What’s it like to camp in France in the summer?

[MsWalterMitty]

We’ve done loads of British camping but very little hot weather camping.

Please can I have your tips?!

Me, Dh, 12yr & 8yr olds. 6 man tent.

Thanks

Me and partner did our first holiday camping along the Atlantic coast of France. Starting with Brittany. Lovely but wet. We worked our way down to Spain. In the height of summer it's always good to book the sites near popular coasts. Turning up to a "complet" sign at around 7pm was never fun.
The sites were always fully equipped and family friendly. If you were some way from the village a baker's van would drive in beeping loudly with fresh goodies.
Another year we made it up to the Pyrenees. The weather was so changeable. Beautiful and sunny one minute and fierce thunderstorms - we felt quite exposed under the canvas!
Since having kids we've camped in France a few times and always found it just as brilliant. It's good to get sites with cafes/restaurants too. For those can't be arsed to cool days.
I'm so jealous OP. Have a great time

@bowchicawowwow

I've done lots of camping in France! It doesn't get that cold in my experience.

Compared to UK camping it's generally a lot quieter even on the big campsites with the focus on sitting around as a family in the evenings rather than everyone and their dog heading for the camp clubhouse for cheesy entertainment.

🤣 I’m not one for campsite entertainment! Cheap and cheerful… with a a pool and I’m happy

Sorry OP. I didn't actually answer your question just waxed lyrical about my camping experiences in France
The north could get cool at night but we had lots of layers so it wasn't a problem. It got hotter the further south we went but was never too uncomfortable in the tent.

@karmakemmie

Sorry OP. I didn't actually answer your question just waxed lyrical about my camping experiences in France The north could get cool at night but we had lots of layers so it wasn't a problem. It got hotter the further south we went but was never too uncomfortable in the tent.

Thanks. I think I’m mostly worries about the heat and it becoming difficult to sleep!

SwimBike007 it was hit at lake Anne you when we were there - several years ago now 2012 ish. 40 degrees and thankful our old motor home had aircon. It’s incredibly expensive in that area, we had coffee and cake out and it was £30 for 3 of us

MsWalterMitty Never had a problem at night sleeping in a tent in France regardless of how hot in the daytime.

If you want cheap and cheerful the municipal sites are a bargain and the municipal pool is next door - which you get free use of if staying at the campsite

That said many municipal sites have closed and they are big standard, nothing fancy the sites that are still open. But they are about. We stayed at one in Brittany that had a pool and beach access. It was £20 each night rather than the site up the rd with flumes at £67 per night

We have camped in France a few times. The sites are generally very nice, and you don't necessarily have to go to a mega big site to get the pools etc, many municipal ones have a pool next door, and many campsites have their own.

If you can, hire a fridge (many sites offer this). It makes keeping food so much easier in any heat. (And you can store more cheese and wine). Just remember that the plug will be french, so you need a suitable adapter for your EHU. Take some sort of shade so that you don't have to be in your tent to get out of the sun, especially if it is polycotton. Like the others have said it can be colder at night than you might think.

You could also take an electric fan. We have been known to slip our feet into cool water (fire bucket/bowl) as a lovely way to cool down.

There are municipal sites in virtually every French town which are cheap as chips. You probably wouldn't want to do a whole holiday in one but they are good for stopovers.

There are big campsite chains all over France. I like Castels and Huttopia as they are usually a bit quieter but still good for kids. We stayed at this one in the Loire - maybe a bit far West for your trip.orangeriedebeauregard.com/

It can rain pretty much anywhere in France during the summer IME, other than the South Coast. There can be some mega thunderstorms! Temperatures can vary from low 20s to low 40s. Obviously generally warmer the further South you go but have experienced some heatwaves in the North too.

Weather in the Alps can be particularly unreliable. I've been there in the summer when it was cold and rainy and when it was sweltering hot. Annecy is lovely and there are loads of campsites there.

We always take a little oil-filled radiator to dry everything out in case of particularly heavy rain. We also have an electric cool box which is great and keeps stuff quite cold even in the warm weather. They are expensive though. Generally we go shopping quite regularly so we don't have too much perishable food about.

Overall though, camping in France is great and you are much more likely to have good weather than in the UK.

I'm so jealous- I love camping in France. Their sites are amazing and just the walk to the bakery each morning makes you feel like you're properly away from it all.
We've been all over France. I agree that the weather can be variable. We had awful weather in the Jura (nearest to the alps we've camped) but that year all of France was terrible weather anyway. The best we've had was in the auvergne region. I would be back there in a heartbeat.

We also used staying near Paris on the way back as a stopover for going to Disneyland Paris.

It will ruin English camping forever. It doesn’t even need hacks to be good. My hack would be find them best local patisserie /chocolatier and go on pilgrimage every third day:)