Camp sites in France

Planning on doing the Eurovelo 1 next year Bilboa to Nantes starting in mid May. Anyone know if campsites will be open then or do they tend to open later.

I think you’ll be all right – they tend to open earlier the further south you go, and the one we went to in Brittany last month is open from April next year. Will be nice and quiet in May. 🙂

Have a look at the ‘pitchup’ website, it’ll give you an idea for many campsites along the route. Pretty sure the Nantes campsite is open then and that website is one we use for looking for sites when already away.
I did that route some years ago, but in the opposite direction to you, and enjoyed it. August was really busy and really hot, so May sounds good. Expect a lot of sand and pine forest.

I did most of that in late April to early May, most were open, a few weren’t. Google will tell you if they are open.

The campsites on that stretch in Spain are mostly shit and there are excellent reasonably priced gites on Booking. It’s on the north coast Compostelle route, beware bed bugs, put everything in the freezer on max for 80 hours when you get home.

Municipal ones (particularly in cities/big towns) are often open more of the year. Check out the ACSI Camping card which offers discounts for out of season camping as well as a good list of sites in France that are open longer.

The coast roads between Sables d’orlonnes and up maybe 20km north of St Jean de Monts (the Vendee region) 1 in every 2 meters of roadside is a campsite, and the rest is open forest you could (probably) just pitch in for the night. I doubt you’d struggle to just find a place to stop for the night if you struggle to book ahead.

We rode Santander back to Roscoff at the end of May. Used the eurovelo 1 between Bayonne and La Rochelle,  then cut across country to Nantes then back on the eurovelo to Roscoff . Most campsites were open but there were a few still closed. The one just north of Nantes was closed to tents though unless you wanted a full serviced pitch for £52 a night! We got a room in the centre of town for less.