France 2024

Just to add to the question about booking or not, it's worth knowing in advance that campsites in France are likely to be very busy in May this year when VE Day falls on Wednesday 8th May followed by Ascension day on Thursday 9th, maximising the opportunity for French campers to faire le pont i.e. make a long weekend of it, given the extra days off.

We started to see the effects of the motorhome revolution in France ten years ago. - and it has gathered pace since then. Site owners began to say that French motor homers don’t come to campsites. So things became easy for caravanners as space on campsites became available 

But since then French campsites have reacted in various ways. Some have simply closed. Some have become automated Camping-Car parks with caravanners shut out for most of the year. . And many have shortened their opening dates drastically - one of our favourite campsites is now July/August only. 

The motorhomers are  using Aires .

Some have become automated Camping-Car parks with caravanners shut out for most of the year.

I don’t think that is the case in most instances. The Mon-village sites are in general ex municipal and in the main wouldn’t have been open for anyone out of the main season. Now caravans / tents can use them May / June to end of September, not a lot of difference to what they would have been able to do in the past. Plus MH’s can use them all year and extend their benefit to the community.

I have probably mentioned this tale on here before but it clearly demonstrates one drawback with booking.

We had just spent 9 weeks touring France and Spain and were on our final night on a campsite in Caen. We got talking to the older couple in the next caravan and she was complaining how unbearably hot it had been on their campsite in the Vendee. To make matters worse they had stayed on this site for 2 weeks. When I enquired why they hadn't moved to another region where it was cooler, her response was "Oh we couldn't, we booked through the Club and couldn't afford to lose all those site fees!

Thank you,  but here is a contrary example.

In and out of Roscoff in spring and autumn with a car/caravan we used to stay at the municipal site at Henvic - which was staffed and open to all for about five months a year.

Now it’s been handed over to the Camping-Car company and has automated entry all year round for motorhomers, but is only staffed in July and August - and caravanners are only allowed in during those two months.

Whilst the sites around Paris are normally quieter in high Summer as Parisiennes head off on their hols please remember this year that the Olympics are tasking place from towards the end of July to mid August.

This may have a knock-on effect for those areas holding specific Sports in other parts of France (and I believe in one of their Overseas Departments as well. Surfing?)

Won't affect OP but as heading is France 2024 thought I'd mention it.

We never booked, even July/August which is when we had to take our hols. But we weren't heading to the coast, and preferred smaller sites. used to book in for a couple of nights and then extend if we wanted to. Well remember one site, where the chap used to come each evening, booked for a couple of nights, stayed a week I think it was. He thought it very funny, as we kept extending our stay.  Mad Brits, no doubt.

I didn’t claim it the case for every one. Two we stopped at last year.

Chateaudun facilities 1/4 to 15/10 and Louroux de Bouble 1/4 to 30/9

It’s a shame some only open for caravans / tents for a couple of months. However, if they hadn’t linked with CCP in all likely hood they would have closed completely.

We have had many holidays in France in May/June for six weeks and never booked any of them. we always used ACSI and found them a lot cheaper. On one site I was booking in behind someone who had booked through the club and found that she had paid £10 a night more than I did.

As others have said the advantage of not booking was when it got too hot for us in the south of France we would just head north again.

https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com/category/caravanning-in-europe/

When it comes to getting a good price for anything apart possibly for ferry fares, CAMC is not your friend. You can usually get it cheaper yourself.