We have stayed at the campsite in Albert. There is a great museum in town & nearby we visited the Thiepval Memorial, Mametz Wood & the Lochnagar Crater.
If we had more time, there were plenty of other places of great interest, but that will have to wait for another time.
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Now switching to the WW2 D Day landing beaches ….of course British visitors will visit British military cemeteries and British memorials, but please find time to visit the American cemetery at Colleville sur mer as well. The Americans had a hard time when they went ashore at Omaha beach and lost 4000 men on the first day alone. Their cemetery is so moving and I have seen grown men and women weep there.
I can thoroughly recommend a visit to Ouvrage Hackenberg one of the biggest Maginot line forts. Absolutely amazing, even a railway in there. Fort
Its down below Luxembourg, near Thionville, at a town called Veckring
------------- 74,going on 25
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder
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What are the thoughts on booking ahead vs arriving at different sites in the afternoon? Would prefer the flexibility and freedom of not booking ahead and just finding places as we go but equally don’t want to end up sleeping in the car as we can’t get in places at short notice? Thanks
For late May/early June you're almost certain to be OK just rocking up. If you're worried you could book your first site of the trip and then ring subsequent ones a day in advance. You're never going to be far from an alternative site if somewhere does turn out to be full.
We've toured in May/June previously and never had any problem getting onto a site. What I would say though is, don't limit your choices.
If you;re going to rely on the ACSI book pick an area that gives you a number of choices.
Another alternative to the ACSI book in France is "Le Guide Officiel Camping Caravaning" which lists every and I mean every campsite in France. The new edition usually comes out in the early spring of the year, it's worth getting a newer edition as whilst France seems to have more campsites than the rest of Europe put together, their numbers are dwindling especially thanks to Covid. I've bought mine from Vicarious or Amazon in the past.
Having Le Guide Officiel..." will give you more options.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by marktelford on 05/1/2022
What are the thoughts on booking ahead vs arriving at different sites in the afternoon? Would prefer the flexibility and freedom of not booking ahead and just finding places as we go but equally don’t want to end up sleeping in the car as we can’t get in places at short notice? Thanks
I wouldn't book in late May/early June. We just aim to find a site by about 4:30pm then can decide whether to stay for more than a night or move on.
Quote: Originally posted by marktelford on 05/1/2022
What are the thoughts on booking ahead vs arriving at different sites in the afternoon? Would prefer the flexibility and freedom of not booking ahead and just finding places as we go but equally don’t want to end up sleeping in the car as we can’t get in places at short notice? Thanks
Quote: Originally posted by marktelford on 05/1/2022
What are the thoughts on booking ahead vs arriving at different sites in the afternoon? Would prefer the flexibility and freedom of not booking ahead and just finding places as we go but equally don’t want to end up sleeping in the car as we can’t get in places at short notice? Thanks
Probably not an issue finding vacancies, but there are two significant events that draw large numbers of people (probably mostly Brits) to the Normandy region in early June, D-Day landing anniversary (June 4th) and Le Mans 24 Hour motor race w/e (June 11-12 - but race practice and timing runs, and peripheral events for the entire previous week!), whilst they may not fill the regions campsites totally, they may cut your options!
Think Covid has drastically reduced the numbers over last couple of years (Le Mans was run with no/massively reduced spectators in 20 and 21, but now no restrictions for 22), but signs things are slowly starting to revert to normal. Le Man statistics are easiest to find, but D-Day is still a big draw, the race traditionally draws crowds of 260,000 people from many countries and Brits are reckoned to make up 80-90,000! That's a lot of people piling off the ferries in the week or so before the race (we do it, we know!), often they will spend time doing the sights of Normandy on way to/back from the race (we do). Spectators camping at the race is a BIG thing (perhaps 150,000 people! - it has to be seen to be believed!) with numerous, some huge, pop-up camp sites being utilised around the race track, it does mean there are an awful lot of campers in the region! From decades of experience I can state that the channel crossing options diminish drastically for early June as sheer weight of numbers near fill the ferries - we book our crossings in January to ensure the crossing route/time/cabin options we want, and we are far from alone, all those race goers 'in the know' do too! The biggest influx of visitors will be from Wed 8th onward.
Hope that doesn't scare you off, you'll likely have no problems, but it does change the normal perception of 'out of holiday season' numbers. Covid is a double edged sword, whilst it has certainly reduced travellers significantly, it's likely reduced camp site pitch numbers as well, not sure what the current balance is.
We spent a week on the site at Ypres in late May 2014. We had booked in advance and were glad we had as, when we arrived mid afternoon, they were turning people away as they were fully booked. If you want to be within walking distance of the Menin Gate, it might pay to book.
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: WW1 Sites & D-Day beaches
via mobile 01/1/2022 at 3:39pm
