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Original poster

Camping in France experts this way!

12 replies

rainbowinthesky · 14/07/2012 12:55

Hi
DD (8) and I are going to France for a week in August. I have all the gear as camped lots in the UK but we want to try France. I have Tesco vouchers for the tunnel so will be arriving in Calais. First time driving abroad and going to France for me so dont want to be too adventurous but also don't want to be boring.

Budget is an issue and want to keep costs as low as possible. Hoping to spend less than £20 a night on campsite and taking our smaller tent so could probably move around a bit or not depending on how it goes.

What's my best move? It will just be me driving so not sure how south to drive. Do I have to book a pitch before I go or will it be fine if we drive until we find one we like? It will most likely be 2nd week of August.

Thanks. Getting very excited!

OP posts:
Original poster
rainbowinthesky · 14/07/2012 12:56

Another question. I dont have a satnav but do have an iphone. Can I use my iphone as satnav and supplement with paper maps or will this be insufficient?

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 14/07/2012 14:24

i guess you know about ukcampsites.co.uk for site reviews?

bigTillyMint · 14/07/2012 14:32

We have been camping in France for 10yrs now and have never used satnav - just good old maps (bought in French service stationsWink)

If you want a big site with big swimming pool complex and other stuff then you may be better to book ahead. The Les Castels group have good sites. However, you can easily do turn-up-on-the-day, much cheaper smaller sites. IME French sites are usually clean and much more modern than the English ones!

Try to avoid driving on a Saturday as that is when most of the French travel.

kahlua4me · 14/07/2012 14:33

I would suggest not going too far south as you only have a week. but that does depend on how much you like driving.
We travelled around last year and did not book as stayed in municipal sites mainly, and found as long as we stopped early enough we did not have any bother.
We did use sat nav as it has a campsite search on it, don't know about iPhone though.

We did stay in one really good site about 5 hours from Calais called forest view which was fantastic and amazingly good value. I found it on ukcampsite.

Hope you enjoy your hols, camping in France is fab!

Original poster
rainbowinthesky · 14/07/2012 15:52

Thanks! Don't want an all singing, all dancing campsite. Municipal sites? Heard about these. What are they? How are they different from other sites?

What is the best way to find these small sites? Is there a particular book that has them all in? Or do I just drive around? Confused

Yes, I know about ukcampsites and have spent time on their looking but cant find an answer to my question directly so knew I could get it answered here!

5 hours would be a maximum for me on my own. I will look that one up.

OP posts:
kahlua4me · 14/07/2012 19:45

Every town has a municipal site, they are public run rather than private and we have always found them to be clean.

The website for the one I mentioned is www.forestviewleisurebreaks.co.uk
The owners are English and very helpful. We planned to stay there overnight but stayed for 3!

topbannana · 14/07/2012 19:53

Only problem with the iPhone is you will be charged astronomical amounts for "surfing" if you are not careful. I'm not sure how it works but I was too scared to even try it!
We have used sat-nav in the past which was great, this year was all maps which was great too unless it was DH's turn to navigate
If you are a reasonably confident driver then you will find driving on the continent easy. You cannot unless you are thick as shit go the wrong way round roundabouts and at junctions, simply take a couple of seconds to adjust and you will be fine. Its far easier than driving in the UK!
Lastly, enjoy :)

Original poster
rainbowinthesky · 14/07/2012 21:34

Thanks all. Have spent some time today searching and forestleisure looks good. About to email them now!

OP posts:
crazymum53 · 16/07/2012 09:16

Watch out for the French bank holiday on 15th August - the campsites will be very booked up then and the auto-routes and other roads will be very busy.

frenchfancy · 16/07/2012 18:39

Non every town has a municipal site, but many in tourist spots do. Try this site www.camping-municipal.org/ it is in french but you can do google translate if you need.

For that budget the municipal or small sites are you best bet; the big coastal sites are 40-50? per night and often will only take bookings for one week rather than individual nights.

GnomeDePlume · 17/07/2012 13:16

another good website is www.campingfrance.com

Hattieboo · 18/07/2012 06:55

We've just booked with flower camping. The sites range in price but it looks good, smaller sites starting with low prices. Haven't actually used them before but they've been very helpful and the reviews are good x

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