France in Oct

GeorgieR

Hi all

My husband and I are heading to France in early October with our baby. We are arriving into Cherbourg and plan on heading towards Bourdeaux (not sure how far we will get with our baby). Our previous holidays have involved us arriving in France and driving day and night to get to the Alps obviously this holiday is going to be a lot different.

Would anyone have recommendations for campsites along the coast (from St Jean de Mont down to Bordeaux)?

We would like to stay in some nice campsites as I imagine some days we will just end up hanging out in the campsite. I'm not bothered about a pool or any of the entertainment they may offer - its more a pleasant location we are looking for.

It would also be great if the campsite has any of the below
a) access to a beach
b) buggy friendly walking near by
c) close proximity to a beach with some surf

As you can imagine its difficult to come up with activities to do with a young baby so walks are probably our best bet!

Thanks in advance!

pastense

GeorgieR wrote: »

Hi all

My husband and I are heading to France in early October with our baby. We are arriving into Cherbourg and plan on heading towards Bourdeaux (not sure how far we will get with our baby). Our previous holidays have involved us arriving in France and driving day and night to get to the Alps obviously this holiday is going to be a lot different.

Would anyone have recommendations for campsites along the coast (from St Jean de Mont down to Bordeaux)?

We would like to stay in some nice campsites as I imagine some days we will just end up hanging out in the campsite. I'm not bothered about a pool or any of the entertainment they may offer - its more a pleasant location we are looking for.

It would also be great if the campsite has any of the below
a) access to a beach
b) buggy friendly walking near by
c) close proximity to a beach with some surf

As you can imagine its difficult to come up with activities to do with a young baby so walks are probably our best bet!

Thanks in advance!

Not quite so far south is a campsite which would fit the bill.
La Falaise in La Turballe just north west of St Nazaire, if open.
Have a look at their website.

niloc1951

The Atlantic coast will be fairly deserted in October and a lot of the camp-sites will be closed.

How about travelling down a bit inland.

Laval > Angers > Saumur > Chatellerault > Poitiers > Anguoleme > Bordeaux is a lovely route with beautiful towns, loads of history and plenty of 'Aires' providing safe and usually free parking.

It may not be your 'thing' but if it is there are loads of websites with all the info you need.

BTW, we are on the ferry Oct. 10th. heading in the general direction of Narbonne at our leisure, we'll probably spend about ten days working out way down using 'Aires' as we go.

kelbal

yep - listen to what niloc1951 is saying about the Aire's, they're a great option - the two of us are always going on about them
In case you're not aware, they're designated overnight parking & servicing areas for motorhomes. They're designed for the holidaying public, so they're usually located in towns, or alongside lakes, near beaches etc. There's pretty much always company and they're perfectly safe, and as niloc says they're usually free (the most we've paid is €10).
Campsites in October, if open, will be very quiet. The Aires give you the option of being in/near towns so you can do some exploring.

bluethunder

We stayed in a nice Aire in St Jean de Monts. It's 1 min walk to a beach and I had a lovely surf when I was there! The site was very busy when we were there but should be quieter in October. Not sure how suitable it would be with a baby but Aires are limited in terms of facilities for young ones.

Moomat

If you travel a little bit past Bordeaux there is an excellent Aires at Biscarrosse Plage. It's right beside the beach in a lovely woodland area. There's well maintained toilets on site. The cost of €15/ night is a bit on the high side as Aires go, but it's worth it. There was plenty of surfing going on when we where there in July.
A fantastic investment for traveling in France is the book "All The Aires - France" or "France Passion" is great if you want to mingle with locals and stay on farm and vineyards for free.

If you're heading down past Bordeaux I'd reccommend visiting Dune de Pyla. Its Europes tallest dune and well worth a look, especially at sunset. There's a pathway right to the base of it and then steps to the top.

You'll have a great trip, France is so campervan friendly!

GeorgieR

Thanks all! We have indeed use the aires before (its our third trip over but never this direction) and thy are great. I was more looking for personal recommendations and esp for surfing a its not always easybto tell from the web. also baby friendly is something new for us to look for.

My France passion guide arrived last Friday - yay and looking forward to using that. It sounds great.

Thanks for your help and info.

Moomat

Beware of the co-ordinates in the France Passion guide. You download software to your GPS unit and then type in the code from each listing. It brought us to the wrong location each time, even through gateways and right to the front door of the wrong farmhouse. I found the best way to use it was GPS to the nearest town and then use the instructions from the guidebook or locals to get you to the destination. It's all part of the fun of getting off the beaten track anyway!

Another couple of places that would be buggy friendly are Omaha beach/American War Memorial and Cemetry and Oradour Sur Glane. Very touching places and well worth a look, especially Oradour Sur Glane.