taking a motorhome through france
Hi to all CC members, i am seeking some advice on taking a motorhome through France. We are seasoned campers and caravaners and have stayed in france on many occassions but doing the stay on site holiday. We are interested in hiring a motorhome for two/three
weeks in August 16 (wife works in school) for 4 adults and tour the south of france. We were looking to start at Calis and go from there. We didn't want to have a fixed schedule if possible. any suggestions on books/web sites to visit etc would be great. many
thanks Kev/Caroline
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As I avoid school holidays, to enjoy the quieter times, I’m not certain how busy it may be at that time of year. Maybe another member will be able to advise, but I think that ‘free spirit’ camping will still be possible. I’d recommend you look at “All the
Aires, France” from
Vicarious Books which should allow you the freedom to roam as you please. For a bit more adventure you could also investigate “France Passion” from the same organisation. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.0 -
Like Rogher we avoid the school holidays as we are retired.However we were formerly employed in teaching and used to have to go to France in peak times.After 15th August the French begin to drift back to work so some capacity becomes available on sites.That
said if you go to the "honey-pots" there are still plenty of tourists from elsewhere in Europe on site.If you seek out sites just off the main places you will be more likely to find freedom-viz avoid Provence itself and try the Drome Provençal.Look to the
east of the A/Soleil and try places like Hauterives,Chatillon sur Chaleronne and Dieulefit.If you want to go to Languedoc then avoid Carcassonne and try the Orb Valley and the Montaigne Noire.There's a Voie Verte from Bedarieux to Mazamet with a campsite at
St Pons de Thommieres,for example.At Bedarieux are the Espinouse and a walk up the valley by rock pools.If you go further west towards the Gers there is a nice site at Marciac in a quiet area.If Val Da reads this I am sure that she will expand upon my basic
suggestions.For campsites get the CC Europe 1 France or see if a pal will give you an old ACSI book to act as a guide(ACSI is for low season so no discounts in August)You could also go to DK's site www.caravantravels.co.uk -DK is a moderator
on here and modesty may prevent him from making such a suggestion,so I will.Bonne chance.0 -
First I would read the 'sticky' at the top of this section of the forum, which is for those holidaying for the first time. I know you've been plenty of times before but it does give a lot of useful information all in one post.
Other book suggestion: Caravan Europe or whatever it's new title is, from the Caravan Club. When you get to France you might think of buying Le Guide Officiel, which is produced by the French Camping Club, and which contains details of all sites in France. In the meantime, have a look at the Municipal Campsites website (click for link) which lists all those sites run by the 'local town hall'. Often these are within walking distance of shops and restaurants. Each of these options will give you the opportunity to find smaller sites where you don't have to book.
Fill up with fuel in supermarkets - it's much cheaper. Check out the best and worst prices here on the French Government website (click for link)
For websites, the best are the local tourist information websites. Just google the name of the town you want, and then 'tourisme' if you can manage in French or Tourist Information if you can't.
Ken, in the above post, gives some great suggestions. It's difficult to add more because I don't know what you like to do or see when on holiday, so it's difficult to make suggestions even as to an itinerary. Like Ken we generally don't go until towards the later part of August when everything starts to quieten down, but if you give a few ideas of the sort of things you'd like to see I'm sure that between everyone we can come up with some suggestions of routes, campsites, and 'must see' areas, towns, or villages.
If you go again, then it may be worth considering one of the other two week school holidays (if that's possible) as outside of mid-July to mid-August you won't have to book, even at the largest sites, and it makes it very much easier to tour. We used to go at Spring Bank Holiday as my sons had two weeks plus bank holiday weekend, then - and that was a fantastic time to travel.
Just to add, our first 'camping' holiday in Europe was in 1976 when we shared a hired motorhome with friends and their two year old son, and did a month long tour through northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany (with a short hop into Switzerland just to get our passport stamped), Czechoslovakia to visit penfriends (that was an adventure in those days), then back via Austria and the Munich Beer Festival!
Our next trip was with Eurocamp, in 1981 when my son was just a baby - and we've had European camping or caravanning holidays ever since.
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Like the above posters, we too holiday out of season as we now have plenty of time; many suggestions already made, one in addition to rogher's suggestion of Vicarios Books and France Passion is a website for Aires de Camping Cars: http://en.airecampingcar.com
Sorry, can't seem to do a link with this tablet, keep trying but it won't work lke it does on my laptop.
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Hi Kev and Caroline, We still travel in school holidays without booking - staying inland away from the sea especially in the south, avoiding well known honeypot places, carrying the Club Touring France site guide and only choosing sites marked Very Good or Excellent, using smaller sites, often village municipals, stopping early every day, moving on frequently, and phoning ahead the night before if we think it will be busy. We do occasionally hit upon a site which is full, but there is usually another in the next village, though others will have to help you with Aires as we have a caravan,
But some people are more tense than we are
I hope it goes well for you. 0 -
August is still a busy time of the year but one thing to your advantage with a motorhome is you have the flexibility to stop at many more places than a caravan. The French holidays finish on the 16th or 17th August, at least after that it is no longer peak season in France or Spain so finding pitches on sites should become easier but still expect it to be quite busy. At least you can use the Aires already mentioned to give you a wider choice of night stops and there are plenty of campsites to chose from should you find one full. Nevertheless I think I would avoid Provence.
peedee
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IMHO, 'two/three weeks' isnt very long to visit the south of France in any great depth.....
firstly, its a long way to drive.....i know folk will always quote how they whizzed down there in five minutes, but having spent four months there this spring/summer, i can vouch for the distances involved, especially if you arent intending to blast down
toll roads each day.take out a minimum of 3 days to get to the med (and 3 to get back) once you get 'there', youll realise that 'there' is still a huge area to explore and if you only stop at (say) five places, thats only 2 or 3 days in each spot before moving on.....
if you're happy with this pace of touring, go for it.....its a wonderful part of the world.....but dont underestimate the amount of driving that will be done.....this in itself might become tiring.
im not trying to put a dampner on the trip, its just that the glamour of the trip can easily override the work you will have to do to get there and explore in your small window.
if you just pick one (or two) sites and spend a bit more time chilling i reckon its doable and still enjoyable.
.....or you could fly to Nice, stay in a great hotel for a couple of weeks.......
Write your comments here...BB is giving you really sound advice.There is initially a tendency to under-estimate distances in France if you are a Brit.Our long thin country makes us forget that France is a hexagon - as wide as long!After years of long hauls
to get to the sunshine ,ironically passing through sunshine,followed by fall outs en route due to tiredness we learned to travel hopefully and enjoy the journey.Pick an a couple of proximate areas (Burgundy,Ardeche,Drome?) and rootle around in them.For fuel,as
Val Da says,use supermarkets and,because many are now automatic pumps,get a Halifax Clarity card or similar to pay for it.0 -
To add to the remarks regarding distance to the 'South of France, today we've just diven 366 miles from St Omer (near Calais) to Beaune by car. In light traffc it's taken us nearly 7 hours with stops. That's nearly the same distance as Edinburghhto London, but we're not even halfway to the South!
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Here's our suggestion for a campsite holidaying in the South of France:
1. Ditch the motorhome hire - there isn't one made that 4 adults can have a holiday in!
A big one won't fit into many small sites' pitches, and you don't want to spend precious holiday nights on a car park aka 'aire
de service'2.Hire a minibus and buy pop-up tents from Decathlon. (minibus so you can travel together with all your gear and less expensive on the autoroute)
3. Stop en route at campsites in your tents, weather permitting, or at budget hotels near the autoroute.
4. Many campsites, including municipals which have gone commercial, will have mobilhomes or 'cabines' for rent by the night. Use your sleeping bags to save laundry charges.
5. Get there after the first two weeks of August, as has already been recommended. The French having gone home, there should be lots of cabines to rent on turning up on spec. These will have gas bbqs and possibly some air conditioning.
6. You can also look for special offers from the likes of Keycamp at the end of the season.
for an example of a site having holiday cabines, look
here : It's where Bolereo Boy and we met earlier this year!0 -
The motorhome we hired in 1976 was quite big enough for four and a two/three year old - but it didn't have all the swivelling seats, fixed beds, etc., that they have now. It was a Bedford Adventura, brown and cream, and there's a video of a very similar
one on YouTube. It had a large overcab bed, a front small dinette which made into a bed, and another double dinette at the back which made into a double bed.It had a shower and toilet, and plenty of room for cooking and had a reasonable size fridge. Today's motorhomes look bigger, but probably have a lot less room.
As four adults, still young, we arranged alternate nights in - with the other couple going out for the evening. It was agreed that those enjoying the night in could have the rear bed which was somewhat more 'stable' than the front one!
However, I do agree with the above suggestions if you can't find one that's big enough to enjoy a holiday in. Four adults sharing a very small space means you need to be really good friends with similar eating, sleeping, and drinking habits.
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The example (link) we've given lists prices per week for mobilhomes; however, we've been on many smaller sites where we've witnessed couples booking in 'on spec' at reception for shorter stays.
We just love Valda's comment about "you need to be really good friends" - take heed!
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Hello - If you log into airecampingcar.com, you will find a lot of the aires covered, click on the area you wish to stop and this will give you more information. Also you might find better sites when you log in. Enjoy some of amazing free sites of France.
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That's the website I suggested as well, y&p; it's just reminded me that I couldn't do the link on my tablet, so here it is: http://en.airecampingcar.com
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