Judithh
Traveller
4 comments
Posted 15 years ago
Hey,
me and a friend of mine want to travel through France in August. I already read that camping sites are quite hard to reach by train (in Brittanny probably as well as in Aquitaine...?). So what alternatives are there if we want to spend cheap nights near the sea...?
A second question: Do you really only have to pay 3€ for each travel by TGV??
I hope someone has an idea...?
bye
Judith
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
hi Judith ...
you have to pay between 3 and 15 EUR per TGV you use... the 15 EUR only in peak times !! so avoid travelling in the morning and late afternoon... and on Friday and Sunday evening! :)
to find places at the sea ...
a good solution is in Southern France to travel by regional train from Montpellier to Port Bou (at the French-Spanish border). there the train is close to the sea and just jump out of it somewhere... with a 2km walk you will find a camp site! :)
if you prefer the Atlantic sea ... travel in direction of Bordeaux and then Arcachon... there you will find a lot... either reach them by bus or foot. :)
MariaRK
Traveller
13 comments
My boyfriend and I almost got stuck in Marseilles because we couldn't find a campsite.
There was none inside Marseilles, and the nearest ones was 30mins-1 hour away on a small regional train.
We spent 12 hours walking and riding trains trying to find a place that wasn't full... In the end we wen't back to Marseilles around 22 o'clock and got a nighttrain to Paris (was the only destination that had free seats:p)
Judithh
Traveller
4 comments
alright, I thought of Marseille as an interesting place to visit (since it's a big city :) ) but then we'd rather avoid Marseille and keep close to the sea, hoping for good weather... :)
Thanks for your advise!!
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
mmh... also have a look at St. Trophe and Cannes, Nice ... nice beaches ... :)
Judithh
Traveller
4 comments
So, the experience we made at the Mediterrean in France: book in advance!! We lost about 3 days trying to find a camping site to stay for at least 2 nights..In the end, we had to walk about half an hour from the bus stop to the camping site.
We wanted to stay flexible and therefore, we didn't prepare hardly anything before we went to France, a mistake! We had to plan the stay during our trip :|
significant
Traveller
1 comments
Although it's a quite late reaction, keep in mind that form Marseille runs a train to La Ciotat. From this place you walk downhill, and in the town you can find a very nice campsite.
For 10 euro's you can stay there for one night, worked perfectly for me! Thereby, this city is especially at night beautiful to see with his harbor.
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
Is there any laws to prevent you from getting a small train more in land and then camping in field or is this restricted. In late August do they get filled up instantly or is there a chance we could turn up and get a pitch ??
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hi!
Well, either it is generally forbidden to camp wild - or not. But, it can be sensible to travel a little bit away from the most touristy areas where it is more likely to get troubles than in a more remote area. :)
Where to you want to go in late August?
We had no troubles to get a pitch in Morteratsch and Geneva, Switzerland; Dune de Pyla and Paris, France; Oslo, Norway in 2010; Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2009 and 2006; Gent, Belgium and Luxembourg in 2006
I only once encountered a full campsite, that was last year in Perigueux, France. We then slept in the park in front of the campsite and got a pitch the next day.
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
Yeah thats the problem we are looking at the south coast of france. How likely is it that the campsites there will not only be fully booked but rather expensive is it practical to jump on a train for like an hour an find a campsite/hostel further inland.
Also do you recommend anywhere in the south of france thats good for going out popular with travellers etc
thanks :)
Aloria
Traveller
2 comments
In France, each city is require to have a place for nomad people (I hope that's understandable and not offensive, I don't know the real english word). Not all city had those yet and it's made for trailer, but if it's empty, I guess you can crash there with a tent for the night.
It's not the perfect solution as it must be very unconfortable and you'd probably have to keep an eye on your stuff. I'd consider it a plan D.
However, if you want to look for one of those, the signs says something like aire pour gens du voyage or terrain pour camping-car. If you have the choice, choose the one for camping-car as there is more tourists there.