We camp in France most years, but normally at the end of June / start of July. This year though we are going for the last 2 weeks of September & we aren't sure where to go. We normally head to the west coast - Il d'Oleron or further south towards Biarritz. However, I should imagine all those coastal town will be fairly shut down for the season.
We're seeing this as an opportunity to try somewhere different & are looking for ideas at the moment. We have our tunnel booked, and to some extent would follow the weather. Where would be worth a visit at that time of year? Any ideas would be appreciated!
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Whatever you are interested in - history, city breaks, alpine walking, Michelin restaurants, vineyards, gardens, chateaux, off road cycling, heated swimming pools, museums, art galleries, narrowguage railways, or even sand yachting. Go to any of them. Enjoy yourselves.
We were on Fréjus beach on 3rd October in 2021 and it was fabulous. Wouldn't hesitate to return to that area in September, after the crowds have gone. It was easy parking, lovely weather and peaceful campsites.
Yes, weather was great and campsites, many restaurants etc still open. It really was the best time of year to experience the med coastline; still busy but not heaving.
We used to go April -mid July and then Sept-mid Oct. Often it was the later holiday that was the most comfortable for weather.
You may find the all singing all dancing "family" campsites shutting down and some of the more touristy activities, but there is still enough sunshine and warmth to sit outside a café in the Provencal village square.
We have often been in the south of France in Sept and it is usually warm and busy. However we do find that as we travel northwards again it is cooler, damper, and closing down a little towards the end of the month.
If you don't have an ACSI book and discount card, then getting one could save you some money, and also tell you which sites are still open.
We've also stayed at Lei Suves but quite a while ago. For September.October we like the area around Vaison La Romaine. (Côte de Rhône wine area) Plenty of places quite close for a day out . Mont Ventoux, Orange, Avignon, lots of 'wine' villages and markets. Post du Gard is not too far away. Baumes de Venise, Carpentras.
Camping Théâtre is just a walk into town at Vaison.
Weather in southern porion of France (roughly below a line from Gironde estuary eastwards) is often very settled in late Sept / early Oct. Last year I varnished all the external doors / windowframes / fencing on verandah, round pool etc in first two weeks of October - dried pretty quickly! It was still warm enough for me to eat my evening meal outside.
Only thing at that time off year is it gets dark pretty early - sunset around half seven - hills / trees etc mean you can lose the sun half an hour before that.
Can be a little chilly in a tent at night.
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Thanks so much for all these suggestions. It definitely sounds like we need to head south for some reasonable weather. A good excuse to to try a different region. My partner was keen to explore Brittany again (we haven't been for a few years), but I've convinced him to head south now. A whole new area to research!
Glad to hear that places will still be open. A few of the campsites we have looked at will be closed by the last week of September, but plenty still seem to be open.
Really looking forward to it now - thanks everyone. Really helpful as always.
It really is a lovely time to visit the south and temperatures in the south-east seem to be reliably higher than in the south-west at that time of year (although we love that area, too).
Let us know what kind of sites you like and we'll recommend some. Sites will be very reasonably-priced towards the end of August onwards, do you know about ACSI (it's for low season camping at subsidised prices)? We use the app rather than the book and there's lots of choice and good savings to be made.
We normally use Huttopia campsites and there are a few in the south that we are looking forward to trying. We've never used ACSI before as we're normally camping in high season, but I've just checked and some of the places we're researching take it.
Number of campsites on ACSI and open 14 September - 1st October. Where the circle shows a number, that denotes the number of campsites with that opening criteria in that specific area.
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: France at the end of September
via mobile 02/7/2023 at 2:52pm
