Planning a Tour round France with kids this summer in July. After specific recommendations for campsites. Excellent Wild Swimming spots nearby if possible. Want to go as far South as the Pyrennes apart from that nothing fixed.
Free bivouac on the way up to the ski area from ax les therme, mont Louis municipal camping at la lagonne. La griole targasonne. Pyranees orientale.
Les pommiers near Allos in the alpes maritime.
Municipal site at Tignes.
Municipal site on the way to Montgenevre from Briancon.
All really cool, not mega expensive. The mont Louis site has a river and there are lakes close by, also hot water pools within 20mins.
[url= http://www.camping-la-colombiere.com/ ]Camping La Colombière[/url]
Neydens, about 20minutes from Geneva.
Lovely family run place, they even took to us to watch the le Tour and gave us some of their wine!
Good price/pools are good/not far from shops but surrounded by mountains.
http://www.camping-florac.com/ and just a bit further upstream http://www.camping-chantemerle.com/
Camping Ascou la Forge outside Ax les Thermes,in the Pyrenees.
Run by a Dutch couple who specialise in outdoor actvities,kayaking,canyoning,mountainbiking ,etc.
They have a room full of maps and info you can use.Its possible to walk down into Ax on footpaths.
The toilet block is the best i have been to in France,and i've been to a lot.
Tour de France regularly passes the site and it will become busy in July with Dutch campers.
I've done quite a bit of road cycling around there and its great.
Col de Palihieres is up the road with spectacular walks down to some small lakes.
This is probably my favourite site in France.
Les Vignes on the Tarn, superb Gorge and all sorts of swimming and kayaking, also close to the Milleu Bridge which is just awesome, and within striking distance of the Med. Been there twice, simply stunnimg location.
If you're looking for a 1-2 day stop off on the way down (near Troyes and 10 mins from motorway), we have stayed several times in the Kawan Village Lac D'orient site:
[url= http://www.camping-lacdorient.com/en/ ]Kawan Village[/url]
We stayed there for 2 weeks once which was a bit much as there's not loads to do in the area (unless you like Champagne) but it was also during a heatwave so we spent most days swimming in the on site pools (indoor and outdoor with slides) or in the lake across the road. There's enough on site to keep the kids busy (all weather pitch, bouncy castle, playground) and a traffic free cycle route linking the 3 lakes in the area.
Site doesn't feel overcrowded like some campsites do either. Pitches are very generous.
Can also recommend Camping Europa near Annecy. Decent pool and facilities with access to the cycle track along the lake and linking to Annecy. Swimming in Lake Annecy itself (found a beautiful shaded secluded spot 10 minute walk from campsite)
We tour and camp with the kids most summers (France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia) so feel free to PM me if you want any info. Not done a huge amount in France though tbh. Seem to enjoy Germany more as things are actually open when they say they are and the Germans know how to make things easy for tourists.
Drove to Slovakia last year via Poland and had the best holiday yet.
Camping le Belvédère in Annecy. It's on the bottom of the Semnoz mountain (a cat 1 climb in this year's Tour de France and a lovely bike ride), 10 minutes walk into the city along the lake. Beautiful view.
http://en.annecy.eu/507-municipal-campsite.htm
All excellent suggestions and duly noted. Keep them coming.
Need somewhere for 2 weeks in August so interested in this thread anymore options Stoners look good so far!
on the Atlantic coast below Bordeaux , close to the beach it just felt like we were miles away from civilisation ,very relaxing.
Camping l'Arriou in Beaudean near Campan in the Pyrenees is excellent. Nice pool very quiet site when we visited in September last year. Take your road bike and climb the Col du Tourmalet or the Col d'Aspin only 10km up the road. Great restaurant in the village too. Wild swimming in the lake only 10km from the campsite Lac Bleu nice walk up to the lake from a cafe at the road head. Would go back in a minute.
http://www.arriou.com/
can i hitch hike as well? 😳
need a recommended campsite this July around Saint-Malo / Rennes area (don't need water slides/kids activities) - off for a few stages of the Tour with the lads
Again near Bordeaux. On a huge lake in a pine forest. Brilliant for swimming. Bike rides along cycle paths to the sea. Water sports rental near by. Not many brits and great atmosphere and plenty of space
http://www.le-tedey.com/gb.html
On the Dordogne river. Great castle to visit. River to swim and canoe in. Lots of companies hiring boats. Less space per person and more brits
http://www.campinglecapeyrou.com/
Both campsites as good as the photos on the websites
Camping La Piscine Bourg d'Oisans (foot of Alpe d'Huez).
Great thread idea batman.
We loved this place last year - ok pool, mostly french, right by the river and trails of the pont du gard. Fantastic
http://www.lasousta.com/
Will dig out a few more if I have some time later this morning
Book marking this thread for later as we're doing the same this year!
http://campingmarcenaylac.com/site/index_php/Menu/302/Welcome%2Bin%2BEnglish.html.html
Wicked site. Peaceful, owners are lovely, big shady pitches and you can swim in the lake behind it.
Can't recomend it highly enough.
Brilliant. STW never fails to amaze me. Won't even need a campsite guide just my French Wild Swimming book.
postierich, check out this thread which links to those sites. May be of interest to you.
I'll give another vote for dknwhy's Kawan at lac d'Orient, which we've used a couple of times on our travels. Good facilities for the kids, lake for swimming or sailing.
we loved this [url= http://www.campsite-amboise.com/ ]place [/url]- free crazy golf just next to the entrance and campsite in the middle of the Loire.
We did go there the year that the TT was canceled due to foot and mouth so quite a long time ago.
Free crazy golf!? I'm there! 🙂
We're going back here for the third time this year:
[url= http://www.camp-du-verdon.com/ ]Camping Du Verdon[/url]
The Gorges Du Verdon is a stunning area and the Verdon river flows right through the campsite.
For free swimming: Lac du Castillon 15 mins away or Lac Du Saint Croix 45 mins away.
Striking distance of the Med, avoid Nice unless you like sitting in your car a lot, we'll be visiting Monaco this year.
Not a huge number of Brits on the site, mostly Dutch and some French/German.
Free crazy golf... and table tennis!
Thread resurrection time.
Need a couple of sites in the East of France as we now plan to travel down from Brussels skirting round Luxemburg en-route to Annecy and beyond. Never been to the Jura but looks good. Anybody know any sites?
A second vote for the site in Florac Stoner linked. Les Ormes, Hourtin for lake swimming and the Atlantic.
AM booked into this place in July http://www.lachapellesaintclaude.com/ on the east shore of Lac d'Annecy and am a bit giddy about it too!
@Crook of Devon, is that an occupation or a place of residence?
@surroundedbyhills - the east side of the lake is a bit quieter so you should have a nice time. Traffic through Annecy can be a nightmare though. Not sure if they've extended the cycle path all the way around that side of the lake yet. We stayed on the west side at camping Europa which has access to the cycle path from Annecy to Albertville.
For road cycling there are some great local climbs. Didn't take an MTB with me so not sure what trails there are like.
Le Semnoz is worth a trip if you have kids as there's a luge thing which ours loved.
Gorges du Fier is a nice day trip too for a wander around and a picnic. We also drove to Chamonix and got the train and cable car up Mont Blanc and also to the ice cave in the glacier.
http://www.camping-samoens.com/
Camping le giffre in samoens in the alps. lived in a caravan for four months there over the ski season and been camping there in the summer as well. Samoens is a cracking place, with excellent VTT. Some say better than over the hill in Morzine!!
Think you get into the very nice outdoor pool for free when you're on the camp site as well, I know that's not wild swimming!! But, the Giffre river is good for rafting. And there's
East of France: camping Municipal in Cernay, the municipal pool is next door. Le vieille Armand is up the hill.
We're going back here for the third time this year:
Camping Du Verdon
Take the bike and go up to Allos (30mins away), ace little bike park.
We stayed at La Chappele Saint Claude on the edge of Lake Annecy near Talloires, as linked above. Stayed in a 'mobilhome' ie. static caravan. Site is nice, and our door was 50m from the waters edge, where they have steps to get in and a bit to jump off. Was brilliant, Rose (2) is a complete swimming addict, and I like a good swim too, we were in at least twice a day every day. Nicest bit of the lake I think, and because it's the narrow bit, there's a nice swim across - a bit over 800m each way, lovely to do of an evening once the waterskiers have calmed down a bit. We liked it so much we're back there again this year.
We also stayed in the Jura on Lac de Vouglans, at Camping Trelachaume, nearest town Maisod. Nice enough site, beach a short but steep walk through the woods, nice cheap cafe and ice creams just off the site. The Jura is nice and nowhere near as touristy as Annecy, which has plusses and minuses - there isn't all the adventure tourism stuff, and not so many restaurants, but it is a cheaper area generally and less busy. The nice bit of the Lac de Vouglans I don't think there's anywhere you can stay directly on the lake, as it is so steep sided there aren't many houses close, so you don't get the same convenience that you get staying right on Lake Annecy.
We're also going this year to the Italian Lakes, having noticed how relatively close they are to Annecy if you're willing to buy a swiss motorway vignette. Going to somewhere near Cannobio, on Lago Maggiore, staying in a crazy semi-ruined apartment on a campsite run by someone who is obsessed with flowers, so appears to run a botanical garden where they let people camp. When we've been before the lakes were lovely, and nice to swim in, although Italians seem to do swimming in lakes and rivers less than the French, so there was a bit of head scratching going on when people saw me. And Italian food just seems to have a much higher basic standard than French food, which always seems much more variable, (and as a veggie I massively prefer it too).
Cheers ianv - missed that on previous trips but will look it up this time
I know not quite 'The Thief of Bagdad'. The Crook of Devon near Rumbling Bridge and Yetts of Muckhart. Look it up.
Thanks for the campsites in the East BTW. Now got too many and can't decide which ones to pick.
Do you think I need to book in advance?
Ah ha, I live in Dollar so not do far away, just wondered like...maybe see you in France or close to home maybe!
I booked in advance but mainly cause the TdF is on. Hence the visit in the first place.
Just to resurect this thread anyone know of a decent site in Auvergne area, main needs really are a decent sized pool for my lad (17yoa)it will be his last major hol with his parents & because his GF isnt with us a pool would easy his aching heart.
cheers!
What about the voseges. Any hints for there. Road bikes so near balons would be ideal.
Been here many times, it's lovely.
[url= http://www.camping-aubeterre.fr/EN/ ]Aubeterre Sur Dronne[/url]
A re-resurrection as by co-incidence I was just looking at La Chapelle in annecy and this thread came up as a result in my google. Is the lake ok for swimming in then for a 3yo and 1yo? I would have thought it would be freezing?
Does anyone have any recommendations for sites in the Dordogne as well?