# first time without booking a site



## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Hello all you expert "non campsite users"

This summer Deb and I have only booked the ferry crossing ( Dover to Calais) we have a swift kon tiki with 2 x 6.5 7 ? calor bottles and a 110amh battery we have a camos dome a small flat screen t v(not 12v runs on a inverter), water pump & cooker & fridge on gas.

We are hoping to get down to the Med but may think on the way way down No we will stay here you know man made beach sun etc.

My question is using wild camping and Aires on a budget will we survive? 

Thanks for any help

Chris


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## mickyc (Jan 20, 2006)

We have been on 3 French hols per year in the MH for the last 5 years (beginners on here!), and have never booked yet.

So the simple answer to your question is YES



Get an "Aires de service" book and follow your nose :wink:


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

You will be fine in France or Germany, Spain is a little difficult but not impossible, Alan.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

chrisndeb said:


> Hello all you expert "non campsite users"
> 
> This summer Deb and I have only booked the ferry crossing ( Dover to Calais) we have a swift kon tiki with 2 x 6.5 7 ? calor bottles and a 110amh battery we have a camos dome a small flat screen t v(not 12v runs on a inverter), water pump & cooker & fridge on gas.
> 
> ...


I have caravanned and Motorhomed in France in the Summer [ wife worked in a school] and unless we really wanted a certain site then never booked. 
I do not know what your budget is but if you planned for 10euros per night site fees then that should allow for free nights and odd nights at more expensive sites. What is your planned route?
The gas should last, last year for 3 weeks I only used a 6kg cylinder and part of another on the BBQ. The battery should be no problem if you are moving on regularly but should last 3 days in any event unless lots of TV is your thing.


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

don't eliminate municipals from your plan's most decent size town's will have one and in most cases 7/8 euros a night will get you a pitch on a well established site with electric & showers etc plenty of opportunity to recharge refill and empty. 
what you need to learn is how long you can last ie water ,full loo , power all these things will dictate time wild camping, we usually find we can use aires and wildcamp for 3/4 days at a time, depending on the aire some aires such as nozay have all the facilities including free electric , a lot of others you have to get a jeton/token from nearby and it will give you an hours electric and 100 litres of water, 
the only true answer is how long is a piece of string it will be whatever you want it to be


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

You should be fine.

However a solar panel would help as would a 2nd battery but both not essential. An inverter does use up a bit more battery power, hence solar panel useful.

Are you able to get 13kg Calor propane gas bottles in your locker? If so I would go for 2 of those or at least 1x13kg and 1x6kg.

Most large supermarkets do sell camping gaz cylinder if you run out but are more expensive and you will need an adapter.

You will find plenty of places to stop in France. Aires, municipal campsites etc.

Enjoy


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Deopends*

Depends what you want.

Yes I am sure you will Survive, all that Luxury in a MH.

Bear in Mind Aires in the South can be fairly pricey!. And Wildcamping is not tolerated almost anywhere near the Eastern Med Coast. Though I do know of a few places where you would least expect them.

If you search MHF for "Cavaliere" you will find my posts on the subject.

But to give you an example

Cavaliere Aire (Next to beach) €15 per night, All Year. 1 tap and waste. In High Season water may be shut off from 11am onwards. Very Basic, no security or EHU but great location.

Grimaud - Camping Des Mures

Out of season ACSI Camping Card €15 Euros a night, 2 Persons inc EHU (4 amp I think) Next to Beach. Plenty of Taps, showers WC etc but very basic. Popular with Seniors esp out-of-season. If you Don't have ACSI Card then expect to pay at least €29 per night and lots of extras for € if you want them (€7 for beachside!).

www.lesnaiades.co.uk

St. Pons Les Mures/Grimaud

€28 a night inc 16A EHU. All singing all dancing campsite just up the road from Des Mures. Olympic Heated Pool, Baby Pool, Outdoor Crypton Factor Style activities, Bar Restaurant and so on. But Very Quite if you want it to be. HOWEVER! Remember the €28 Euros at the beginning? If you book this site for 10days you pay for 7 and if booked early, you get 5% further Discount. That can bring the Price down to €16.70'ish a night and that makes it worth booking.
*THIS would be the best value option all round.*

So in answer to your question, no problems with not booking a site or using AIRES. But making and advance booking means you can get much better value for money.

Hope this helps?

TM


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## yellowdog (Sep 16, 2007)

We did exactly the same thing last year,just set off and hoped for the best.Only drawback was we only had two weeks and the south of france is a long way.
We took 4 days to get there mainly cos we kept stopping to look at the sights on the way, so after 5 days we had to head back ,we spent most of our time driving and didnt feel like we had had much of a holiday.
This year we are doing the opposite and have booked two sites and are spending a week at each to see if this is a beeter holiday.
by the way we didnt use any toll roads and stayed at a mixture of aires ,municaples and a couple of regular sites,there is always somewhere so dont worry about that .Have a good time.


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## stephenpug (Sep 18, 2008)

Hi we did it last year with the same worries but we had all the aires france book which is our new bible the 2x6kg gas bottles lasted no problem (but we was carefull with it) we should not have worried it was a fantastic 3 weeks so easy to travel and drive in france but we have a good sat nav for the aires sites,one bit of advice i would give you is get into your aire by mid afternoon to make sure you get a place as the best ones do fill up quickly,just enjoy and dont worry (you are on holiday) all the best steve & Deb


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Ditch the invertor and get a cheap 12v small tele / dvd player to work with the Camos. Invertors are bad news for batteries and totally uncessesary IMO.

I too have a Kontiki, CAmos dome and 110ah battery. Did 3 months last summer mainly in France and hardly spent a penny on camping and never needed hookup. Wild camping is allowed in France and you can dowload the Aire POI to your sat nav so you can always find somwhere to empty or refill. All the Aires book is good but it doesnt have "all the Aires" you will find others.

You wont need much gas in summer or electric so you will be fine. 

Inland aires away from the sea are often free, less crowded and better than the ones right on the beach.

You will have a fab time. We are off to the med and Pyrenees at Easter for a month which wont be long enough!

Cheers
BD


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

We,ve been motorhoming in France since 1972 and have never ever pre-booked any camp sites. It was only last year that we were given a aires book so gave it a try. Of the three aires we tried one was gone and was a buiding site, but the aires book was two years old.

We have only ever booked the ferry.

When we first went to France the fields were small and farmed with oxen. Autoroutes were not.

But its a BIG country to enjoy.
Bon apetite

C.


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Hi Big Thanks to you all

We will be off in the summer for 2 weeks and it sounds like we will ENJOY !!!!!


Big Thanks

Chris


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Chris

If you are concerned about the gas running out, this excellent article by Rayhook may help. >> Here <<
Gaslow sell a number of adapters which fit French gas bottles - there are pictures and descriptions in the article.

There are lots of other articles in the same folder that will help as well.

Yellow dropdown called "Articles". Second one down called "Members Motorhoming Guides".

Dave


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