Real dry-stone-walled dales, a genuine limestone amphitheater at Malham Cove, waterfalls at Aysgarth, a thousand-year-old cheesemaker in Hawes — and the actual roads the Tour de France climbed in 2014, still some of the best road cycling in England today.
The Yorkshire Dales became a National Park in 1954: a landscape of steep-sided limestone valleys, dry-stone walls climbing improbable hillsides, and villages like Hawes and Grassington that still function as real market towns rather than tourist sets. Its defining feature is the limestone itself — nowhere more dramatic than Malham Cove, a curved 80-metre-high rock amphitheater carved by a waterfall that no longer flows (the water now runs underground), with a limestone pavement on top straight out of a geology textbook (it doubled as a filming location for a Harry Potter film). In July 2014, this same landscape hosted the opening two stages of the Tour de France Grand Départ — the race's first visit to Yorkshire, watched by an estimated 2–3 million roadside spectators, with the Category 4 Buttertubs Pass near Hawes among the day's climbs. The roads haven't changed since: this is genuinely serious road cycling territory, not just a nostalgic footnote.
Meudon-la-Forêt to Calais is roughly 290 km. From Calais/Folkestone, Hawes (in the heart of Wensleydale) is a further ~560 km up the M20/M25/M1/A1(M) motorway chain and then west on the A684 through Wensleydale itself — for a total of roughly 850 km one-way. That's a genuine two-day drive each way (8–9 hours of motorway plus the crossing on day one, then a shorter run into the Dales on day two), a bit further than the Peak District trip in this series since the Dales sit further north.
Charging: with a realistic ~330–370 km range, most individual legs on this route (Calais/Folkestone to the Midlands, Midlands to Hawes) are actually short enough on their own not to force a stop. The real reason to charge at Birstall (Leeds) just off the M62/A62 corridor, or at Monks Cross (York) — both roughly 45–60 minutes from Hawes or Grassington — is that the National Park's rural roads have little to no fast-charging infrastructure once you're off the A-roads, so it's worth topping up to a fuller buffer before heading in rather than strictly needing to for range reasons.
Sources: Eurotunnel/DFDS pricing pattern consistent with other UK trips in this series; Tesla Supercharger map (Birstall, Leeds; Monks Cross, York); general route-planner distances via M20/M25/M1/A1(M)/A684.
Motorway run to Calais-Coquelles, load onto the Shuttle (or DFDS ferry from Calais to Dover). Remember to keep left in Kent. The Folkestone-to-East-Midlands leg is comfortably within a single charge on this car's realistic ~330–370 km range, so no charging stop is strictly needed — an optional top-up near Maidstone/Ashford is there if you'd rather buy some buffer before pushing north past London on the M25/M1. Overnight near the East Midlands — England has no Aire network and wild camping isn't legal here, so plan around a cheap campsite or services-adjacent stop rather than improvising.
Push north on the M1/A1(M); the leg itself is within range, but it's worth topping up at Birstall or Monks Cross since the Dales themselves have little fast-charging infrastructure, then cut west through Wensleydale on the A684 to Hawes — at 300m the highest market town in the Dales, and the trip's base. Settle into camp, wander the small town, and get an early night before a full day of sightseeing.
Morning at the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes — this is the trip's local-specialty splurge, and a genuinely real one thousand-year cheesemaking heritage, not a gift-shop gimmick. The Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese Experience includes a live cheese and butter-making demonstration, a viewing gallery, and a guided tasting room; adult tickets are £5.95 (about £4.96 booked online), child tickets £3.50, family tickets (2 adults + 2 children) £14.95 — kids under 16 get free entry on weekends and school holidays. Buy a wedge of real Yorkshire Wensleydale (with or without cranberries) to take back to camp.
Afternoon: drive or ride the short hop to Aysgarth Falls, a triple flight of wide limestone waterfalls on the River Ure — free to view from the National Park's riverside path (a small pay-and-display parking fee applies at the Aysgarth Falls car park, run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority). If you brought the bike, this is also the moment to ride part of the actual 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ route: Stage 1 climbed the Buttertubs Pass just outside Hawes — at 526m, it was the highest point of the entire 2014 Tour, named for the odd limestone potholes ("buttertubs") near the summit where farmers are said to have once lowered butter down to keep it cool. It's a real, signed public road, free to ride, and a serious but entirely achievable climb.
Drive south to Malham and walk up to Malham Cove — a genuinely dramatic curved limestone cliff face, roughly 80m high and 300m wide, formed by a waterfall that dried up thousands of years ago (the river now flows underground and re-emerges at the foot of the cove). It's free to visit, with a short, well-signed walk up from the village, and a set of stone steps to the limestone pavement on top for a look over the amphitheater's rim. No camping or abseiling is permitted at the Cove itself, and parking directly on Cove Road is restricted — use the pay-and-display car parks in Malham village. While you're there, Gordale Scar (a spectacular limestone ravine) and Janet's Foss waterfall are both an easy add-on walk nearby.
If time allows, swing through Grassington — a real cobbled market town used as a filming location for period dramas, with its own dry-stone-walled charm and a good café stop for the road. Pack up camp, charge at Birstall or Monks Cross, and start the long drive south — most people will want to split the return into two driving days rather than one very long push, same as the way up.
Bike loaded inside per the Car Camping & Bike Guide — no range penalty. This is a genuine road-cycling destination: the Dales' quiet, steeply rolling B-roads are exactly what made them a Tour de France Grand Départ venue in 2014, and climbs like Buttertubs Pass and the Coverdale/Kidstones roads used that year are still open, signed public roads today. Bring proper gearing — these are short but genuinely steep limestone-dale climbs, not gentle rail trails.
| Category | Cost |
|---|---|
| Charging (France + England, ~1,700 km round trip) | ≈ €75–110 |
| French tolls (Meudon–Calais return) | ≈ €55–70 |
| Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, return, booked ahead off-peak | ≈ £140–180 (≈ €165–210) |
| Lodging (3 nights paid campsite, ≈£20–25/night) | ≈ €70–90 |
| Wensleydale Creamery Cheese Experience (splurge) | £5.95 (≈ €7) |
| Aysgarth Falls / Malham village parking | ≈ £4–6/day (≈ €5–7) |
| Food (self-cooked, ~5 days) | ≈ €45–60 |
| Total | €380–480 |
Ferry/tunnel and charging costs are genuinely dynamic — re-check nearer your travel dates. Rate used: £1 ≈ €1.17 (July 2026, approximate).