Best camping app or website for France

[jay clock]

I have the chance of a couple of weeks off in early May. Possible plan is to fly to somewhere in Southern France and cycle back. I did UK to Gib down the west coast a couple of years ago, so not wanting to do that again.

Anyone got any recommendations re apps or websites for French campsites? I am particularly thinking about en route planning so I can easily find out what is available and if open at that time of year

Cheers!

 

[andym]

If you want more than just a bare listing with a phone number (eg Archies) then eurocampings.co.uk is a very good starting point. It includes the campsite opening dates so you don't have to faff around going to the website and trying to find them (usually in the price list). There's an app as well. If you want the content offline then you need to pay for it, but personally I think it's worth the money. They don't have 100 per cent coverage (campsite owners have to pay to be inspected/listed) but it's pretty comprehensive.

Otherwise Google Maps probably is your best bet. Google the name of the place you're interested in and add 'camping'. Again not 100 per cent but fairly close. you can save likely looking places to a Google Map.

OSM maps usually include campsites and you can use the POI search in Basecamp, but IMO it's not as useful as Google as it doesn't include campsite website URLs.

 

[doog]

I use Archies and then just aim for the big A...quite basic. MIght be hit and miss with the municipals due to early season but Archies provide a phone number, if its shut they usually leave a message with opening dates

If your going up through the middle there are some areas with very few sites and the municipals open much later in the season.

 

[Dave Davenport]

http://www.camping-municipal.org

This site has all the municipal sites, we found it very useful.

 

[jay clock]

Thanks for all those. Municipal one looks excellent - much my preferred option.

 

[Poacher]

A big +1 for camping-municipal. We always check it first, and rarely look elsewhere. Municipals are nearly always better value than commercial sites - probably subsidized by the commune on the grounds that they bring in visitors. You don't find so many in very touristy areas, like coastal zones, but we prefer to explore la France profonde anyway.
Good point from @doog about the opening dates!

 

[andym]

camping-municipal.org does seem like a useful site, but these things depend a lot on where you want to go. I thought I'd check it out for my next trip starting in Corsica: camping-municipal.org lists 4 sites while eurocampings.co.uk lists 45.

The list that I've compiled using Google Maps has over 150 (yes I know I'm a bit of a completist but travelling in April you need all the help you can get in finding a campsite).

 

[jay clock]

Eurocampings I will add to the list, but as a cycle tourist I want basic places. Almost without exception they seem to have pools, and the guide price (cannot see how they calculate that) makes them sound pricey. But a useful resource.

 

[RobinS]

We are planning a tour for 3 months starting in April, and have found that http://www.campingfrance.com/uk has the most comprehensive listings - they claim to list all sites in France which is important in the early season. (The website is a bit clunky though) We have found that most of the cheap municipals are closed until the summer, but the posh sites with rental caravans etc are open earlier. By going through to the sites own websites as well we found that the guide process apply to a car.tent, etc in high season. A couple with a small tent on bikes in early season seems reasonably cheap even on four star sites

 

[jay clock]

We are planning a tour for 3 months starting in April, and have found that http://www.campingfrance.com/uk has the most comprehensive listings - they claim to list all sites in France which is important in the early season. (The website is a bit clunky though) We have found that most of the cheap municipals are closed until the summer, but the posh sites with rental caravans etc are open earlier. By going through to the sites own websites as well we found that the guide process apply to a car.tent, etc in high season. A couple with a small tent on bikes in early season seems reasonably cheap even on four star sites

great. will look. The issue is that some coastal tourist areas are full on for July/AUg but closed at other times. conversely quiet inland places seem to have May to Sept. sometimes!

 

[contadino]

Eurocampings I will add to the list, but as a cycle tourist I want basic places. Almost without exception they seem to have pools, and the guide price (cannot see how they calculate that) makes them sound pricey. But a useful resource.

Last time I was touring in France (nearly 10 years ago) there was a network called Camping a la Ferme which is a bit like 5van in the caravan world. Sounds like what youre after. It was a book at the time with an embryonic website. It looks like the website has gone but I just thought I'd mention it in case.

 

[jay clock]

thanks. You often see Camping a la Ferme on the back roads, but they tend to be less easy to find on websites

 

[briantrumpet]

great. will look. The issue is that some coastal tourist areas are full on for July/AUg but closed at other times. conversely quiet inland places seem to have May to Sept. sometimes!

I see that the campsites in 'my' area (the Drôme) are all open by the beginning of May. Well worth a visit, if it fits your plans - some lovely municipal campsites in stunning settings, and there are a lot more non-municipal campsites around too.

Incidentally - here's the route I did crossing France to get down there from St Malo: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1441823

 

[jay clock]

cheers @briantrumpet very useful. Current plan is likely Marseille or Montpellier to St Malo or Caen so very close to what you did.

 

[briantrumpet]

cheers @briantrumpet very useful. Current plan is likely Marseille or Montpellier to St Malo or Caen so very close to what you did.

Aha! Most of that route was a delight, with just some of the straighter sections further north being a bit of a drag, though I did N-S, so no fighting a Mistral-type wind, plus the climate got nicer and nicer. Sadly I'll not be in residence at all in May, but if you start/finish in Marseille you could do a whole lot worse than go via Serres and Die, or Nyons, Dieulefit & Crest (though you'd miss the best bits of the Drôme if going by the latter). Once you're over the Col de Cabre, the D93 is a lovely road to cycle along the Drôme, as is the road on the west bank of the Rhône. I travelled very light & B&B'd it, so doing the route in five days.