Wild Camping for the first time in France

[n brown]

i don't know if anyone else has tried this
pop into the Mairie and ask the mayor or his assistant if they know of any nice spots in the area for a night or 2, or ask about a specific spot
always found them very helpful, and of course, being France, the gendarmes are informed, so they won't bother you, probably pass by a couple of times to check on you. all the locals will know about you and will relax about it,safe in the knowledge you;re not gypsies, and nobody will care if you have stuff out or hang washing out !

 

[Clunegapyears]

We use All the franch aires book and France Passion (farms and vineyards, also available from Vicarious books). However, we tend to use campsites for security when we visit major cities ... only cos we were broken into in the centre of Copenhagen.

So many motorhomes around, especially as it is still the silly season, that you may find popular aires busy or even full.

So many wonderful places in France ... make sure you do a wine area ... not difficult, but one of my faves is Beaujolais area. Following the Loire is good. Alsace wine trail pretty. Put de Dome for unusual mountain shapes etc etc. Small French towns are full of character. Although France is relatively expensive now, you can still get a really good meal of the day with wine in rural France for around €13.

Enjoy.

 

[Trompete]

Wild in France

Snoopy is heading to France next week for 2 months and the word on the road is that wild camping in France is not recommended and we are safer to stick to Commercial and municipal campgrounds. Apparently vehicle break ins is rife. If any of you lovely people could advise from your own experience how best to tackle France and any suggestions on what regions to explore or any other advise would be much appreciated...thanks in advance Toni and Richard

Buy the Camperstop book from Vicarious books...it frees you from expensive sites... over many years we have never had any problems.

 

[witzend]

Snoopy is heading to France next week for 2 months

Buy the Camperstop book from Vicarious books...it frees you from expensive sites... over many years we have never had any problems.

They are probably home again by now and realise there's no problems to worry about hopefully

 

[alcam]

They are probably home again by now and realise there's no problems to worry about hopefully

We don't know that . We may never know !

 

[LesleyKH]

By 'eck, lad, it can be rough out there in deepest France.

Earlier this year we were on an Aire overnight by a river, just us and a few rabbits, and at 4 am we were surrounded by men in cars.

Slamming doors and chattering away in a foreign language, French I think, and when we decided enough was enough and they needed remonstrating with - we found there were about fifty of them setting up for a fishing match that morning and apparently an early start is required - bl**dy foreigners!

And the smell of bacon and sausages from there cooking facilities was a nightmare!

Then a few weeks ago there was a right din after midnight in a Sports Hall close by the Aire we stayed on - a Wedding party were singing and dancing the night away - luckily they stopped the noise at 7 am and we got half an hours sleep - bl**dy foreigners!

And that's as bad as it's got in ten years staying on Aires in wildest France - you'll be safe wherever you stay as long as you use common sense.


:dog: :dog: :dog: :dog:

Oh that reminds me of a wildcamp in Italy where we woke on a Sunday morning to find ourselves surrounded by men in combats getting lots of guns out of the boots of their cars, some looked like machine-guns (we know nothing about guns!). It turned out we'd parked outside the local firing range!

Lesley

 

[lefty107]

Wild camping france

Just back after 2 weeks wandering around Normandy for the first time. Never felt safer mostly used Aires (not motorway services) as at this time of year are very close to centre of town. Spent 3 nights in beauex as there was so much to see and a couple of nights at Mont st Michelle and then on to the Normandy beaches. Never a hint of trouble a few interesting conversations in my very poor French much to the amusement of the locals.whale island is a perfect stop over if you are on the early Portsmouth ferry and there is an aire when you get off if you need a sleep before moving on or have a early ferry coming back from Cain. The Europeans are set up for motorhomes and far easier then moving around England. You can drive 10 miles to the next aire or 100 miles the choice is yours.

 

[alcam]

Just back after 2 weeks wandering around Normandy for the first time. Never felt safer mostly used Aires (not motorway services) as at this time of year are very close to centre of town. Spent 3 nights in beauex as there was so much to see and a couple of nights at Mont st Michelle and then on to the Normandy beaches. Never a hint of trouble a few interesting conversations in my very poor French much to the amusement of the locals.whale island is a perfect stop over if you are on the early Portsmouth ferry and there is an aire when you get off if you need a sleep before moving on or have a early ferry coming back from Cain. The Europeans are set up for motorhomes and far easier then moving around England. You can drive 10 miles to the next aire or 100 miles the choice is yours.

Don't rule out motorway services completely . I use plenty if travelling down to Spain in wintertime . Most people would say not to use any near big cities , which is fair enough . Your gut will tell you . You can often park close to the well lit areas at the all night restaurants .
Some of the locations are in beautiful country . Good stop on way home is Baie de Somme , its like a posh campsite/aire and costs feck all