French campsites.....how busy?

[Big Boris]

Hi all,

We are off on our French tour from 1-16 August. Just wondered how busy the campsites are going to be as know this is also the continentals main holiday season. Basically will we need to book or is it likely we will find somewhere in most areas. We plan to go down East side, across middle through Dordogne then up west coast with 5/6 days on the coast at least.

thanks .

[AngeloEvs]

The popular places get busy but we have never booked in advance yet always managed to find a site. The Dordoigne have a lot pf private sites and a few Municipas. There is a fab municipal at the foot of Domme near Beynac and next to the river. Steep walk up to Domme but well worth a visit. Sarlat is fab and you should go there on a markey day there is also an Aires smack bang in the middle of the town. La Rochelle has a large aires in the town and is fantastic during the evening worth a visit on the way back up.

[Big Boris]

Thanks for that. Sounds great. i really would like to visit both Sarlac and La Rochelle so you advice is much appreciated.

[Ian Hulley]

Google 'All The Aires' on 'Vicarious Books', you could also get 'Camperstop' from the same outlet

Normally campsites by nice beaches or tourist attractions are quite busy, even the aires get busy. We booked sites on our first time over there but haven't bothered since.

Ian.

[AngeloEvs]

Forgot to mention that the aires in La Rochelle isn't listed as an official aires but is part of the main car/coach park in the town. We stayed there several nights with a lot of other campervans. During the evening the town centre is closed to traffic and then the fun and entertainments start, well worth a stay over!

[peteabbott]

France, good choice. We went for the first time last year. We kept off the motorways and toll roads, no point really when we could only top 55mph but all the smaller roads were great. We did not book anywhere and it was the end of August and we had no problems, sites were easy to find as we used the smaller roads (N roads ?) We found the Municipal sites best (local council run) and reasonable too. I would just say one more thing and that is if you go down the West Coast be sure to stop at Etretat which is a beautifull little town and there is a really good Municipal site within walking distance of the beach. We took Norfolk line ferry from Dover to Dunkirk and they recently had a E mail from them with an offer for van and upto 4 people £29 return. Might see you there as we are off at the same time.