Dennisthemenace Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hi there, Just about to buy my first motorhome and need a little help in selecting guides for touring the UK and France next summer. Looking for quite and scenic sites. Not interested in family sites. Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hi Dennis and welcome, for the uk, the Certificated Location (CL) network takes some beating. This is run by the Caravan Club. Take a look at their website for the bigger picture. The other big club, caravan and camping club have a network too, but won't comment as I'm not a member . These locations typically are in small holdings, farms etc, they're restricted to 5 vans only. The facilities vary enormously but have fresh water and locations available to dispose of waste. As for France we use the municipal sites, which whilst not exactly quiet tend to be not over run with children as they're fairly basic. There's always exceptions though. Google French passion and that might float your boat too, again I'm not a member though. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Strachan Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Welcome hope you enjoy your new van, get out and use it! For touring europe, we use a combination of Aires and sites, would suggest you invest in the latest copy of all the aires France, from Vicarious books. Also acsi guide and discount card. Look too at French Passion. In uk I agree cs or cl are small sites so do not have all the bells and whistles that families like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitches Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Have a look at BRITSTOPS & FRENCH PASSION & BORDATLAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hi Dennis.. I'd agree, the Caravan Club's CLs are good... As with anything, you do sometimes need to choose carefully though/read reviews etc(as some, being just the corner of some farmer's field, don't always make the best "winter pitch" ;-) ).. We were also in the Camping and Caravan club for a short time..but from our limited experience with them, of the few sites we used, they always seemed be less well kept that the CC..... We're still in the CC (..but as we've switched to using our "less -formal" camping-van, I'm not sure for how much longer). On pitch fees, any offers aside, we didn't really find either of the clubs that much cheaper than "commercial" sites... But, when we did want to book something, I did like being able to book online, there and then...with no faffin' about, leaving messages or having unreturned calls etc. We've been using the following website for years now and find it very useful indeed.: http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/ Google maps etc( ..searching "campsites near xxxxxxx....") can also be handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Regarding France, selecting suitable campsites will depend to a large extent on when, where and for how long you plan to be touring there. There’s a useful website here that provides details of French municipal campsites. http://www.camping-municipal.org/index.htm The information is for 2014, but should still be relevant for 2015. There’s often a link to the campsite’s website and this should give you a reasonable idea of when the site will be open, the cost and whether you’d want to stay there. If you want a French campsite book-guide, this one is supposedly comprehensive https://www.vicarious-shop.com/Le-Guide-Officiel-Camping-Caravaning-2014-ISBN9782358390316.html (The 2015 version should be available next March.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Or alternatively (or in addition :-)), get the Caravan Club's "Caravan Europe" sites guide. This is now in three volumes: "France and Andorra" (3,500 sites 2014), "Central and South East Europe, Benelux and Scandinavia" (3,000 sites 2014), and "Spain and Portugal"(700 sites 2014). The first two are £14.99 each, the latter £7.99 - cheaper for members. Each volume individually obtainable. Not normally on general sale, but easily bought from the club. They contain site reviews submitted by (mostly) club members who have actually used the sites, not wandering inspectors. Some of the entries can be from 2007/8, but most are reasonably up-to-date, and include updates up to the year of compilation (the year ending before publication, so 2013 for the 2014 editions. The downside to the French Guide Officiel (when I had a copy a few years back) was that it listed all sites but gave no reviews, only categorising them by the French "star" rating that had more to do with amenities provided than the quality of maintenence and cleaning etc. At various times of the year the French sites, particularly the municipals, can get inundated by "itinerants", and can become quite unsettling places as a result - depending on the nature of the itinerants and on how tightly the site is overseen. FWIW, I think the Caravan Club guides are generally better at telling it like it is. There is also a Michelin campsites guide that, IMO, falls between the two. Usually published March each year and fairly reliable, though the product of visiting inspectors - who seem a bit less sharp than those who do the hotels and restaurants! :-) Finally there are the ACSI guides that include a discount card for out of season use and, more useful IMO as a guide, the ACSI DVD that lists about 8,500 sites across 30 European counries and is searchable under a number of useful criteria to help selection. Personal preference is for the Caravan Club guide plus the ACSI DVD, with the ACSI guide book and card for the discounted out of season prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 As you will realise from the replies above, there is plenty of information available - to the extent that you will be carrying significant weight if you buy all of them! For France only one book is essential and that's "All the Aires" from Vicarious Books. One of the things you learn after one or two visits to France is that there are so many campsites and Aires, far far more than in UK, that except perhaps for August, you really don't need to book or plan ahead unles you want to. You can meander around doingyour touring, confident that when you are ready to stop for the night you will soon spot a sign for a site or find one in "All the Aires" close enough to where you are. You will find yourslef passing signposts to campsites all the time as you drive around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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