LeMans 2017

Have a look at a couple of previous threads from last year:=

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/le-mans-24-hour-race

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/le-mans-for-the-non-french

The Centre ville of Le Mans or near the gare would probably be the best place to stay if you want to see the old city and for ambiance. I love Le Mans. I stayed at the Ibis Styles near the gare and enjoyed it. The Hotel Charleston also looks very nice. One of the best meals of my life was at Le Perigord Gourmand in the old city.

I don't think you could camp for this particular event, anyway. I do see a camping option for smaller ones. It's a huge venue with thousands of people.

My husband is a rabid open wheel road racing fan. We went to the 24 hours in 2012. Here's what we learned.

1. If you don't have your accommodations secured by January, you will have to stay pretty far away. For us it was an hour drive. We parked in the town of Le Mans and took the little streetcar to the track. If you are not close, a car will be required to go back and forth, at least to park and catch the streetcar. Parking is limited at the track, although you can get a pricey parking pass that allows you to drive around to different locations on the track.

2. You can pay the entrance fee to just be on the grounds and wander around to watch from different locations. There are no seats for you. You must bring your own. Many, many people do this.

3. If you get tickets for a grandstand, you must also get entry fee tickets. The entry fees are not included in the grandstand price. This is not clear when you purchase the tickets online. Voice of experience, here.

4. If the weather is bad, the place is a mud wallow. When we went it was cold and rainy and slippery. Places that you expect to be paved are not. Wear appropriate shoes. There is a lot of walking.

5. The men's toilets usually have very long lines. The guys drink a lot. They are as likely to pee near the toilets as inside.

6. The women's toilets usually have neither a line nor toilet paper. Come prepared. I noticed no baby changing station in the one closest to us.

7. There is a big carnival that goes on at night with very loud music down by the Dunlop bridge. We had seats in the grandstand there. It was a remarkable place to watch from. But the carnival stage was right behind us. They were rehearsing almost within an hour of the start of the race. They were so loud that we literally could not hear the cars on the track.

8. It is so crowded that you can hardly get through the people to go
   anywhere. When we arrived, an ambulance was trying to get to someone who was injured. The crowds would not let it pass. That was the first of 2 ambulances we saw that afternoon. Both went to the hill our grandstand was on. In both cases, people had fallen off the steep hill and had head injuries.

9. When you Google Le Mans 2017, you gets lots of options for packages and buying tickets. There's not yet as much info on 2017 at the official website (http://www.lemans.org/en/24-hours-of-le-mans/) as one would hope. That should be corrected soon. If you can't read French, click on the British flag for English wherever you can. Suffice it to say, it is not cheap.

10. At lemans.org, there are links to other sources of info. Signing up for the newsletter would probably be a good idea.

About the toddler. Before you commit any money of any kind, be sure to check, maybe by email, that a child that small will be allowed. We saw very few kids at all, and none that appeared under the age of about 12.

Thank you so much for the information. My husband and I are discussing this option as well as the "city" races that occur. Good to know about the mud, that could kinda put a damper on the party :)

While I haven't been to Le Mans, I am a race track guy, including driving my own cars on tracks.

I can't really recommend young children at a track because of the insane noise. I can only imagine how much more this is amplified by a 24 hour race and the party atmosphere of Les Mans (see above-mentioned concert).

I rarely see small children at the track, but if you insist on going, please ensure you have the proper ear protection for your child. They make toddler-sized ear muffs to protect their ears.