The south of France is probably the original venue for Brits taking holidays in France

Self drivers who haven't taken holidays in the south of France before need to be aware of the distance involved before making any sort of booking, and if you are a poor traveller or get car sick then may we suggest this trip isn't for you?

Our very detailed Michelin map of France calculates that it is 1228 KM, or 767 miles from the port of Calais to Nice, right down there in the south, so places like Cannes, Agay, St Raphael etc are only a stone's throw away. For the sake of arguement we must assume that when disembarking from the Tunnel at Sangatte must be another 5 or 6 KM.

I could take you back 45 years ago (but I won't, honest!) to my first trip down there in 1965 when there were no autoroutes, no pay per mile either, but there were no roads diverted around towns, villages or cities either so you had to drive straight through, and more often than not the village streets were cobbled!

OK, we've established that it's a fair old trek but the journey itself is far from arduous, and you really, really can't get lost so long as you follow signs for the major towns/cities on your route and don't deviate from that route until you see a sign for the next place on your list.

So from the Calais area your route should look something like this:-

You first of all head for St Omer where they make the lager, >>> Bethune >>> Arras >>> St Quentin >>>Reims of Champagne fame >>> Troyes >>> Dijon where the mustard is made >>> Chalon sur Saone >>> Macon >>> Lyon >>> Valance >>> Orange, and then your journey can either go past Nimes >>> Montpellier >>> Agde (the naked town) >>> Narbonne and Perpignan near to the Spanish border. Or to Provence via Aix  >>> St Tropez >>> St Raphael >>> Nice and Cannes.

At a guess, your holidays in the south of France will either be of the tent camping variety or you'll be staying in a mobile home - otherwise you would have flown and saved yourself the long drive.

Please don't make the silly mistake which I make most years on the first day of my hols: Don't spend too much time out in that ultra hot sun until you are accustomed to it and have applied lashings of sun screen with a good factor.

The south of France can be seriously hot, and the time when most Brits go there is when it reaches the peak temperatures - July and August. This is precisely the time when the locals (if they have any choice in the matter) leave and go somewhere cooler for a few weeks.