Travelling to France in November looking for low cost sites (1 Viewer)

[redbox]

Hi,we are heading for France in November/December,returning for Christmas and would appreciate "useful "information and details of places to stay.
We are on a fairly tight budget so any aires or low cost "sites" as we would like to hook up on occasion !
This is a first time trip to France ,we have booked our ferry to st Malo and intend to visit the Brittany area then work our way to Nomandy area,before heading back to the uk.
In the new year we hope to return to France and make our way to Portugal and Spain and do similar.
Many thanks

 

[Theonlysue]

All the Aires France book is really useful.
Think vicarious books in UK sell them.

 

[Scattycat]

Camp sites in most of France are quite cheap in the winter . . . . . . . . .'cause they're closed
Many aires though will have electric but you may find, especially in the north, that the water has been turned off.
We'd spent a month or so in the UK last year in February then headed towards Spain in early March. We didn't find water turned on in aires until we got well south of Le Mans

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[Viennese]

You need the ACSI book and card - wonderful campsites at low cost in low season. However, many French sites close end of September... The book tells you exactly when, and is available for Vicarious books as above...

 

[SomeoneElse]

One of our favourite https://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/pyrenees-orientales/66-saint-cyprien
I think out of the peak months its €6.50 a night. The 16A EHU is there but the sign at the exit says its only to be used for battery charging. Of course you only see the badly positioned sign as you leave.

 

[scotjimland]

I have a box full of guide books, aires books, camper stop books, site books etc etc .. .. more than enough to start a bookshop.. not used anymore..
CamperContact .. that's all I use now..

download the POIs for your sat nav, you can also buy the phone app £4.50 per year, which you can download the maps onto, it works without a data connection..

http://www.campercontact.com/en/

when you are driving and need to find a a site or aire, Go into the sat nav menu, select Campercontact POIs , press search and it brings up all the aires and sites starting with the ones closest to your position.. you can look at the POI on the sat nav map and get basic info .. . select which one you want and press navigate.. job done...

no divorce proceedings pending

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[peterc10]

As others have said you will have struggle to find many sites open in France in November and December. Especially in Normandy and Brittany, which are only slightly warmer than the UK at that time of year so take coats and hot water bottles.

Your only real option is Aires. Buy the All the Aires book, but be aware it only covers a selection of Aires, nowhere near all of them. So get the Campercontact app for your Android or Apple phone, which covers many more - you will have to pay a yearly subscription of about £5 per year to get its full list. There are Aires with EHUs but not many, and those that do rarely have enough power for heating. So make sure you have a good supply of gas.

 

[busby]

Remember in central France in winter it can be far colder than the uk and the snow can be far worse. You need to be well south to get warmer weather..BUSBY...

 

[Our Bumble]

Hi redbox, we've travelled through France a few times and collected a number of wild camping or cheap aires.
We log all our GPS coordinates on our blog and then consolidate by country. Here is the link to the French wild camping spots (about half way down the page) http://ourbumble.com/country-guides/france/
Hope that helps

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[Deleted member 29692]

CamperContact .. that's all I use now..

Wot he sed

We did a kind of similar trip in November the other year having a look at the D Day beaches. We started and finished in Calais though.

We did the whole trip on aires, never had hook up and never had a problem. Give me a shout if you want to know where we stayed.

You'll be fine with the weather. I spent most of the week in short sleeves and I don't think we used the heating in the van once.

 

[Minxy]

I love France but I don't think I'd want to be stopping round the Northern areas at that time of year ... as you seem to have a fair bit of time it might be worth reconsidering and going a lot further South.

 

[denisejoe]

We've done Brittany and Normandy in December through to new year several times and stopped on aires every night. We had water on all but one aire over the 2-3 week period we were there and electric hook up on most. We used to use the All the Aires France but now prefer Campercontact.

It can be done but you need to pick your aires by facilities as well as location.

Good luck and enjoy.

Denise

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[Photo4x4]

So make sure you have a good supply of gas.

...and remember that you can't get Calor Gas in France. However you will find plenty of room on the Aires.

KH

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

Wot he sed ...........,


You'll be fine with the weather. I spent most of the week in short sleeves and I don't think we used the heating in the van once.

Now there's brave words . November /December northern France
Do you have insider information from Meteo that you'd like to share with us all?

 

[Lot lover]

However you will find plenty of room on the Aires.

And I suspect that is all you will find in many cases,

Good luck anyway.

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[busby]

Now there's brave words . November /December northern France
Do you have insider information from Meteo that you'd like to share with us all?

Suppose its ok on the odd day,,bit like UK...BUSBY.

 

[busby]

Wot he sed

We did a kind of similar trip in November the other year having a look at the D Day beaches. We started and finished in Calais though.

We did the whole trip on aires, never had hook up and never had a problem. Give me a shout if you want to know where we stayed.

You'll be fine with the weather. I spent most of the week in short sleeves and I don't think we used the heating in the van once.

I think you were very very lucky with the weather at that time of year,,,BUSBY.

 

[Gaston aires]

Try France passion sites. Virtually free and in nice places, some a bit hard to find. (available from Vicarious books)
Phil

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[EX51SSS]

...and remember that you can't get Calor Gas in France. However you will find plenty of room on the Aires.

KH

Yes, you can't get Calor Gas but you can buy propane but you'd need to buy French cylinder and adaptors and then you have a cylinder that can only be exchanged in France.

 

[peterc10]

but you'd need to buy French cylinder and adaptors and then you have a cylinder that can only be exchanged in France.

Or fit refillable bottle(s) and then fill up with Autogas.

 

[EX51SSS]

Or fit refillable bottle(s) and then fill up with Autogas.

Yes very true as a lot have and over a decade it pays for itself but I did read that they're on a tight budget so at this stage it's hardly worth pointing out an extremely good system that will ensure supplies wherever you are and cheaper if at this time they haven't got a few hundred quid to splash out on Gasit or Gaslow or any of the other refillable cylinders.

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[peterc10]

I reckon my single bottle system has paid back in about 2 and a half years

 

[EX51SSS]

I reckon my single bottle system has paid back in about 2 and a half years

I appreciate that but if you're on a tight budget, cost is extremely important. Any system will eventually pay for itself but there's no benchmark because it depends how much one uses it. If its only refilled one or twice a year then it'll take a lot longer than someone who refills 6/10 times a year.
It took me many years for me to justify the initial cost and I appreciate that I've filled up from £0.32 a litre to £0.46 a litre but still reckon it'll be around 6/8 years before I'm at break even. In saying that, I didn't buy it for that reason. I bought it for the convenience of filling up wherever I am.

 

[Minxy]

I reckon my single bottle system has paid back in about 2 and a half years

Unless you use a LOT of gas I don't think you will have broken even after just that length of time ... I did a calculation a while back and found that for us it took around 4 years 9 months and 252 litres of gas refills to get to break-even for our single 11kg self-installed Gaslow kit, this is compared to having used Calor exchange cylinders for that amount of gas with no allowing made for 'handing back' part-used cylinders which we would have had to at some time in order to get 'full' ones for foreign trips.

Refillable gas systems are great but buying them just to save money isn't a massive selling point IMV as it takes a long time to start to do that.

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[EX51SSS]

Unless you use a LOT of gas I don't think you will have broken even after just that length of time ... I did a calculation a while back and found that for us it took around 4 years 9 months and 252 litres of gas refills to get to break-even for our single 11kg self-installed Gaslow kit, this is compared to having used Calor exchange cylinders for that amount of gas with no allowing made for 'handing back' part-used cylinders which we would have had to at some time in order to get 'full' ones for foreign trips.

Refillable gas systems are great but buying them just to save money isn't a massive selling point IMV as it takes a long time to start to do that.

That is my point exactly but with the added comment that the author of this thread is on a tight budget.
Very impressed, as always Minxygirl at your comprehensive work on the refillable cylinders. At this stage, I reckon about 8 years or so for my dual 11kg system but could be quicker or slower depending on how many chances we get to get away in the coming years. I've only had it 3 years so I reckon by 2022 I'll break even. That's if I'm still around and not actually really broke even cos funeral is paid for.

 

[Minxy]

I should mention that last year when we changed vans as the new van had a larger gas locker we were able to get a second refillable cylinder in there which cost a total of £77 (very cheap brand new Gaslow 6kg cylinder and pipes etc), so we're in 'deficit' again! However by the time we've refilled with around 110 litres we'll be back at break even!

 

[peterc10]

Unless you use a LOT of gas I don't think you will have broken even after just that length of time ....

I don't know what you consider to be a lot. I reckon I have used about 250l at an average price of probably 60p per litre. That works out at about 7 refills a year on average of 14 or 15l a time. My wife is a cold morsel so our heating is on all the time and just turned down a bit when we are in bed. So that's about £150. Using the 6Kg calor bottles I had I reckon calor costs about £1.50 per litre so that makes it £375. So a saving of £225.

The initial single 11kg bottle system cost me £189 from Gasit and I fitted it myself. Add on another £30 to fit it in the new motorhome makes it £219. So I am about there, give or take a bit I reckon.

But in reality I did not buy it to save money, but to make life easier. And I will be spending some more in the autumn to add a second bottle.

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[EX51SSS]

I don't know what you consider to be a lot. I reckon I have used about 250l at an average price of probably 60p per litre. That works out at about 7 refills a year on average of 14 or 15l a time. My wife is a cold morsel so our heating is on all the time and just turned down a bit when we are in bed. So that's about £150. Using the 6Kg calor bottles I had I reckon calor costs about £1.50 per litre so that makes it £375. So a saving of £225.

The initial single 11kg bottle system cost me £189 from Gasit and I fitted it myself. Add on another £30 to fit it in the new motorhome makes it £219. So I am about there, give or take a bit I reckon.

But in reality I did not buy it to save money, but to make life easier. And I will be spending some more in the autumn to add a second bottle.

Yes, that's 7 refills a year. Last year I only needed 1 refill but I do have a 2 x 11kg Gaslow and I appreciate it cost you around the £200 ish mark but that is something to consider when you have £200 ish available to spend plus fitting (if you're not competent as I consider myself to be in that bracket) and not when you're considering a break away in northern France and got a tight budget.
Absolutely agree when you've got the cash to splash but when you haven't, then options are limited as probably hundreds of fellow funsters will agree because although we have mohos, it doesn't mean we have deep pockets.

 

[peterc10]

Yes, that's 7 refills a year. Last year I only needed 1 refill but I do have a 2 x 11kg Gaslow and I appreciate it cost you around the £200 ish mark but that is something to consider when you have £200 ish available to spend plus fitting (if you're not competent as I consider myself to be in that bracket) and not when you're considering a break away in northern France and got a tight budget.
Absolutely agree when you've got the cash to splash but when you haven't, then options are limited as probably hundreds of fellow funsters will agree because although we have mohos, it doesn't mean we have deep pockets.

I entirely understand your point and agree with it to a large extent. I was answering Minxy's point about my figures being suspect. It just depends how much gas you use. I suspect we use quite a bit, but no more than you would use to keep warm in November & December in northern France.

 

[EX51SSS]

I entirely understand your point and agree with it to a large extent. I was answering Minxy's point about my figures being suspect. It just depends how much gas you use. I suspect we use quite a bit, but no more than you would use to keep warm in November & December in northern France.

Yep that I understand whereas you choose to answer Minxygirl whereas we were replying to the author.

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