# Booking sites in advance or not?



## jrr (Oct 17, 2011)

Having had a couple of successful weekends away in our new 'van, thoughts are naturally turning to next year. We'd like to head off to France for about 2 1/2 weeks from mid-June, itinerary yet to be decided (more posts on this to come in the future, I'm sure!).

I have one fundamental question about heading off, though. Reading MMM, and the excellent blogs (theworldisourlobster, Hank the Tank, Charlie Dog Came Too et al) it seems the normal approach is not to book ahead, but to find sites as you go. 

This raises some practical questions - how soon in the day do you start looking for the next night's pitch? Isn't there a danger that your day, and therefore your possible activities, will be limited by the need to find a site? Doesn't it limit your travelling time if you've got to start site hunting mid-afternoon? My good lady (who would be a shoo-in for a podium position if Worrying was an Olympic sport) can see stress levels rising if you can't get in/don't like the place/have to go hunting for an alternative. 

I'm not distinguishing here between sites or aires - I'd be happy to use either as circumstances dictated. (I'm not getting into the "which is better" dispute). In all our previous experience (tents/trailer tents/caravan) we never left home without all sites booked, including the times we took the trailer tent to France and Germany. Setting off without any bookings seems a huge step into the unknown

So, guys and gals, we need some help and advice to get us over this this psychological barrier, please.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

As caravaners in a former life we used to pre book. In 7 years of motorhoming on the continent we have never booke a single site. We have found sites as late as 8 o clock with spaces. Mid June should be no problem.
Dave p


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

We have never booked a site in France - it would appear that so long as you avoid French holidays there are more sites than units to fill them. Booking commits you to getting there and removes the ability to just stay another day or 6 as the mood takes you.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*June*

Hello,

For June you would not need to book.

Unless there is a particular pitch on a particular site.

TM


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

Get the France Passion Book and All the Aires and you wont be short of places to stay. In the evening BEFORE you open the wine, pick a couple of options and (scenic) route for the next day. Open the bottle and sleep well. Next day just go. If you dont like the first option, carry on to the next. The back roads of France are wonderful to drive. Enjoy


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We don't book and have never had problems. We don't go to honey-pot areas - eg coastal resorts- however. We also travel during the morning, not doing more that about 200 km max, arrive early afternoon and spend the afternoon sight-seeing or relaxing at our chosen destination. If we like it we might stay another night.

That said, if your wife is likely to find this advice leads to additional stress, then why not compromise ? Decide, the night before, where you want to be next day and phone to check there are places available. 

G


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## selstrom (May 23, 2005)

In 8 years of continental touring we have never booked ahead and never had a problem finding a place to park.
What do you do if you have booked a site and when you arrive you do not like it.
We use Autoroute for planning and navigation, with files of POIs for aires/sostas/stellplatz/campsites etc. Often when planning the days route we will mark some of the sites as waypoints and stop when we find one we like.
Also if you prebook you will not be able to use most Aires.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

yes, it's a completely different mind set, both travelling outside the Uk - (where certainly at weekends in busy areas you would need to book in advance), and travelling as a motorhomer (rather than tugging or tenting).

We normally line up the area we want to go to next day, and then go through the guides (MHF sites, Caravan Club book, acsi, camping cheques) and pick out possibilites and aim roughly for them. If we are going to somewhere popular where an aire might be quite busy, we'd aim to get there mid afternoon. Then if it's busy we can have a scout around for something else. If we like the look of an official site we would probably go in & check a site out, and just book in. I can't remember being turned away in off season because a site has been full. 
Many commercial sites have special MH overnight pithces where you pay a reduced rate and can book in after 6pm and leave by 10am - we've never used this set up, because the C/chqs or ACSI rates are better!

In late June there should be no problem apart from the very popular areas like the cote d'azure. If you have a particular site that you want to stay at for a while, and it's in a popular area, then it may be best to book. 

Don't forget you have a unit that is set up to just park up without the need to hook up, collect or dispose of water, so you don't need to worry about doing all those things - you can just turn up, park up, get the bottle of wine out and relax. It might be worth having a reasonable amount of water on board so you don't have to worry about filling up on site.


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## Remus (Feb 10, 2011)

You should be ok in June. We usually just book the first and last nights (so we definitely have somewhere handy for the ferry). One thing, in busy seasons some of the municipals (Chalons-sur-Marne and Troyes for example) are virtually empty early in the day but begin to fill quickly in the pm so that by early evening they may be full. But, as I say, this probably won't be a problem in June.


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## BritStops (Mar 3, 2011)

We didn't even have any problems finding free pitches at campsites in France during August (we did stay away from the big tourist areas though).

Agree with Andrew re France Passion and the aires. 

Steve


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## jrr (Oct 17, 2011)

Cor - what a lot of responses already. Thanks!

We picked up the Caravan Club European site guides at the NEC last week, and I was intending to get the "All the Aires" at some point. I'm not sure about "France Passion", though - is it worth it for only a couple of weeks away, when you might only use it a couple of times? I can see the advantage when one is retired, and can toddle off for weeks/months (not yet for us, unfortunately).


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## jedi (Nov 22, 2007)

andrewball1000 said:


> BEFORE you open the wine


That's where *we *went wrong, Andrew :lol:

In 14 years of travelling around Europe from Hungary to Portugal and Spain to Belgium never booked a campsite. When you fancy moving on look in your various books and have a destination or two in mind. If you end up somewhere else it doesn't matter 

Go for it!

Jed


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## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

jrr said:


> Cor - what a lot of responses already. Thanks!
> 
> We picked up the Caravan Club European site guides at the NEC last week, and I was intending to get the "All the Aires" at some point. I'm not sure about "France Passion", though - is it worth it for only a couple of weeks away, when you might only use it a couple of times? I can see the advantage when one is retired, and can toddle off for weeks/months (not yet for us, unfortunately).


You need to get yourself a copy of the ACSI camping card (discount book) for 2013 when it is released in December as discounts apply in June. You will save yourself a small fortune.

The link to the 2012 book to give you an idea is here:

http://www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en/europe/


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

If you can avoid July and August, there will be a pitch available for you, without booking, on virtually every campsite in France if you arrive by about 4.00 pm and probably later.
Arriving earlier is no advantage, since reception is often closed from 12 till 4.
If it helps to ease your wife's anxiety, go ahead and book the first couple of nights - then look at the number of pitches free in the evening which you could have had on spec.
You may find that 4.00 is a good deadline for Aires, giving you time to move on to another if you don't fancy what you find - they're not all pretty.
We have done 8 weeks in France this year, using a mixture of sites and aires. We have never booked and have never been turned away.
You'll love it.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

I second all the above advice.

Motorhoming is all about being totally relaxed about where you go and where you stay.

Basically you have your house with you and all you need as foundations are a patch of tarmac/gravel/grass to stick it on.

Arrive Calais in the evening? 
Park up outside Carrefour at Cité Europe overnight.
Early departure? 
Ditto.
With the advantage of doing your shopping on-site and being 15mins from the ferry.

This scenario - just a few weeks ago south of Bordeaux out in the country.

Little village. Big Church. (describes most villages!)
Pulled up on a patch of rough parking outside the church.
Several cars.
Little river, trees, very pretty.
Decided to have a cuppa.
Wandered inside the church, couple of € into the tronc.
Chatted to a couple of old ladies sitting in chairs on the pavement outside their house in the sunshine. 
Would it derange them if we spent the night there?
Of course not!
We actually spent two nights there!
Put this into Google Earth/StreetView:
44°26'30.97" N 0°19'26.93" W

Decided to visit the EcoMusée at Sarbres.
Arrived in the evening, no plans/thoughts on where to overnight but reasoned there would be a car park.
44°08'54.80" N 0°44'50.59" W 
Spent two nights there - no bother whatsoever.

Take the wife off her antidepressants/diazepam - no need for them in France!!


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## Hymervanman (Aug 20, 2010)

jrr said:


> I'm not sure about "France Passion", though - is it worth it for only a couple of weeks away, when you might only use it a couple of times? .


Our very limited experience of France Passion was literally stumbling across a site at a Cognac vineyard. The owner welcomed us with open arms and gave us a guided tour of his distillery. We didn't have the book or the sticker, and we stayed the night FOC, mid August.

However, our experience of the two main campsites that we stayed on (Dordogne and Lacanau) was that pre-booking was a wise decision as they wer "complet" for the duration of our stay


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## ChaseTracker (Aug 22, 2012)

In the last 18 months we have toured around France for about 3 months using a tent and for the last 6 week trip in September/October 2012 in our MH we used both aires and campsites and never had a problem getting a pitch. Just go for it. 8)


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

JRR, you have been given loads of top advice by a range of Faxters. Follow it and all will be well in France.

Like yourselves we were sceptical at first about the no need to pre-book in France routine, but it's true: outside of July-August. We've phoned campsites in advance and been told to just turn up. We've turned-up at municipals advertised as 'open' that were closed, so just moved on using the guides mentioned in other posts. The only time we were refused at a campsite was because it was statics only!!

Even with five holiday's experience of just turning up this October as we wanted three nights near Paris we thought it best to phone the campsite in Maisons Laffitte the night before: "We've plenty of space, no need to book" they said

The aires are a great way to see France. However some aires do fill up early in the day, so you may need to have an alternative in mind. Using the aires is simple, worthwhile and cheap; or just park responsibly (and not where camping cars are specifically forbidden).

We do hope you enjoy your motorhoming in France. Let us all know how it goes.


John


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I think I can count on one hand the number of Aires we have arrived at over the last four years (and there have been hundreds) where they were full and that includes July and August.

We always arrive between 11am and 3pm. We hardly stay on sites but never have a problem there either when we do.

I'm fussy however where we stay so always try to have a plan b and c in case the Aire turns out to be rubbish.

Its good fun planning and I tend to to it using several resources which are.

The Aires book.

www.campingcar-infos.com (The online version and the offline version and the POI for the sat nav and Autoroute on the laptop). This lot tend to be my bible as they have 16000 spots all over Europe and include some sites and also wild camping spots.)

And of course when we get online its always worth coming on here and asking about your next possible area. Somebody has always been.

Good luck planning!


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## CurlyBoy (Jan 13, 2008)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> As caravaners in a former life we used to pre book. In 7 years of motorhoming on the continent we have never booke a single site. We have found sites as late as 8 o clock with spaces. Mid June should be no problem.
> Dave p


.....ditto.... in nearly forty years of touring France and Spain we've never found it necessary to book ahead, even in July/August we always find somewhere suitable for the night.
curlyboy


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## christine1310 (Apr 10, 2008)

If you prefer staying on a campsite as opposed to aires, then during July and August France has a lot of municipal campsites open. You won't get an all singing and dancing site but most are pretty good.

http://www.camping-municipal.org

Christine


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## jrr (Oct 17, 2011)

Thanks again, folks - lots of encouraging responses. I like the idea of booking somewhere for the first night (less hassle at the end of what may well have been a long day) and, maybe, for the last night as well.

The idea of planning the next day over a glass of wine (oh, alright then - BEFORE the wine) gets a thumbs up from both of us.

Only 8 months to go - better get on with the planning....


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Blimey - 8 months planning?

Takes us 8 hours!

I think my earlier post reflects that.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

But you can't have your cake and eat it, ie we always seem to be in a quandary whether to stop often sightseeing en route or press on a bit and get to the aire/site early and explore that area. Either way on our recent trip it was all good . ( except for the Ile d'Oleron which, apart from a couple of ports, was a featureless salt marsh , or maybe we had been spoiled by all the other areas which were beautiful.)


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

I have never booked for the last several years. This summer we left 1st July for 10 weeks. WE NEVER BOOKED. We arrive mid morning or just before lunch and never have a problem even on the bank holiday. We try to pitch up berfore a weekend too and leave on a Monday or Sunday. 
We only use France Passsion about once a year so will not bother anymore as they are difficult to find and usually well away from villages and places to see.
Chris


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## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

jrr said:


> Having had a couple of successful weekends away in our new 'van, thoughts are naturally turning to next year. We'd like to head off to France for about 2 1/2 weeks from mid-June, itinerary yet to be decided


Advisable to pre-book if intending to stay on the med sites

Most other areas in France will not need booking.


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## jrr (Oct 17, 2011)

Wupert said:


> jrr said:
> 
> 
> > Having had a couple of successful weekends away in our new 'van, thoughts are naturally turning to next year. We'd like to head off to France for about 2 1/2 weeks from mid-June, itinerary yet to be decided
> ...


Thanks for that, but we're not likely to hack on down to the Med for a first trip - Champagne, Burgundy and the Loire are bubbling around as ideas at the moment.

No thoughts of wine in the above itinerary.

None at all
:wink:


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