France in Winter

[colleen murphy]

We are planning a trip to France for 2 months starting the first week in January. We will either travel on the Euro tunnel starting our French trip in Calais, or ferry to Caen or Le Havre. Our aim is to at least go down as far as Poitiers to visit my sister who has just bought a property there. But would also like to explore as much of the country as we can in that space of time.
Any advice as to preferable mode of channel crossing and any sites which will still be open and can accommodate our Fifth Wheeler, a Celtic Rambler length 8.5 metres, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Figaro]

Many sites will be shut but Aires are usually open. Water may be turned off.
Take your wellies and brolly, it may be wet.
Enjoy

 

[Granjan]

Les Acacias is open at Tours and a good location /base for the Loire, the site is fairly basic but ok. The staff are friendly and helpful, there is road noise morning and evening. Tours is interesting and the nearby bus is cheap.

 

[tonka]

Jan and Feb in France can be as bad or worse than UK....
Most sites closed so research carefully.. Aires open but you may need to locate the bigger ones if its for a 5th wheel.
As said water more than likely will be turned off.

Not for me thanks... Brr..

ps.. I have a sister named Colleen... Dont come across many..

 

[MikeD]

Parc verger in the Limousin is open all year and can definitely cope with your van.

We have not been in January but i suspect it will be cold and wet at that time of year in most places in France.

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[tacr2man]

Tunnel is a better bet, of on time in winter, now they sorted out the wrong type of snow, and likely to smoother than ferry in winter
dont forget https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/site-information/lpg/

 

[denisejoe]

Its hot at moment 30+ best time is september on will let you know up until what date

Joe

 

[Speve]

I would be exploring as far south as you can as it can be quite cold at night with really hard frosts.

 

[Four of us]

We went to Isle de Re last February on the way to Spain and there were sites open. We were lucky with the weather and had bright and sunny days although very chilly in the mornings and from late afternoon. La Rouletta near St Jean de Luz is open all year and that's a nice area to explore. Enjoy.

 

[Oscar]

We went in January 2015 - it was very cold - probably colder than the UK. Water was not easy to get as a lot of the aires had turned theirs off, and in some cases the water was frozen. The water in the motorhome froze & we had to run the generator to run the hairdryer to warm up the water tank so we had running water! We ended up moving to the South for the better weather but as we got there the Mistral arrived! We found quite a lot of campsites closed & the ones that were open had minimal facilities operating. We wouldn't do France again in the winter months.

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[Boringfrog]

If you have 2 Months I would recommend getting down to the Alicante area, could probably do it in 3 days from Calais.

 

[TerryL]

Just a thought, are fifth-wheelers allowed to use French aires? No offence intended, but they're more like caravans than motorhomes surely?

 

[Lot lover]

We live S and E of Poitiers, the former ought to make our weather warmer but the latter makes us much nearer the centre of France so probably colder/wetter.

In January we are off to Portugal for 3 months - make of that what you will.

 

[colleen murphy]

Thanks Funster. Whereabouts in Portugal you off to and what route are you taking?

 

[2657]

Just a thought, are fifth-wheelers allowed to use French aires? No offence intended, but they're more like caravans than motorhomes surely?

I have used them, if i can get on I used them, mostly out of season and would never drop the trailer, seen caravans in some aires allowed or not.

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[Lot lover]

Thanks Funster. Whereabouts in Portugal you off to and what route are you taking?

Auch
Hasparren (France Passion farm) hoping sea air banishes any thoughts of snow
Burgos
Salamanca
Caceres
Obidos (N of Lisbon) - cheap if you stay for a month +
Zambujeira
Cabanas, Tavira - again cheap for a month + but may be full - our ultimate destination
Caceres and home

My wife is paranoid about aires particularly since we met a couple earlier this year who had been burgled and had 2 x Monets, a Renoir, Rolexes and 500kg of Columbian marching powder stolen (there may have been an I-phone as well)

 

[Allanm]

Auch
Hasparren (France Passion farm) hoping sea air banishes any thoughts of snow
Burgos
Salamanca
Caceres
Obidos (N of Lisbon) - cheap if you stay for a month +
Zambujeira
Cabanas, Tavira - again cheap for a month + but may be full - our ultimate destination
Caceres and home

My wife is paranoid about aires particularly since we met a couple earlier this year who had been burgled and had 2 x Monets, a Renoir, Rolexes and 500kg of Columbian marching powder stolen (there may have been an I-phone as well)

We met them, but I was sure they had £2000 in cash taken too!

We have toured France in Jan Feb and March and as long as you carry as much water as you can and use it sparingly, there are plenty of places to overnight. I am sure a fifth wheeler will be ok at larger aires and you should have no trouble parking. Most campsites will be shut though.

 

[Lot lover]

We met them, but I was sure they had £2000 in cash taken too!

They also had the missing 450 million obsolete GBP 1 coins