Western France

Newlyretired
Newlyretired Forum Participant Posts: 15

We are going down the West side of France. Starting at Le Harve and travelling down to the Midi Pyrenees (the Pau area) our trip is for 6 weeks and we are taking a slow drive down spending  2 or 3 weeks in the Pau area and a slow drive back. We don't want to travel as far East as Clermont Ferrand or Millau and are looking for good camp sites and places of interest along the route. Any suggestions would be welcome

We like the countryside with the odd town visit.

Comments

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited January 2017 #2

    Hello and welcome. It sounds a lovely first long trip. When will it be? 

    May I suggest a reading session with good general guidebooks to pick out the places you would like to visit along the way.   There are good campsites all the way - large or small, well equipped or simple, according to your own preference, and if you could say where you would like to stop off and what would interest you I'm sure the ideas on here will flow. 

    Good wishes. 

     

  • ColBur
    ColBur Forum Participant Posts: 72
    edited January 2017 #3

    We tend to stay in one place once we get there and a very popular site in the Vendee is La Garangeoire nor far from La Roche-sur-Yon. An inland site but within 1/2 hr of beaches and good for visiting coastal French towns such as Les Sables D'Olonne. A member of the Castels chain these are all good quality sites normally situated in the grounds of a Chateau.

    Further south we have often stopped overnight in a site in the middle of Saintes called Camping au Fil de l'Eau. Easy to get to, situated in parkland next to the river and a 15 min stroll into this lovely town. Great for visiting the area and a longer stay. 

    This Summer we are staying at Sequoia Park near Rochefort and this is a good place for visiting Cognac, Royan and the Ile D'Oleron.

    Some other nice sites near Biarritz too! I am sure your post will attract lots of other personal recommendations.

    Enjoy your trip!!

    Col

  • royandsharont
    royandsharont Forum Participant Posts: 735
    100 Comments
    edited January 2017 #4

    During the past 4 years we have used the below sites which we have thought more than fine for our purposes bearing in mind we are motorhomers and have no car to travel about. We generally stop at such places where there is easy access to the cities by public transport. These are the ones I would have no problem recommending in the area you may be travelling. 

    I have written stories in the stories section about all of them at some point or another but the new forum has messed them up re no photos & my links to them no longer work but you could try searching for them if you were keen enough.

    Regards, Roy

    Camping Ur-Onea, Bidart, Aquitaine, France

    Camping le Terrier, Lescar (Pau), Aquitaine, France (Site just OK but location to Pau good)

    Camping Le Village du Lac, Bordeaux, Aquitainece

    Camping Les Acacias, Tours, Centre, France

    Camping Larrouleta, St Jean de Luz, Cote Basque, France

    Camping Yelloh Village, Saint-Emilion, Gironde, Aquitaine (very good site)

     

     

     

     

  • Longtimecaravanner
    Longtimecaravanner Forum Participant Posts: 642
    edited January 2017 #5

    As you are going into Le Havre what about the first stop [or the last] at Honfleur? Its a beautiful medieval town and the Camping Phare is right in the centre convenient for the town, harbour and lovely gardens there.

    We also stayed half way round Douarnenez Bay at Treguer Plage at Plomevey Porvey which is right on a sandy beach with lots of coastal scenery a bit like rocky Cornwall on the doorstep. We intended to stay for a week and ended up staying for three.

  • Newlyretired
    Newlyretired Forum Participant Posts: 15
    edited January 2017 #6

    Thank you all for your help, we are going middle of May to middle of July. we certainly want to stay near Pau and are looking forward to looking round the Pyrenees.