Caravan Club prices question
Comments
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I have been informed that we have just booked on a French campsite in August, somewhere nearish Bordeaux cost per night €40 inclusive of 6amp ehu doesn't strike me as that much cheaper than UK prices.
Sometimes there is an element of the grass always being greener elsewhere. Before anyone posts Asci etc we are tied to school holidays and therefore have to accept peak prices.
...I think you have hit the nail on the head. Because of the French tradition of each village having a municipal site, the competition for anything outside July/August is intense so it keeps prices low then. But, in July and August some of the really
good sites in France charge double what the Club does. For example a Castles and Camping site I looked at charges between €48 and €71 Euros for the pitch and two people, any extra people over the age of 5 are charged €13.50. It is €7 a night for 10amp electricity,
€7 for children aged between 3 and 5 and €5.50 for a dog.
So, a family of 4 going to this site in France in July or August would pay: between €82.50 and €105 (£56 to £70) per night whereas for example at the Looe Club site for the same period during school holidays the cost for a family of 4 would be would be £39.60
per night.0 -
Nice privately owned site at Matignon in North Brittany, immaculate, not tacky, no bingo/ no discos, two miles from the coast, swimming pool with retractable roof, open or closed according to weather, free wi fi, drinks served on the terrace plus hot snacks at weekends, spotless toilet blocks with cleaner busy and active several times a day, and PEAK prices in July and August £15 (€20) for two people. Otherwise £10 (€13) a night. No other Brits there last July but us.
Are there comparable places with comparable prices in Devon?
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When our children we small we used to go to France during the last week in August, including the Bank Holiday, and then the first week in September before they returned to school, and we managed to have some very cheap family holidays.
Here are some sites, all in beautiful areas, which are available for just 11 euros (that's just £8.47) per night for pitch, car and caravan, awning, electricity and one dog, this one between 30/04 - 08/07 and again from 25/08 - 02/09
And this one, also 11 euros, 01/04 - 01/07 and 27/08 - 02/09.
And this one is the same price, between 30/04 - 07/07 and 28/08 - 26/09,but within that price includes three children under 6 free of charge and even better than that has the following offer of free nights: Extra discount: 7=6 / 14=11 / 21=16. A family with young children, who could travel at Spring Bank Holiday, perhaps, could have a fortnight there for just £93.17 in campsite fees.
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As Val says, it is possible to get cheap site fees at the end of August because the French holidays generally end on the weekend after 15th which is a National Holiday. Many sites give ACSI rates after that date.
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We've been to Les Rivages, several times, and always found a riverside pitch looking towards the Millau viaduct. It's yet another ACSI bargain at 15 euros (£11.55) per night between 09/04 - 05/07 and again from 22/08 - 30/09, and with
an offer of free nights, ie: 7=6 / 14=11.
Good sized grassy pitches, a lovely pool, plenty of sanitary blocks, and peaceful at night! Must go back again.0 -
if i was to only have two weeks in the south of france, id fly there...
however. two months (or more) and ill take full advantage of the prices quoted...
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yep, train's good...
another thing thats cheaper over there
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I think some who post on here do not tow to France,as they keep their c/vans "over there"
We still have to drive down to our storage depot in Chateauroux, from here in North Yorkshire, unpack the car, pack the van, hitch up and set off. The fact that we haven't got a caravan on the back for the first part of the journey would possibly speed up the journey if we used the autoroutes, but we don't, so our driving speed is just the same. We also have a hotel overnight en-route because we don't have our own accommodation with us. I'm not sure how many others store over there - I rather doubt it is many, certainly from amongst contributors to this forum.
The cost of the ferry is less, yes, but offset by the extra expense of hotels and having to eat in a restaurant, and the cost of the fuel for part of the journey is less, but we can, and do, tow down to the Mediterranean. Whether or not others think it's worth it for two weeks, we certainly did. Only in the last few years have we stored in France. We no longer go for two weeks, but when we did it was in the days before we stored in France and we have taken the caravan down to the Mediterranean, Spain, or equally as far, every single year since 1993 (23 years) and twice a year for the last ten years or so before we both retired. Your post implies that our experience counts for nought just because we now store in France!
Yes, it is a long way, but it doesn't seem it - it's an adventure, and I can only say to those who are thinking about it - 'try it yourselves and then make your own judgements'.
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Comparing Club sites with average French sites is not really like for like. Just look at what the Club spend to create new sites with gravel, hard standings, proper roads, heated toilet blocks, dog walks, play areas, all to proper Health and Safety standards. Most French sites are nothing like that standard but when it's warm and foreign it just seems a lot better! Also, commercial sites in France and UK often have alternative income streams and owners who live on site 24/7.
Also French municipal sites were not run for profit although many are now franchises.
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Perhaps I'm getting old, but even at those admittedly bargain prices, 580 miles from Calais plus another 200 this side, towing a caravan, is a long way for two weeks. I think if I only had that long I would be looking further north.
Not all routes to France start at Calais, we don't use that crossing as for us its not economically worth it. We use Hull - Zeebrugge, or Portsmouth to Caen. Having only 2 weeks shouldn't put people off, we used to go to Germany and back for a week using the Hull - Rotterdam ferry, it didn't feel like a week it felt much longer. We have a 315 mile drive to reach Hull but if you leave on a Saturday morning and get the teatime ferry you land in Zeebrugge at 9.00 on Sunday morning, with no lorries on the roads on Sundays you can be at Tours/Saumur by teatime easy. Spend the next 12 days in that area drive back up to Zeebrugge on the Saturday, overnight ferry, back home to Scotland Sunday night, no problem and a dam good holiday into the bargain. Sorry can't post photos on here.
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I am fortunate in that I live fifteen minutes from Portsmouth ferry terminal. When working I was mostly constrained to two weeks which was sufficent time to travel down to Aquitaine for a fortnights bucket and spade therapy. The driven distance would only get me as far as the southern lakes in the UK. If I want to visit Scotland, it's further than the Med. I know there is the ferry cost but the only way to compare like with like is to calculate the door to door cost, of which pitch prices are but a part. Some things such as warmth and sunshine are difficult to quantify in cash terms.
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I am fortunate in that I live fifteen minutes from Portsmouth ferry terminal. When working I was mostly constrained to two weeks which was sufficent time to travel down to Aquitaine for a fortnights bucket and spade therapy. The driven distance would only
get me as far as the southern lakes in the UK. If I want to visit Scotland, it's further than the Med. I know there is the ferry cost but the only way to compare like with like is to calculate the door to door cost, of which pitch prices are but a part. Some
things such as warmth and sunshine are difficult to quantify in cash terms.Write your comments here...As long as it's not too hot!
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We're sun lovers, and having had lots of 'wash out' holidays in our teens and twenties, even in Cornwall, we first camped in France in 1981 when our son was just a baby. (Not counting a four week tour in a hired motorhome in 1976 when we went to Czechoslovakia via France, Belgium, Germany, [with side trips to Leichtenstein and Switzerland], then back via Austria and the Muncich Beer Festival before returning the way we'd come).
Prior to our first French holiday, for our last camping trip we'd had two weeks in Cornwall where it rained every single day - on a booked site, paid for before we arrived, so we couldn't move elsewhere. Then the following year we borrowed a friend's caravan near Newquay in West Wales - and guess what, it rained every day.
Our first French holiday was a revelation - sun, sun, sun, sun, and sun - every day for a fortnight. No parking fees to park right be the beach, beautiful towns and villages with free parking, cafes to sit at outside in the sun, which welcomed babies and children, and that was it, we were converted. Once we started taking our own equipment, rather than using Eurocamp or Canvas holidays, we realised that not having to book was a major advantage, and if the weather or the site didn't suit us we could move on somewhere else. This is what we still do. Overnight sites have turned into a fortnight's stay, and a planned destination has turned out to be one night, when we had noisy neighbours......... We moved next morning at 9.30 - just half an hour down the road and found perfect peace!
So it's not really just about comparing prices, but about comparing different ways of doing the same holiday in your caravan, in whatever way (or country) suits you.
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Whilst I would agree that the sun is nice, you can get too much of a good thing. Two years ago in the Provence temperatures were regularly 36 degrees during our stay. Not much good if you like walking, as we do, we couldn't carry the weight of water required. Went for the Tour, never again in July, September is much better. Sorry off thread.
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I remember some years ago spending a summer holiday on the Costa Brava in Spain. It was so hot, you couldn't sleep at night and very uncomfortable in the day as well. They used salt water in the showers which were also uncomfortable. I cut short the stay and headed up into the Pyrenees where I found a site in Andorra where it was raining but with a much cooler and more comfortable temperature.
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Sun and high temperature are not necessarily linked!
Think winter sunshine... we have far too much of the grey stuff here in the UK. A dose of sun is just what the doctor ordered in my case very true as I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency earlier this year.
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Sun and high temperature are not necessarily linked!
Think winter sunshine... we have far too much of the grey stuff here in the UK. A dose of sun is just what the doctor ordered in my case very true as I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency earlier this year.
Write your comments here...You need some sun but in moderation. Too much exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer.
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The problem is the extreme heat that goes with it!
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fabulous journey,in luxury all the way 
