Hi - hoping for some advice from you wise people. Basic questions I know but please bear with me!
This year we're sticking safe in Wales. Next year we are planning a trip to France, and I'm already getting worried! Some of my concerns....
My tent is an Icarus 600 - will we roast in it? If I get a cotton tent I don't think everything will fit in the car.
Or should we do a eurocamp style holiday - but sooooo expensive (we're teacher with 2 kids, can only go peak season) and maybe a bit too butlins for us.
Hubby has never driven abroad, so need to be not too many hours drive from ferry. Where would be good to stay?
When is the cheapest time to book?
I'm sure there will be more questions but that will do for now.
Thanks! Kate
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Your tent will be fine. See the thread "new tent for France" that is further down this page...or maybe on page 2 by now. You won't be in it during the day, so won't roast. The tents cool down pretty fast at night and as long as you have ventilation you'll be fine.
Eurocamp -expensive in peak season. I wouldn't bother. You can get some great deals for half term though, so always worth looking if you want to go away then. Last year we got a week in a static in Holland (lovely in May) for white week for £200. Including the ferry.
Driving. See the "driving in France" sticky at the top, and the "France for first timers". It's a doddle compared to UK driving, seriously.
Location. Up to you really. Do you want beach, scenery, rivers, gorges, wine tasting? Give us an idea and we can give you more of a clue. How good are your kids at travelling? Our first France trip (with kids that were 2,5 and 6) was to the Dordogne, about 3/4 of the way down on the West of France inland. Two days to get there and we were in a tent so overnighted in a cheap hotel. Rivers, castles, streams to play in. We're going back this year as they are now 7,10 and 11 and want to kayak down the Dordogne.
Loire is an easy days drive with nice chateaux and rolling countryside and lots of places to visit -zoos and so on. Weather is less reliable than further South but often very nice in August.
Vendee is the seaside bit of France down the West coast. Very popular and lots of big, all singing all dancing busy sites. Like marmite, you either love it or hate it.
Brittany. Seaside. Cornwall in France really. We've never bothered as it's a long drive from Calais and we prefer to head South for better weather, but it's again very popular and meant to be lovely.
I wouldn't recommend the Med in the height of the Summer season, it's chockablock and a blooming long way.
Booking. Depends on the site. If it's a busy popular one, then asap. Booking for the next year generally starts at the end of the season, but some sites will book in advance of that. Book your crossing as soon as they become available as prices go up as it gets neaerer. Booking for Summer 2012 will generally open in October-ish.
Quote: Originally posted by exessexmum on 02/7/2011
I wouldn't recommend the Med in the height of the Summer season, it's chockablock and a blooming long way.
However plenty of great places like the Ardeche, Tarn and Verdon gorges that are an hour or so inland much quieter and still as hot. Perhaps too far to drive for a first trip abroad, but well worth it when you want to go further.
Re: Diving in France
It's a damn site easier and better than driving in the UK!
------------- Ollie
2016
Monplaisir - Provence
Camping Les Gorges du Loup
I would second the Ardeche, following mmany years of doing the Med both ends, we went to the Southern Ardeche for the first time in 2009, liked it so much we went again last year, and are already booked for next year.
We nearly always go to France in July, and have found the Ardeche to be less expensive in all respects than the Med, and the climate is just the same.
As for the tent thing, well you will be fine with your "Polyester" tent, it's really only in the mornings when the Sun is comming up, that you would find the most noticable difference between that and a "Cotton" tent, rest of the time you are outside enjoying life.
Driving, well what can I say, France is easiar than UK, last year heading North on Wednesday 14th July, we were almost the only vehicle on the Autoroute, OK it was a public holiday, but it felt quite spooky at the time.
I too am a teacher so limited to peak times. I would say 'Go for it!' and make the most of the long holiday. I started 23 years ago when I was a teenage foster cater. I looked at Keycamo etc and couldn't believe the cost. At the time I had no camping gear but decided to invest in all of it and 'do' France. I had only been driving for a year so did a weekend trip Dover- Calais in the Easter hold to try out the driving. It was no problem!! So off we ventured - 2 16 year olds and my partner (who didn't drive) for 3 weeks. We headed to Paris first then Serignan in the south/ Languedoc. What a fab time we had!!
I have since done numerous trips - Normandy/ Brittany/ Vendee and lots of times to the Ardeche and the Languedoc. I'm a bit of a sun worshipped though and all the kids I've patented have travelled well and loved the beach. And of course never for less than 3 weeks - the way I look at it once I've done the drive down we have to make the most of it! Only additional cost for extra weeks is site fees cos If we were at home we'd have food and entertainment to cover!
So I say do it! Plan well - and there is lots of information and advice available on here - use it!
Enjoy! You will never look back!
Driving in France is really quite pleasurable, much less stressful than other part of europe and certainly the UK.
Eurocamp, canvas holidays, french freedom, venue, matthews and keycamp all offer various sites, worth a look for site info if nothing else. Yes you pay more, but only in peak season.
We went may half term this year to a site in Tuscany, had a ready tent with canvas and paid £82 for the week, there was no way i would have got that rate taking my own tent.
You have to weigh it up, we dont take our own tent abroad because we dont have a trailer, and personally i like my holidays to be easy so we either stay in a cottage style mobile home, a tent or we go to a villa.
We have used the above companies every year for 9 years now, going somewhere different every summer but always to France. We love it and pay around £1200 for two weeks, including a van and a western crossing which i think isnt bad for two weeks summer hols.
We have never had "a butlins experience" on any of the sites as we choose carefully, but i really dont think there is a comparison between the two.
You do have to watch prices, i sit for hours and compare every price going and eurocamp and keycamp are way more expensive than French freedom and venue holidays.
Venue at the moment have some amazing prices for the whole of the summer holidays, have a look and it will give you an idea for what you would pay.
For a first time to france i would go for Brittany, the Vendee or the Dordogne. IF you like sea then the first two or inland the Dordogne.
Let us know which area you fancy then we can give you some campsite suggestions.
Bon voyage
------------- France Lover
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
LOL I love it when teachers say they are limited to peak times - I've got kids and am also limited to peak times :).
However, no dig intend I assure you.
I'm not a camper, so cannot help with the tent / campsite recomendations; but I often drive abroad. In France it's really easy, just stick to the speed limits, take your time and enjoy the holiday. If you can invest in a European SatNav then it's even easier. The cheapest crossing is normally Dover / Dunkirk with Norfolk Line but we prefer the extra cost of the Chunnel - it just seems quicker and more flexible. The Portsouth routes all take around 5 hours or so which can be expensive time on a boat :) but you avoid four hours of driving and 22 € of tolls each way - to get into the North West of France (Normandy - we love it).
do it!!! france ,i think is the best place there is for camping only problem is once you start you wont want to camp here anymore,well thats what happenrd to us. as for driving its so easy the roads are fab and well sighnposted you cant go wrong. i like normandy its not to far and as my cars getting a bit old now i dont fancy going further probably me being a bit paranoid lol
------------- cabanon antigua erde 122 trailer crazy spanish missus and two lovely boys
Very large echo here!! Just go for it. Driving in France is very much more a relaxing experience for me than in the UK. Not a tentee person, I'm afraid, but I do have a 8m twin axle caravan and 4x4 to tank along in. That's an experience on the M5 in summer; believe me! Only tip I would say is for the first few days, to think ahead as you drive along. After that easy.
If everything won't fit in the car, why not think about a little trailer?
As to where in France? We do Brittany and Normandy every year. Camping du Letty in Brittany. For Disneyland, try camping quartre vents.
As an experience, France is a slower pace of life, more polite (more correct in dealings with other people, beware), generally a good thing to do! Hope that helps?
If you're in one on those LA's that don't start back till early September then consider going mid August and you'll find lots of sites are offering discounts for ACSI or Camping cheques, well worth it. As someone else said, it's often good value to go in a static or ready erected tent in May/June time so it might be worth giving that a try to see how you like it...an extra cheap hoday is always good! May half term in most areas is in June next year due to the Queen's jubilee
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I can only echo what everyone else has said - we were new to camping two years ago, but just got fed up of sitting in the UK int he rain and paying a small fortune to entertain the kids every day. We decided, after a very wet & windy week on the Isle of Wight that enough was enough, bought a tent and all the equipment and started planning the next year's holiday.
We'd never camped before, but decided to drive all the way down through France to Spain and back again. Driving in France is so much easier than here, and French motorways are a doddle. We're also in the Midlands, and did an early morning crossing from Dover to Calais (cheapest!) and then drove to the Pays-de-la-Loire region on the first day - camped for two nights so we'd have a full day of R&R on site, and then packed up and drove to a lovely walled town int he very bottom left corner of France. Again, two nights camping and then on throught the mountain pass into Spain, where we cheated a bit and had a house for a week in Alcossebre.
On the way back we camped for two nights near Mazamet, in the Midi-Pyrenees, and then back up to the Loire where we stayed for three nights as the campsite had loads of activities for the kids to do. Throughout we had lovely weather, and camping in France was an absolute pleasure. So much so that last year we camped for a whole week just south of La Rochelle, and are heading back to Spain this year.
I'd say just go for it, you won't look back. We booked all of our campsites direct with the owners, no problems, and we've got a Vango Albany 600 so your tent will be fine.
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 - million questions!! Help...
