Which is your favourite campsite in France?

[Maudy]

We are travelling down to France this summer and are taking a week to drive down to just past Bordeux where we have rented a house. We have decided to camp for the first week but having never camped in France before it's impossible to know where to start. Has anyone got any ideas. I think we will spend about 2 nights in each place and will travel from Calais, through Paris, Orleans, Tours and down the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux.

Does anyone have any recommendations of good family friendly places to stay - it doesn't have to be a campsite but somewhere cheap would be good?

La Garangoire in the Vendee is brilliant - quite a lot of english families but beautiful none the less. La Rochelle is a beautiful area and worth looking at. Look at Alan Rogers (do a google search) and this guide will tell you all about the good campsites. My only worry for you is two days in each site will be mean you are constantly putting up and taking down the tent. How big is your tent? How long does it take to pack up/unpack? I would be tempted to do a mix of 2 areas - Loire and Altantic coast. But taht is me.

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From bordeaux drive to Archachon and stay in Dune de pyla, the campite is called dune de pyla and is on the beqach (or the sand dune, the largest in europe) and you camp under pine trees. It's 5 star, is so lovely and about an hour drive from bordeaux.

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Thanks all. To be honest crunchie i think we are going to go to a campsite with ready made tents or even stay in a little chalet or static home. We do have a tent but as we are going on to a cottage for a week afterwards it would just take up all the room in our car so it doesn't seem worth it. I was discussing it with my SIL today as we are going together and she wondered it French campsites would allow us to stay for just 2-3 nights or whether you had to book a whole week in the summer - does anyone have any experience of this?

ggglimpopo & Thomcat - I think I have stayed in that campsite in Archachon and it was lovely, in fact that is the only campsite I have ever stayed in in France!!! I am now thinking that we might do a long drive and then stay somewhere central for 3 days and then maybe move down to Archachon for 3 and then go on to the house. God, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

By the way ggg - I'ts actually my cat that is called Maud - but she is a cat of impeccable taste .

Maudy, you could try some of the english companies like Eurocamps or Keycamp. They maybe able to help as often people stay one night enroute