Dunkerque to Algeciras - Campsites in Feb??? (1 Viewer)

Milo

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If this has been covered elsewhere, please just post a link to the thread, but......

We're campervanners and (on the distaff side) far from keen on "roughing it", so hoping you can please recommend All Year campsites along this route, particularly on the run through Spain (where I guess it would be best to follow the Med coast?).
 
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Milo

Milo

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....hoping you can please recommend All Year campsites along this route, particularly on the run through Spain (where I guess it would be best to follow the Med coast?).


Really no suggestions?
 

hilldweller

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Really no suggestions?

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Worked in April. No idea if it would in Feb. Main roads all the way so they *should* be cleared. Like they *should* be cleared over here !

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scotjimland

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Hi

As you are looking for sites I could be of little help as we only use aires, and few sites will be open in France in Feb.

In Spain, there are plenty of 'snowbird' winter sites open along the Med coast and from what I read they have plenty of spare places.. prices for short term stays can be pricey ..

If interested, Google Map of Spanish Aires and wild camp spots
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?t=h&ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115843103054280433491.00045f0726a2a2cb8737a&z=7

and Google Map of French Aires we use
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?t=h&ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115843103054280433491.00045c1ab0c50bf957c9d&z=4

hope that is of some help, good luck with the trip

jim
 

Bulletguy

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Plenty on the mb who vary from p/time to fulltime Spain 'dwellers' so i'm surprised nobody has come up with anything for you. Only bit I can add is some years ago I did the med coast in France.

Not sure what you see as 'roughing it' but quite frankly you will get a far better feel of the place by stopping on smaller non-commercial sites than you would on some 5 star place. In the summer months you could easily sleep naked on the beaches and nobody would bother you. :Smile:
 
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Milo

Milo

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Thanx, folks, very much. I was being a bit girly about "roughing it" and personally can't see how using even a small van like ours could amount to any sort of hardship, but SWTACEHBRBTSN considers that our showerless van needs to spend every night on a campsite.

I'm encouraged to read that Spanish Med coast sites are likely to be open. We have Alan Roger's 2008 All Year pdf list saved to our Desktop, but it seems to me to be a very unwieldy document.







SWTACEHBRBTSN = She who to a certain extent has been replaced by the sat nav.

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keith

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Thanx, folks, very much. I was being a bit girly about "roughing it" and personally can't see how using even a small van like ours could amount to any sort of hardship, but SWTACEHBRBTSN considers that our showerless van needs to spend every night on a campsite.

I'm encouraged to read that Spanish Med coast sites are likely to be open. We have Alan Roger's 2008 All Year pdf list saved to our Desktop, but it seems to me to be a very unwieldy document.

As Jim said Park Verger is Ideal then onto the med coast. We are at L'Estartit just N of Barcelona.
Next one I know of going S, Bon Repos at Santa Suzanna.
S of Barcelona, Vilanova I la Geltru, Vinaros, Peniscola, Acossebre, all winter camp sites.
After this there are many open in winter.
A good source of sites for the winter is the Camping & Caravan Club Winter Sun book, they also have sites for travelling down.
 

keith

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As an alternative to my previous posting.
Travel the Western route, could be less chance of snow through France.
Sites at:
La Futurist near FutureScope
St Jean de Luz N of Spanish border.
El Pastor at Pancorbo N of Burgos
Your in the mountains of N Spain so weather may be bad.
Hotel Regio at Salamanca
Merida camp site (Can't remember the name)
All are open in winter.

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M&L

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We will be driving through France and Spain starting on the 31 Jan and we will be staying at sites on the way. We will be using the western route through France and will stay on the following sites which are all open

Forest View at Remelard which is north of Le Man's
Camping Bosoliel at Gradignan which is just outside Bordeaux
Camping Fuentes Blancas at Burgos
Camping International at Aranjuez
We will then head for La Manga.

There are quite a few sites open in France and in Central Spain and a lot open on the Med side.
I have found that the best guide to look at is the ASCI DVD which is not the same as the ASCI book.
There are over 8500 sites on the DVD and you can set the search criteria for sites that are open in February.

Mike
 
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Milo

Milo

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Never once in the past decade have I booked onto a campsite in advance. Do you think it advisable for this trip?

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M&L

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The only site that I have telephoned and booked is Camping Beausoliel at Gradignan as there are only 35 pitches and it is a very good stopover site and therefore gets busy.

Camping Beausoliel is 0033556891766 and the lady there speaks excellent english.

Mike
 

Phil

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I'm planning to leave for Portugal in mid February and the planned campsite stops are

La Fontaine at Montreuil
Hortus le Jardin, south of Orleans at Sully (ACSI)
Clos Auroy south of Clermont-Ferrand at Orcet (ACSI)
La Nautique at Narbonne (ACSI)
Vilanova Park, south of Barcelona (ACSI)
Eden at Peniscola (ACSI)
Kiko Park at Oliva (ACSI)
Los Madriles south of Cartagena (ACSI)
Don Cactus at Motril (ACSI)
Aldea at El Rocio (ACSI)
then into Portugal.

Very leisurely. :Smile:

Phil.
 

Braunston

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Hi,

I have updated my Autoroute 2007 copy of the ACSI 2010 Campingcard POI's to show all the sites in France and Spain that are supposed to be open all year, which may help you plan your route, if anyone wants a copy PM me with your email and i will send it to you,

I would upload it but it seems the site won't accept axe files.

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staging lady

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On the Western route through France, Camping Suisse Ocean at La Souterraine is open all year. Large pitches with services and a good restaurant near a lake and walkable to the town, an Aldi and railway station.

On the eastern side Camping Les Bouleaux Vignoles Beaune Burgundy
is just off the motorway has spotless loo block heated in winter . About 5 mins to the supermarket, quiet with a cycle route through the village. It is frequently used as a overnight stop.
Further south Camping Floral at Montelimar is also open all year. It is near the motorway and main road and near a nuclear power station and about 10 mins by motorhome to a supermaket in town. The facilities are not up to the standard of the other two but you get a warm welcome and drink when you arrive.
We stayed at one at Vias Plage but I can't see that it is open as it was when we were there.
The rest of the time we used aires.
Lucille
 
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Milo

Milo

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A possibly primitive (migratory?) instinct draws me down the east side, but that's logical when landing at Dunkerque! If I put together an East plan and a West plan I might be able to make our choice based on the weather forecast as we leave England.......

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M&L

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The reason that we use the western route through France is that there is less chance of snow as the A75 on the eastern one goes over the Central Massiff which is quite high up although it is cheaper as it is free apart from the Milau Viaduct.
There is the chance of snow in northern Spain around Burgos but after that it is usually okay with very quite roads.

Mike
 
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Milo

Milo

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I'm planning to leave for Portugal in mid February and the planned campsite stops are

La Fontaine at Montreuil..........

Phil.

Phil, is that La Fontaine des Clercs at Montreuil sur Mer?
 

bobandjanie

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Hi Milo, we set of on 8th January, two years ago, we went over the A75 Clermont-Ferrand because Jane wanted to go over the Milau Viaduct,:RollEyes: not a good decision with a scooter on the back of a front wheel drive van.:Doh: We had 6" of snow and ice, never again in winter.:whatthe:

Last year we left on the same date 8th Jan, we had thick Fog for an hour from Calis, and Snow all the way though France until 20 miles from Biarritz the deepest being where we met up with Pat and Neil ( PATSY 4 ).:Doh: ( thanks Neil great choice of Aire in the summer ) and we froze up.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

This year we go on Friday 8th again, this time towing the car on a trailer, and its down the west coast without a doubt, we stay on Aires and have about 160lts of water, there are very few places to get water and not many Campsites open, if your in the France Passion some are open and would give you water.:cry::Smile:

If I was in your van, we would go down the west coast bacause of better weather ::bigsmile: but stop in B & B until you get down a bit and it warms up..........:winky:..........But if you really want to stay in the van, here's another one for your list........:winky: ::bigsmile: Bob.


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Judge Mental

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I'm planning to leave for Portugal in mid February and the planned campsite stops are

La Fontaine at Montreuil
Hortus le Jardin, south of Orleans at Sully (ACSI)
Clos Auroy south of Clermont-Ferrand at Orcet (ACSI)
La Nautique at Narbonne (ACSI)
Vilanova Park, south of Barcelona (ACSI)
Eden at Peniscola (ACSI)
Kiko Park at Oliva (ACSI)
Los Madriles south of Cartagena (ACSI)
Don Cactus at Motril (ACSI)
Aldea at El Rocio (ACSI)
then into Portugal.

Very leisurely. :Smile:

Phil.

Thats a great list.....do they take the ACSI card? in other words are they cheap!::bigsmile:
 

Phil

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La Fontaine des Clercs is N 50.46853 E 1.76280 and is open all year.

www.campinglafontainedesclercs.fr Daily cost is €13.70 until 31st January. It may go up slightly after that.

All the other sites mentioned take the ACSI Camping Card and charge €15 or less per night.

Phil.
 
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Milo

Milo

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La Fontaine des Clercs is N 50.46853 E 1.76280 and is open all year.

www.campinglafontainedesclercs.fr Daily cost is €13.70 until 31st January. It may go up slightly after that.

All the other sites mentioned take the ACSI Camping Card and charge €15 or less per night.

Phil.

Last year was our first with ACSI and we joined on arrival at a campsite in France. I thought I'd buy a card for 2010, but the website's link has been malfunctioning these past 2 days. I'm thinking I'll phone the Netherlands and try and buy one in that way, or can one buy cards at any ACSI site?

Cancel that - I'm buying it now on-line from Vicarious Books, Folkestone. :Smile:

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Milo

Milo

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bobandjane said:
Snow all the way though France until 20 miles from Biarritz the deepest being where we met up with Pat and Neil ( PATSY 4 ).:Doh: ( thanks Neil great choice of Aire in the summer ) and we froze up.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

What sort of "froze up"? And do you have chains, and did you use them? Were the autoroutes kept clear?
 
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Milo

Milo

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A good source of sites for the winter is the Camping & Caravan Club Winter Sun book, they also have sites for travelling down.


Here at the foot of the page is a link to the "electrified" book: Link Removed From what I've seen of electronic books they serve mainly to make one wish one had the real book.
 

bobandjanie

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Hi Milo, our water supply froze behind the sink unit,:Doh: we managed to find an Aire with electric and got the 2kw fan heater going and that sorted it.:roflmto: But we went in a garage to get some Auto Gas and the pump had froze up.:whatthe::Doh: We have chains but managed to keep rolling only getting stuck in the Aire but have used them and its worth having a practice putting them on before you have to put them on, we have a set for the Smart too.:winky::Smile: Sorry don't use Auto routes but I would say they keep them clear. :Smile: Bob.

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Milo

Milo

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Hi Milo, our water supply froze behind the sink unit,:Doh: we managed to find an Aire with electric and got the 2kw fan heater going and that sorted it.:roflmto: But we went in a garage to get some Auto Gas and the pump had froze up.:whatthe::Doh: We have chains but managed to keep rolling only getting stuck in the Aire but have used them and its worth having a practice putting them on before you have to put them on, we have a set for the Smart too.:winky::Smile: Sorry don't use Auto routes but I would say they keep them clear. :Smile: Bob.

We've been down to some low external temps, and I reckon a small van with the Eberspacher running might do better than a m/h?

On occasions we've been in France where chains were required, but naughtily managed without. (We'd been told they were readily available in supermarkets in the Alps, but by March they'd all run out of our size). Several times I've been looking around ebay and the www and ended up thoroughly confused by so many options. Can you / anyone else recommend a make and / or supplier?
 
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twoofakind

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Hi, try the Vicarious Books website look at All the Aires France All the Aires Spain. Useful for overnight stops. The CC and CCC websites good source of info on sites open in winter. Have fun!:thumb:
 
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Milo

Milo

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Hi, try the Vicarious Books website look at All the Aires France All the Aires Spain. Useful for overnight stops. The CC and CCC websites good source of info on sites open in winter. Have fun!:thumb:

I'm finding the Caravan Club's book v good and have been pleasantly surprised to see how many All Year sites there are in Spain, (even though it's logical there'll be more than in colder places).

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