on Google. The more idyllic the surroundings became, the more we used pitches that we had found in the „Park4Night“ app.

The option of cooking in the car also proved very useful here, as it was not possible to set up chairs and a table everywhere.

As we had a wet room in the Sprinter, we were completely self-sufficient and could travel like this for several days without any problems. This is very practical, especially with a small child. Thanks to the solar cells on the roof, the battery charges itself during the day and we didn't have to pay for electricity at campsites.

Our conclusion of the trip

We so enjoyed being able to completely customize the vacation to our little family's needs. At first I had great respect for traveling like this with a 12-month-old child, but it was just perfect. The weather was also very kind to us. We didn't have a single rainy day in the three weeks. I would always do a trip like this again at this time of year, as the temperatures were super pleasant. 

For us, variety is a big point on vacation. In principle, we always have bumblebees up our butts and want to move on as soon as we think we've discovered everything in one place. Nevertheless, we also want to relax on the beach in between. And of course we don't want to miss out on sport either. This type of travel and this country are a great combination.

We always had everything with us in the Sprinter and were as flexible as possible.

Here is an overview of our itinerary:

1. Kehl with a day trip by bike to Strasbourg
2. Reims 
3. Paris (the campsite is very central - we were at the Arc de Triomphe in 20 minutes by bike)
4. Orleans
5. Loire Valley with its impressive chateaus
6. Tours
7. Le Mont-Saint-Michel
8. Bayeux (including the 1944 landing beaches)
9. Caen
10. Étretat
11. Yport
12. Fécamp
13. Disneyland Paris
14. Champagne Route

Do you have any questions about our trip? Then write to us on Instagram. We'll be happy to share our experiences with you. 

I wish you a safe journey and all the best,
Johanna.

PS: From baguettes to the turquoise sea in Italy: we say goodbye to France and start with tips, facts and highlights from around the world. Sardinia - still our absolute highlight among camping destinations.