Where to go in France?

[Millimat]

OK so have just returned from hols today - we went to Belgium and Luxembourg. Loved it - took the caravan and visited all of Luxembourg from one site as its all so close! It was very non-touristy which we loved.
So the question is - where do we go next year? We took the ferry from Hull to Zebrugge, and then it was 5 hours to get to Luxembourg. If we aimed for the same distance driving again, where could we get to that people would recommend? Not too touristy, smallish campsite etc? We could go from the south coast or Hull again? Ta x

I am looking for a similar thing. A decent site in France, preferably north because I am scared of driving abroad. We have everything so we just need a pitch on a site with a shop and pool.

We will be taking a two year old for the first time! Is this wise?

have you looked at ukcampsites? brittany is beautiful - bit like cornwall with less tourists and better weather - though not as reliable as further south. also not too far to drive if you get the ferry to st malo or caen. weather in south brittany is bit better than north. carnac area nice.

I fancy a bit further than Brittany, any suggestions?

you get better weather in vendee but its not nearly so pretty. don't travel down on a sat in july or aug as roads busy with french tourists. i've also stayed in biaritz - beache was packed - a group wouldn't have been able to sit together

just returned from a week in the Loire. Stayed at Vallee des Vignes in Concourson-sur-Layon. About 20 mins from Saumur - chateaux, vineyards, watersports within reasonable distance but we spent a few days on the site and it was great. Had fabulous weather which helps. British-owned site so lots of Brits staying but many French, Dutch and others too. Pool, small bar, great sized pitches, huge showers (big enough for families), very clean, lovely play area and sand pit and a friendly atmosphere on site.

We're just back from 2 weeks on Ile D'Oleron, an island near La Rochelle. We didn't camp but there are plenty of nice campsites there. Fabulous beaches, 90 percent French tourists, about an 8 hour drive from Calais.

That island sounds lovely - which part of france is it in?

OK so had a general look at France and have now realised that I know nothing about the different areas in Frace . Can anyone direct me to a site that explains the basics e.g. where the Loire / Vendee / Bordeaux regions etc are!!! and what characteristics they have.

vendee is below brittany - about a third down on the left coast. think long sandy beaches, good weather, bland. bordeaux is lower down on left coast, loire to right of vendee - obviously along big river pretty good weather. suggest getting a book from the library as less biased than online. vendee is very cold at night.

Ile D'Oleron is in the region of Poitou Charentes - or more specifically Charente Maritime.

In terms of recommended websites, I haven't ever had much joy. We visited the area 5 years ago and went to Oleron on a day trip and loved it, vowed to return etc. All the info I got was from guide books, you could try the library?

Or maybe some lovely person will come along and recommend some websites that have decent translations to English, unless you are a good French speaker some can be confusing.

........and Oleron isn't cold but it can get windy. We went the first two weeks of August and had glorious weather - best in the afternoon.

West of the island beaches on the Atlantic fab for surfing/bodyboarding/windsurfing, east of the island stiller.

Renowned for oyster production and melons. Yum. Cycle paths to die for all over the island, completely flat terrain, lots of forest.

Love the sound of cycle paths that are flat

this place is one of my favs, probalby joint first with samur

it is a good drive south though, peopel on the site where having trips over the boarder to barcelona - which is aorund 200miles south.

I have stayed twice and loved it both times

Similar to Oleron is the ile de Re which is also lovely with loads of seafood, cycle paths, sandy beaches. It is off coast of La rochelle. We didn't want to drive eother so flew with Jet2 to La Rochelle. You can get there from loads of uk airports. Then we got a taxi to the campsite. We didn't need a vcar there cos everyone cycles. We hired bikes. We stayed with Eurocamps so obviously didn't need to carry all camping equipment on the plane. It was a really relaxing holiday & we are planning on booking again for next year.

chocolateshoes which site did you saty at? Would you recommend it? We are thinking of headng out Dover - Calais, stopping at Paris for a couple of nights then heading over that direction, so a site recommendation would be good

Try this website:

www.campingfrance.com/

It has heaps of campsites.

In my opinion dont be frightened of large-ish campsites except on the med coast. Most other sites even if quite big are normally well controlled. We stayed in a 500 pitch site in Provence up to a couple of weeks ago and found that it was very quiet. There was music and entertainment but each night it was switched off bang on 11pm.

There are some lovely sites in the Dordogne. Many of these are well developed with beautiful pools etc but still only around 200 pitches.

I hope you have a lovely time.