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Just going back to the original post:-

"We are on our way back from a month touring in France (July).  The camp sites have been all but empty. Why ? "

We were at Trewethett Farm CC site last week for a few days between Tintagel and Boscastle and were surprised at the number of foreign visitors in the area including caravanners on the site.Is it just that the area is a "Hotspot" for foreign tourists or is there an increase in visitors from across the Channel.When you think about it apart from the price of fuel, and the changeable weather, the UK must be a attractive as a holiday destination just now. Visitors must be surprised at the bargain shopping that can be had in places like Matalan, Sainsbury's Tesco, The Range, Trago Mills etc as we have never found anwhere similar  on our annual pilgrimage to France - even the prices of household goods and clothes in places like L'Eclerc and Carrefour are much more expensive than at home (16.20 Euros for a 2 Litre of Aquaqem for instance!).With toll free driving everywhere in this country,and as long as they bring enough wine to last  their holiday, the UK must seem a really good deal.

Just returned from France in our motorhome and I agree that the roads are a joy to drive on - we travelled about 1800 miles on quiet main and country roads.  Very relaxing and enjoyable.  We stayed at campsites and were more than happy to pay on average about €15 per night.  We did notice lots of mobile homes (99% from the continent) using aires or car parks or the roadside and I must agree that they appeared to be doing their travelling on the cheap.  However, there were still lots of mobile homes in the camp sites we stayed in but like other comments in this thread, we didn't see many Brits.  We only use the facilities in our motorhome for emergencies and tend to use the on-site ones - after all, we are paying for them so why not use them.  We also felt a lot more secure.

On our last night we stayed in the new aire (€8 per day) in St Valery sur Somme (our favourite resort - but don't tell anyone!).  It was very good and I must say that the view over the Somme is much better now that the mass of mobile homes on the North bank have been banned to the aire.

Lastly, we found the Fench to be more agreeable than in the past - perhaps they are happy that we are travelling there given the near parity between the £ and the €.

Quote: Originally posted by Suzac on 28/7/2011

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Just going back to the original post:-

"We are on our way back from a month touring in France (July).  The camp sites have been all but empty. Why ? "

We were at Trewethett Farm CC site last week for a few days between Tintagel and Boscastle and were surprised at the number of foreign visitors in the area including caravanners on the site.Is it just that the area is a "Hotspot" for foreign tourists or is there an increase in visitors from across the Channel.When you think about it apart from the price of fuel, and the changeable weather, the UK must be a attractive as a holiday destination just now. Visitors must be surprised at the bargain shopping that can be had in places like Matalan, Sainsbury's Tesco, The Range, Trago Mills etc as we have never found anwhere similar  on our annual pilgrimage to France - even the prices of household goods and clothes in places like L'Eclerc and Carrefour are much more expensive than at home (16.20 Euros for a 2 Litre of Aquaqem for instance!).With toll free driving everywhere in this country,and as long as they bring enough wine to last  their holiday, the UK must seem a really good deal.

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I spoke to quite a lot of Dutch and German caravanners when we were away. The two main obstacles to them coming to the UK, in high numbers anyway, is 1) they don't like the idea of driving on the left and 2) They don't want to have to pay to cross the Channel!  Having said that there are some Dutch campers who regularly visit the UK with quite a few of them belonging to the Caravan Club.

David

Just back : Roscoff to Plymouth. About 250 cars on board - which means "Armorique" was half empty. Not a single one was French.

When we travelled through France in the past we used to see companies selling caravans on the edge of towns. This year all we saw were motorhomes for sale and it seems like the French have stopped buying caravans now that the local councils are all providing the inexpensive aires in downtown areas.

I really feel sorry for campsite owners.

Quote: Originally posted by allengenealogy on 28/7/2011

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When we travelled through France in the past we used to see companies selling caravans on the edge of towns. This year all we saw were motorhomes for sale and it seems like the French have stopped buying caravans now that the local councils are all providing the inexpensive aires in downtown areas.

I really feel sorry for campsite owners.

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