Arrival times in France
it's an ever controversial subject on UK Club sites so here for newcomers is how things seem to work in France when arriving at a site without a booking.
Lunch starts at 12 noon but arrivals at campsites before that have never been a problem for us. We have never been refused or scowled at for arriving early- even when arriving straight off a ferry at 9 a.m
After 12 noon when lunch is underway is another story.
Some sites are simply open access and you go in and choose your own pitch. Some are open access and have a list of which pitches are reserved. Some have a barrier but provide instructions who to phone to get the gate code. Some are sites where you walk inside and ask the first resident you see for the code and let yourself in. Some have the same gate code as the year before - jotted down in your site guide. Some private owners live on site and you ring their doorbell. Some posh sites even have a receptionist on duty at lunch time.
But now and then there comes a site where none of these tricks work and there is absolutely no way in at all till 3 pm. So you go somewhere else.
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As I posted on the uk thread (and then got it delete) we have come across more and more sites in France that have a barrier and close for lunch.
While I don't begrudge anyone a lunchbreak, I do find it inconvenient when they close from 12.00 to 15.00 if I'm not aware of this. How hard is it for sites to give this info to Acsi /site guides or post on their website.
I do like the note on reception door saying pick a pitch and see me later approach but this only works on sites that don't take bookings for set pitches, as you could find yourself setting up only to find someone has booked that pitch.
Never been offered the code yet from another camper.
On more than one occasion we have found another site because our first choice was closed. This has resulted in us finding sites that have been much nicer so a win win.
We tend now to phone ahead if we think we will arrive over lunchtime, we've had don't worry we will see you and let you in
to very abrupt 'ferme' we didn't go there 
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Just stay in bed until around 9am, go and buy some nice bread, have a leisurely breakfast & shower, pack up your stuff, empty the loo, fill the water tank, hit the road, and by the time you reach wherever you’re going it will be well past anybody’s lunchtime! I don’t get this need to dash around early in the morning, after all it’s leisure not work!
I’ve been on more French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Croatian, Slovakian, Austrian, Swiss and Belgian sites than I can remember and have never, ever been refused entry at whatever time I’ve turned up. Occasionally we’ve had to ring a number to get attention. We hardly ever book in advance (apart from popular city sites) and I’ve never turned up at a site that’s full, but admittedly that’s almost always in the low season between April and early July.
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Then you have been fortunate
We also travel in the low season and have come across sites that have signs outside saying 'complet'
We tend not to leave sites until after 10.00 which quite often puts us arriving at around 13.00 -13.30, sites that don't open until 15.00 are a pain IF there isn't a method of entry.
Some sites are now getting 'British' in that no arrivals before 13.00
While all these cases are rare they are growing year on year.
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Maybe we differ in the type of sites we seek out? I tend to avoid chain sites and anything that looks like a ‘factory campsite’ boasting lots of facilities. Generally we go for smaller ACSI sites, but not exclusively. Also, tend to have leisurely lunch and do interesting sites en-route so hardly ever arrive by 4pm. Seems to me that busiest time on continental sites for arrivals is late afternoon, that’s when the Dutch and Germans arrive!
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Thanks AD, haven't seen that for many a year
used to be our 'bible' when living over there. Very good for Germany, not so great for France as you say.Phonecall now the night before if uncertain has been our latest method, we have had some really nice responses from owners/staff when we then arrive on site
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Same here, we like the smaller family run sites if we can.
Municipals are good but getting less each year.
The only advantage the big sites have is that they often stay open over lunch.
When we revisit sites we tend to send a request by email that also gets a good response.
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Ah I see you added more to your post.
We tend not to stop for lunch enroute unless travelling in excess of 150 miles, something we rarely do once over there. Stopping enroute to visit sites is not as easy with a caravan. We rarely did that when we had a MH.
So arriving on site at 4pm is way beyond the time we like, as you say most MHs arrive around that time and can be busy with all nationals.
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When we're "over there" we mostly tend to potter from site to site, apart from the first couple of days when we'll do longer runs to get to the sunnier parts
. In that case we arrive around 3-4pm, so no problem with sites being open. When we do short distances, we usually ensure we arrive before 12, unless we know the site either doesn't close then, is open until 12.30 or 1.00, or can be accessed without a barrier. Of course there have been exceptions and we've either waited, if it's not been too long, or gone elsewhere.We've been let in a few times by someone already on site, very kind
Or had to phone a number and someone has opened the barrier. Once we went to a municipal along the Canal du Midi, where one could find the key to the barrier in a cupboard somewhere (the finer details escape me). As TG said, municipals are on the decline, sadly.
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Hi euror, we have never had to use any of your methods as we never arrive anywhere near midday! Our usual plan is get to the ‘destination’ ASAP and so far that has meant longish journeys with a mid afternoon, at best, arrival time.
We do our ‘pottering’ on the way back but this still usually involves distances such that it’s not going to be lunchtime when arriving.I have though been let into a site by the owner in his dressing gown at 9pm!
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Some mixed posts here but on the original post, yes, all of these things can happen but the main point is that if there is somebody on reception or the gate is open and there is a free pitch then you can turn up whenever you like. The Dutch are very good at turning up at acsi sites mid morning just as people leave so they bag the best pitches.
Haven’t seen a full site for about 20 years except, of course, if you dare venture towards the Med. even out of season. Turned up at St.Remy at 11.00 am and told to wait until 12.00 when a German couple were due to vacate the only available pitch.
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Your choice, but ours is to get moving in the morning and arrive in time to set up before lunch and then hubby likes to have a long snooze afterwards.
If we are doing more than a 150 miles lunch may be taken in an aire followed by said snooze.
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as others have said, it probably depends on the 'type of travel mode' youre in....
As Ina and A&J mentioned, if hurrying to a destination, say Spain (not hanging around France in January) well be getting our skates on and almost certainly doing our French overnighting on aires, so no time constraints...
a couple of months later on the return trip (or on our late summer trip) we'll be pootling along in a rough direction (perhaps some place in mind) but without a specific time frame in which to get there...
so we might only travel for an hour or so, pull in for lunch, and if the place looks nice, this might become our next night stop....or even more than one night of our exploring is fruitful.
the first night may well be an aire but if we are staying longer it might be any type of site and then we will need to check on entry times if applicable.
certainly the larger sites (like our commercials) dont close reception and entry isnt usually time constrained.
one of favourite french sites is family run but is full (literally) from end April till end September (tourist hotspot) and is happy to keep reception open all day with vans trickling in and out taking up slack as it becomes available.
to close the gate for a lengthy lunch break would cause chaos, the surrounding infrastructure is not traffic friendly and a twenty vehicle queue would not be appreciated.
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Lots of municipals close for lunch. The solution is to park up outside and stroll to the nearest cafe / bistrot whatever and enjoy your own leisurely meal - where you may actually meet the campsite manager!
Or, as we did earlier this year, accost a passing dog walker who went off to find the manager and brought him back to let us in.
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one of favourite french sites is family run but is full (literally) from end April till end September (tourist hotspot) and is happy to keep reception open all day with vans trickling in and out taking up slack as it becomes available.
which one was that BB, I remember arriving at a site on the Cote d'azur recommended on CT to find at 12.10 the barriers down and reception shut. We got out for a look around the site, plenty of spaces available so approached staff in the restaurant /bar that was open overlooking the arrivals area. There was no way they were going to open the barrier to let us in and we were not prepared to wait 2 hrs for it to open, their loss we went to a lovely site just down the road at Cavalaire-sur-Mer, camping De la baie. Both sites of similar size but a completely different attitude.
Another site often recommended is Pont de l'Arche, we arrived off the Zeebrugge ferry around 1pm, site office closed until 4pm yet someone was in the office but would not answer the bell . Again not going to hang around for 3 hrs so drove away. These are the ones that folk remember, many more of course that are not like that thankfully.
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Sometimes it's a blessing when the site is closed for lunch and you can have a stroll around. Quite a few times we've decided to find an alternative as we've not liked what we've seen. Disconcertingly this happened on our very first visit to France. Later on we thought that maybe we were being picky and too fussy so a few years later when in the area we rolled up at just gone midday. It was still poor!
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Plenty of sites out there to avoid! It’s a shame more folks don’t submit reviews for ACSI listed sites than do. I almost always write a review and find them extremely useful when considering sites, even if a bit of Dutch and German translation is often required. In fact, it’s the section in the listing that I go to first rather than reading the inspector’s promotional blurb.
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How did you know my name was Freddy?
This thread is about French sites, but I’d agree with you about Spanish sites, even more plentiful examples of places to avoid.
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We visited Le Pouliguen recently to have a look at the beach at La Baule. We stopped at camping municipal Le Cléin (LINK) which was ideal for us with limited mobility. However, when we arrived the reception was closed for lunch, but the barrier was up. There was a portable barrier but that had been set to one side, so on we went, pitched and had lunch in the late summer sun.
At 3pm we went to book in. Well, we got a proper telling off for coming on the site - even threatened with expulsion! It turned out that the barrier has broken and the temporary barrier must have been moved by persons unknown. Once the nice lady accepted our apologies we were allowed to stay. As has been noted, it tends to be municipal sites with limited staff ( one person) which close for lunch, even in high season.
Horaires d’ouverture de la réception :
avril : 9h-12h / 15h-18h
mai-juin : 9h-12h / 15h-19h
juillet-août : 9h-12h30 / 14h-20h
septembre : 9h-12h / 15h-18hCath on the beach at La Baule
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I like the La Baule area, stayed nearby (Piriac-sur-Mer) in April this year. Lunch is a big deal for the French, so you just have to go with the flow and adjust your habits to suit - ‘when in Rome.....’ and all that. I can understand them getting annoyed with Brits trying to push their luck which, for some, probably happens on a regular basis.
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HI TG, i was referring to La Grainetière at La Flotte on the Île de Ré.
vans come and go all day.
were you talking about Sèlection Camping at La Croix Valmer?
we also love Cavalair sur Mer and really 'must' get back there later next year....our pals have already booked and we tried everything this year to get there but 'events' overtook us...
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Lunchtime closing is very much the French way and theres not much one can do except except that's the way it is.
However I have found that a polite email the day before can help if you are expecting to arrive over lunch time and many sites out of high season are not going to be full so they are fairly relaxed about a lunchtime arrival if they know you are coming. For big sites with allocated pitches the best thing is to get near, park up for lunch and roll in at 1500 hrs!
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