I want to hire a campsite with roughly 30 pitches in the South of France. Alps, Pyrenees ideally somewhere rural and beautiful. It would be great if we could have a campfire. Any suggestions?
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
You'll struggle with the campfire - most southern French councils have bye-laws against open fires between April and September - and this affects home-owners as well as campers. It's to prevent fires - which even in early season can be devastating in a dry period.
I think the campsite wouldn't be so difficult if you had a decent time period to arrange it - and perhaps one with a communal barbecue area might suit. The dates are obviously important too - because hiring for a weekend in July would be much more difficult than hiring for a fortnight in April or May.
Sites allowing fires are not easy to find in southern France, as Val says.
If you google 'Campings avec Feux de Camp authorise' then the first website which comes up will list 73 campsites in France (don't know how accurate the list is) but as Val says not many in southern France.
Have a look at Camping La Clairiere at Foix which is a farm campsite in the Ariege, in a nice area at the foothills of the Pyrenees, has twenty pitches, at a reasonable price but is only open between 1st July and 3rd September. They may allow 'shared' pitches (ie two tents on one pitch) if you book the whole campsite.
the pitches in france tend to be bigger and often hedged, but each itch could take 2/3 tents depending on size - if they are tents and not a caravan rally? ideally a big open field type campsite would prob suit your needs.
have you considered other areas of france?
dates will affect prices obviously, as may your 'type of campers' ?
Did you not check out the 73 campsites linked to in Old Beans post? Or the site which he suggested in the area you're looking for? This would be my first option.
Whatever sites are suggested you're going to have to ask them 'do you still accept campfires' - as my post explains that bye-laws can vary from area to area and month to month.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Val, he has already said he would forego the camp fire but might not have checked out the suggestions?
to the OP - exclusive hire of a camp site might be possible BUT it would depend on what facilities you need as to how likely it would be AND what time of year?
perhaps a municipal site might be worth considering if you don't need lots of facilities. most towns around coastal areas have them, so you could start by contacting the local tourist board for the area