French municipal campsites

[Ralph]

Although I've been to France a few times I've only stayed on Aires or used Camping Cheques. I'm embarrased to admit that this is mainly because of my very poor grasp of French as I only learned it recently, never even having done it at school.

Anyway I've read a lot about how good (and cheap) the French municipal sitres are. Can anyone recommend a good way of finding out more info? Web or books. The camping site books that I've seen seem to concentrate more on the high end of things. Is there a "Camping sites for tightwads" book?

 

 

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

We've used municipal sites a lot, mainly for overnight stays. They have all been reasonable but simple sites with nice people running them. Occasionally, you can come across a real gem though and end up staying a little longer!

The Caravan Club's Europe handbook lists them. I think that this is a superb publication and we never leave the U.K. without it.

[empress]

I agree that the CC guide book is very helpful. Take some of the site descriptions with a pinch of salt especially the "short walk to shops"! Another French publication is "Le Guide Officiel Camping Caravaning" A French publication with "tous les campings de France" There is an English key page. I have managed to use it with my limited French and we have found it very useful. There are also the Michelin and AA guides which mention a few municipal sites.

 

Hope you find some sites to suit you.

 

Empress

[Randonneur]

We live about 6 miles from a Municipal site at Aubeterre (Charente/Dordogne border) which we used for many years before we moved here and stayed mostly for 2 weeks because the site was so convenient. At that time we had a caravan but there are lots of motorhomes use the site. We have used many different municipal sites over the years but as we are very new to motorhoming I know it will be slightly different. The only problem with these sites is that they are only open generally from about 15th June to 15th September, very short season. They are normally staffed by local people who work the rest of the year for the council. There is a particuclarly good site at La Rochelle near the port and in the Caravan Club European site guide they usually all listed. Also the Michelin site guide is very good. Pricewise they are excellent value for money and most of them have hook-ups. By the way there is a lovely municipal site at Malestroit in Brittany, this is right beside the canal so is excellent for fishing. Most of the sites are very near or in the towns so are usually within walking distance.

[Keith T]

Hi Ralph -

yes the CC European Guide is pretty good, also if you use the Michelin Atlas, it will indicate if there is a camp site at/nreat any aprticular town or village. Some are,, as stated only open for the short period, but others seem to be open most of the year, and very often Monsieur le Gardien will just call in the evening for the money!

Another way we have come across quite a few (often not listed in CC) is to do a search on the internet, putting in something like ' ..campsites in .........', and this produces quite a bit of info,quite often including general tourism in the area, plus sometimes links direct to websites. Often there is an 'English' flag for translation, but if not it's prety easy to follow your way round.

[Clive]

Its not that complicated! Even the smallest villages have their municipal camp sites proudly well sign posted.

 

Just turn up in a relaxed frame of mind, smile sweetly and say Bonjour. They are almost all totally helpfull and friendly and understand much more English than they let on! But try your French - even if its cr...P and they will love you for having a go. Have yur Camping Carnet in your hand, any vintage will do as long as the details remain the same as your passport.

 

Don,t expect English Camp site hospitality, the French are far better than that!

 

Happy camping

 

C.

 

[Brian Kirby]

Ralph - 2007-01-05 9:31 AM Although I've been to France a few times I've only stayed on Aires or used Camping Cheques. I'm embarrased to admit that this is mainly because of my very poor grasp of French as I only learned it recently, never even having done it at school. Anyway I've read a lot about how good (and cheap) the French municipal sitres are. Can anyone recommend a good way of finding out more info? Web or books. The camping site books that I've seen seem to concentrate more on the high end of things. Is there a "Camping sites for tightwads" book?

Caravan Club "Caravan Europe 1" is very good.  Available to non-members.  For France, we complement this with the Michelin Camping Guide, "Camping France".

Two points. 

1 A number of the municipalities have "privatised" their campsites, so what appears to be a municial may now be privately operated.  Doesn't necessarily make a difference to what you find on arrival, but can slightly confuse. 

2 Depending on the time of year, some of the municipals can get a bit swamped by groupings of "itinerants".  This seems to depend mostly on the colour of local politics!  Frequently the itinerants are visibly wealthy and generally tend to keep themselves to themselves.  However, some of the groups can appear a bit intimidating and the site facilities can be monopolised to the point you feel you may need to book to use the toilets.  If there are washing machines, forget them - you won't get a look in!

Can be a bit disappointing if you were planning on staying since many/most of the municipals are within walking distance of the town, whereas the competition frequently isn't!

[Ralph]

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like the CC book is my next purchase then.

I never stay in one place for more than a couple of days so I'd like to try some of these as they sound like a change from Aires without being too commertial or expensive.

I've also seen references in another thread to the ACSI card which is new to me but it looks like I need one of those too. Roll on the summer...

[Pat]

Yes I would thoroughly recomend CC book we used it to great effect last August all over France and Spain.

 

Stayed at 2 particularly nice quiet sites one was a short walk from delightful town of Bellac with2 large supermarkets a further 1/2 mile away. The other was on the banks of the Loire about 1/2 hour walk along the river from Orleans

 

Regarsd Pat

[colin]

Always been the Michelin guide for us. Don't worry to much about your lack of french, its helps to speak french, but they can usualy deal with people who speak very little.

[Mel E]

We use Municipals a lot - they are inexpensive, generally very secure (more so than most Aires), inexpensive and usually near town. We've never experienced itinerants on any site we've visited - they mostly wild camp as they do in the UK.

 

The CC Book is the one to go for - the comments made by members about each site are most useful. We have found the Guide Michelin useless - it simply lists sites with their facilties, but gives no real guidance to quality or modernity of facilities, as does the CC Book. It does list more French sites than CC, but you will get the same by downloading a list to either your computer or, better, your GPS system.

[Keith T]

We also use many municipals, just finding whilst 'en route'......and in more than 12 yrs of motorcaravanning, have only found itinerants (workers in France!) a couple of times, and then usually on large sites, so no problem.

As far as the CC sites guide is concerned, it is only as good as members information and updates. Eash stop we do try to complete the updates form and send to the CC when we return froim our trips. Where, as it seems on several times this hasa been the case, we are on a site not listed, then we will supply brief details to the CC which they then include in the next edition.