France has numerous fascinating areas to explore if you have a touring caravan or motorhome and there are absolutely thousands of campsites that welcome touring holidaymakers with their own caravan, motorhome or tent. And because the climate is slightly better than in some other countries such as the UK, you will find people go touring as early as April right through to October, which is when most camp and touring sites are open in France.
Although if you are thinking or touring in the summer holidays you may have to pre-book to get a pitch at some of the more popular caravan sites, especially in places like Brittany, which is one of the most popular camping and touring holiday areas in France, but there are many to choose from and you can often just pull up and arrange an overnight stay, or if you want to see the sights in a specific area, then you could always book a whole weeks holiday, or two, on a particular caravan site.
Most touring sites will offer pitches with an electric hook-up and some also include water, some others will even have pitches that cater for sewage disposal for the black tanks that you get within a motorhome and if not, they have on-site facilities at set points for your waste water and emptying out your cassette toilet or porta-loo. In fact, last time we were in France, we noticed that a lot of the larger service stations also have points that you can empty out your waste tanks, which is great for when you are travelling through France.
But getting back to the touring sites; the amount of facilities available on lots of caravan and camping sites in France (not including the basics), means that you may find you just wish to stay put and enjoy what is on offer, such as swimming, tennis, fishing, the bar and restaurant, clubs with entertainment, children’s playgrounds and much, much more, which are normally free to use bar certain activities that you may have to pay a fee for, such as a fishing permit, playing pool, hiring cycles or using the gym.
And overall, these types of camping sites are of excellent quality and make an ideal family holiday where the children are very well catered for but these can range in price quite dramatically, for example, if you want to be situated near the Cote D’Azur and the French Riviera, the cost for a pitch can be anything up to four times that of a touring site in Normandy! Also, they do vary in cost according to the time of year and the amount of different facilities on offer plus some charge extra if you just turn up rather than pre-booking, so it is always a good idea to check out a few sites in different areas before you go on your holiday and we always ensure we have the different sites and their details on hand whilst we are touring.
However, if you would rather have peace and tranquillity whilst on holiday in your caravan or motor home, then there are also numerous sites which offer the more mature family, and you can find some beautiful settings that range from lakeside views to being situated in a forest where you can watch the wildlife roaming, or why not meet up with some other like-minded people whilst staying in the grounds of a French Chateau. The choice is immense and on some of the sites you could even get to experience activities such as horse riding, artery and clay pigeon shooting.
Mind you, if you are towing a large caravan or have a large motorhome like a Winnebago, then it is also a very wise idea to check the terrain of your desired destination, as some of the campsites may not be accessible. One particular place we went had such a narrow track running up to the site that it would have been impossible to get a 36 plus foot motorhome round the bend and into the gate at the entrance and as for reversing, we wouldn’t have liked to try that with a caravan!
Yet even if you do not own your own caravan or motor home, although it will add to the cost of your holiday, you can still enjoy a touring holiday in France with freedom by hiring one for a week or two, which is also a good idea to see if you will end up enjoying the whole experience, before investing your hard earned money on the purchase of a caravan or motorhome.
Martyn Davis European Traveller, Author, Photographer and Business Development Manager, For all your French holiday needs and travel guide to France, with tourist information, landmarks and attractions – Touring Holidays In France