Camping recommendations on RDGA and Route Napoleon

DaveR

Guest
Myself and 2 mates heading to France for the first 2 weeks of Aug (cant go any other time) We plan to go to Normandy first, and then onto the route des grande alps, down to Nice and back up the route Napoleon. The other 2 guys want to camp as much as possible,So im looking for some recommendations for campsites on/near the RGDA and route napoleon. Do you think we will need to book beforehand as this will be a buzy time of year.Any recommendations for campsites along this route appreciated
 
maybe

Lake Annecy. Couple of good campsites there. Stayed there a couple of years ago.
 
You say your heading for Nice via route Napoleon, Castellane is a good stop, and ride the Gorges du Verdon, recommend Camp du Verdon, (Castellane) I,ve used it several times and will be there again this year, walking distance into Castellane :thumb2
http://www.camp-du-verdon.com/
 
www.laviste.fr/

La Viste camp site on Lac de Serre Poncon

N44 28,575 E6 16 225

is nice. Very beautiful valley, essentially on the Route Napoleon.

We hitched a lift down to the town Les Celliers for diner - I was convinced the old matron ponged until I realised it was my flip flops!:rolleyes:
 
It will be mobbed in August, the gorge will be full of buses and camper cars but it is still worth it. Early starts catch most of them sleeping.
 
It will be mobbed in August, the gorge will be full of buses and camper cars but it is still worth it. Early starts catch most of them sleeping.

I agree, I go in the first two weeks of September, but as you say early starts are the answer in August, or after 5pm :thumb
 
Would the site in Castellane be a good base from which to explore the area? Would it be too far to head over to Milleau and back in a day?

Heading down first week in Sept and thinking 2 nights on the way down from Amsterdam, 3 nights in the area and 2 nights on the way back up again.
 
Castellane is a great base to explore the Gorges of Verdon, some of the southern french alps, and the south of France coast, Nice, St Tropaz etc, its abit far to do the Millau area imo, approx a 500 mile round trip using the shortest route, theres a nice campsite in the Cevenns np I,ve used which is handy for the Millau area;
http://campingcapelan.com/GB/default.htm
 
If you're wanting to see the Millau Bridge then don't miss a ride up the Gorge du Tarn (cross the viaduct, then follow the river upstream from the town of Millau). As well as being a stunning ride, there are several great campsites in the gorge. You could take in Mont Ventoux on the ride between there and Castellane as well. Highly recommended.:bounce1
 
If you want my advice I'd ditch the two tight ar*es you're travelling with. Sounds like they're too miserly to pay for decent accommodation.
 
Guys, thanks for the advice,
Eddie in your own words, Tight-Tighter-Tightest
 
there is a good campsite near bourge-st-maurice (seez)called the "reclus" i think, if you are doing the route de grand alps going down from the grand st bernard pass towards val-d'isere(col-du l'iseran) it is easy to find,
also the campsite at the bottom of the gorge du verdon (near the bridge) is great if you want to spend a couple of nights there and hire a kayak to row up the gorge, well worth it for the views and lovely blue water in the gorge,
i found another small campsite near barcellonette (jausiers)almost at the junction which you would turn to do the col-du-bonette,(the highest road pass in europe) not much in the way of facilitys in the campsite but a few hundred yards to a small town centre with bars and a restaurant,
hope this helps
 
I did the same route last year in July. The route is awesome and there is loads of good camping. I camped in Chamonix, Jaunsiers, Grasse and had a good experience in all of them.

It may be mor busy for you in August though.

You can check out my ride report and pics here;

http://www.deansbikes.co.uk/French Alps July 2008.html

Cheers
 
.

August in France, is minging with people everywhere, especially here in the south, but despite that, if it's just a couple of tents and bikes, you should be able to find something wherever you are, so I wouldn't be too concerned about booking places as I prefer flexibilty. Send me a PM if you need any info on local stuff in the Var/Alpes Maritimes area.

It'll be bloody roasting as well :cool:
 
Not wishing to hijack the thread.............................but, when you go camping in France in June/July/August.....do most of you book campsite accomodation ahead or just turn up in the afternoon.

If you just turn up are there usually vacancies or have you been turned away regularly and had to go hunting around.


I am hoping to go for the first time in Jul/Aug this year and wondered which is best.

Thanks.

Ian
 
Not wishing to hijack the thread.............................but, when you go camping in France in June/July/August.....do most of you book campsite accomodation ahead or just turn up in the afternoon.

If you just turn up are there usually vacancies or have you been turned away regularly and had to go hunting around.


I am hoping to go for the first time in Jul/Aug this year and wondered which is best.

Thanks.

Ian

If you camp you should just be able to turn up in most places, Most decent towns will have a municipal camp site as it is the Frenchies fav holiday accommodation. If you are B&B-ing it or Hotel-ing it then it might be worth booking ahead.
For instance we are starting to fill up and we only do motorcyclists/Bikes ;) Also it depends which part of the Eu you go.

The french authorities are spreading the holiday load to keep production up during Augudt in France by splitting holiday between July and August...

What ever you decide to do you will have a great trip and once you have done France there will be no stopping you.
 
As I posted elsewhere, the Tour De France is around the upper part of the RDGA in July. It might complicate the turn up and book in type of camping as it's a popular event with many spectators.
 


Back
Top Bottom