Destination advice needed!

[Freeley]

Hi all

We've got our one and only holiday of the year coming up in the first two weeks of october, it's been delayed several weeks due to work pressures and we're not sure what to do now.
We were thinking of doing similar to last year when we went to switzerland mountains but don't think the weather will be upto much by then. Were considering austria/germany mountains but am now thinking about spain.
I don't want to spend half the time driving, and definitely want some half decent weather ie not permanent cloud and rain!

Could any of you kind folks recommend anywhere whether in spain or elsewhere please?
Our knowledge is very limited so we could do with all the help we can get.

Cheers.

 

[teeboy]

In the school half term at the end of October we are going to do a loop as follows:

Portsmouth - St Malo
La Rochelle
Bordeaux
Somewhere at the very south of France
Bilbao
Santander to Portsmouth

We stole the idea from VWt magazine - think it was issue 7 or 8

We figure that once we get south of bordeaux the weather should be OK (fingers crossed!)

The magazine offers some suggestions on campsites, but I am also interested in options

T

 

[Freeley]

Interesting. Cheers for the quick response teeboy I'll start having a look.

 

[teeboy]

I will try to dig out the correct issue of the magazine

 

[Linda]

That looks a good route with loads of exploring places on the way. What sort of things do you like? This is an amazing place http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/ if you like incredibly creative mechanical things . Carnac and around has megaliths galore and some good wild camp spots or an awesome municipal campsite in the sand dunes at Kerhilio

 

[Californiaman]

We are going here at the beginning of October http://www.camping-pyrenees-natura.com/campinggb.html

Astoundingly cheap!!

I'm hoping for decent weather and also to catch the back end of the big Raptor migration.

 

[Retiredron]

What a great looking site , have bookmarked it :cool
Ron.

 

[Freeley]

We are going here at the beginning of October http://www.camping-pyrenees-natura.com/campinggb.html

Astoundingly cheap!!

I'm hoping for decent weather and also to catch the back end of the big Raptor migration.

Lovely looking site but the weather would worry me. Do you have any knowledge of what it's like in october?

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[Californiaman]

Comfortably warm in the daytime. Coolish at night. Dry. No snow!

Thats the plan anywho.

http://www.velopyrenees.com/weather_climate_pyrenees.htm
http://www.tourism-midi-pyrenees.co.uk/home/practical-information/information/climate-and-weather

 

[Freeley]

Hey looks good!
I can see a plan forming, maybe plymouth-santander ferry, work leisurely through northern spain and head upto the pyrenees!
Perhaps see you for a beer californiaman

 

[Californiaman]

That would be excellent!

 

[Freeley]

Thanks for the responses so far, can anyone recommend sites in northern spain between santander and the pyrenees?
I'll have to dig my acsi book out i think.

 

[teeboy]

We are considering this one near Bilbao (between Bilbao and the mountains - on the coast)

http://www.campingportuondo.com/en/the- ... vices.html

I have no idea if it is good or bad, but we are going at the End of October and lots start to shut down. Just found it by Googling...

[Now that you mention ASCI they appear to have a few along the coast and one inland: http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe ... e-country/]

 

[Freeley]

We seem to have decided on the plymouth-roscoff ferry and drive down from there via a stopover at parthenay because it's on the route and looks nice.
What I'm after now is some recommendations for places on the south coast of france in case the weather is bad in the pyrenees.
I was looking last night at perpignan and beziers areas as they're not too far away but don't know if they're worth the visit or not.
We quite like the old towns rather than the more modern less interesting towns/cities ideally somewhere quiet and near the coast and enjoy a bit of decent weather!
Can anybody suggest something?

Cheers.

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[Californiaman]

Yes. bring a decent coat for the bad weather and lots of beer, wine and books for the really, really bad weather.



The weather is gonna be awesome. Bad weather is good weather in the mountains, if you know what I mean.

 

[briwy]

We are going here at the beginning of October http://www.camping-pyrenees-natura.com/campinggb.html

Astoundingly cheap!!

I'm hoping for decent weather and also to catch the back end of the big Raptor migration.

The Estaing valley is gorgeous.
Weather can be variable in October though and more than likely to have a touch of snow on the tops. We have had 25 degrees in Cauterets (next valley along) in mid October but also lots of rain and cold at other times.

BTW, for anyone thinking of going up to Cauterets (only one way up there) the road will be closed during normal working hours from now until the end of November as they are building a new road after the flood damage in June washed the road away.

 

[Freeley]

Yes. bring a decent coat for the bad weather and lots of beer, wine and books for the really, really bad weather.



The weather is gonna be awesome. Bad weather is good weather in the mountains, if you know what I mean.

Great not really what I wanted to hear!
I thought when you said the weather was going to be good you meant warm and sunny lol.

The missus will go mad with me if we're stuck in the van for days on end. :cry:

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[Californiaman]

The power of positive thought... I reckon it'll be great...

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

We have stayed here:

http://www.camping-colombiers.com/

and here:

http://www.oliveraie.com/gb.html

Both ACSI.

The first is near a village that straddles the Canal du Midi. We cycled along the tow path into Beziers. We liked Beziers, in a diamond in the rough sort of way. Modern round the outside but an interesting un-gentrified sort of town centre that has retained an old school charm and felt relaxed, without any big single attraction to pull in the coach parties.

There was noise from the trains and a few distant dogs and cockerels at the campsite. Some indoor washing facilites if it's a bit cool. The owner seemed to have an interesting collection of part renovated cars.

The second was in the hills in the Faugeres wine region (nice drop of red). The loo block could be shut off and heated so would be fine in cooler weather. There is a good mixture of partly wooded pitches and a village about 3k walk down the hill. We loved it but the pool etc. weren't up to much and were closed when we were there anyway.

We loved the area and plan to go back, either to these or other sites. Avoid the big concrete coastal resorts, but take a look at Marseillan where Noilly Prat is produced and other little, old, villages if you can find them. Broadly though we thought inland was nicer than coast in this area.

There is definitely a weather change between north and south of around Carcasonne - may be good on one side and bad on the other.

I've also heard that the Banyuls area at the foothills of the Pyrenees is good, but haven't visited yet.

We normally don't book and use www.xcweather.co.uk to check the forecast. It has saved us from many bad experiences, though it does occasionally get things spectacularly wrong as the weather in France is influenced by so many factors. Be very aware of how windy it can be down there, so check the forecast for this and choose sheltered pitches for the prevailing wind.

On the other hand, for October I might choose Bavaria ... so hard to decide when you are taking your home with you. Have a good trip and report back.

We've stayed at Pyrenees Natura too, but in May so can't report on October weather.

 

[Freeley]

We have stayed here:

http://www.camping-colombiers.com/

and here:

http://www.oliveraie.com/gb.html

Both ACSI.

The first is near a village that straddles the Canal du Midi. We cycled along the tow path into Beziers. We liked Beziers, in a diamond in the rough sort of way. Modern round the outside but an interesting un-gentrified sort of town centre that has retained an old school charm and felt relaxed, without any big single attraction to pull in the coach parties.

There was noise from the trains and a few distant dogs and cockerels at the campsite. Some indoor washing facilites if it's a bit cool. The owner seemed to have an interesting collection of part renovated cars.

The second was in the hills in the Faugeres wine region (nice drop of red). The loo block could be shut off and heated so would be fine in cooler weather. There is a good mixture of partly wooded pitches and a village about 3k walk down the hill. We loved it but the pool etc. weren't up to much and were closed when we were there anyway.

We loved the area and plan to go back, either to these or other sites. Avoid the big concrete coastal resorts, but take a look at Marseillan where Noilly Prat is produced and other little, old, villages if you can find them. Broadly though we thought inland was nicer than coast in this area.

There is definitely a weather change between north and south of around Carcasonne - may be good on one side and bad on the other.

I've also heard that the Banyuls area at the foothills of the Pyrenees is good, but haven't visited yet.

We normally don't book and use http://www.xcweather.co.uk to check the forecast. It has saved us from many bad experiences, though it does occasionally get things spectacularly wrong as the weather in France is influenced by so many factors. Be very aware of how windy it can be down there, so check the forecast for this and choose sheltered pitches for the prevailing wind.

On the other hand, for October I might choose Bavaria ... so hard to decide when you are taking your home with you. Have a good trip and report back.

We've stayed at Pyrenees Natura too, but in May so can't report on October weather.

Thanks will check these out when I get home.
I've kind of decided on the pyrenees now after doing a bit of spade work and with less than 2 weeks to go I don't really want to start thinking about different countries.


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