French campsites at Easter

[wilycoyote]

Wonder if anyone can tell me how busy French campsites get at the main Easter weekend (Good Friday through 'til the Monday). Is it essential to book ahead as in the UK these days or will I be safe enough to get a pitch somewhere if I decide nearer the time? I am on the Continent in a motorhome and not sure where abouts exactly I'll end up for that weekend.

[boxtops]

I would book ahead - it's Easter hols in France too, the start of the caravan season. We are starting to see them come through Dover already.

[wilycoyote]

thanks boxtops - suppose we'll have to try and get our mind around where we are going to be.

[ethandron]

we have a caravan and belong to a number of related forums. a lot of campers - tents and caravans - don't even bother booking in france for the peak summer holiday months and reckon there are always pitches available. while i'm sure this is true as so many do it this way, it's not something we would take a chance on, particularly if we know where we want to go and which sites we want to stay at, so we always book in advance whenever we head across the channel. we go for may and june, and september and october.
on the other hand, easter is only really the beginning of the season and not nearly as busy as the school summer holidays so i would imagine, going by what people have said, that there will be plenty of spaces. also, france is (obviously) a lot bigger than the uk and a lot more geared up to the whole camping thing, and has loads more sites.

[wilycoyote]

Thanks Ethandron. We've decided to go about our merry way and maybe keep an eye on things, but we're heading for Honfleur area where there is a very large aire by all accounts so may take a chance until nearer the time. Meanwhile it's sunny and warm and our cares seem far away.

[ethandron]

oooh, i really like honfleur, very picturesque. i'm sure you'll manage to get fixed up whichever way you decided to do it, think i've read about that aire you mention too.
can't wait for our hols now, all this talk about france.....:)
hope you have a great time.
ps. you might find this link useful: http://www.airetoday..../aire%20honfleur.html