spent a fortune on holidays this year (Florida, Egypt, Tenerife) and now that we are properly into camping, we'd like to take the opportunity to have a cheaper holiday, but still get some sunshine.
so, this leads me to think I can drive across to France with family and tent and within a few hours, be somewhere nice and warm and enjoy our tenting lifestyle, without breaking the bank.
the downside is, I don't know where to start. Are there any travel agents that can tell us some good campsites? or can anyone here point me in the right direction of a website/company that specializes in this sort of thing?
many thanks
------------- Half Empty or Half Full, it doesn't matter..it simply means there is room for more beer in your glass!!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
You could have a look at the camping and caravanning abroad discussion board on this website. There is a sticky called "going abroad for the first time" which will provide extremely useful reading.
In terms of tour operators, try Canvas Holidays, Eurocamp, Keycamp. All have good websites - they hire out tents and mobile homes but will have lots of of info on potential campsites where you can book pitch only.
Hi. We've camped in France a few times. It's great! As others have said check out the campsite search on this website and the camping overseas forum. I also look at websites such as: Campingo, camping.fr, and hpa guide and you can also use google map search. Just go for it! We usually pay about £10-£15 p.n. for family of 4 but some sites go up to about £30+ (so campsite prices are about the same as here).
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Like others have said, the resource on here is very good for finding campsites in France, some good campsites books listed below to help you choose, also downloading the the sites to your satnav as POI's will be a big help for when your over there, go to www.eurocampings.eu for the ACSI listed sites, of which there are 8600 many of which are in France, also Archies Campsites which just about lists every campsite in France at a guess I would say some 12000!.
Camping Card ACSI Book.
Le Guide Officiel Campings de France.
Alan Rodgers Camping Caravaning France.
Michelin Camping France.
coolcamping France(bottom of list, but pleasing to read)
No need to involve a Travel agent or Club, just find a site, contact them and book your pitch, once thats done just book your ferry crossing, if you don't want the hassle of pitching your tent for an overnight enroute, then stop at one of the budget hotels, like Formule1, B&B or Premier Classe to name but three, you will find most of the budget hotels are just of the Autoroute.
The ferries are cheap enough these days if you use Dover. To get somewhere with almost guaranteed hot weather you are looking at 500miles or more from northern France so you will probably need to make an overnight stop. Plenty of campsites about everywhere in France. I suggest you first choose the area of France you want go to, then think about campsites.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We have Caravanned in France for the past couple of years, and are planning on camping next year. We are all sun worshippers and normally enjoy tropical hols such as Egypt. However, the last couple of years in France (summer hols) the weather has been very changeable, with rain and cold temps. In order to combat this, we are looking at travelling further South, this will mean at least a 12 hour drive, or an overnight stop.
We have found it cheaper to book into an Etap hotel for the night rather than pay site fees for the stop.
Site fees are in excess of 50 euro's per night for our family, though we do need certain facilities to keep the kids entertained.
------------- Cath - Cinderella is living proof that shoes can change your life!
As has been said - you will need to go well south for your sunshine. Think about what you want - beach/inland/basicsite/5 star etc.Look at a map & decide where you want to go and ask for recommendations on here for sites. Then have a look at some site web pages. Book it if you are going in high season.
Book a crossing - ferry or tunnel, plan a route using some of the route planning sites,think about an overnight stop.
When do you intend to travel - early season (May/June/1st week in July), peak season (July to mid August) or late season (mid-August to late September/October)? This can make a huge difference to campsite recommendations.
Do you have children with you - how many, what ages, and what do they like? Are they 'joiners-in' and would love a kids club, or do they prefer to stay with mum and dad and do family things?
What do you adults like to do when on holiday? Do you want a bar, restaurant and take-away, with a pool complex like a five star hotel, and evening entertainment or do you prefer to be the only people on a five pitch site in an orchard, where you can have a quiet and relaxing time?
How far do you want to drive? Can you share the driving? What about overnight stops - hotel or campsite?
Because there are so many campsites in France (around 11,000) it's best to narrow things down a bit. There's a site to suit everyone, and already some great advice from the knowledgeable people on here. You don't need a travel agent these days - you can find out all you need to know from the internet, and from people who have actually 'been there, done it, know the snags - and who know the best campsites'. It's easy enough to arrange the whole thing yourself - or you can go to tour operators such as Eurocamp Independent, Alan Rogers, Select Sites, and others - who will do it for you, as will the Caravanning and Camping Club, and the Caravan Club. But armed with a little knowledge from here, you can arrange your own package exactly as you want it!
You can pay as little as 10 euros for a pitch, including electricity, or as camp-cat says, as much as 50 euros - but there are many many sites in between. Give us a few more clues about what you want and we'll all be more than glad to help.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
My son and his family, wife and two teenagers, went to (la croix du vieux pont) North east of Paris. August gone. About 140 miles from Calais. 300 miles less for you to get there? We live in Northumberland. It is a holiday camp with false beach and swimming pools etc. They enjoyed it and recommended it to us. The family will be taking two large tents and a folding camper, 8 adults and 7 children there next August. He says the prices are OK. and his weather was mostly good. It is mainly advertised on the net for apartments and statics but it is a very large site and OK for tourers and tents.
All the best,
Fred.
Tenting it in France is fantastic fun, great value, and really easy to do, with the one exception of getting yourselves and all your kit over there. Not that the journey will be that difficult, but to get the best chance of good weather (it sounds like you want sunshine) you're best to head to the bottom half of France, which will mean quite a lot of driving, and probably a stop over each way. I'd say it's definitely worth it.
As an example, let's say you wanted to camp near Vallon Pont D'Arc in the Ardeche (south of France) going via Dover (cheapest crossing by far), overnighting at Dijon. That would mean (you can use viamichellin.co.uk to work out routes):
- driving to Dover
- car ferry to Calais (approx 50 GBP return), or channel tunnel (easier, but pricier)
- 5 hours easy toll motorway driving to Dijon
- overnight at a hotel/motel, enjoy the city for a night ...
- 3 hours easy toll motorway driving
- 1 hour scenic drive to get to the campsite
- cost of tolls 70 EUR each way (I think)
This is an expensive toll route, but it's easy going and gets you to a superb camping area with a great climate. If you avoid peak times you can camp at quality sites for less than 15 EUR a night (plus kids supplement), so once you get there it's a bargain.
If all that sounds a bit much, you can aim for somewhere further north (e.g. Brittany) and take more of a chance on the weather (e.g. similar to Cornwall).
An even easier option could be to fly/drive and get a pre-erected tent in the area of your choice.
We went to france in our tent for the first time in 2009 and we loved every minute of it and didn't have any probelms. You probably need to go as far as the Vendee or Charente for beaches and almost guaranteed good weather. As your tent is pretty large you maybe better with an overnight crossing with LD lines (much cheaper then Brittany Ferries) which would leave you about 5-6hrs driving on the other side rather than the bother of an overnight stop. I haven't checked the time table this year but ours was 11pm-8am a late night for any children but thats a blessing when you are driving so long the next day as they will sleep.
If you want a more commercial site with pools, activities, bars, restaurants etc I'd request a brochure from Thomson Al Fresco as they are in a good deal of these. I've been to Sequoia Parc (France) & Bella Italia (Italy) both have Thomsons in and they have been great sites - if thats what you want.
With your tent which I believe is Polyester I'd definitely request a partially shaded pitch as it will get extremely hot in the midday sun. There was a Hartford opposite us in France on an exposed pitch who we got friendly with and they couldn't go inside their tent until after 7pm.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: want to camp in France next year...
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