Don't expect us to point to this small, yet comfortable
campground with nice shadow. We used to tell friends and family about
these sites. Nowadays, al these campgrounds are full before we arrive
ourselves. Because we like neither to make reservations, nor to find a
sign complet (full), we don't
tell anybody anymore.
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A growing lot of towns welcome
camping-cars on parkingplaces with all needed equipment, like here in
Dieppe (Normandy)
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Nevertheless, you shouldn't have any trouble to find a place to sleep
in France. Th country has well over 11,000 campgrounds, not to mention
hotels, holiday rental houses and mountain cabins. In case you do see
the sign complet (full), at
the entrance of a campground and you've got just a little tent, it
might pay to behave very polite to the campground owner. In exchange
for the revenues of an extra overnight, he often finds a small place
that just fits your petite toile
(tiny tent).
There's mostly room enough at the less luxurious
municipal campgrounds (they're mostly even called Municipal) , especially outside the
main tourist areas. To find the right campground for your family,
camping guides are edited by both Michelin and FFCC.
Camping in the wild is permitted, as long as the owner of the ground
agrees. No wild camping however on the borders of roads, on beaches and
lots of tourist areas. In national parks wild camping is allowed for
one night at the same place, as long as you're further then a one hour
walk from the park limits or paved roads.
You will find hotels of all kinds and prices. Being
Dutch, I certainly must mention the very, very cheap motel-chains along
motorways, often at industrial areas. Don't expect any cosiness or
great luxury in these hotels, but you will get a decent place to sleep.
Most known is Formule 1, with rooms for two priced at 25 euro, but they
don't offer toilets at your room. Others do and don't ask much more.
You will be able to find a room for four and pay only 40 euro. These
hotels are only attended till about nine o'clock in the evening. Later
arrivals can get an automatic key by inserting their credit-card into a
machine. You will also need a credit card if you make a reservation.
If you're looking for something more cosy, you might
look for a bead-and-breakfast (chambres
d'hotes). There tend to be more of them every year.
Mountain cabins (gites d'etappe)
are especially usefull for hikers. They get a bed in a sleeping hall
for about ¤ 13. In summer, reservations are needed for mountain cabins
in and around national parks. If it's late in the evening, the warden
will not send away a hiker. He refers him to a place on the cold ground
in the open air.
Links to budget hotels, hotel and camping-guides
The cheap hotels do have websites, but are hard to find on the
internet. That's why, after lots of requests, we decided to link to
these commercial sites. For other hotels, cabins and campgrounds, we
link to specialized web guides. For bead-and-breakfast you should ask
the local tourist office..
I'm sorry, I guess this is not very beautiful English
but it's the best I can do. I translated this page on special request. Language improvements are really
welcome. Most of this site is in Dutch only . Again I'm sorry. I
made this site as a virtual guide to France for those Dutch who use to
complain about everything in France (there are lots of them every
summer). I plan to translate some more pages, so please be patient and
come back someday.
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