Why France campsites

mikebeaches said:
We rather enjoy staying at French naturist sites - camping au naturel. :giggle:

Haven't found many aires suitable for relaxing in the buff... ;)

But everyone has a choice of what they prefer and what floats their boat. We just appreciate having a van, and where it can take us, that's the main thing. All good. (y)
Click to expand...
Don't you get totally browned off? ;)

Travelling around we tend to use aires/ semi-wild. If staying in one place for a week or so then it's usually a site.
 
I honestly didn't start this thread for an argument, and I confess I have never felt the need of sites but many on here do just the opposite, so being as we are getting to the end of our European touring ( to be honest I thought it might already be over) I thought we should see what we have been missing, but afraid no one has come up with anything to persuade me.
Maybe we were spoilt when we started with France passion, we really enjoyed the semi wild camping on them but then got into Aires and fp sort of got neglected as we had tried all the different varieties and got into free Aires, which really suited us down to the ground.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Btw, this is not the point of the thread but now I have mentioned it, if anyone is thinking of going to France for the first time, France passion is not to be missed, see the real back of beyond France and talking to real french normal people.
Couldn't recommend it more.
 
chaser said:
I honestly didn't start this thread for an argument, and I confess I have never felt the need of sites but many on here do just the opposite, so being as we are getting to the end of our European touring ( to be honest I thought it might already be over) I thought we should see what we have been missing, but afraid no one has come up with anything to persuade me.
Maybe we were spoilt when we started with France passion, we really enjoyed the semi wild camping on them but then got into Aires and fp sort of got neglected as we had tried all the different varieties and got into free Aires, which really suited us down to the ground.
Click to expand...
Another option if you have a smallish van is to stay in hotels and use your van to tour the area. We've done this many time's in UK and Europe and love the freedom and comfort this combination provides.
 
buttons said:
Another option if you have a smallish van is to stay in hotels and use your van to tour the area. We've done this many time's in UK and Europe and love the freedom and comfort this combination provides.
Click to expand...
Before we got into motorhomes this is what we did in a car. (y)
 
Whats this French Passion thing you mention?

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
bobnick said:
Thanks for that. Going to have a good shufty.
Click to expand...
When we started it was a hell of a job finding them , very sparse directions in french and out of the way but now they are all satnaved up and easy to find, and after your £30 or whatever, it's all free , ok they might have their own produce to sell but we have never seen any pressure at all and in fact at most places you have a job to find anyone to sell you anything.
Loved them, wish we were starting again.
 
bobnick said:
That was quick.
Just ordered the book from Amazon £11.99. Here on Wed.
Click to expand...
Wow it must be cheaper now, it's where britstops got his idea from.
Hope you enjoy.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
chaser said:
Wow it must be cheaper now, it's where britstops got his idea from.
Hope you enjoy.
Click to expand...
Actually it's here tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what it has to offer as we will be ther from about 4th June.
 
bobnick said:
Actually it's here tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what it has to offer as we will be ther from about 4th June.
Click to expand...
This was our first, never saw a soul, apparently a cider farm.
But I assure you it got better :giggle: and from the other side it was all gardens and fruit trees (y)
ldv trip 001.JPG
 
buttons said:
Another option if you have a smallish van is to stay in hotels and use your van to tour the area. We've done this many time's in UK and Europe and love the freedom and comfort this combination provides.
Click to expand...
We do something similar with the Holiday Property Bond (HPB). They have various resorts and centres around Europe and the UK and we sometimes mix-and-match, touring in the van then spending time with HPB along the way.

Holiday Property Bond - Transform your Family Holidays

We've been transforming the quality of life of thousands of families for over 30 years. Find out more about the Holiday Property Bond.
www.hpb.co.uk www.hpb.co.uk

We regularly do it in France and Spain, and on one occasion Austria also.

Handily, there is an HPB site (Sibton Park) less than 5 miles from the tunnel at Folkestone, which we've been able to combine with French touring.

Works for us. (y)

Currently, at HPB Alfaix, Almeria (without the van this time). :giggle:


PXL_20220502_092254378~2.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have a swb renault master conversion which i find ideal for day trips weekends or pub and hotel stops. It's sort of like having a choice if I wanna book I place in France at a Cottage no problem I don't need to rush to get there plenty of aires on route ect.
 
bobnick said:
Is that like a time share with a different name?
Click to expand...
Yes and no... :unsure:

We initially invested a few quid and HPB has 34 resorts with about 1,400 units, which range from studios, through 2-bed apartments to 5-bedroom villas with private pools.

They provide high quality self-catering, and the bigger sites have indoor and outdoor pools, sports facilities, bars and restaurants etc.

Subject to availability (and sufficient investment) we can stay at any of them we like, at any time, and just pay a no-profit user charge, to cover housekeeping, grounds maintenance, energy and so on, each time.

If we want to leave the scheme we could cash in and get back approximately 70% of what we originally invested. It started in 1983, has grown steadily since then increasing the available accommodation and locations. We've been in for just over 8 years and have mentally written off the initial investment, and have no intention of selling out in anycase. For us it provides excellent holiday value. And it can work well with the van too. :giggle:

We have often been touring in France or Spain in the camper, spotted some short notice availability, made a booking and turned up the following day or day after. Obviously, you can book further ahead too - which I guess is the norm for most folk. (y)
 
Last edited:
chaser said:
This was our first, never saw a soul, apparently a cider farm.
But I assure you it got better :giggle: and from the other side it was all gardens and fruit trees (y) View attachment 613358
Click to expand...
For a second year I returned to M. Bodin's vineyard near Chinon to stock up with substantial quantities of Red. I'm a vintage vehicle nerd so we chatted about his fabulous old Peugeot. He took me in it to a bar in town for a spin and then invited me to park overnight in his yard overlooking the vines. Great visit.
M Bodins Peugeot.JPG


2018-06-21 2018 June Loire valley 002.JPG


2018-06-21 2018 June Loire valley 004.JPG
 
nicholsong said:
But with that do you get the Membership card and W/screen sticker?
Click to expand...
TBH don't know what i get other than a 600+ page book with 100s of sites of all types in it.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
bobnick said:
TBH don't know what i get other than a 600+ page book with 100s of sites of all types in it.
Click to expand...
Yeah just had a look, it's still 30 euros, don't know what you have there, either a bargain or a last year's one.
 
I doubt you’d suddenly like campsites after all these years and would resent the money they cost you. I can’t see that they would offer you anything at all, don’t bother, carry on doing what is for you a tried and tested formula which you enjoy especially as it likely to be your last trip. You want to come home thinking what a lovely time you’ve had, not thinking what on earth was all the fuss about.

We’re off to France after Topsham for the first time since before Covid, we’ll stay on a mixture of aires and sites, and our friends’ drive. We do like the small quiet sites if we’re staying somewhere a few days. We will stay on nice aires but not the car park style ones except if we’re doing a long slog to Spain. We are fortunate and can afford it but like the atmosphere on the small sites. We did the all singing all dancing ones when the children were young and that was fine then but my idea of hell now.

Each to their own. There’s no right or wrong although sometimes these threads make you feel as though there is!
 
carolyn said:
I doubt you’d suddenly like campsites after all these years and would resent the money they cost you. I can’t see that they would offer you anything at all, don’t bother, carry on doing what is for you a tried and tested formula which you enjoy especially as it likely to be your last trip. You want to come home thinking what a lovely time you’ve had, not thinking what on earth was all the fuss about.

We’re off to France after Topsham for the first time since before Covid, we’ll stay on a mixture of aires and sites, and our friends’ drive. We do like the small quiet sites if we’re staying somewhere a few days. We will stay on nice aires but not the car park style ones except if we’re doing a long slog to Spain. We are fortunate and can afford it but like the atmosphere on the small sites. We did the all singing all dancing ones when the children were young and that was fine then but my idea of hell now.

Each to their own. There’s no right or wrong although sometimes these threads make you feel as though there is!
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, that was the post I was looking for, and I think we will carry on as we have.
What actually got me thinking was , our last big trip was planned for 2020, then it got put back to 21, that didn't happen and we are now two years older than we were when planning the last one, and far less agile, but we have now booked the tunnel for 10 may for a ten day trip just to get back in the swing, if that goes ok we shall be planning the last for a month in September, and thought as we have never been on a site, apart from one night that it might be somehow , a bit easier and see what we have missed but reading the replies on here I don't think we will change a winning formula now. (y) (y) (y) (y) (y)
 
chaser said:
Yeah just had a look, it's still 30 euros, don't know what you have there, either a bargain or a last year's one.
Click to expand...
Again don't know. Went on Amazon with heading French Passion, this book came up first i saw 600 something pages of sites in the title and bought straight away. Don't know what year it is or what else comes with it.
Arrives today so will soon find out.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top