First time Normandy and Brittany in Feb, camping question.

[Talljohn]

We are taking the ferry over to Calais at the end of Feb and would like a little advice on camping please. As it's off-season, are good safe sites and Aires easy to come by or should we consider booking ahead? I would rather remain fully flexible, so would prefer to just wing it, but pleased to receive your comments. Thanks, John

 

[Verteuil Man]

Hello John
Are you camping or in a motorhome? You will find a lot of the sites closed for the winter season and the ones open will be semi closed down. Aires will be open but may have the water switched off because of Frost.

 

[Spriddler]

Do you have a m/h yet? (Not yet, according to your avatar).
Most camp sites will be closed until April.
Aires are generally always open but the water may be turned off in 'winter'.
You won't be able to exchange Calor cylinders in Europe.
You can book CampingCarpark aires.

CAMPING-CAR PARK - Service areas for camping-car

CAMPING-CAR PARK is the 1st European network of rest areas and service areas for camping-car parking, in complete serenity, 24/7.

www.campingcarpark.com

As you are going to Normandy and Brittany and if the traveller named on the booking is over 60 you all get 20% discount from the website price if you use the DFDS Newhaven - Dieppe crossing (takes 4hrs) and book by phone.

 

[15edward]

We “did” WW2 sites sometime ago in March in our Motorhome. It was difficult finding sites open but we did manage it with research.
there was a nice site near Ouistreham we stayed on- municipal 3 star Le Pommiers which is open in February i think- near the canal towpath fir cycling to Pegasus bridge

 

[15edward]

80 campsites open all year - Brittany - CampingFrance.com

The children are not yet at school, or have already left home. You then have the freedom to go camping all year round! In France, no less than 1300 campsites are open all year round, in all regions of the Hexagon... And your camping stay will always be at a very interesting rate when you go out...

www.campingfrance.com

theres few here to look at

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[Talljohn]

Thanks for the replies, and yes, we have a Ducato based Possl. Are the Aires always open, accepting limited resources in winter or do they close too?

 

[Dart]

Thanks for the replies, and yes, we have a Ducato based Possl. Are the Aires always open, accepting limited resources in winter or do they close too?

Talljohn, yes most aires are open all year round. The Camping Car Park aires mentioned above are particularly useful in winter if you like to have electricity as the majority of their aires provide 6 amp hook up points. The facilities for each aire are shown on the Camping Car Park website.

 

[Emmit]

Get the 'Search for Sites' App and the 'Park4Night' App.

I appreciate that it is a difficult concept to get into the brain after a lifetime of attempting
to park and God forbid stay overnight in the UK but France is as far removed from the UK as chalk is
to cheese.

Nearly every village of size and every town and city has a place where you can stop and their
system of Aires will allow you to stop and stay safely overnight. Sometimes there is a payment
to be made but most are free.

Most Aires will allow you to dispose of Black (toilet) water and Grey (waste water) the North of France
climatically is very similar to the UK and you will find that the water is turned off.
You can usually find water at either garages or similar.

Enjoy.

 

[Talljohn]

Thanks all for your answers, heading off on Monday and looking forwards to it.

 

[TerryL]

Water is often still on at the Aires de Repos on the autoroutes and some main roads. You'll need a watering can and maybe a short length of hosepipe.

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[Talljohn]

Incidentally, given pretty much all the proper campsites are closed until April, do some of the Aires and Camping Car Park sites have showers and kitchens? If not, what do people do (other than use their own facilities) when touring out of season?

 

[Spriddler]

Self cater or eat out. You might get away with a BBQ if the aire isn't busy.
I've never been on an aire which had showers or a kitchen.

 

[LesW]

I've never been on an aire which had showers or a kitchen.

Camping-Car Park has quite few, but usually only in the 'high' season.

 

[denisejoe]

Never been on one

 

[Funnymunny]

A few years bak now we did 6 weeks traveling down as far as La Rochelle then bak up the last around Brittany and the Cherbourg peninsula in Jan/Feb and found most of the aires pretty busy with no problem getting water or emptying. We spent 2 nights on a campsite in St Malo the rest on aires and thoroughly enjoyed it

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[ToBoldlyGo]

Arras is a good site and has a shower