Travelling through France and Spain in Oct '22
Hi everyone,
I am planning to travelling from England to Calpe in Spain beginning the 2nd October 2022 in my motorhome.
I am looking to find campsites that are open at this time of year, in France in particular, for a over night stay to break up my journey.
I will be beginning in Calais, France and passing nearby the following areas: Rouen, Le Mans, Poitiers, Angoulême and Bordeaux. I am trying to avoid the toll roads and so this is the general journey I will be taking before I enter Spain.
I will be travelling with my two dogs so any campsite will need to be dog friendly and be able to accommodate a motorhome up to 7.5meters.
I am also looking for a campsite to stop at between the French and Spanish border and Zaragoza, Spain on approximately the 3rd October.
Any recommendations will be truly appreciated as I am currently struggling to find a campsite that is open and along my designated route.
Thank you in advance.
Terry.
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If I was doing the journey I would use the Camping Car Park Aires network in France. All the orange and blue ones should be open. Most have 6 amp electric and a Wifi hotspot, as well as the normal Aire services. Prices are 10 / 12€ a night. You can check online if the are open and what space they have. They are barrier controlled, so a little bit of extra security. You can buy an access card for a few euros before you leave the UK. This is charged up online and used for access and payment to the sites.
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Terry’, But if you want sites then…
Day 1 Your home to Camping Grand Gravelot in Calais. Open to end of October.
Day 2 Drive 250 miles to Campong Neuville on the north side of LeMans. Open all year
Day 3 Drive 280 miles to Bordeaux .Choice of two sites open all year.
There are plenty more but I won’t go on because you may want to do bigger or smaller distances each day.
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PS. No further comment from you, But if you are happy with that sort of daily mileage it’s then…
Day 4 Drive 290 miles to Zaragoza - camping municipal.
Day 5 Drive 280miles to your destination.
Mind you I think it would be a mistake to try to do the entire journey toll free. There are sections where it’s wise to pay.
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we will be doing Caen to Mazarron commencing 20th Oct towing a caravan. not done any figures but i wonder now with the high price of diesel if avoiding the toll roads is a good idea, certainly using non tolls roads can be sometimes difficult with a caravan and heavy on diesel, for us much better to put it on the toll, select cruise control 57 mph and get 28-30 mpg.
For us we arrive in Caen approx 1400 hrs then head to camping Tours Val de Loire 24x7x365, we can normally make this site before it closes, but if in doubt ring ahead and they put a key in the night safe, good open site, facilities not great but for 1 night they are ok.
From tours we bypass Bordeaux and head for camping Larrouleta (Urrugne), good site open 24x7x365, yes it is a bit of a slog to get there, but we normallly spend 2 nights there just to take a breath, we normally book but i dont think it is necessary.
from Larrouleta we head for camping Aranjuez 24x7x365, no need to book just call the day before you need to arrive, again a bit of a slog but using toll roads i find it an easy drive.
from Aranjuez we do Mazarron in a oner, find this route much easier than going via Zaragoza, last time we used the municipal site at Zaragoza it was not great but i believe it has improved.
Just a different take, hope this helps
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We came back from Spain through France at the end of Oct last year, no problems getting an overnight stop as mentioned Camping Car Parks Aires are very handy and the majority open all year.
This year we will be going down through France at the end of Sept to the south of Spain and back up at the end of Nov, again sites where we can and CCP Aires where they are no sites open or if its a better route.
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Can I ask why you want campsites on route. We do a similar trip usually in January and use motorhome aires like the camping car aires, some are payable most (not camping car) are free.
we tend to travel for around 6 hours a day and then find an aire to spend the night.
we use the route through France with few tolls from this website
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Yes and my first sentence did say
"towing a caravan." so that OP was in no doubt...
Zaragoza - Calpe = 440 KM 4hrs 4 mins
Aranjuez - Calpe 439 KM 4hrs
and my last sentence did say
"Just a different take, hope this helps"
and i did say
"Zaragoza, last time we used the municipal site at Zaragoza it was not great but i believe it has improved"
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"Agreed that the distance from Aranjuez, and from Zaragoza, to Calpe are the same, but the journey from Urrugne to either is not. Urrugne to Aranjuez is a 5 hour trip; Urrugne to Zaragoza is just under 3 hours. Precisely why we choose the Zaragoza route."
yes we are in agreement Urrugne to Aranjuez is a 5 hour trip rather than the 3 hrs to Zaragoza, but we normally stay in the south Murcia region so the journey from Aranjuez is much shorter than from Zaragoza, swings and roundabouts really.
I was wondering if the OP was looking for campsites rather than Aires as he has 2 dogs, the Spanish type aires we have stayed on have not really been dog friendly as they are quite close to the main road so you have to be vigilant and make sure dog is secure, most campsites have dog friendly areas that are secure, hence why i gave the sites we have used which are dog friendly.
so, question, in January which route is most likely to be affected by snow?
this year in late March in the Madrid area going south to Aranjuez there was evidence of much snow in the mountains, although all the roads were clear.
p.s. we will be travelling back in early January, tks to the 90 day rule
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As mentioned earlier, there are also plenty of lovely free Aires along the route.
I also agree with ET's comment that it might be better to do some sections on the toll...the A63 south of Bordeaux is a case in point.Calais to Calpe is about 20 hrs, non toll...4 days of 5 hrs, or 5 days of 4?
Park4night is a great app for finding all sorts of stopping points, free and paid..
here's a possible itinerary that includes two lovely free Aires...
Calais to Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton (free aire)
.....to Couhé (Valence en Poitou) (free aire)
....to La Rouletta nr St Jean de Luz/Urrugne (regular stop for over winterers)
....to Zaragosa
....to Calpe
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I've bumped this up as it's more or less a duplicate of a second thread which I'll now lock.
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