Camping en Francais!

[Tierbirdy]

Me and some mates are off on a long weekend jaunt around France next month, we're looking at camping to keep costs down and hopefully enjoy the nice summer weather (can guarantee it will piss down all weekend now Ive said that!).

Anyone know any recommendations for camp sites? The only ones I can find on google seem like bloody expensive tourist traps and charge full car/motorhome rate for people who use motorbikes. I dont really want to pay 20-30 euros a night for camping, may as well get a B&B for not much more than that! I just want a bit of land we can pitch tents on and access to a shower in the morning is a bonus!

Provisional plan so far is:

Day 1: Dover/Calais, down to Gay Paris. Night staying in/around Paris
Day 2: ????? No solid plan yet. What Id like to do is bimble up the coast and see the D-Day landings memorial/museum at Omaha beach. Though might do this on Day 3 on the way back to Calais as a scenic detour via the coast.
Day 3: ????? Still no plan, other than enjoy the road and weather heading back to Dover for a late evening ferry home.

So, anyone know anything about camping in these kind of areas, and any recommendations for routes/things to do/see along those lines. We'd ideally like to keep it relatively open and just see where we end up, rather than booking places and focusing on "oh weve got to get to X by Y!".

[Matt B]

Why bother camping at all?

F1 hotels in France are cheap - around £20 a night. You get a dry, warm room with a decent bed and toilet/shower facilities down the hall. Bonus is you don't have to cart all your camping gear around and end up pitching or taking it down in the rain. Time and effort saved.
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[Tierbirdy]

Because we're poor peasants and trying to do it as budget as budget can be.

Paying £20+ a night racks up the cost quickly (and looking at the F1 website, anything even vaguely near Paris starts at closer to 50-60 Euros a night for a ghetto room share). Wheras paying a few quid or even better nothing at all to put a tent up makes it much more friendly on the wallet.

[almostthere]

Try this site average price is about 10 euros a night all depends on location https://www.pitchup.com/tents/france/
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[c-m]

[Ericck]

Apart from around Paris I found campsites plentiful and cheap all over France.

Look out for Camping Municipal.
These are usually budget but well maintained.

If in Normandy try Camping Le Puits, run by a nice friendly
Irish guy and not expensive if I remember correctly.

The OP is right though, the French like to squat down over a hole
rather than sit on a seat.

But hey ho "when in Rome"
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[Tierbirdy]

Well what Ive discovered so far is that the French seem to have a vastly different idea of what "camping" is, seems most places are more like holiday parks crammed full of facilities - and as such, more expensive! They all appear to be like Butlins parks for old people with motorhomes!

All I want is a bit of grass to pitch up on in a field somewhere! Some ghetto showers would be a bonus too. Apparently thats too much to ask for

[JonnyFoxtrot]

[Matt B]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Copycat73]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Normally, yes. This time no. Paid the iron price.
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[peteb]

Me and a mate just got back from a trip to portugal and when travelling through France never had any trouble finding camp sites,every day when you want to stop just search in your sat nav there will be one close by as they are plentifull and cheap the most we paid was 12 euros the cheapest 6.50 one site we got to in the pissing rain had mobile homes 50 euro per night (25 each) but it slept 6 so would be better if theres more of you.as has been said french sites may not supply bog roll but some do and we only stayed in one place where there was no seats,so all in all French sites are ok,some have a bar and restaurant which is well handy,so enjoy your tripand treat it as an experience as it isnt that bad really,hope this post is helpfull regards, Pete.

[devonboy]

Try no1 campsite website, commercial and municipals listed the latter can be really good value.

[grr666]

I'm currently staying in an air b&b apartment in Hvar, Croatia, and have stayed in dozens like it elsewhere too. Paying 30 quid a day, with views over the harbour in Jelsa. I'd certainly recommend air b&b.
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[Tierbirdy]

[grr666]

Did 3 week roadtrip in New Zealand solely booking air b and b's completely on the fly. Worked out great and was a real adventure.
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[Undinist]

Have you thought about wild camping? I much prefer that to camp sites.

[Ali in Austria]

A good source for Camp Sites in Europe.

https://www.archiescampings.eu

They even have an App
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[Matt B]

[Ali in Austria]

[Peirre oBollox]

Have you considered getting a copy of the Michelin guide "Camping France" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michelin-Camping-France-2015-Guides/dp/2067202618 which lists all the known campsites, addresses, facilities etc
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[Moo.]

I was gunna suggest that Archiescamping too.. Loaded them upto my GPS and has done me proud on two tours of Europe, just get close to destination and tell it to find the nearest campsite, there usually loads!

If the campsite you fibd doesn't suit, pick the next down the list, usually only a few km's away.
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[FlightRisk]