I have just returned from visiting my parents at their home in Northern Brittany, France. Isabelle and I took the slightly alternative method of transport of our bike and trailer. Due to the high cost of taking a car on Brittany ferries this time of year we would usually go and visit my parents as foot passengers but this year I wanted the flexibility of transport so we decided to ‘trailer it’, the a return journey for Isabelle and myself was just £60 (just £5 more expensive than on foot) as opposed to the £200+ to take a car. I was a little trepedacious about our more unusual method of transport-how would I be able to carry enough stuff for 10 days whilst riding a bike with a toddler? How would it be lining up with the cars to get on the ferry? However I am so glad that we took our trusty trailer…..

It is quite surprising that when confined to one rucksack which you have to be able to cycle with, how much you can pack in a bike trailer. It has a handy sort of ‘boot’ behind where I packed a multitude of things; shoes, wash-bags, toys, bottles, coats etc plus I managed to pack quite a lot around Isabelle inside the trailer, so for storage I have to give 10/10-brilliant! As for getting on the ferry, Isabelle got so many ‘ooos’ and ‘aaahhs’ from admiring fellow passengers in the cars and the ferry staff were very helpful getting us on board promptly so we didn’t have to spend time queuing, it was actually quite fun!

Having the use of the bike and trailer was an absolute godsend, it is pretty flat where my parents are and we managed to cover several miles a day, we used the trailer for our daily trips to the beach; bucket, spade, fishing net, towels, water, snacks, you name it- the trailer carried it! We also explored the area with the trailer visiting local markets and nearby towns, it really was so much more enjoyable than driving as you get to see so much more of the country side by bike and with the fairly flat terrain I hardly noticed that I was towing 15kg of toddler plus equipment.

So as you can probably tell by now, we love our trailer; as well as the great storage, ease of pulling and Isabelle’s genuine contentment travelling this way, another big plus is that Isabelle is able to fall asleep in her little trailer-a big bonus as this meant that her need of a nap did not mean that I had to alter our plans (proof below!).

So all in all our little bike trailer served us very well on holiday-any negatives? Just one tiny issue, with the hundreds of miles of use its had a wheel had started to rub on a bolt so as a temporary fix my Dad turned the bolt around so the smooth side was next to the wheel- this sorted the problem until the boys in Dartmoor cycles workshop could have a look at it.

Would I recommend the trailer to anyone with small children? YES defiantly. Would I take it to France on the ferry again? Yes next year here we come! Are we going to continue our trailer adventures? Of course it would just be nice to do so in some sunshine!

Rating for our trailer: 9/10 (1 point deducted for the bolt rubbing).