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Hi going to book france for our camping holiday next year due to the lack of sun in this country.

Any advise on best places to go would be great we are thinking of southern france for the heat. Not sure about the long drive though would it be better to sail to spain and go from there?

looked at a few camp sites but its the journey to them that bothers me the most 1 car, camping gear, husband, wife, teenage son with a friend not a good mix for such a long journey.

Many thanks for any advise.

There's no easy way around it - if you want the heat (definitely) then you have to go south!  Most people say south of the Loire you get more sun - but it's not always guaranteed and even France has bad weather sometimes. Weather in the very south of France is more reliable, though there have been odd years when it hasn't been.

Most people stop overnight on their way south - there are lots of chains of budget hotels which can work out quite cheaply (or did until the Euro/pound exchange rate became so bad).  Some people use pop up tents for overnight stays.  There's generally a municipal site (ideal for overnight stops) in most French towns and villages of any size.  If you get the ferry to Spain you'll save some of the drive, but to get to the Med or further up the west coast is still a fair old distance from the Spanish ports.  For example, Santander to Argeles sur Mer is 760 kilometres, and Calais to Argeles sur Mer is only 400 kilometres further (and you've already had more than 24 hours on the ferry!)  Added to that is the cost of the ferry to Spain which can be an arm and a leg.

You can get a very cheap Dover/Calais crossing if you start looking in September/October - have an overnight somewhere, and then head for the south - going as far south as you feel able to drive.  Having said that, driving in France is much less stressful and much more pleasant than driving the same distances in England.

Personally I'd always do the drive through France - in the end you don't get to your final destination that much quicker using the Spanish crossings.  We make the journey part of our holiday and have found some lovely places to stop over en-route - places that we now sometimes go back to deliberately for longer stays.  

Inland France, in areas such as the Gorges du Tarn, Ardeche, Auvergne, Provence, etc., can be lovely - you don't need to go all the way to the Med unless you particularly want to.  Many first-timers choose the Vendee, but it's not an area for me, I'm afraid - though loads of others love it. 

We've been 'doing' France for 28 years now, and still love it.  It has wonderful campsites, magnificent scenery, and is generally very 'camper/caravanner friendly'.

Hi Val A

Many thanks for the advice i have had a look on different websites but there are so many to choose from its hard to know what to do for the best.

The list you have given me of the different places to stay is a big help i will have a look at those for sure.

I always think that with teenagers you're better choosing a site you know they'll love - and if they are happy then so are you.  For many years we took friends with our sons - so that they had company - and had some of the best holidays ever.  One year we had seven teenagers hanging around - two sons, two friends, one friend working for PGL nearby, another staying on a nearby campsite - and a girl who obviously found six healthy teenage boys too much to resist and seemed to be living with us too!   We had to have two lettuces to make a salad for lunch - and baguettes just disappeared!

The Ardeche is a great area for teenagers - how old is yours?  My sons' favourite site of all was L'Ardechois at Vallon Pont d'Arc - with a good pool (though no toboggans), a fantastic river for 'messing about in', the beaches at the Pont d'Arc just down river, and plenty of really good activities for teens such as 'wild sleepovers' in the nearby area, where they all took food, music, sleeping bags, etc.  The town of Vallon is nice too, and you're near enough to the beach to have a drive down for a day out if you want.  There are two other sites alongside, Le Mondial, and Le Provencal - both good sites too.

Just one added piece of advice, if you can go 'later' in the holiday, ie the last two weeks in August rather than late July/earlier in August, then you'll find more room, less traffic, and sometimes quite a bit reduction in pitch prices (yes, that early in the seasons - lots of sites reduce prices about the 2nd/3rd week in August).

I'm sure others will be along with some other areas too - and I'm sure once you've done it you'll be back again many times, just like us!

Just a small point if the drive South is really a problem.

The area around La Rochelle and Royan on the West Coast about half way down (Poitou Charentes/Aquittaine, I think!) has its own micro climate..which they boast as having so many extra days of sun each year.

We found by going that little bit further south from the Loire made such a difference to the temperature....France can have its fair share of rain too...But at least it's warm rain.

We've just returned from our first trip and played it safe with Normandy &  Southern Brittany. (we have 2 kids under 8). My husband did all the driving and he loved it.  The roads were quieter, the scenery lovely & plenty of good service areas en route.  The only thing that spoiled the driving was being stuck on the M25 for 4 hours on the way home.  So France every year for us from now on.  Next year we're going to venture further south as we feel the drive and stopovers are part of the holiday for us. We preferred our stopover site to the main one so will definately be returning.

On another note, after years of always having beach holidays, whether in this country or package in Europe, after this year we now know we prefer holidaying inland with a lake or river nearby, the boys loved it. (it's only taken 20 years for us to realise it !)  Your options are endless in France - I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you decide on.

Hi J+C vic.

               We did the Southern Ardeche this year, thanks by the way Val A, for the heads up on the site, it was perfect, and just as you described, like helbatt says, you don't need to right down to the Med for the Sun, unless you realy have to dip your toes in the sea, having said that if I were to go back down to the Cote d Azur, to Biot near Antibes, I would more than likeley hire a static again, and fly down to Nice Airport, the bus from the Airport to Camping du Pylon is only 1 Euro, and last time we went there the car was parked outside the static for most of the time, as the beach was a short walk away, and it was easiar to take the train than the car to get to Nice/Cannes etc, the traffic down there is crazy, and parking is a challenge, unless you go out of season I guess. so we will be going back to the Ardeche next year.

Andy.