How best to prepare for a vacation in an electric car?
To avoid any problems on the road, Beev advises you to plan your itinerary in advance, so as to avoid any unforeseen problems linked to your vehicle'sautonomy and recharging. To do this, don't hesitate to visit the "Easy Charging Quality" mobile application. This application lists over 350,000 charging stations throughout Europe.
It gives you access to the largest recharging network for your EV.
The Easy Charging Quality application gives you access to over 350,000 charging stations worldwide. In just three steps, you can start charging:
- Enter your payment card number, scan the QR code or select the link sent by your mobility operator.
- Log in with an existing account or register as a new user
- Configure your filters and start loading!
You can also add your own vehicle.
By adding your vehicle to the account, the application will automatically display the charging stations relevant to the car you wish to charge.
You can add charging stations to your favorites. With a simple touch of the screen, you can now save your favorite charging stations for easy navigation.
Filter the charging stations you want to appear on the map.
The app will only show you the charging stations you're looking for, whether they're available chargers, fast chargers or chargers offering app-based payments.
You can pay any way you like.
Several payment options are available to EV drivers. In addition to using your charge card, the application also supports several direct payment methods (subject to change by country).
View your previous transactions, manage your payment cards and modify application settings in the account menu page.
You can also use ABRP to plan your route. ABRP is a platform that not only lists charging stations, but also gives you a predefined itinerary to avoid blackouts without nearby charging stations. All so you can get to your destination as quickly as possible.
The Ossau Valley
Located in Béarn, the Ossau Valley is a valley in the French Pyrenees.
It's the perfect destination for those seeking peace and quiet in the heart of nature. It's a very attractive destination in both summer and winter.
In summer, you can take advantage of the mountains for hiking, but above all, you'll enjoy bathing in the various lakes and spas located on the site.
In winter, it's all about the ski resorts and snowboarding!
The Vallée d'Ossau is 30 km south of Pau, and will take you no less than 8h30 to get there, including a 55-minute recharge, if you're travelling from Paris.
We've simulated the route with a 2022 Tesla Model 3, long range.
You can do the same with all kinds of vehicles and from any starting point.
The Ossau Valley is also accessible by direct train from Toulouse, Bordeaux and Paris via Pau. You can also reach Lourdes by night train from Paris.
Marseille - The calanques
It's undoubtedly one of France's best-known and most visited tourist destinations every year. Stretching for over twenty kilometers, the calanques of Marseille, or Cassis, are among France's most beautiful natural sites. You'll find beaches, pebbles, fine sands, creeks and magnificent turquoise waters to recharge your batteries. However, not all calanques are accessible by car. Only a few are accessible by car, but it's not a good idea to go that way, as parking spaces are extremely popular. On top of this, traffic is particularly heavy, especially during school vacations.
We recommend that you drive to Marseille by electric car, but get to the calanques by public transport. By doing so, you'll be able to access all the calanques you want, the only condition being that you have the right hiking equipment.
Another option: a boat tour!
You can visit the calanques by boat from the Old Port or Pointe Rouge. Cruise boats, canoes, kayaks, motorboats - there's something for everyone!
We'll give you details of how to get to Marseille by electric car from Paris.
You can also reach Marseille by TGV from many stations throughout France.
Auvergne volcanoes
The volcanoes of the Auvergne are likewise the kind of heavenly landscapes that lurk just about everywhere in France. These volcanic landscapes are simply breathtaking, both in terms of their heights and the verdant colors that make them up. You can visit these mountain ranges on foot or by panoramic train! We particularly recommend taking a moment to explore the Puy-de-Dôme. Another particularly rewarding experience is a visit to the Puy de Lemptégy, where, accompanied by a guide, you can discover the inside of an active volcano! (This is obviously a joke).
To get there, as always, we've provided an overview on the map supplied by ARBP :
It's worth noting that it's much quicker to get to the Auvergne volcanoes than to Marseille or the Ossau Valley, which are located further in the center of France.
You can also get there by train via Clermont-Ferrand by direct train from Lyon, Paris or Dijon. When you arrive in Clermont-Ferrand, you're at the foot of the Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne.
The Valley of Wonders
If you're looking for a cultural experience with a change of scenery, the Vallée des Merveilles is the place for you. It takes you back 5,000 years to the Neolithic era, with over 40,000 rock engravings. The Vallée des Merveilles is a veritable open-air museum as well as a magnificent hiking area.
Between rocky but colorful landscapes on one side, and lush greenery on the other, the Vallée des Merveilles is sure to satisfy every desire. The area is home to a wealth of protected wildlife. There are a number of rules to observe if you decide to take a walk here:
- prohibited to use a shod walking stick
- forbidden to engrave on rocks
- no touching or walking on the rock engravings
- prohibits the use of non-biodegradable products (detergents, shampoos)
- It is forbidden to bring pets
- forbidden to pick plants
- no campfires allowed
- forbidden to fly a drone
Here are the details of the route proposed by ABRP in an electric car:
You can also get there by train from Nice to Tende, then take a bus to Castérino.
The Vosges
The Vosges, like the other destinations presented here, offers magnificent scenery to anyone who comes to visit. You can follow the route des crêtes from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in the north of the region to Uffholtz in the south. The region also offers relaxation activities in the thermal waters, so you can rest in the best possible conditions!
Here is the recommended route to get there by electric vehicle:
You can also get there easily by public transport from Paris, Lille, Nantes or Rennes.
The Stevenson trail
The Chemin de Stevenson, named after the Scottish writer who was also a great traveler, starts at Le Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne and ends at Alès in the Languedoc. It offers a host of diverse landscapes, each as sublime as the next. From the deep, luminous Cévennes valleys to the legendary Gevaudant country, where you can see magnificent wild forests lit up by pastures and marshes, there's plenty for visitors to see! And let's not forget the colorful landscapes between the volcanic reliefs and agricultural plateaus of the Velay region, as well as Mont-Lozère, a bare massif sprinkled with rounded granite chaos and dotted with fresh springs.
To get there by electric car, you'll need to spend 5 hours on the road, as shown in this itinerary:
It's also possible to get there by public transport: you'll need to take the TGV to Nîmes station, which is 30 minutes from Alès, where the hike starts.
You can also get to Saint-Étienne station, which will give you 1h30 access to Le Puy-en-Velay.
In conclusion
Today, it's pretty easy to get around France in an electric car. The key? Prepare your itinerary in advance, which is easy to do thanks to tools such as ABRP, Easy charging quality and ChargeMap. Here's the proof with these destinations for your electric car vacations. Don't hesitate to give us feedback on your vacations, whether by electric car or train, in the comments!
