Camping in France in June - any advice/tips please for a really cheap trip?

[Lucky13]

DH wants to take our tent to France in June this year and for me to organize the trip - eek! Except I know absolutely nothing about camping in France. I just wanted a nice private villa somewhere hot, so not overly keen on camping. All I know is that it must have a good chance of being sunny and warm, have a swimming pool/lake or beach nearby for DD (4), be quiet (no endless rows of caravans packed in) and have plenty of places to explore nearby.

Where can we go that is nice but cheap once we factor everything in? How cheap can it realistically be?

The ferry seems v expensive from Portsmouth (over £400), but would it be really stupid in terms of diesel cost to drive a couple of hours to the tunnel just to save the ticket price?

Does anyone have any money saving tips or shall I just keep on about that villa

Do you have tesco vouchers? You can use these on the eurotunnel. We got a return trip with a caravan for £80 in vouchers. We booked month's ago though and the closer the date the more you pay but I'm sure you could save a couple of hundred.
Look on uk campsite website for sites in the areas you are planning to visit, book direct with the sites and avoid the eurocamp type sites. Look at smaller sites or smaller chains like flower camping. We travelled down south and stayed at a municipal site for £18 a night for 5 of us in a caravan.
Also look at getting a ACSI card or Camping cheque which might get you discounts if it's not the French high season.

Excellent - just the kind of tips I'm after - will look into those thank you.

How far south do you have to go in June before the weather has a better chance of being nice?

Tesco vouchers for Eurotunnel and camping cheques or ACSI card. Some ACSI sites include up to 3 children under 5 for their 12/14/16 euro rates. You can't guarantee the weather but supposedly better south of Lyon. Though when we went last June all of France had lovely weather except for northern Brittany where we were!

There are lots of really cheap sites all over France, but they are usually the rock-up and take your chances kind! Many/most have pools (though not the massive ones with slides and lazy rivers etc that are much bigger and more £!) IME French sites are clean and with good showers/loos, etc, plus better weather - a much more pleasant experience than in GB!

The weather seems to be better before the middle of August IME, but we are tied to school hols so I don't know about June. The Vendee (below Brittany) is pretty reliable - big wide beaches, but my heart belongs to Southern Brittany which is a bit like Cornwall.

We always go Dover/Calais (Eurotunnel) and drive, but I guess it depends on where you live. It's a much cheaper crossing and we don't mind the driving. Much!

Another vote for Tesco vouchers here. This year will be our first crossing on the tunnel having always used the Dover-Calais crossing that was included in our holiday. Taking the ginger dog this year so we have opted for the tunnel, not sure if I am more excited about the tunnel or the holiday! As far as driving further to the tunnel, it depends where you live and where you are going. We live in Dorset (about 20 miles from Poole) but have always found the Poole ferries prohibitively expensive as well as the one experience of using the Poole Condor when we were 3 of the only people on board not to throw up so head off for Dover.

We are Eurocamp folk but this is our last year of research with them as we are doing it for ourselves from now on (I always felt happier with my pigin French going with a company when DS was younger) The majority of Eurocamp sites have great pools, facilities etc. We used the brochure to find a site we want then look the campsite itself up on Google and book independantly (thats the theory, never actually done it yet!) We attempted a holiday with Eurocamp Independant one year but found they were horrifically expensive.

We both drive so the longer drive is no problem to us (we are off to the Auvergne region this year with an overnight stop in the Loire Valley) Take the cheapest crossing (normally late night/early morning and midweek) and organise your journey meticulously beforehand. Eurocamp (again, sorry!) has a route planner which allows you to choose quickest, scenic, cheapest (wrt tolls) route, though I guess there are many others out there. We also have "the tag" this year which will allow us to sweep majestically through the tolls, bypassing the queues and billing us the following month (when doing things on a budget this frees up a little extra spending money, as long as you account for the bill the following month)

Plan stop offs with your own food. DS loves the morning stop off, as the sun has just risen, where we whip out the little stove and a disposable BBQ and eat bacon sandwiches and drink tea. Despite spending my youth thinking people who did this sort of thing were desperately tragic, this is a truly magical part of our holiday (the shame, the shame :o) Aside from the extra fuel, the cost of a camping holiday in France is pretty much the same as in the UK.

The weather has always been kind to us in mid-Southern France, my only experience of Brittany in June resulted in half the campsite packing up and heading South (rather like Wagontrain!) to escape potential drowning :o

We are camping in France this June too. We're taking the ferry to Calais and driving to the Dordogne over three days. The Dordogne can be hot but also gets more rain than some regions so I'm packing our waterproofs. It has beaches and kayaking etc on the rivers, and some nice towns and castles etc to look at. And delicious food and wine

If we were up for a longer drive I would go to Drome, Ardeche or Provence for a better chance of sunshine.

Do you have your own tent or are you going to Eurocamp or similar? If you have your own tent most municipal campsites are great value for money. Some of the ones I have booked for our trip are only ?10 a night for a tent, two adults and an under 3. Ukcampsite is great for searching and reviews. You can also email the sites through them.

If you're going for a pre-pitched tent, I have read that Eurocamp let you book one overnight stop at one of their sites en route to their main one.

Forgot to say, this is the main site we're staying at in the Dordogne, Les Mathevies.

We haven't been there before but it has fab reviews. It looks quite small and non-commercial. But also has a bar/cafe and swimming pool. We're paying ?16.50 a night, which is a lot cheaper than most sites we've stayed at in the UK in recent years.

wow I'm convinced to ditch all thoughts of the villa now for a mini adventure driving through France!

There is so much good advice here thank you. DH is the just turn up with the tent and see kind, where I need to plan everything especially with DD with us.

We are about an hour from Portsmouth, which is why I was wondering if it would be stupid to rack up further miles/petrol costs compared to crossing price. I have just found a tunnel crossing for under £100, so that's a massive saving already even with fuel.

Off to Google all of your good suggestions now thank you and maybe get some nice new stuff with all our saving!

Yay lucky, forget the villa :o As you said, its a mini adventure!

Now I have DS I see that the little things are what makes the holiday rather than the luxurious surroundings. Also when you camp you seem to spend so much more time as a family, having fun. Our early morning bacon sandwiches are one, another was stopping at the side of the road and taking photos of DS in a field of sunflowers (we only ever see 2 or 3 sunflowers at a time so a whole field was mind-blowing!) the big lizard on the wall, catching crayfish in a hat, these are all things that DS still talks about a couple of years later.

Go for it, you will love it :)

Take sandwiches / pic nic en route...the service stations have great play areas quite often, but keep cost down by buying a baguetter and cheese / ham elsewhere. At Easter I wasted 5 euros on the most disgusting sandwich ever at a French service station!

June and I would head straight for the Ile De rae which is the sunniest place in France. Beautiful and not to far a drive from St Malo or Cherbourg, with not too many payage.

I know a good campsite if you want the details, a short walk from a beach, a town with market and idea for children,they do tents for hire and have a pool - with a cover for winter.

La Rochelle is beautiful just over the bridge and there are plenty of cycle lanes offroad to take the children in trailers or on their own bikes - 100 miles ofcycles lanes off road

We used LD lines from Portsmouth last year, they are reasonable if you can use one of their offers. Otherwise yes to adventure driving across France: keep your cooking stuff handy and stop in a village. Almost all have somewhere you can buy baguette and cheese to DIY sandwiches. Much more memorable than service stations.

June is off peak season but late enough that the campsites will all be open. I'd risk the travelling as long as you are staying in a fairly touristy area, ie if you head along the north coast to Brittany.

Ivykate I would love the details of the French campsite we are off to Oberon but would like to check out isle de re

les-varennes.com/campsite-france.html

it is family run campsite and not a large place - but June you shouldn't have a problem getting in there - the pool is a proper pool.

They hire bikes and trailers

Thanks very much ivy will check it out....always good to have a recommendation ;)

My advice would be to stay a bit inland rather than on the coast. Just 10km inland can save you quite a bit. If you go 30km inland you save at least 50% (which can add up when the coastal places are 50? a night per pitch)

ooh Ile De rae looks lovely - how warm is it likely to be in June though - obviously not expecting an exact weather forecast

MrsHoarder Are LD lines ok - haven't heard much about them before?

frenchfancy Thanks for the staying inland tip too.

i would get one of the3 camping cards - saves money out of july and august and you can usually find campsites that will be 66% cheaper

acsi is very good off season

www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en/europe/france/poitou-charentes/charente-maritime/campsite-les-varennes-103396/

ytouy are looking at the campsite i suggested at 16 euros per night through may and june with two children free,there are plenty of other campsite on the coast and they will not be more than 16 euros if they are in the scheme and you show the card.

We have turned up at a site which was over three times the price but the acsi card is great for getting a good price - well worth the money to buy the card as yoy get the money right back.

www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en/europe/france/poitou-charentes/charente-maritime/campsite-les-varennes-103396/

LD lines were OK: we slept on the overnight crossing south and had a reasonable meal on the way back again. There wasn't as much to do as on a P&O (for example) but if you've got a good supply of your own entertainment (books/DVD player etc) that doesn't really matter.

Il de Ré is normally very warm in June. (think 28-35C) Best time to visit IMO as the French schools haven't broken up, it gets very crowded in July and early August.

ACSI card now ordered - it's a start!
Looks like Il de Ré it is then - thank you all for your help everyone.

As you are going in June what I would do it go over to France. Get a paper - Aujourd'hui has the weather on the back page, in picture form, with about a five day forecast, too - and go to wherever the weather looks nice. You may have to stay overnight somewhere if it's a long way away, but that wouldn't matter as overnight campsites are OK as all you'll want to do is stay the night and shower the next morning.

Go to the area you have chosen. Stop driving at about 2 pm and look for a campsite. There are loads and loads of campsites in France. You could get a book in England beforehand or order a book from the internet or an Alan Rogers book with lots of campsites' details.

Park and go to campsite reception. Ask if you can have a look around before you decide. They'll always be very happy for you to do this. Ime they are always very proud of their sites and want you to stay there. If you don't like the site, say no thank you and move on to the next.

Good luck. I see you have got an ACSI card. I think a book comes with it, doesn't it? We've been to France lots of times and never book, even in August. We've had some cracking holidays there.