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Hi Guys

A bit of a vague question but here goes.  Me and the family (3.5 year old and the Mrs) have decided to try camping in the south of france and would basically like advice on when, where, weather, etc what to expect driving etc. We were thinking of early August.

We are seasoned uk campers however we have never had the courage to to try further afield, until now.

Any advice on good sites for novices etc would be appreciated. 

regards

Mark

Just my thoughts - the Riviera (nearest bit to Italy) can be very crowded and very expensive in high season (beginning of August is high season).  The section between Cavalaire and Toulon isn't quite so crowded, and probably not so expensive.  The Camargue area at the mouth of the Rhone is less expensive still, as is most of Languedoc Roussilon (going towards the Spanish border).  Argeles, nearest town of any size to Spain has loads of campsites.

You need to work out what it is you're looking for.  If all you want is a decent beach and somewhere nice to walk to in the evenings, then the Languedoc area is probably best, but if you want night-life and glitz then try the Riviera.

If you can go the last two weeks in August then prices may drop considerably on some sites, and you may then also be able to take advantage of Camping Cheques, so that a pitch for one night, for two people car and tent, or caravan, or motorhome, awning, and electricity will cost £13.40 per night.  You shouldn't pay any supplement as your little one is under 5.  We've just come back from Camping Neptune, near Agde, which is a nice family site - flat, smallish pool, short drive to the beach, which accepts Camping Cheques from 17th August.  The reception staff speak English, and it's a nice friendly site.  You can access the site's own website from the link above.

Hi Mark.

            My Son has just got back from http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=8639 superb location walking distance to Antibes, train 40mtrs from the site, around 4 Euro to Cannes or Nice, the site itself is only 50mtrs from the beach, and 40mtrs to Marineland which the kids will love, I have been going to this site since 1962!, even Monaco is not far on the train mybe 10Euro, great for watching the changing of the Guard at the palace each day, like many sites close to the beach the pitches although more than adequate are smaller than you would find further inland, but that is the price you pay for being right on the beach, my advice would be never go in August, even July is hectic, next year I will go in June as I have noticed over the years that the climate in June is not so far behing July, although July/August are guaranteed wall to wall sunshine and extremeley hot, were talking 40Dec C most days, my Son even came back totaly sunburnt peeling all over, and that was ten days during mid May!, if you are heading for the Cote d Azur I would allow two overnights in France, all part of the holiday in my view, although my Son got there in 2hours 15mins via EasyJet, c/w with his six person tent!, wherever you go in the South of France you will enjoy, as the country was made for camping, apart from the resource here get a copy of "Le Guide Officiel" over 10,000 campsites listed, the book contains maps of the various regions of France, with the campsites marked on, you will be amazed at the number of sites.

Andy.

Francaise, you are forever promoting this campsite, please can you leave a review?

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=8639

Does make me wonder if you own it or have shares in it as you are forever promoting it.

Cheers  Ratty

Hi Ratty.

           Yes I do will do a review, I think I must be suffering writers block at the moment, it has been a few years since I myself have been to the site, so I just wanted to get the heads up from my Son first before I did the review, please bare with me and I will bang one out soon I promise.

Andy.

Hi Markayre

We (myself , wife and 3 kids aged 8, 4, 2) had a great holliday in the south of france. I planned everything before we left and I can recommend the following as it worked for us.

We drove down to the south of france with one stopover where we stayed in a b and b for two nights at a lovely oldy wordly town in the famous wine region called Beaune. We regard this as part of the holiday (mini break inside main holiday) .The drive is then broken in half and comfortably manageble.

As you drive south it becomes noticably hotter! We chose a campsite in Frejus /St Raphael. We did this because it is perfectly situated on the the coast in the middle of the places everyones has heard of  ie St Tropez, Port Grimaud, Nice, Eze,Cannes,Monaco etc. We mixed /alternated days by visiting these fantastic places with chilling on the campsite usually round the pool and bar/restaurant all of which was superb.

If you want any more info I would be pleased to help and could babble on for ages.

Personally I would not want to take young children to the South of France in August. It can be very hot and the roads very crowded and the campsites can be very noisy and busy.  I note you come from County Durham so already have a long drive before you reach the Channel.

The Loire, Dordogne or if you want a beach area around Royan on the West coast is lovely. A much easier drive and not so hot and to be quite honest as long as young children have a swimming pool or beach and a play area they are happy.  I have just returned from 4 days with my daughter and grandson from Coombe Haven at Hastings which is only an hour from where we live and he and all the other children had the time of their life and there was everything they wanted

We did Frejus last year in early August, as above it is very central for all the famous places, we even popped into Italy for a pizza one day then wandered around Monte Carlo on the way back! we had a great time. Frejus beach is great for kids and quieter than the surrounding beaches, they have built protected 'inlets' that are clean and safe, there's also parking adjacent and we always found a space for 2 cars for about 3.5euros each, some other beaches can be horrendous for parking, the french even park in the middle of dual carriageways (in the outside lane!) infact they park wherever they want where there's a beach, can you imagine the fun a UK parking warden would have!!

A trip inland to the lake with the gorge (name escapes me) is a must, hire a kayak and dissapear down the gorge.

Lots and lots of very good and very cheap read wine, take a container to a farm style vineyard (Domain du Blavet next door to Lei Suves campsite is recommended) and ask them to fill it form the pump for around 80cents a litre, cheaper than petrol !!

Bad points! The first August weekend is when paris heads south, the heat will make the 3 1/2 yr old ratty, expect 35deg daytime and 25deg nightime, the hottest we had was driving just before we got to the coast, 42deg!! no grass pitches, just dust, a cooling fan is a must for sleeping. Traffic is busy and they cannot drive, actually if you have driven near London its about the same! I just join in the fun, cutting people up etc, the mrs gets the blame as they look at the passenger seat and wonder why she has no steering wheel !!!!

We have done the south of France, Frejus area, 3 times in the last 4 years although my kids were 11+ on the first trip.

I am sure you will love the area if you go for it. You could take North Sea Ferries from Hull to reduce the miles and start fresh the first day at Zebrugge.(think of the cost of petrol to Dover and it may appear reasonable choice) You will need to break the journey down there somewhere mid France I suggest.

We personally didn't like the area away from Cote d'Azur, In fact we drove to Agde as part of a two centre trip one year but drove straight back to nr Frejus!

What the south does offer is almost certain good weather which makes or breaks a good camping trip for us. Warm med evenings and warm/hot sunshine is so much better than removing wellies when entering the tent!

We are experimenting with the Brittany region this year but if the weather is not good it will be back to the med next year!

Also consider North Sea Ferries for your return. We find that the drag back up north when returning is long and all you want is to get back once travelling.

Feel free to ask any questions...

DC