Never camped in France and quite fancy it next year, how far south do you need to go to be sure of decent weather?
Are there areas better suited to the first timer, it'll just be me and the wife, we dont mind kids running about but would avoid the sites most popular with young families.
I have no problems with driving big distances, I live in the NE of Scotland so have a decent drive before getting to France, what's best, taking the ferry from Hull to Belgium... or the tunnel ... or the Calais ferry?
Any other advise for France camping rookies?
G...
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Graeme as you might guess, Calais is cheapest and quickest. We normally go down to Spain to ensure the sun and there is more to do, but we did try the west coast at a place called Landivielle not too far from and north of La Rochelle, which we enjoyed but it was very similar to the East Coast of the UK, very flat and quiet. I would say its a good place to start with though if you haven't tried France before.
Apparently it has its own micro climate and reflects that of St Tropez and that area !! At the time I thought .... oh yeah ....... but the man who told me was from Bolton and had stayed there for 6 years on the trot. He was right the weather was fantastic and on many evenings we would see a storm brewing and get treated to a show of lightning but (just as our man would predict) it went inland and missed us every time.
The site has an unfortunate name in La Pong but it was very nice and is flagged by the Caravan Club.
If memory serves me right it was about 450 miles from Calais and took around 8 hours though they have now opened up a new stretch of motorway so it will be quicker than the old N20.
Graeme, I also live in your neck of the woods and drive to France (and other countries) every year. It's generally accepted that to more or less ensure decent weather, you need to go down to the Loire in the West or Burgundy in the East. Personally. I prefer to use the Dover/Calais crossing. It depends what you want to do or see when you arrive in France, but for the first-timer, in my opinion, the Loire is an ideal choice. I would recommend Le Chant d'Oiseau as a small family run site. Small and very peaceful. I made it 333 miles from Calais........950 miles from home. Feel free to ask for any other info, You'll get loads of help on here.
I stay in Aberdeen and we have driven to France about 7 times now. We have tended to do Picardy and Brittany - only venturing to the Loire Vally once. We have always had great weather - in fact twice we have landed in a heatwave. I sometimes joke the best wat to get good weather is go on holiday the same time as me!
We have been in a Gite twice, Eurocamp type arrangement about 4 times and our own tent once. Our preference for crossing is the tunnel, we generally drive down overnight on Friday, cross early morning (they have been very good at letting us on earlier than we booked) then drive to our accommodation.
James
------------- Everything comes to he who waits
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Another British owned site south of Saumur you might like to look at. We work on site as holiday relief and can recommend it. Expensive but this year you could use the ACSI Card for 14 Euros out of season. Have a look at their website anyway.
The weather is properly better once you get south of the Loire. Personally I wouldn't stop for another hour after that unless I was particularly looking for castles or white wine.
We don't have anything like the drive you do, so it's either Dover or Portsmouth for us. We use Dover if we're going to the Med or eastern France and Portsmouth if we're heading west. It's really a calculation of how much the petrol will cost vs the ferry and how much driving you want to do. I know a lot of people do go from Hull as the roads are better on the other side.
Where to camp is a big question, with 10,000 sites in France I don't think we'll ever find a definitive answer. Some of us spent half the winter googling for sites, and that's all part of the fun. There are reviews on UKCS, which is quite useful.
We don't bother booking anything and we go in August. Just drive a bit and if the weather isn't warm/dry enough just drive a bit further south and stop when it looks better.
You are unlikely to have problems getting on most sites at any time of year
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Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Hi Graeme. Would add bologne to Calais in terms of cheap ferries etc (speedferries). Generally weather is better wherever you are in frace but after years there I would suggest you draw a line from west to east just below Paris. Anything south of here in july August is usually sunny. Go for it !!
------------- John
May....Le Port De Limeuil, Dordogne Aug....Trinite sur Mer, Sth Brittany
I'd say 'must have' books are a Michelin Road Atlas - very detailed, and great for finding out of the way places, the Michelin Campsite Guide, the Caravan Club Europe 1 book, and Alan Rogers (you don't necessarily need all three - but we have them). You can borrow good tourist guide books, usually, from your local library.
If you're going outside peak season then www.campingcheque.co.uk, www.touringcheque.co.uk, and www.campingcard.com all offer discounts on site tariffs, so you can get fantastic four star sites for as little as 10 euros (this year's prices - next year may be more). All also give you a guide to their campsites, and a map, which can be very useful for finding good sites.
Haven't done the Toulouse area - so can't help with sites - but I do recommend the Gorges du Tarn/Jonte/Dourbie areas (all converging at Millau) - and that way you'll get to go over the Millau viaduct too.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: France first timer
