France in July and August

MarkJ

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Thinking about a delayed trip to France now being July or even August.

Anecdotally everywhere is rammed full at that time. But is this true? Can you still find plenty of Aires and campsites at that time of year?

Thanks...
 
French school holidays start on 8th July so the simple answer is yes it will be very busy. But it does depend on where you want to go. The coastal hot spots will be booked in terms of campsites and you will need to arrive very early at an Aire to stand any chance of a spot. Inland there are plenty of areas off the beaten track where you should be ok, it's a big country just bear in mind that the coast/rivers, e.g. Ardeche /Loire/Dordogne are the most popular.
Dave
 
Val54 said:
French school holidays start on 8th July so the simple answer is yes it will be very busy. But it does depend on where you want to go. The coastal hot spots will be booked in terms of campsites and you will need to arrive very early at an Aire to stand any chance of a spot. Inland there are plenty of areas off the beaten track where you should be ok, it's a big country just bear in mind that the coast/rivers, e.g. Ardeche /Loire/Dordogne are the most popular.
Dave
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Agreed, there will always be an aire somewhere, just maybe not where you had at first intended to stay though. Plus remember it will probably be hot, hot, hot anywhere South of Bordeaux. Here near Gourdon in The Lot (46) it has been up to 27C already this year, and although it drops back to 10C or a bit below at night at this time of year, but you must expect 30C - 40C + July August.
 
If you stay inland and away from any hotspots it should be fine. We toured the area around the river Le Loir which is just North of the famous La Loire during the school holidays in 2010, it was very quiet indeed. Made a video of the trip too: Hymer, France August 2010 - YouTube
 
Thanks all, so far

I should have said we were thinking inland - burgundy, alps, that sort of thing.
 
If You've no choice you'll just have to make the best of it the Alp's or Pyrenees will be busy I've been to both early July and been happy to be coming home. You need to think of where people don't want to go to avoid crowds and there will be others there doing the same. It was mentioned above 2010 well MH ownership has doubled since then let us know your opinion when you come home what ever it'll be better than staying home Enjoy
 
We did Brittany the other July and found lots of places by the coast
 
Spain ferries were pretty much full a couple of weeks ago, so hurry up and get that booked if you need it!
 
We always go in August because IT IS School Hols. Busy but never not got in our 1st or 2nd Choice aires. Just have a backup in case. Usually great weather. We're sea beach river folks. Interior can be a tad quieter.

Enjoy. Chrz Mul.
 
Im nearly always in France in July and August. Its the best country to be in during peak holiday season. There are more aires and wild spots than you can shake a stick at so you will always find somewhere and of course a lot of them are free so your not forced onto expensive campsites like you might be in some other countries. The Alps and Pyrenees are superb in mid summer. use CAMPINGCAR-INFOS and do some research before you go. As well as Aires there are loads of unofficial wild spots on there (And POI on here of course) which is especially useful if your going up in the mountains as you will find places like Ski resorts with plenty of space are pretty much deserted in mid summer.

Yes places like Annecy and the Ardeche will be rammed but that can actually be fun. There is a lot of stuff going on in places like Annecy peak season and the atmosphere is great. When it gets too much its an easy drive up into the mountains to get away from it all again. As for it being too hot, elevation is key. Ive seldom found France unbearably hot for long periods but it can be some days. There are plenty of mountains though and you can easily escape the heat. Actually the Alps in August can be chilly on a night and early morning, not so much the Pyrenees.
 
As mentioned you’ll find plenty of places that are far from crowded. Apart from the touristy towns, huge areas in the Massif Central are virtually empty, the national parks, Volcans d’Auvergne, Grand Caussas, over west to the Ardeche and south to the Midi Pyrenees. All stunning areas.
 
A friend on another forum posted this today for the 5th of August in Annecy. Lake Annecy Festival - Annecy - Show, Local festival, Fireworks - Lac d'Annecy

Sounds spectacular. I think you need tickets to get in the town to see it, he reckons there is music and all sorts going on. The place will be heaving mind and the roads will be busy but there are loads of stuff going on mid summer like this in France. I might see if we can fit it in this year.
 
Bastille Day fireworks at Annecy where fantastic when we where there several years ago but you need to be there the day before as parking anywhere is impossible
 
witzend said:
Bastille Day fireworks at Annecy where fantastic when we where there several years ago but you need to be there the day before as parking anywhere is impossible
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The first time we went to Annecy was around Bastile day. 2009 I think. We parked for three nights outside a college that was shut for the summer. Several car parks had been opened up to motorhomes and every bit of spare tarmac had one on. It was bonkers but in a good way. It was red hot as well and I remember us going down to the lake in the middle of the night after a fair amount of booze and going swimming. (There were still people in the lake) and then scoffing chips. You had to be there really. :D We tried stopping in the same place a couple of years later but got moved on after one night by the Police. Since then we use the private Farm aire at Lathuile at the bottom end of the lake.
 
MarkJ said:
Thinking about a delayed trip to France now being July or even August.

Anecdotally everywhere is rammed full at that time. But is this true? Can you still find plenty of Aires and campsites at that time of year?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

People on this thread have given some good locations for wild camping. But just research where the Tour de France will be. It takes place the most of July. These areas will be solid with people. The Alps and Pyrenees will be particularly bad at key places. Good luck with the venture.
 
Burgundy

MarkJ said:
Thanks all, so far

I should have said we were thinking inland - burgundy, alps, that sort of thing.
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We did Burgundy a couple of years ago in late July & all of August and generally we had no problems getting on Aires.

Enjoy your time away.
 
I echo others sentiments, that the interior aires are no problem, it tends to be the coastal areas where getting parked up can be stressful.

All I would add is the 29 th and 5th August steer clear of travelling Black Saturday, roads choked on all the major routes with the French off on their holidays.

Sundays wont be so bad as no HGVs to hold the job up.

The Saturdays better off holing up popping a bottle of wine and a siesta

Channa
 
if you don't use aires or campings then you don't need to worry if thy're busy or not. big place France.
 
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