Advice on Going To The South Of France
Hello,
We are wanting to go to the South of France next year for our first caravan overseas holiday.(Just two adults) The trip will take a lot of planning as its a very long drive with a ferry crossing. Any help, stories or advise would be greatly appreciated on things like ferry advice, a good recommended campsite, (in this country we tend to stay on CL sites. Do these exist in the South Of France ? ) We do not have a exact location in mind however close to the coast would be nice. We are hoping to go next September.
Many Thanks
Dave & Rosie
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Whereabouts in the UK are you travelling from, how long are you planning on going for and what sort of things do you like doing ? The more info you give the better advice you will get.
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There certainly are sites similar to CLs if you stop about 50 miles from the Mediterranean - not an exact copy of CLs of course, but certainly small uncomplicated campsites. And using expensive motorways we often did the 600 miles to get as far as that in two days from Caen or Le Havre. Other ports are further. But the nearer you get to the Mediterranean the bigger the campsites become, and the busier it gets. And the time of year has a bearing too. So when as well as where. Cheers.
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We've just returned from our 1st ever tour of France and had a great time. Just do a lot of planning for which you've got plenty of time. We went down the West Coast of France and can recommend 2 sites which were different. The 1st is called Chez Sarrasin in a a village called Brossac. Its a small site (but with a pool) and only has 5 pitches, the owner is English and is the closest to a CL that we came across in France. If you want peace and quite then Chez sarrasin is the place. The 2nd is Yelloh in St Emilion, which is a larger site but very good. Chez Sarrasin is a private site and to can find it them through google, Yelloh we booked through the club. On that side of the coast we came a cross a lovely town called Saintes, at which we had a fantastic meal in a Restaurant called Vingt Neuf (29) again the chef is English and trained by Tom Kerridge. The food we had was the best we had in France. Saintes has a Cathedral and an Abbey and well worth a visit.
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Dave and Rosie
September is not a bad time to go to the Med coast as after the first week most of the families have returned to their respective countries. If you want a "French" experience forget about the idea of Cl's. a very British idea and as others have said those that exist will give you a very British experience!!! Perhaps best to think Municipal campsites, particularly en route. These vary in size but are often quite small, say 50 pitches, and usually no where near full. If you want to be close to the beach, our preferred option, most of the sites will be larger although we have found a few more intimate ones with beach access. BTW no need to book ahead in September. However be aware that some, but not all, French campsites have quite a short season and some start to close from mid September on.
Ferries will depend on where you live. Folkestone/Dover is convenient if you live north and east in the UK but Portsmouth if you live more to the west. Its swings and roundabouts regarding travel time/price. Cheaper via Dover but could be a longer journey in France.
If you fancy a read about our experiences you could have a look at our blogs here http://www.davidklyne.co.uk/travels_in_europe.htm It might give you a few ideas and most of the places we have stayed are linked to reviews of the campsites we have used.
David
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Yes, the above posts have covered most things. Living in W Sussex going to the S of France we would use the Portsmouth - Caen ferry but going to Italy/Austria we use the Dover ferries. A little suggestion; don't over plan! One of the big advantages of going out of season is the flexibility this offers. No need to book sites just follow the weather and your mood. Join ACSI and get the Club's site book for France. A lot of the municipal sites will be closed by Sep but there are plenty others. We are off to Portugal and S Spain in Sep have booked the ferries but nothing else. I have worked out an outline itinerary (one rainy afternoon a couple of weeks ago) but doubt if that is what we will stick to! Arrange appropriate Insurances, method of cash (Caxton Card or similar) etc but otherwise just go and enjoy. The Cote d'Azur will still be very busy in September so we avoid that area but inland Provence, Var and Languedoc are lovely - the grape harvest will be in full swing in Sep. Val has property in Languedoc and I used to live there and we would be pleased to offer any further advice.
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Does it have to be September? I was going to suggest and recommend two small select sites in the Avignon area - but on checking I find that they both close on 15 September.
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We went to the Cote D'Azure this year for the first time, very expensive and not really our thing.
We then went into the Provence and loved it.
If going to the South of France we would prefer to be somewhere on the coast between the Camargue and Perpignan.
However we really like the West coast of France and the beaches there, we are going again this September.
Agree no need to book sites at that time of year, just take each day as you find it, if you like where you are stay a bit longer if not move on, it really is that easy to do in France. If the weather isn't up to much we just keep going until we find good weather, we often end up in Spain
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The Cote d`Azur in September is pleasantly busy, not overly expensive (regardless of previous posts!)and pretty much guaranteed to be good weather. We`ve spent the last fifteen years going in September and its our favourite part of France. Transport by bus between Cannes, Nice and Monaco is like any bus relatively slow but at 1.5e per leg you can hardly complain. Trains also run the length of the Cote d`Azur a 25% fare reduction is available for over sixties.
Autoroute tolls all the way from Calais are around £250 return. Portsmouth - Caen allow the use of N roads via Le Mans, Tours, Chateauroux, Clermont and the toll free A75 to Montpellier further sections of toll free N roads can be used as far as Le Muy where it pays to join the A7.
If you enjoy cycling its easy to cycle from Cannes to Cap Ferrat just short of Monaco mainly on well surfaced cycle tracks separate from traffic.
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Dave and Rosie, as others have said sites as small as CLs with just 5 pitches are scarce in France. The nearest equivalents are often in the category of Aires Naturelles - rural campsites with a maximum of 25 pitches, dependant on the size of the overall site. As is the rule in France they will always have electricity, toilets and showers.
If you type Aires Naturelles de Camping followed by the name of the departement you want you will see what comes up. Some departements have very few, but in the south Vaucluse has quite a selection - including some with swimming pools- and most these days have their own individual websites to refer to. Typing Camping a la Ferme plus the name of the departement sometimes throws up others too.
We hunt for them wherever we are going and have found some hidden gems away from the madding crowds, but equally we have found many cracking good municipal sites too.
Good hunting !
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I can't help you with recommendations for a coastal site but for night halts on route, distances between and which ferry to choose you may find information in my blogs of French holidays of use.
www.jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com
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I cannot really add very much that has not already been said but in my opinion the excellent sites in France make the journey worth the effort. We do our research quite carefully and tend to use mainly ACSI sites or sometimes Camping Cheques and always in September and October. At home we only use CL sites as we enjoy them so much. However, French sites are totally different. France does not need a CL equivalent.
Last year we found the very best site to which we have ever been. For those of you who are able to visualise land measured by the acre, this site is 85 acres with only 50 pitches. Many of the pitches were at least 50 metres apart so far enough away not be able to hear other people talking. We were there for ten nights and for some of those nights we were the only caravan there. For the remainder there were never more than two other caravans and they were placed several hundred metres from our pitch.
We were surrounded by beautiful countryside but were willing to accept a long drive to the nearest supermarket.
This particular site is Dutch run which means: clean, efficient, friendly and well mannered. However, we do like French run sites as in general the Dutch like to speak English whereas in France we prefer to speak French.
Serious illness means we cannot go this year but we are hoping for 2018 and considering doing the Portsmouth to Santander crossing to save us the long trail down the South West which is our region of choice.
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Come on, don't wet our appetites and then not tell us what it is called and where it is.
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It is called Domaine de Merlanes. The number on the ACSI web site is 2356. It is situated about 4 k from Molieres where there is a very small but good supermarket. For larger food shops we went to the Lidl or Super U in Caussade which is about 20 miles to the South.
The two Dutch families who run the site are delightful, friendly and welcoming. Possibly the best welcome we have ever had and it includes a complimentary drink in the bar on the day of arrival, a new experience for us.
We had planned on going again this year but illness has stopped us in our tracks. We are hoping now for 2018.
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It looks wonderful and in an area we haven't been to so will have to bear it in mind.
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