KOMBI Kaper 2015

We visited ile de re last year on our grand tour of french beaches. It is a lovely island that I would heartily recommended visiting. It is small enough to make all of it just a bike ride away. The island has cycle routes all over it, and is geared up for people to use bicycle transport to get around. There is a good island bus service, along with a 2 hourly service to la Rochelle. The beaches on the west are fantastic. The capital village, st martin, is well worth a visit, sitting inside a star shaped fort. The island has a toll bridge to get on it, cant remember exact detals but think it was pay one way. This can and does cause traffic queues in summer months.
We were there in june, out of season, when it is empty. I remember my impression at the time was that it must be packed in the summer holidays so if you do choose it for next year expect half of france to be there with you, which is fine if you like crowds.

thanks for that Tim ,we will try and find out some rota details and get back to you.Maybe a bit late in getting back though,but will have to work in if we can.

The poll's running neck and neck between Scotland and France - come on people add your votes for what will be a great trip whatever the venue.

If you've never been to Scotland or France why not have a look here?

SCOTLAND

SCOTLAND 2

FRANCE

FRANCE 2

Does the 30 day poll reset its timer when you add more fields Tim?

How long have people got to cast their votes?

Tallulah wrote:

Does the 30 day poll reset its timer when you add more fields Tim?

How long have people got to cast their votes?

I extended the poll to 40 days when I edited it on Oct 1st.

Tim, it looks as if this is so close that some sort of tie break poll might be needed, e.g.

Would you go to Scotland?
Would you go to France?
Which would be your preference?

We're prepared to go with the consensus, because we might plan to do both next year anyway.

alderley wrote:

Tim, it looks as if this is so close that some sort of tie break poll might be needed, e.g.

Would you go to Scotland?
Would you go to France?
Which would be your preference?

We're prepared to go with the consensus, because we might plan to do both next year anyway.

the northern doo is going to be in Scotland and was ace last year so no need to miss out if we go to France can do both

Change of tack for this .... let's simplify things.

Please now just think of this as a 2 week trip.  Regardless of destination.

Please indicate your preferred trip on the new poll, which runs for 14 days from now.  

Voted - the Vendee would suit us if it was the Ile de Re...

The French bit would be Ile de Re .... (assuming they can take us, which is being checked currently.)

Excellent - I'll start canvassing for France straight away...

Oh, I forgot the donkeys in coullots:


(Oh look, Mrs B has bought a green chopping board from the quirky shop in the town at St Martin)

Need more votes guys!

Hi Fellow Dubbers
Apologies for the lack of posting of late.
More apologies! - as I have not read every post in this subject - so if I'm out of date or repeating what loads of other people have said then please forgive.
We love going on the Kombi Kaper - going on both 2013 and 14 like many others  - and it is the company more than the location that is important to us - we just really enjoy chillin' with the Brazibay bunch, having a good laugh and cruising around in our luverly vans!
But - that said......
France is just so handy for everyone - and we want to retract our original idea of North Spain - because we drove down from La Rochelle to the Picos this year - and it took ages (pretty much 12 hours) was quite hard work, and there were loads of costs with tolls etc.  The Ferry back from Santander was no where near as nice as the one we have had from Brittany Ferries in the past - it was some Greek boat they have bought which was cheap and tacky and not remotely as nice as the one we've had in the past.
Also - the Spanish campsites are 'packed' and have quite small pitches - and it all felt quite claustrophobic on their sites - the one we had in the mountains wasn't too bad but the beach one was sardine like!
That being said - we had a great time once there - with fab scenery and beaches etc - but to be honest - you can get the same in France without the massive drive and costs.
We are now seriously behind the following train of thought:
a)     2 Weeks away
b)     1 Week in South Britanny - somewhere like Quimper or south of there - ideally in a Les Castels type Chateau site
c)     The other week on Ile de Re.  We've done Ile D'Oleron which was okay - but we've heard Ile de Rey is much better by far - so we really fancy that.
d)     For us - starting end of July is perfect - as like this year - it fitted into our calendar just superbly and left the rest of the summer for festivals and gigs etc.
e)     No Yellange Vans allowed!

So - that is our thoughts - but as many have said - we can go with the flow.
I think it is very likely that we will sign up if the above are what we go for.
All the very best guys and gals
Rich (Batty)
PS - Only kiddin' about the Yellange! Hehehehe

No yellange, no emergency toolbox!

I agree with Batman. We drove to Northern Spain in 2012 when we left the Forum gang in the Vendee but we had another two weeks and took our time, stopping in Cognac, the Dordogne, the Foothills of the Pyrenees before having a few days in Asturias.

Whilst the site at La Paz, Llanes was fantastic it would be a long drive in one shot from the Ile de Re.

As for the ferry from Santander I think they do two different ones. Ours wasn't as good as the St Malo one but was ok. I think there is a cheaper one which has fewer frills. There is actually a ferry from St Nazaire to Gijon which could be an option to avoid the long drive to Spain. I believe it now runs direct to Poole as well.

So ref these last 2 posts do I take it you DON'T want to go to Spain now?

Which last 2 posts, Tim? Not sure if you're asking me specifically or everyone so I'll give you my response.

I'd LOVE to go to Spain and if the Forum trip goes ahead we may extend our holiday to include Spain but I think the drive south will be difficult in one go, particularly for those with young children. If the plan is to have a stopover then that makes sense. 

Basically, if the trip includes the Ile de Re we'll definitely be there...

Looks like Scotland is suffering from another strong NO Campaign - Shame !!

Ile de Re to Santander is about 400 miles. That is definitely farther than we would want to travel in a day, in fact it's pushing it over 2 days. For us part of the pleasure of having the van is not feeling that we have to be in too much of a hurry to get anywhere. Since we are both retired we can take as long as we want, but of course most don't have that luxury. That doesn't mean that we wouldn't want to go to Spain, but as per Italy we wouldn't want to feel that we are in a marathon race against the clock to get there.

I seem to remember that the original poll had a number of options for destinations including France alone. 

I'd have picked that one this time had it been an option, but voted for France/Spain rather than Scotland.

Having said that, if the majority want Scotland we'd definitely be up for that, as it would be easier with Boz.

We'd still be going to the Ile de Re, though, independently - I've promised myself some time there in 2015 as we didn't have a warm sunny trip this year.

AbsintheKombi wrote:

... as we didn't have a warm sunny trip this year.

I think that is the pertinent point Abs.

Would love a Scotland trip as abroad is no good for us with the Dogs, the weather is a huge deciding factor though. To commit and find it's going to be 10 days of cold wet weather isn't going to make it as much fun. Saying that I'm still interested if it goes ahead.

We did 8 days and 960 miles in Scotland this august just gone..... fabulous time, and for those of you that haven't done Scotland yet, Its well worth doing.

timmm wrote:

We did 8 days and 960 miles in Scotland this august just gone..... fabulous time, and for those of you that haven't done Scotland yet, Its well worth doing.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you Tim but people are after guaranteed good weather which is simply more probable heading south.