Travelling to South of France with three Labradors
Hello All, not only is this my first caravan, the first discussion on here, but I am also planning on taking our 3 dogs abroad with the caravan for the first time! I am thinking the south of France in September as it should still be warm. Can anyone recommend
a good site that is dog friendly and preferably close to a beach (dog friendly) or lake? I could also do with some advice on a stop over on the way down and back?
Comments
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Are your going via Calais 'houndofmasterville'? Also, which part of the South of France are you thinking of visiting? Many camp sites finish their season and close in mid-September so you need to choose carefully. I am sure there are lots of members who can advise you if they know in more detail what your plans are.
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Many thanks for the advice and reply. We are planning via Calais but using the tunnel as I an not happy about leaving ' the boys' in the car on the boat. Apparently Cannes/Nice are is good for the weather in September, probably thinking the first two weeks.
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I'm afraid there are no beaches at Nice or Cannes which can be called dog friendly. These are built up urban areas where dogs are tolerated on leads, but they will be very small French dogs, not three Labradors, and not running free. Cannes does have sand, but many sections of the beaches there are private rather than public. Nice only has a beach of large pebbles and no sand at all.
You and the dogs will have more freedom on the more remote Mediterranean beaches west of the Rhone delta or parts of the Atlantic Coast south of Bordeaux. If you want to let your dogs off the lead seek out some of the out of the way places away from resorts.
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Thanks very much for the great advice. You sound like an experienced eurotraveller. Can you recommend any sites in the areas you mention?
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I'm sorry I can't give you recommendations because there are sites of all sizes and styles, some are enormous with the biggest range of activities and entertainments imaginable, and some at the other extreme are simple municipal sites. So I'm afraid only
you can decide what sort of site you want, and where you want to go, but perhaps for a first visit you might perhaps start with a look at the ones on the Club's reservation list, and then the Club's Touring France guide. Good luck.0 -
Thank you. You can see why I posted the discussion, but you certainly have helped me narrow the search!
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What sort of site do you like - are you a CL lover, or do you prefer club sites with all facilities? There are some very large sites in France, but in September these will generally be quiet, there will be no children around, and you may even have the pool
to yourself!If you have a look on the ACSI Euorcampings site you can use the Advanced search facility (campsite rules) and (beach - Mediterranean sea) and it will reduce your choices from 197 sites to 92 which accept both dogs and are on/near a beach. You can have
a quick look at them and see if any take your fancy, then I think I would email the site yourself to ask if they will take three dogs. As Eurotraveller says, French dogs tend to be handbag size (and indeed are often carried around in their owner dogbag)!!If you find a site you like the look of and it's displaying a blue CC symbol, then click the 'Other ACSI websites' at the top, and select 'Camping Card' for a way of benefitting from discounted rates by purchasing and using an ACSI Card.
If you want to check whether your dogs will be welcome on a beach, then have a look at the 'Beaches
which are dog-friendly' website.0 -
We went to France last year and there are not that many beaches that are dog friendly. The French don't seem to know anything about clearing up and dog bins are hard to find. Not all beaches have signs you can see and the No Dog signage maybe 2-300 yds from
where you are. We found one really nice beach and asked if we could go on. No signs anywhere but dogs not allowed. Those that do allow dogs seem to be very messy places. Don't forget that you need to see a French Vet before returning to the Uk. Check the time
limit and make sure that the English and French Vet fills in all the dates correctly. Dont us a Vet near the ports as it can cost you €50 per dog. Use one inland.0 -
As Q4 has just pointed out about vets is a very good point. The price of vets goes up nearer the ports, so work out were to get your boys checked and make sure the french vet stamps all the dogs paperwork otherwise you will get knocked back at the tunnel,
the last time we were in France it was 72 hours to the port after the vet's stamp, but check it out in case it has changed, and then you will have no problems with your dogs.0 -
We found it difficult to find a dog friendly beach in the South of France, so much so that we didn't bother with the beach in the end. The top end of the beach at St Aygulf was dog friendly (right near the mouth of the Argens), but it was a bit of a hike
to get to it so we gave it a miss.L'Etoile D'Argens has a boat from the site to near to the dog friendly beach, but when I asked a couple of years back, they did not allow dogs on the boat!! L'Etoile is a big and somewhat expensive site. I think it is open until 30th September.
David
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...by the way, welcome to Club Together. This section is for folk just to introduce themselves. As this thread is a little more specific, I'll move it to the Overseas section in just a moment, where hopefully you will get more responses.
Regards
David
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Many thanks to all of you for your advice and input. I had an idea this might be a challenge but not quite so difficult! I have really enjoyed reading all of your thoughts.
Nigel
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Thank you for that. Could be worth me sending an email to see if they will stretch it to 3, especially as it maybe a quieter time of year for them.
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There are 12 campsites in Le Barcares. The full list is on Campingfrance.com
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We have stayed on Camping Club Europe at le Barcares a couple of times on our way back from winter in Spain. I've attached the link above for you to see. It seems to have changed its name but we had 3 dogs with us and there were no problems. There is a lovely walk from the campsite along the side of a small canal to the beach and sea and dogs were permitted with no problems. (I've just checked and they now say only 1 dog per unit but in our experience if you are going out of the main season and ask in advance they could well agree to more).
What I would say though is please see your vet and get a Scalibor collar and Advantix for your dogs before you leave. There are nasty dog diseases that are carried by mozzies and sandflies in the Med region. You need to protect your pets adequately. Your vet will advise you if you ask him/her.
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This is brilliant guys and gals! Thank you
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Try Les Pecheurs at Rocquebrune sur Argens. It's a vey good site with a lake just over the road. Also only 5 Kms from St Aygulf already mentioned. It's also an ACSI site so will only cost you 17euros/day. It's within walking distance of Rocquebrune with
really nice restaurants which are normally dog friendly in France, although maybe not with three large uns.0 -
Thank you will check that one out!
nigel
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We have 2 adult labs and the thought of travelling to a warm country would fill me with dread.just my opinion. Apart from the toilet situation we love dogs had them all our lives but just don't think it's fair.I know lot will come down on me.and we
always try to pitch away from pitch with dogs after spending week next to 2yappy jack russels and no we couldn't move as site was full and we we were there for frI ends wedding.0 -
Hi houndofmaskerville.
l was also going to suggest le Pichuers.
My daughter joined us for two weeks in August in 2014 with her dog. We used the lake a lot even taking a pedalo out onto the lake and the dog came down the slide!
We didn't use the main part of the lake because at peak time they have to stay on the lead; instead we walked to the back of the lake under the beautiful rock where the dog could roam freely in and out of the water.
Should you decide to go to this site choose your pitch with care as we found road noise on our pitch a nuisance. Clearly it will be much quieter when you are travelling.
Have a great time.
Mrs Murdy.
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Hi Mrs Murdy, sounds as though you ALL had a great holiday!
We are just looking at the website now.
Thank you for the positive advice. The part of the lake you went to sounds idyllic! Well away from the yappers and whingers.
Nigel
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There used to a lady who posted on here, who travelled with 3 Labradors in a panel van, its a shame she no longer posts as I'm sure she would have been of great help to you. If anyone can remember her she had a website of her travels where you could contact
her. At least you know now that it can be done.0
