Club 80-90 Forums

bringing the van to france for first time.wondering will i need to pre book campsites or can u just roll in unanounced.we are planning to go last 2 weeks in aug and are worried it may be busy time of year.hope to do 3 or 4 campsites and dont really want to get tied down,after all thats why we got a van. ITS GOOD TO BE FREE.

Mos of France goes on holiday in August so campsites get full. Depends where you are going. South of France will be FULL

http://www.vicarious-shop.co.uk/index.php

http://www.alanrogers.com/


Ian.

As previously stated the whole France goes on holiday in August and they love camping. Also depends on where abouts you intend going. Saying that you shouldn't encounter too many problems as France is huge and have thousands of huge campsites. Just go for it.

Or go in September/early October. Good weather, not many on holiday so you can have a more friendly relaxed holiday. We did last fall and had a great time. Most campers were French and most everyone was friendly. Nicky speaks a little French so we got on quite well. At least know enough French to use courtesies. It goes a long way.

As above, using a little French goes a long way. Ask for a pitch for a camping car and two people for one night with electric and they generally just laugh and speak English. Breaks the ice though

We went for 4 weeks August last year.

Campsites on the coast were very busy indeed. All the campsites with pools etc that we'd looked at on the net were either heaving or not as nice as they looked on the 'net. That was the Atlantic coast, mind.

Charlotte and I found the Municipal campsites to be very reasonable, mostly quiet & had all you need from a campsite. We preferred them to the privately owned sites.

We never booked a site & never needed to. However, it might help to get an Alan Rogers Campsite guide & head for places you like that may have a couple of campsites nearby, to hedge your bets.

Just a warning, may campsites particularly in the south of France close towards the end of September!

We camp in France every year and the best book we have found for sites is the Michelin "Camping France" book. Once you get used to how it is set out it is brilliant and has lots of quiet sites in it. We are still using the one we bought in 2004. Think it may be time to buy a new one!

Some campsites like the one we stay in (airotellacanau) have pitches for a few days max, but you have to be lucky to get them. Still there are loads of sites in the area South of Royan ferry and down in the pineforests, just depends on how close you want to be from the beach?

Just booked for the same site as used for the last three years, suits us well and I only have to walk 10 minutes to surf every day for three weeks!