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France is named one of the vital camper-friendly nations in Europe. But what’s it like RVing in France?
This weblog will share a number of the prime stuff you’ll must know earlier than you hop in your motorhome.
Watch this video for the total scoop ⤵️
Driving
French roads could be slim, particularly in smaller villages, to the purpose the place chances are you’ll end up pondering, “Is this really a two-way road?” The reply might be sure and as you noticed within the video, it may well get hectic quick!
But for probably the most half, driving customs in France are much like anyplace in America. You’ll see velocity restrict indicators (in kilometers), you’ll move slower visitors on the fitting, and also you’ll keep inside the strains of your lane whereas driving. You wouldn’t suppose I would wish so as to add that final one, however if you happen to cross into Italy, you’ll instantly discover that the strains on the highway imply nothing to Italians. They drive the place they please! You’ll discover vehicles half parked within the lane, half parked on the sidewalk throughout France, however they do a minimum of keep of their lane whereas driving.
Related: Planning an RV Trip in Italy
Toll Roads
Most main roads throughout France are toll roads (consider interstates or highways in America—they’re all toll roads in France).
Often, you’ll seize a toll ticket once you enter the highway and can dangle onto it till you exit or till you come throughout a toll plaza. You can simply pay with bank card—usually utilizing faucet to pay—and in case your French is rusty, press the British flag icon to modify the toll machine to English. More hardly ever, you’ll come to a toll sales space with a set payment and an individual within the sales space. For instance, the tunnel within the Alps that connects France to Italy is manned and has a flat payment of round $60.
Yes, French tolls are extraordinarily costly!
That was our largest toll ticket, however on days the place we spent a few hours on toll roads, we often paid $20-$35 in charges. We opted for toll roads once we wanted to cowl a couple of hundred miles or when the non-toll-road possibility supplied by Google Maps appeared a little bit too lengthy.
The toll roads will supply many relaxation stops, often called aires, the place you may refuel, seize meals, have a picnic, and even let children play on the playground. (If you’re on the lookout for a style of dwelling, you’ll usually see McDonald’s and Starbucks at aires.)
Road Signs and Signals
In normal, highway indicators in France are symbols that may be universally understood, versus worded indicators.
For instance, a Do Not Enter Sign within the US will say Do Not Enter with a purple circle with a white line throughout the center. In France, it should simply be a purple circle with a white line throughout the center.
Not all indicators are the identical as their US counterparts, however they’re pretty self-explanatory. The most vital indicators to search for when RVing shall be width, top, and weight restriction indicators. These white and purple round indicators could have black triangles on the prime and backside for top or on the edges for width and say “2,3 m” to let you realize of an upcoming restriction. A weight restriction signal will seemingly say 3,5t. (Check your RV weight earlier than you lease, however you ought to be secure with this restriction! 3,5t was the burden restrict we noticed most frequently.)
And sure, the place we use durations for decimals within the States, they use commas!
Traffic lights in France are similar to the US with inexperienced, yellow, and purple lights. Lights are vertical, with inexperienced on the underside and purple on the prime. Unlike different neighboring nations, you received’t see any flashing inexperienced or yellow lights. (Unless you’re in a building zone—they do arrange yellow flashing lights.)
Light posts are sometimes posted on the identical aspect of the road as you’re, which might make seeing the sunshine unattainable if you happen to pull up too far at an intersection. We needed to again up a couple of occasions to see the put up. However, you received’t see purple lights fairly often in your travels. Most intersections throughout the nation are roundabouts, making driving throughout the nation that a lot simpler.
Related: 16 Differences Between RVing in America and RVing Abroad
Camping Options
France is understood for being one of the vital camping-friendly nations on the earth and it lives as much as its popularity. During our month of adventures, we by no means struggled to discover a place to camp in a single day. (Conversely, once we crossed over to Italy for a couple of days, it was a lot more durable to seek out an open campsite!)
There are a number of methods to camp in a single day in France and through our first few days on the highway (seen within the video above) we tried a couple of.
France Passion
More than the rest, we used France Passion to seek out free campsites throughout France. France Passion is a membership (about $35) that permits you to camp totally free at wineries and farms throughout France. (France Passion was the inspiration behind Harvest Hosts, the place you may camp totally free on wineries in North America.) And it was extremely simple to seek out stunning locations to spend the evening! In truth, after driving throughout the nation, I’m fairly positive 99% of the French countryside is vineyards. Miles and miles of gorgeous vines.
(We have an upcoming video displaying off extra of what tenting at France Passion websites is like, however you can too see our very first one on this video!)
Related: Why You Should (and How to!) Camp on Wineries and Farms
Home Camper
Home Camper is the place you may keep in your motorhome at individuals’s properties/on their property—similar to a HipCamp or Boondockers Welcome. You’ll want a self-contained RV (AKA your individual lavatory) and also you’ll in all probability need to know a little bit French, because you’ll be conversing with locals.
We used Home Camper on our second evening within the RV to remain within the yard of a champagne home in Epernay. (Pictured above) This website supplied electrical energy, bogs, showers, and playgrounds, however facilities range by website.
Wild Camping
Boondocking is also known as wild tenting or freedom tenting overseas. In France, we used the Park4Night app to seek out boondocking spots throughout the nation. In the video, we camped in a forest totally free and began our day mountain climbing one of many many trails that began from our free in a single day spot. Even higher, it was quarter-hour away from a citadel and a brief drive to a close-by village for morning pastries and occasional.
Related: 31 RVing Terms You Should Know
Campgrounds
The very first thing that involves thoughts when RVing in France is likely to be staying in conventional campgrounds. Similar to an RV park or campground within the States, right here you’ll discover electrical energy, water, and sewer hookups in addition to facilities like a bathhouse, playground, and laundry. RVing with a child and a toddler, we spent much more nights than we thought we might in campgrounds doing laundry whereas the youngsters performed.
We had been stunned at how kid-friendly many campgrounds had been. At one specifically, there was a big out of doors tent crammed with toys for teenagers. Blocks, dolls, a kitchen, bikes, a trampoline—Europe actually is extremely kid-friendly!
Campsites in campgrounds different. We stayed at one with stage, poured concrete websites (above). At one other, we had an unlevel grassy space with towering timber on both aspect. Another, a grassy space with vines separating websites. Actually, lots of campgrounds used grapevines to separate websites! I instructed you, 99% of the nation is rising grapes for wine.
Generally, your campsite could be very easy in comparison with States, so don’t count on an excessive amount of. But what the websites lack in niceness, the campground makes up for with recent baked items. Oh sure, you may scent the croissants and pan au chocolat out of your campsite. Heath swears one of the best pastries of the month had been at a small campground in Lourdes, France simply exterior Pyrenees National Park. We stayed there for 3 nights for “the proximity to the national park” however Heath isn’t fooling anybody. It was the croissants.
Aires
And lastly, aires. Yes, these relaxation stops that I discussed discovering off the toll roads? Many of them supply in a single day tenting. We didn’t really keep in a single day at any aires throughout our journey, however we spent many afternoons dumping tanks, letting the youngsters play, and grabbing meals. Which brings me to at least one different key a part of RVing in France…
RV Services
In the States, tenting totally free creates a couple of issues. Where are you going to refill your water? Where are you going to dump your black and gray tanks? Where are you going to throw out your rubbish?!
For many campers, the reply is to seize a campground for an evening and deal with the RV.
But in France, no want. You can discover potable water, RV service stations, and plentiful public trash cans in most cities. Heck, you’ll find sorted recycling bins in nearly each city too! France lives as much as the hype and it was shockingly simple to seek out the companies we’d like for the RV.
Related: All the Countries Where You Can RV
This can also be the place aires actually change into essential. They are one of the best, best place to service your tanks, refuel (on fuel, diesel, and propane), and even take out the trash whilst you’re driving down the freeway.
RV Camping in France
Have you heard about tenting in France earlier than? It’s rising in recognition for worldwide vacationers like us and it blew us away!
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