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Subject Topic: France/German without reservation - Aug Post Reply Post New Topic
31/3/2013 at 3:18pm
 Location: North West
 Outfit: Vango Beta 450
View Swim41's Profile View Profile   Reply to Swim41 Reply   Quote Swim41 Quote  
Joined: 13/4/2008

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Hi,

Seeking the voices of experience :)

Is it possible to tour France and/or Germany during the summer holidays without booking? We're trying to keep costs down by avoiding big commercial sites and I thought it might be interesting to take a 'see where the road takes us' approach and try small and or municipals.

Is this feasible though? I've done lots of motorbike camping aboard outside of the summer months and enjoyed the freedom, wondering if this is still possible in the summer? A few years ago we had a good trip staying at some big sites during summer but everything was booked in advance. Our unit is a 4 man tent.

thanks


Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!


31/3/2013 at 3:36pm
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View Opensauce's Profile View Profile   Reply to Opensauce Reply   Quote Opensauce Quote  
Joined: 25/1/2010

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Certainly you can in France, cheap municipal sites but its a good idea to get in by around 4pm as they tend to fill up with overnighters. Off the beaten track though you will generally find municipals with plenty of room.


31/3/2013 at 3:50pm
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View Francais's Profile View Profile   Reply to Francais Reply   Quote Francais Quote  
Joined: 29/6/2008

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Back in the day, when we were young, beautiful and stupid 1978 to be precise.

We drove down to the Cote d Azur in July, with not having booked this proved to be a real pain, we could not find a pitch large enough for the frame Tent, but thankfully we had our backpacking tent that we used for the overnight stops on the way to the South, so most campsites let us on with that.

Even then, we could only get 2 or 3 nights at a time on any one campsite, before having to start looking for another, it certainly made the fortnight pass quickly, but not somthing I would ever wan't to do again.

Thankfully we are now just stupid, so always book our July campings in the South of France well in advance.


31/3/2013 at 4:48pm
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View Berriow's Profile View Profile   Reply to Berriow Reply   Quote Berriow Quote  
Joined: 21/12/2010

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The questioner didn't ask about the Cote d'Azur, did he. Over much of France and Germany the answer Tentz gave was correct.


Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!


31/3/2013 at 4:58pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit: Coachman 460 VIP; VW Tiguan
View Ina's Profile View Profile   Reply to Ina Reply   Quote Ina Quote  
Joined: 31/7/2003

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Depends exactly when: you mention "summer holidays", but the topic header states "Aug". Depends also when in August. Typically, we go away from about the 19th, and never book anywhere, never had a problem and we don't want all-singing, all-dancing sites, like yourself.

Early August is a different kettle of fish, as all schools are on holiday, so sites are busier. But even then, as long as you don't want the most popular sites, in the most popular areas, you should be fine by arriving at a good time.

Also, if a site was full, then in France you should find another one quite close anyway.

-------------
Ina


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31/3/2013 at 5:28pm
 Location: Bristol
 Outfit: Sungari 600 Icarus 600 with canopies!
View warbis66's Profile View Profile   Reply to warbis66 Reply   Quote warbis66 Quote  
Joined: 10/9/2005

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My friends camp every summer for three weeks in Europe including France, Germany Switzerland, Austria and Italy and have never yet booked a campsite. They show me photos of beautiful sites that they have stayed on, they will never book and never worry about finding somewhere to stay. You only seem to need to book if staying on 4 or 5* sites with big pools entertainment etc......everywhere else you can take your pick

-------------
France Lover


31/3/2013 at 5:40pm
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View Francais's Profile View Profile   Reply to Francais Reply   Quote Francais Quote  
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Yep, Berriow, but I did mention I was still stupid of course!.


Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!


31/3/2013 at 7:23pm
 Location: West - North Yorkshire
 Outfit: Swift Speedbird 490 Mondeo Estate
View Val A's Profile View Profile   Reply to Val A Reply   Quote Val A Quote  
Joined: 19/10/2004

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Like Ina we go the last two weeks in August and never book anywhere either.  We've never had problems and I think if you're flexible about where you want to be, and accept that you might not always get the best pitch on the site, then you'll be fine.


01/4/2013 at 3:51pm
 Location: North West
 Outfit: Vango Beta 450
View Swim41's Profile View Profile   Reply to Swim41 Reply   Quote Swim41 Quote  
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Thank you for your replies, very helpful. Unfortunately our time away is in early August but based upon what has been said and the sheer number of campsites I've encountered in France I'm sure we will be OK. Our set up is pretty minimal so pitching and breaking camp isn't much fuss if we have to move on.

thanks


01/4/2013 at 6:28pm
 Location: Northern Ireland
 Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480
View Kelper's Profile View Profile   Reply to Kelper Reply   Quote Kelper Quote  
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We are always away for six/seven weeks from early July to mid August ... over the past ten years we have booked a site once (needlessly as it turned out) ... now, we have turned up at the odd site where there has been no room, but have always found a good alternative within reasonable distance.
The real advantages of not booking ahead are:
1. If you don't like it when you get there ... you can move on.
2. If the weather isn't what you want ... you can change destination area (we usually have at least a couple of alternatives planned ... in different areas ... so that we can switch 'targets' at the last moment).


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02/4/2013 at 8:48pm
 Location: North West
 Outfit: Vango Beta 450
View Swim41's Profile View Profile   Reply to Swim41 Reply   Quote Swim41 Quote  
Joined: 13/4/2008

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I agree with the advantages you list there Kelper. I think it might be an idea for us to book a site for the first few nights, just to let us adjust to being aboard and then we'll be OK.


Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!


13/4/2013 at 4:24pm
 Location: EAST SUSSEX
 Outfit: Outwell Vermont plus others.
View Portia Hussey's Profile View Profile   Reply to Portia Hussey Reply   Quote Portia Hussey Quote  
Joined: 25/11/2005

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We go to France for a month each August. The only sites I book are for the first night or if there is somewhere specific that we need to be. So far we have only had trouble twice. The first was a very popular site near Millau and in retrospect we were very pleased - it would have been far too busy.
Last year when we got within an hour of Carcassonne I rang several sites to be told they were full. Had I known there was a festival on we might not have headed that way. In the event we found a lovely small place that we may try to get into again this year if we go that far south.
We don't want all singing all dancing sites - just somewhere with a pool.
We're off to Germany this year for a week - I've booked those as I don't know Germany yet. Have also booked a night in France for the first night back so that we can cover more miles without worrying about where to stay

-------------
pork
Remember a good wife always helps her husband with the dishes.


13/4/2013 at 6:19pm
 Location: Leicestershire
 Outfit: Old Eura Mobil
View missmally's Profile View Profile   Reply to missmally Reply   Quote missmally Quote  
Joined: 09/1/2003

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We go to France every year around August and rarely book. The only problem we had was a few years ago when the weather and forecast was awful for most of France except the far south. We couldn't find a site in Gorge Du Verdon area and with 4 kids in the car it wasn't a barrel of laughs. We continued to coast and found somewhere but everybody had followed the weather and the south was even busier than normal that year. It hasn't put me off though and I still travel without booking.



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