Touring France During French Holiday Season (1 Viewer)

Gorsecover59

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Jun 6, 2011
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Hi All,
Due to circumstances our main trip this year will be during the French Holiday season. We will be arriving at St Malo and visiting the west/south of France.
Normally we visit in July but this time it will be mid Aug.
Just wondering if you afficianados have any tips for visiting aires and campsites during this very busy period.
As a rule we dont generally book a site in advance we just turn up as we hate to be on a timetable.Would that be foolhardy during this period?
Many thanks in anticipation of your help.
Martin
 
Oct 5, 2014
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Anywhere near the see or inland lake , would need a booking I would say, we know the Swisse Normand very well and know the sites there get very booked up in August.

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9526

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The Aires get busy, but are still viable providing you arrive before the afternoon rush. Obviously you need to keep your options open.

We have toured the West coast and the Perpignan side of French med in July/Aug and have had no major issues. We'll be doing the same this year and wouldn't dream of booking onto a site.

Just don't expect to turn up at 6pm on a beachside Aire and get a spot (this rule applies in the popular Aires for most of the summer though!)

If you are really struggling though, as others have said 10 miles inland and you'll have a choice of spots.

Enjoy
 

grumps147

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Jun 6, 2010
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It's not just the French either, I used to think the whole if the Netherlands was empty in August, as they are all in France. Perhaps exadjurating a bit, just those with children are in France.
 

mikebeaches

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Feb 22, 2010
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I think by mid-August the French holidays are just starting to wind down - certainly the case during the second half of the month.

I always reckon the peak is mid-July to mid August.

Mike

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magicsurfbus

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Oct 11, 2010
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Most of our working lives was spent having to holiday in July and August, and we were mainly on the coast, including our first 8 years in the MH.

My advice would be try and stick to large or medium-sized aires and aim to get there by mid-morning if you want the best chance of finding a spot. Have a Plan B stopover in mind too, although we rarely had to revert to this. The CCI SatNav POI file and mobile App are invaluable here.

If you're motoring towards S & W France two good overnight stopover spots are Parc Puy du Fou and Parc Futuroscope, both of which have massive aires and no obligation to go into the parks if you don't want to, although both are worth it. You could arrive at either around teatime and still find a place.

Similar thing with campsites - most of them kick out at 11am to noon so that's when the spare spots are going to be most available.
 
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Gorsecover59

Gorsecover59

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Jun 6, 2011
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Many thanks.
I knew you guys would come up with some very good ideas and the above is full of them.
Thank you all.
Martin
 
May 24, 2014
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Pootling along the Charente and have found our aires to be fairly uncrowded apart from Cognac which was full (but only 3 spaces) however like the French we managed to squeeze ourselves into some adjacent spaces. But like others have posted plan ahead and get to the next aire by midday.

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