Why France campsites

[BikerGraham]

I revisited this thread and have re-read all 6 pages.

I have been a bit disappointed in the answers to chaser's original question because I expected more information on French campsites in particular, as maybe he did himself.

It seemed to disolve into a discussion about whether campsites were better than Aires/wilding and then onto the subject of France Passion.

We all know that campsites in all countries have MH facilities, toilets, showers etc, and maybe pools and bars, but I was hoping for any info which differentiated French campsites.

In particular I was hoping to learn the following :-

What sort of views do they have - almost no photos on the thread?

How relaxed are they about where one pitches?

In general how far is one from the next MH/Caravan?

In general how far are they from interesting towns. UK ones seem to be inconvenient on the whole?

Outside French holidays are they free of children and even then are children allowed to run riot with football and bikes?

Are there 'Adult only' campsites?

I did not find much info to answer these questions.

Geoff

I remember on our bike tour a number of years ago about 3 in the afternoon turning down some small road to follow a sign for a local site. On arrival it was beautiful. Basic pitches with electric. Obviously don’t use the electric as on a motorbike. Lovely well kept toilet and shower block and a small shop. A pizza van visited a couple of times a week and a bread van each morning.
Wonderful
Down a country lane opened to the local village with river running through it, a monastery, wonderful pub/ restaurant and medieval buildings. Stunning

Also rode along the Loire and somewhere by Ambois noticed a small municipal site on the river bank. Pulled in a got a pitch. Dirt cheap. Lovely wash rooms. Basic but immaculate. River next to us. Loads of space and first thing next morning got out of tent to see the sun coming up and hot air balloons in the sky. What more in life do you want.
So you can have great 5 star site (Les Castels being some of the best) but there are small local sites that are to die for. Cheap, well kept and you meet some wonderful people from all nations.

Generally not the Essex lot . Sorry for those of you from there.

 

[pelican]

£6,000 a bottle, bargain. If all available was that stuff in brown gallon cans at about a euro a gallon then I'd drink that.

Romanee Conti 16,000 gulp!

 

[emjaiuk]

In our caravan days, on route to Spain, lunchtime was spent with the large Michelin map book looking for blue circles (lakes) next to villages. Usually it was the village reservoir, complete with a ‘Baise de loisers’ and a municipal campsite. Sometimes a private site with a small bar. They ranged from hole in the floor toilets to luxury shower rooms, but we rarely found one that wasn’t fine for a night stop, and in those days municipal site prices made current aire costs seem expensive

 

[pelican]

The bulk buy red wine is almost as bad as the stuff you get from the French supermarkets in brown squareish containers. We have all done it at some time.

Usually has the last sweeping of the Vignerons barn thrown in. I was informed of this by a top producer.

 

[bobnick]

£6,000 to recycle a bottle of liquid to wee................seems like a bargain to me.

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[ceejayt]

We will stay on FOs, Campinv Car Parks, Campsites, Aires, wild but we try to stick to a leisurely touring pattern.

When moving, get up and get away say by 10 at the latest having worked out where next which will be no more than 2 to 2.5 hours away.

Arrive by lunchtime, have lunch, have walk/cycle around the town/area - mainly to see which restaurant to use that night.

Siesta

Dinner

Nightcap

Bed

Repeat !

Not always possible but good to try!

 

[DangerMousy]

I revisited this thread and have re-read all 6 pages.

I have been a bit disappointed in the answers to chaser's original question because I expected more information on French campsites in particular, as maybe he did himself.

It seemed to disolve into a discussion about whether campsites were better than Aires/wilding and then onto the subject of France Passion.

We all know that campsites in all countries have MH facilities, toilets, showers etc, and maybe pools and bars, but I was hoping for any info which differentiated French campsites.

In particular I was hoping to learn the following :-

What sort of views do they have - almost no photos on the thread?

It depends......some have amazing views, others not so much.

Lovely views from this site (£15 per night outside high season):

Same site, different pitch:

Different angle:

No views from our pitch on this site (£20 per night, direct river access, just upstream from the Pont d'Arc):

But these guys in the row in front of us have a direct view over the Ardèche:

No views from this site either, but no neighbours for at least 10m (£17 per night, direct river access to the river and the Pont du Gard):

No views from this site (unless you count the wildlife) - but its walking distance to the centre of Riquewihr and cycling distance to several other wine villages. Also food trucks several times a week in case you can't be bothered to cook (£16 per night out of season, £22 high/harvest season):

How relaxed are they about where one pitches?

It depends....on the site and how busy they are. We've had sites where in quiet periods we've been told to just pitch where we like and just come back and tell them our pitch number but during busy periods the same site will allocate you a pitch. Others we've been given a short list and been told to walk round and have a look at them and then come back to reception to book in after making our choice.

We've never been given any instructions on how/which way to pitch the MH on the pitch though....that seems to be a particularly British thing.

In general how far is one from the next MH/Caravan?

It depends....in general though we've found the pitches are pretty typical of most European sites: big enough for our 8m MH and are often divided by trees or shrubs. Many campsites give their pitch sizes on their websites if that's a concern. They aren't the huge pitches with 6m separation you find over here in the UK though.

In general how far are they from interesting towns. UK ones seem to be inconvenient on the whole?

It depends.....some are near places, other's are in the middle of nowhere. But I think on the whole though in France you are more likely to find a campsite on the edge of a town/village (often a basic municipal site) than you are in the UK. I agree that (with some exceptions) UK campsites tend to be miles from anywhere.

Outside French holidays are they free of children and even then are children allowed to run riot with football and bikes?

Free of children....no, not usually: we almost always travel outside of the main holiday times and quite often see children on campsites. But they tend to be pre-school or younger rather than tween/teen at those times of years. I don't recall ever seeing them run riot...even on a very busy family-oriented site by a lake on the last weekend of the French holiday season.

Are there 'Adult only' campsites?

Possibly, but we've never felt the need to look for any.

 

[nicholsong]

DangerMousy

Thank you for a very comprehensive reply and for the photos - some very nice pitches.

Geoff