Camping La Foret, Jumieges
We have booked a ferry to Dieppe, in late April, due to arrive at 15.30, and our first trip abroad with the caravan, so still new to assessing how far to drive in one leg. I'm guessing that aiming for near Rouen would be about right for that time of day. I'm not up for macho endurance drives, we're not rushing, and something easily reachable for the first night's stay seems sensible before setting out seriously South.
So does this seem as sensible to you who've done it?
And has anyone tried La Foret at Jumieges? It looks pleasant enough in Camping Michelin & ACSI guides, but reality may be different - it's only for one night, but it may as well be a pleasant one! I see someone posted a question about the same site a few years ago & nobody replied then...
Our intent is to book for that first night, to relax knowing it's there, then let the ACSI and Michelin books take the strain as we see how far we get on subsequent days. Previous advice here is that at that season we'll be able to walk into most places on the day, though I really must read all those detailed pages about how reservations are going to work using ACSI!
Thanks as ever for your help.
Comments
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Why go anywhere on that first day?
Dieppe is an interesting town and fishing port, you can eat well all along the waterfront, Camping les 2 Rivieres is very pleasant... Start the holiday.
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Its a long time since we have been there but was reasonable at the time, my only reservation would be if it is wet, it will be very wet as, as the name suggests it is in a wooded area, I doubt if there will be many neighbours at that time of the year.
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We stayed there in 2010 and there are some pictures of the site here. It was a perfectly nice site despite being very wet when we were there. Its with walking distance of the Abbey and the Seine. It is best to approach it from the Pont de Brotonne and best to avoid any of the Seine ferries as they have very steep access on and off depending on the state of the river.
David
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We stayed there a last year and it is pleasant site.Pitches were in large hedged bays as previously mentioned all grass pitches.
It is best to follow instruction and take the slip road just before the bridge rather than use ferries.
There are a couple of nice restaurants in the village,one next to the ferry but it is a fairly long walk or bike ride.
The Abbey ruins is nearby.
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As said above, be aware that the ferries across the Seine will not carry caravans except at Duclair.
We have stayed several times at the other site in Jumieges (Base de Leisure). This has now been privatised so we don't know how much it has changed. However, we would recommend a longer stay in the area-it is very interesting. And the restaurant next to ferry is certainly excellent !!
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Stayed there a few years ago. Pleasant site. It was high season when we stayed there so was quite busy. As stated above the area is very pleasant and the site is pleasant.As it's your first trip abroad I will warn you in advance that this is a typically French site and certainly when we stayed there they did not provide toilet paper which can be the norm in France. Be warned if you need to go quickly
Enjoy the experience.1 -
Booked for one night like OP as a stop off but on arrival receptionist claimed I had emailed and cancelled - which I had not- then suddenly couldn’t speak English anymore and didn’t understand why I wanted to know what had happened to my deposit! After a while she grudgingly allocated us a pitch which was narrow and full of ruts. Although it seemed a nice area we have not returned surprisingly !
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I know that there will be some anxiety as it is a first trip abroad but as others have said, in April none of the sites will be full so you have complete freedom of choice. Forget everything you know about Club sites and reservations.
Having done this for 30 years or so we find it best to do some general research on the areas that we are visiting and then have a handful of sites to pick from. It can be difficult to work out exactly how far to travel as so much depends on how the crossing goes and the disembarkation and how tired you are. It’s (probably) only one night so take pot luck. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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Thanks all, this helps!
Hmm - I suppose we could stay at Dieppe. Since we're heading much further South I suppose the urge is to get at least a little way on. Now we might be tempted... prior experience abroad BC, (Before Caravanning), has been that ferry ports & their environs aren't always the most attractive places to be, so we had rather ruled that out; seemingly Dieppe sounds different, between reading replies to this & my other post about DFDS ferries there.Still getting our heads round your repeated comments from experience that Fench site reservations in April/May really aren't needed. This sounds like it used to be with tent sites in attractive areas 30 or 40 years ago here, when we never ever booked anything, but just turned up knowing we'd find somewhere nice.
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If you want a nice site near to Dieppe but away from the Port this one might be worth looking at .
David
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Jumieges is only about 50 miles from Dieppe so even if you don't clear Dieppe Port by 4.30pm it is only going to take an hour. You could always check with the site what time reception is available. Given that you are arriving mid afternoon I would be inclined to make the first night's stay nearby. As others have said there really is no need to book at that time of year but always sensible to have a plan B.
David
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Thanks David, and also for the link leading to your pages of site reviews.
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Further thanks to all, and I've realised that however attractive this site may be - and it does look agreeable - it'll add needless time to make the diversion from our route, and somewhere like David Klyne's site near Dieppe would be more practical for a one night stop-over. We might come to it when we're spending longer in the area some time, of course.
I suspect we're not the first to pursue research only to realise we'll end up doing something else, and value all the advice you've given, as ever.0 -
I suspect we're not the first to pursue research only to realise we'll end up doing something else
Seems to happen to use every holiday!!!
David
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And us. When we are travelling across Europe we start with a clear plan at breakfast time, change it when we stop for lunch...and still end up overnight somewhere else. It seems normal to us.
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We stayed there for a few nights en route back to Calais from Saumur. It's a pleasant site, only a few minutes walk from the centre of the village and abbey. On the main road leading to Jumieges there's a supermarket that also sells fuel. It's very handy for visiting Rouen and the surrounding villages, and north to Honfleur. Of course, if you're only planning a one night stopover, this is mostly irrelevant, but it's definitely worth a longer stay.
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That's worth knowing for future trips, thanks - as you say, worth a longer stay, rather than a one night stopover.
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We used the site once - less than impressed, but not helped by missing a turn near the site and having to drive about 5 miles to turn around.
I would recommended the municipal site at Pont De L'Arche, right on the edge of town by the river, but it probably means going thro' Rouen
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Oh yes, we used that one with our tent years ago and had a great time, with a lovely local restaurant & friendly owner. We aimed for it again about 4 years ago on the way to the Auvergne region where we were playing in a traditional dance festival, but the restaurant had shut down, and there was a travelling fair in town, encroaching on the site, which made it all distinctly less desirable, so we moved on.
I think it's that one where there's an incredible view of the church looming just behind a row of houses over the road from the site, is that right?
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Not for the OP per se, but.....
HD, FYI there are two Aires in Dieppe, one on each side of the quay, with one right on the sea front....we've used the Dieppe crossing a few times and have stayed on the seafront overnight to give us the first afternoon (dinner) and the next morning (breakfast) in and around the town.....lovely place, especially if you have nice weather...
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My point was that, if just passing through for a day or so, parking up on the prom with your MH might be another option to the 'have to find a campsite' caravanning default....
agree, it doesn't matter which route you take to Dieppe, but having got there, I was just raising your awareness of other stopover options....
sorry to have confused
As others have mentioned, it might be that with all these options, the last thing you want to do is lengthy planning...once you realise that you can just do what you like.....then just do what you like, not perhaps what you planned?
as your trip is significantly more than a year away, and not in peak, I wouldn't get too hung up about planning too much.....you'll be totally frazzled.....remember, you have a MH and have many, many more choices than caravanners as to where to stay.....like everyone else who 'braves the continent' you'll be lapping it up.....
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Hi,
Have you had a look at camping St Nicolas at Le Bec-Hellouin, not far past Rouen.
Its a nice site used a lot for 1 nighters. Only about 3 to 4 km off the A28.
We stayed at La Foret last year on the way home in September, we were allowed to choose which pitch we wanted as the one allocated was full of dropped conkers. Its along way off the main motorways. Depends on where you are heading.
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