Winter camping/accommodation in France?

[The Other PaulG]

I am going to spend a few days travelling down the West coast of France in about 10 days' time.

Am I right in thinking that the campsites will all be closed at this time of year?

Does anyone have any recommendations in terms of places to stay?

Is there a French equivalent of the Tourist Information I can contact when I end up in a new town?

Cheers,

Paul G

 

[thornley]

Most will be closed up for the winter. Just about every town will have a tourist information office. If you search against the town names you will be or intend to pass through it will throw up the contact details of the local tourist office, nearly all towns have a web site with hotels and B&B's etc.

 

[r1100gser]

There are lots of B&B type hotels. They are very basic (very clean though) get ur own loo and shower. They are about 30€ per room per night. There are thousands in france at all major motorway junctions and in most towns and cities. I have stayed in them many times and never had a problem. They have an automated machine at the front which means you can check in at any time of day or night! The main ones are: Formula 1, B&B, Novatel, Villiage, Campanille. Search for them on the web. They're great!

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

In addition to the ones mentioned above which are mainly situated near autoroute exits there are lots of small hotels in town and villages that can be really super. Hotels in France are really good value and there are some real gems out there, go for it!

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

The tourist office is the Syndicat d'Initiative or sometime Office de Tourism, a lot will be closed. Sent you a PM Paul.

 

[Steptoe]

Just come back through that area, and it was - 6 degrees overnight north of Bordeaux on the way down. Bit warmer on saturday, about 3 degrees I'd hotel it, they're cheap enough

 

[The Other PaulG]

Thanks all.

Thanks guys.

Any amount of luck (and a decent overnight crossing on Thursday night) and I'll be passing through Clermont in time to catch the Leicester Tigers game on Friday night...

Cheers for the advice.

Paul G
L'Autre

 

[Activmoto]

I'll be passing through Clermont

Paul,
I think Clermont will be quite cold and so will the ride south from there. It is quite high, around a thousand plus metres all the way to Narbonne. Keep an eye on the weather or head south on a more westerly route, Bordeaux. Don't think about it unless you have a heated waistcoat.

I don't agree that France has good cheap hotels; compared with Spain they can be pretty grim. Consider r1100gser suggestion to use the Formula 1, B&B, Novatel, Villiage, Campanille. I saw a new one on the last trip called Fasthotel.

Break a leg.

Steve

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Hotels in France

There will be plenty of hotels open now and you should have no difficulty finding a room - look on the internet for the towns you want. If you want to book before you arrive they will want a credit card number and so, if you don't arrive, you will pay anyway. I would say don't worry- but don't leave it until the last minute. It is too cold for camping now and I doubt if there are any sites open anyway. I am South of Lyon so ot is a bit off your route! Otherwise I would be pleased to assist. Best of luck.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Hotel chains

Somebody mentioned Campanile, Fasthotel, Formule1 etc. and it is true that they are very good value for money and generally clean and tidy; BUT they are very often, in fact nearly always, situated on the outskirts of town in or near industrial estates so bike parking could be a bit dodgy!

 

[chas]

formula 1
used them quite a bit on two trips to france found them to be exelent value
you can usualy get a ground floor room if you ask and park youre bike right next to the window some have scure parking area as well

 

[The Other PaulG]

trip completed

Thanks again for all the advice.

The trip was just fantastic - covered 1200 miles in 3 days. The most memorable bits were in the Massif Centrale where there was a substantial depth of snow by the roadside, and where in the villages I was the only person not wearing ski kit.

Beautiful scenery, excellent fast empty roads.

Steptoe, thanks for the note about the low temperatures, wore every piece of fleece clothing in my wardrobe on Sunday and still got extremely cold at speed.

Best memory - just the hours spent on the 1100, the bike hammering away and never missing a beat. Only stopping because the light was fading or for petrol. The bike really was all-day comfortable and I reckon for the first time I really saw its strengths. Cracking.

PG

 

[Steptoe]

Well , did you camp or hotel ?????

Think carefully before answering, it will decide if your a hardcore GSer, or a lightweight

 

[The Other PaulG]

He he!

Hey, it's only because all the camp sites were closed, with big signs saying "Back in the Thaw" hanging on their gates....

In order to defend my 'hard core' self image I'd like to point out:

1) I used no elecrical heating devices on the bike despite a frikkin freezing Sunday,relying purely on garments available from Millets at less than £19.99 each, and

2) tonight I'm going to spend the night in the garden in my bivvy bag, having thrashed myself thoroughly with birch twigs.

PG
PS I hope it's really cold.