Does camping have to be expensive in France?

[The Tea Boy]

Afternoon all,

I'm taking the caravan to Le Mans for the race and then afterwards i'm meeting the wife at Poiters.

We are looking to stay somewhere around that area with in a few hours drive ideally.

The problems as such are that all of the sites seem to be €20+ per night (call me a tightwad if you like)

Are there anything like the Caravan Club CL site in France that we can find a book or website for? we aren't looking for anything extravagant, just EHU and toilet/shower facilities.

Also open to some recommendations on places to stay/visit, doesn't have to be by the coast, just somewhere nice to walk around and rural.

Thanks in advance

Matt

[chopper602]

Municipal sites tend to be cheaper than commercial sites.

[Bill]

Out of season an ACSI card makes a huge difference: http://webshop.acsi.eu/en/campingcard-acsi/camping...

[magooagain]

This may help. http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Air...

[Zelda Pinwheel]

Bill said:

Out of season an ACSI card makes a huge difference: http://webshop.acsi.eu/en/campingcard-acsi/camping...

another big vote for the ACSI card here. We did 5 months round Europe last summer and saved ourselves an absolute fortune using the ACSI card. The 'peak' season really seems to be the second half of July and all of August, so if you can use it outside those 6 weeks, you're onto a winner. 12/14/16€ per night for two, and even €10 in some cases.

[Rosscow]

And they have UK sites!

[Balmoral]

chopper602 said:

Municipal sites tend to be cheaper than commercial sites.

This. Pretty much every town or village will have a Municipal camp site, and they are very well signed, so you don't even have to plan in advance, just stop when you see one you like the look of. Quite often they will only be staffed for a few hours each day, just pitch up where you want and then go and pay when someone turns up. The standard of the toilet/shower blocks can be pretty indifferent though, but if you're in a caravan then that may not matter so much. We have stayed at some beautiful and immaculate Municipal camp sites over the years and they often cost very little, so we tend to avoid the commercial sites.

[ColinM50]

Balmoral said:

chopper602 said:

Municipal sites tend to be cheaper than commercial sites.

This. Pretty much every town or village will have a Municipal camp site, and they are very well signed, so you don't even have to plan in advance, just stop when you see one you like the look of. Quite often they will only be staffed for a few hours each day, just pitch up where you want and then go and pay when someone turns up. The standard of the toilet/shower blocks can be pretty indifferent though, but if you're in a caravan then that may not matter so much. We have stayed at some beautiful and immaculate Municipal camp sites over the years and they often cost very little, so we tend to avoid the commercial sites.

+1. Ever so much, plus 1

[Bill]

With the caveat that bizarrely some are run down holes that charge as much as private sites.

[crossy67]

Can't you park in an Aire for free? We have an Aire over the road from us and camping cars park there for free.

[Bill]

Some charge, and they're not meant for caravans.

[prand]

Bill said:

With the caveat that bizarrely some are run down holes that charge as much as private sites.

God yeah, the one outside Antibes was awful. Razor wire round the perimeter, not sure if that was to keep the campers in or the albanian immigrants lurking around out. Amazing when 10 mins away you have pretty Antibes and it's multi-multi million pound boats in the harbour. Then millionaires don't tend to do camping!

[prand]

Bill said:

With the caveat that bizarrely some are run down holes that charge as much as private sites.

God yeah, the one outside Antibes was awful. Razor wire round the perimeter, not sure if that was to keep the campers in or the albanian immigrants lurking around out. Amazing when 10 mins away you have pretty Antibes and it's multi-multi million pound boats in the harbour. Then millionaires don't tend to do camping!