Normandy advice please

ChrisInNotts

ChrisInNotts

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Dear all,

We have done quite a lot of wild camping over the UK in the last 2 years but have yet to venture abroad with our Hymer. After last years washout in the highlands we have decided to do something a bit different this coming year. We all fancy the idea of touring the beaches and memorials in Normandy for our 2 week summer holiday next year but the thought of venturing abroad is making me a little nervous. The youngest is doing his GCSE year so we cannot go until he has finished his exams which would be 20th June. That obviously means we would be going during a fairly busy time which adds to my concerns. Finding nice spots in the highlands in the peak of summer is easy but I suspect Normandy will be much busier. Do campsites need prior booking at that time of year for example? I am still working so happy to pay for nice spots by the beach for a proportion of the holiday. Do the Aires and spots in the Wildcamping database get rammed full then? Given we have a limited (2 or 3 week) slot I suspect an overnight ferry to Le Havre would be best for us. Is it better to book ferries sooner rather than later?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm not looking for specific recommendations for spots to stop, rather more general advice to help our first foreign trip go smoothly.

Thanks!

Keith
 
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Normandy is never that busy. Its well worth exploring though for some its nice quiet beaches, seaside villages as well as all the WW11 stuff. Plenty of Aires and wild spots. Two good ones are the cliff tops at Longues Sur Mer Gun Battery, even peak season you will find space there and right up the Cherbourg Peninsula you have Barfleur and St Vaast La Hougue, both worth a look at just beyond Barfleur you have the second largest lighthouse in Europe at Gatteville Le Phare and you can wild camp right near it.

American Cemetery at Colleville Sur Mer is well worth a look and has a very extensive free museum. You can overnight in the car park OUTSIDE of the museum overlooking the sea.

Right at the end of our blog for 2011 (France section under Normandy and the right decision) there is a write up of our time there but for some reason the photos have vanished. :( France - Adventures In Hank The Tank

Nothing to be nervous about France and especially Normandy. Its a Doddle compared to the UK.
 
If you are going in the last week of June it won't be too busy, if using seaside aires though I would aim to arrive early (2 ish) just in case especially at weekends. Oh and get an ACSI card if you are planning to use campsites, many in that region accept ACSI till the second week of July.
 
Do remember that the French holiday almost exclusively in August so everywhere except Paris will be at their busiest. Also they have a big holiday close to June 6th and almost everything is shut.
 
peak season in france starts with bastille day , july 14th so that the month following that will be chaos !

but if you arrange to be out of france before that you should be fine in normandy
 
Euro 2016 football is from 10th June til 10th July 2016 so no doubt the ferry prices will be adjusted accordingly, up.
 
Thanks for all the feedback which is gratefully received. It sounds like it is perhaps not such a bad time to go after all. I was not aware of the football so will look into booking a ferry sooner rather than later :)

Keith
 
Having travelled a fair bit in Europe I would add:

Driving tends to a lot less stressful than the UK. Do check the AA website for hints and tips on driving in France, make sure you have the correct extras, countries vary but a first aid kit, warning triangle, hi-viz vest for all occupants and spare bulbs will cover you.

There are lots of Aires in France if one is full drive on a little and there will be another, many small villages have them if you can spend some money in the shops as they are often free and provided to encourage visitors. Carry a supply of 1 Euro and 50 cent coins, to get water on the Aires.

Toll road costs can mount up, often the adjacent roads are pretty good, free and show you more of the country albeit it a slightly slower pace. Apart from cities roads then to be a lot less congested.

Have fun, France is very motorhome friendly.
 
How about this? take a ferry Dover Calais ,cheapest, book on line at aferry.com drive along the French coast to Normandy using Aires all the way and maybe return via Le Harve .At Canterbury there is a great stopover on the Dover road park and ride £3--24hrs water and toilet dump there stay longer if you like £3-- 24 hr slots,ride the free bus to Canterbury, 20 minute drive to the ferry port at Dover, get a Vicarious books Aires of France , it is in English and very good as a starter, drive from Dover to the Aire at Wissant for your first stopover, so all very easy so far, from Wissant you can do what ever you want, use the POIs too ,lot in this area, as for the time of year, the French may not be on official holiday but lots of retired folks of all Nationalities will have the same idea so work on the premise that it could be busy, arrive early on the Aires and you will be sure to get in, overnighting is easy in France and it is tolerated most anywhere so if an Aire is full look for a town car park or similar.As for booking , I usually book a ferry a few days before I want to travel and then only one way so I can return from wherever whenever , but I have plenty of time, a call to one of the clubs CCC if a member gets a cheap ferry crossing, we always do this from France for our return boat.Enjoy,

WISSANT FRANCE by vindiboy1 | Photobucket

Canterbury P N R by vindiboy1 | Photobucket
 
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Buy a copy of All the aires France and you will see there are a lot of aires to choose from.Don't leave it too late in the day to find somewhere. We have been end of June/beginning of July when we were working without problems over space.
 
If you fancy a site, the municipal campsite in Arromanches is worth looking at. Good clean, modern facilities, etc. Arromanches itself is well situated for visiting the landing beaches, museums, and Bayeux. Few cafes & restaurants and 1 very good pub.

The aire is right next to the campsite, but access is locked, so no nipping in to use facilities.

Campsite.

Aire.
 
I actually think France is one of the best places to be in peak season. Here are the reasons why.

Wild camping is easy and tolerated
There are thousands of aires
So for the two above reasons you dont need to pay top whack for a campsite full of kids
Its more than double the size of the UK but roughly the same population, its easy to find somewhere uncrowded
If it gets too hot, France has some of the highest mountains in Europe. Its easy to escape the mid summer heat and much of it (Massive Central) is high anyway which means hot sunny days but nice cool nights.

As for Bastile Day, its a great day to be in France. I did Annecy once on Bastile day which ok is a bit daft but it was superb. Every bit of tarmac had a motorhome on it. Just plan ahead. There is always lots going on, festivals, fireworks, music you name it. Most towns have something going on.

Once your sick, its easy to find a place on your own. As said Normandy is not a busy region anyway.
 
Love that Aire, not been for a few years. Looks a good turn out for Christmas. We are on Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire. Looks like you have better weather than us.

I agree about Brittany, its a fantastic place and its logical to do Normandy and Brittany at the same time if you have time. Brittany is motorhome city though at times and (As I know you will agree) its a good idea to get inland or away from the hot spots at times. Its one of my favourite regions in France for sure.
 
It ain't far and is easy

We spent 8 days doing the Normandy beaches Easter 2013. It is not far from Calais so the tunnel is doable and cheap, especially if you use Tesco vouchers. All the towns have signs as you approach telling where you can park up for the day to see the museums and main sights. We did a mix of aires, France Passion and campsites and they are all plentiful.
Best hint ... get Major and Mrs Holt's WW11 Normandy beaches book and read and plan as you go. Really one of our best trips ... we were humbled by what we learnt.
 
Some WW2 Landing beaches, sites & memorials.

A few GPS locations that may be of interest to you, these only cover a few of the many interesting areas to visit, I have made a bit of a spread sheet of some of the aire's in and around the Normandie area with GPS locations, if you think these may be of some use to you send me a PM and I will e-mail them to you.

Phil.

World War 2. (Landing Beaches, Sites & Memorials)

Mulberry Harbour. Arromanches-Les-Bains N49° 20`26.43" W0° 19`30"
Grand Camp-Maisy. Rue-du-Moulin Odo. D Day landings N49° 23' 21.03" W1° 2' 26.76"
Longues-sur-Mer.D Day Landing. Gun battery N49° 21' 34" W0° 51' 16"
Utah Beach. Visitor centre aire N49° 24' 50" W1° 10' 23.68"
Utah Beach Aire N49° 24'52.79" W1°10'35.66"
Juno Beach. Courseulles- Sur- Mer N49° 20`04" W0° 26`44"
Sword Beach. Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer to Quistreham N49° 18' 23" W0° 49' 16"
Gold Beach. Arromanches-les-Bains N49° 20' 20" W0° 37' 20"
Omaha Beach. Saint-Honorine-des-Pertes. N49° 21' 45.86" W0° 51' 12"
American Cemetery Colleville-sur-Mer N49° 21' 33.45" W0° 51'07.45"
Saint Mere Eglise. (Paratrooper stuck on church spire.) N49° 24' 39" W1° 19' 08"
Pegasus Bridge. Avenue du Major Howard N49° 14' 32" W0°16'18.84"
British War Cemetery. Hermanville-Sur-Mer. N49°17' 11.17" W0°18' 31.63"
Oradour-sur-Glane. WW2 preserved village N45° 55' 42" E1° 2' 25"
La Coupole. Rue Clabaux (D210) Helfaut. V2 Rocket site. N50° 42' 22.30" E2° 14' 25.42"
Saint Nazaire. U boat pens N47°16' 33.43" W2°12' 12.92"
 
We have been to France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg in various configurations over the last 5 years. It really is very easy.
I use All the Aires books and POI on my Tomtom mainly and my smartphone with google maps when I get wifi, for planning our next destination.
As others have said aim to be at Aires about 2pm unless they are huge ones (except Honfleur, which is huge but gets very busy).
If you can wild in the UK you will have absolutely no problem in France wilding or using Aires. Our longest trip was nearly 3 weeks in France and we used mostly free Aires or ones that cost a hefty 5 euros or so:D.

Just do it!!!
 
Our choice was between Brittany and Normandy. When the kids were little we had a couple of holidays in Brittanny at holiday parks and had a good time. I'm certainly looking forward to taking the motor home there and savouring the freedom to explore. However, we will only have 2-3 week and don't want to rush so we decided on Normandy in the end. I have only 2 more years in work so we will certainly be returning to France for longer holidays before long :dance:

Thanks!

Keith
 
maxi77 said:
Do remember that the French holiday almost exclusively in August so everywhere except Paris will be at their busiest. Also they have a big holiday close to June 6th and almost everything is shut.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of any French public holiday in June, and nor are the French. You can expect D-Day commemorations in Normandy, but no public holiday. If going in July, be aware that the Tour de France will be in the area for a few days in early July 2016.

Tom
 
ChrisInNotts said:
Dear all,

We have done quite a lot of wild camping over the UK in the last 2 years but have yet to venture abroad with our Hymer. After last years washout in the highlands we have decided to do something a bit different this coming year. We all fancy the idea of touring the beaches and memorials in Normandy for our 2 week summer holiday next year but the thought of venturing abroad is making me a little nervous. The youngest is doing his GCSE year so we cannot go until he has finished his exams which would be 20th June. That obviously means we would be going during a fairly busy time which adds to my concerns. Finding nice spots in the highlands in the peak of summer is easy but I suspect Normandy will be much busier. Do campsites need prior booking at that time of year for example? I am still working so happy to pay for nice spots by the beach for a proportion of the holiday. Do the Aires and spots in the Wildcamping database get rammed full then? Given we have a limited (2 or 3 week) slot I suspect an overnight ferry to Le Havre would be best for us. Is it better to book ferries sooner rather than later?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm not looking for specific recommendations for spots to stop, rather more general advice to help our first foreign trip go smoothly.

Thanks!

Keith
Click to expand...

POI Admin has done considerable research along the Normandy coast, and, as a full member, you will find a plentiful supply of Wild Camping POIs in the area. Even in mid-August, some of them appeared to be relatively little-used. Some aires, however, do fill up very early, particularly in places such as Cherbourg, but you can use those for the facilities and overnight at quieter ones. Enjoy!

Tom
 
Go for it, no worries you will enjoy yourselves. We never plan more than the first night & one place that we aim to visit within the 10 we are in France.

We did it as relatively new wildcampers & have managed a few trips now. A SatNav with the POIs on & a copy of All the Aires France, are a big help.
 
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