3 weeks in France in August - where to stay?

[Clinty]

Hi all hope you can help? We're planning a trip down to the langedoc region in the summer (August)and are particularly interested in the area around carcassone/Pyranees. We will be travelling via Dover/Calais and would like to spend about a week travelling down with a couple of stops for 2 or 3 days each, a week in the langedoc area and then another leisurely week coming back by a different route with a couple of stops again on the way. Problem is we've never been outside of brittany on our previous trips and would appreciate any recommendations or advice.

Many thanks

Clint and Jo

 

[Clinty]

Sorry should have mentioned our party consists of me and the missus, along with a 10 year old, a 9 year old and 4 young adults who will be in pup tents. Sites should be able to cater for all of us but i'm not interested in the "Haven Warner" type sites. Ideally they should be in really nice surroundings near water/ mountains/ beach with some sort of bar/restaurants and her indoors insists on on site shower/ toilet facilities too.

 

[cooky1]

Are you in either the CC or the C&CC? They both have European guides with recommended sites. You can look through their brochures and look at lots of sites and decide how far you want to travel and where you want to stay.

They will book everything for you over the phone - even the ferries, and it makes the whole experience quite easy.

HTH.

Graeme.

 

[Clinty]

Hi graeme thanks for your reply, we are CC members and have looked at booking via their website but was hoping for some personal reccomendations to help us decide

 

[ValA.]

Go down through Burgundy and spend a few days there - some nice sites - Lac de Panthier at Vandenesse has good showers and toilets, a lakeside beach, two pools and small waterslides, but it definitely is not 'HAVEN'. Grappe d'Or at Mersault is also recommended, or Village des Meuniers just a bit south at Dompierre des Ormes. I'd then suggest somewhere south of Lyon, perhaps Camping Bontemps at Vernioz, or somewhere in the Ardeche (lots of sites to choose from) - around Vallon Pont d'Arc or Ruoms is good for plenty of sites to choose from. Some nice sites, too, around the roman aqueduct at the Pont du Gard.

Carcassone - we stayed at Le Martinet Rouge at Brousses la Villaret - smallish site, nice, friendly owners, about 15 miles north of Carcassone. There's also Domaine de Arnauteille which comes recommended, and is to the south of Carcassone, but we haven't been. Then I'd go back up via the Gorges du Tarn - some lovely sites in and around Millau (Les Rivages, Val de Cantobre for instance) or Riviere sur Tarn (Les Peupliers or Peyrelade), then up the A75 and perhaps another stop around Vichy in the Auvergne where Camping Le Filature at Ebreuil is also highly recommended. Further north again Camping Pierrefitte in the Sologne is also a site I'd go back to - although it's several years since we were there.

Some of these sites are quite big, but not the loud type sites you associate with Haven in this country - haven't really come across that type of site in France, even on the largest all-singing all-dancing type!

 

[Clinty]

Thanks Val you're a star

 

[ValA.]

Clint - I don't think the Caravan Club is accepting bookings for sites, via the website at the moment. I think if you want to book sites you may well have to phone the Caravan Club. However, check out the prices with the site, directly, first. I've had a good look through the brochure, and some are cheaper to book direct (though some aren't!! - just to make it complicated). If you book a sites and ferry package, though (even if you just book the sites which are cheaper through the C Club and book the others directly) you may find you save quite an amount on the ferry crossing itself!

 

[EvansofSprot]

I always say to beginners in France 'Go to the Dordogne'.

I know you're not beginners, but the advice is good!

 

[ScouseIan]

Hi Clint

If you want some mountains and walking, go to the pyrenees. I went to Airotel Pyrenees (only my second time out towing, I bore people with that) last year. Weather was rubbish last august but it was all over france. There are some really good walks I can direct you to. I think you are going down that way ish anyway. The route is good across the A63 I think. If you come back up the left hand side of france the tolls are much cheaper than going down the centre A6/A7 route (in that some sections are free).