North to south of france ?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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rannochraider
Posts: 90
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 3:44pm

North to south of france ?

Post by rannochraider »

Hi folks. I'm very new to this game but would really like to ride from the St Malo area south. Not too sure how far or for how long but I've still got lots of questions I hope you can help me with. The latest that springs to mind is, can I wild camp in France? Can I light fires in France ? If 'no' to the previous two questions, are there sufficient winter campsite facilities en route to be feasible between north and south ? I've already had some great information and specific pointers to those who've done the route but i'd like to hear the views of anyone else who's done this route in winter?

Cheers
Jim
MartinBrice
Posts: 464
Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 9:57am

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by MartinBrice »

No
No
And No
France is like southern England and the chances of wild camping are more or less the same, so you could sleep in a field of maize, for instance, which is an excellent, private and windless spot for wild camping. But there is unlikely to be much in the way of growing crops in the middle of winter. You will also need to be near the road, or drag the bike into the middle of a wood.
You could start a fire anywhere, but forestry is quite a big industry in parts of France and they get very twitchy about fires, especially in the big pine forests towards the south. There are notices and fire-beaters kept handy.
And the campsites tend to be closed in winter, especially in the north. Many are shut from the end of September onwards.
A search on Google should give you a list of open campsites, you will probably find more open in the south, although you might you can put a tent up on a municipal site once you have lifted the bike and gear over the locked gate, but you might the local gendarmes paying you a visit, and the loos and water will all be off because of the danger of frost damage.
Sorry to pour cold water on your plans.
However, all is not lost. Why not leave the camping kit at home and stay in hostels? They won't be much more expensive than camping. Campsites can cost €10 per night and hostels can be only a few euros more than that. And they're warmer and more companiable than a deserted cold forest or empty campsite. It gets dark early in northern France in winter.
thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by thirdcrank »

You talk of the route but have only mentioned your staring point. If you are going down the Rhone valley in Winter, that's the best direction and you may be able to do unusually high average speeds because of the prevailing wind.
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MrsHJ
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Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by MrsHJ »

I did St Malo then East end brittany, then Loire valley, maybe then centre? And onto the Massif Central when heading to Antibes. Edit- this trip was not in winter but I travel regularly to france ( like many of us)- sometimes for cycling, other times for skiing or just chilling out.

France is a big country with enough forest/woods/ rustic areas that if you are determined to do the Robinson crusoe thing you can. It will be more difficult in eastern Brittany and the Loire valley as that's more heavily populated but it should still be doable. Whether it will be enjoyable is another matter!

I have wild camped in France but only in an emergency and I speak French ( some of the accents in more rustic parts are more challenging!). You can always ask a farmer if you can camp in their field ( best to enquire via a local bar- they will know the options). I have also camped in municipals out of season - trying emailing the tourist office in the first couple of places you plan to stop- you may not have showers/loos though but there is a good chance of a cold tap.

I wouldn't choose to do what you are doing but we all differ. I'd be heading for Andalusia/further south probably in January but whatever rocks your boat- you usually just have to get out there and figure out if it works. Take a credit card in case of crisis!
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BeeKeeper
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Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 6:45am
Location: South Devon

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by BeeKeeper »

Lack of daylight will be a factor in winter, it will mean spending longish hours in the tent reading or whatever. If wild camping the light escaping from the tent might attract unwanted attention unless the tent is well hidden.

Poor weather goes without saying at that time of year.

But if you want to try it, and assuming your plan was to fly back I would recommend flying out first, ditching the bike packaging, then cycle back for the ferry.

But if you want some winter cycling in better weather the Canary Islands might be a better bet!
FarOeuf
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Joined: 14 Jan 2014, 9:31pm

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by FarOeuf »

I've ridden up and down France a few times, and the campsites will all be shut in winter. Yes, you can wild camp; so long as you follow the wild camping 'rules' and remember it's not the same as 'camping in the wild'. It's actually easier in winter, as there are fewer people wandering about. If you've never wild camped before, then I'm not sure winter is the best time to learn. Although desperation is a good motivator for learning :)

I've done a few winter tours (Scotland and Norway) with more challenging weather than France. Lack of day light is not such a big deal, but a dynamo light is common sense (rather than battery power). Lack of daylight does mean you won't see anything a lot of the time, which does get a bit monotinous. Though it depends on your motivation for the trip.

The main thing to try and combat is being wet and sleeping out, which means cold; you'll either get rained on, or sweat build-up during the day. This means you'll probably end up with a wet sleeping bag, after a day or so, and if you're panniers are Ortleibs then you're wet clothes will make everything else wet. Comfort and morale-wise, keeping your hands and feet warm will make things seem better. Fashioning some sort of equivilent to bar-muffs (we use them on the motorbikes) is a good idea; waterproof gloves always tend to get damp inside. I use large over-mitts, but they were expensive. also, a synthetic sleeping bag rather than a down sleeping bag.

I'd suggest going out near to home for a couple of nights first, just to see what it's like sleeping out in winter. it's not for everyone... You might also want to look for hostels, perhaps every second night in a hostel to dry out and warm up? Trains in France are easy with a bike too, if you wanted to skip to somewhere further south.

Make sure you understand your tent and condensation in cold weather. This is a whole minefield of trial and error. For winter nights out, after many cold and wet experiments, I use a waterproof bivvy bag with the addition of a tent outer (single walled, no ground sheet) if it's wet/sub-zero. The driving force for this is simply my attempts to keep the sleeping bag dry (Hillebeg Akto inner suffers from condensation).

suggestions:

one set of clothes for cycling in, assume these will be wet most of the time so choose accordingly.
think how to avoid getting the sleeping bag, and contents of panniers, wet; maybe practice nights out.
download McDonalds locations to your GPS (if you take one), as they have excellent facilities (heat/toilets/wifi/power/coffee) in France.
a strong headlight, powered by a dynamo (doesn't have to be super-expensive).
reflective hi-viz vest is required in France.
think about either bar-muffs or large plastic over-mitts; waterproof gloves that tend to capture sweat will not dry-out overnight.
fire is a no, no. use a small camp stove.

there's a great sense of achievement in winter touring, particularly with camping/sleeping out. if you can survive/enjoy winter touring, then summer touring becomes a breeze and you'll find you need much less kit. I also find that I meet some quite interesting people in winter, out on the road.
andygriff
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Joined: 6 Nov 2014, 3:32pm

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by andygriff »

If you're determined to go check out the ACSI website. This is a Dutch firm that details off season campsites so you may be able to link up a few. I agree that weather and lack of daylight will be a problem though and the coast is bordering the Bay of Biscay.
psmiffy
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Joined: 1 May 2009, 1:32pm

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by psmiffy »

andygriff wrote:If you're determined to go check out the ACSI website. This is a Dutch firm that details off season campsites so you may be able to link up a few. I agree that weather and lack of daylight will be a problem though and the coast is bordering the Bay of Biscay.


or

http://www.camping-municipal.org/campings-ouverts-toute-l-annee.htm
hillspecial
Posts: 143
Joined: 22 Mar 2009, 1:12pm
Location: Geneva, Switzerland.

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by hillspecial »

Hang on till the summer?

Or try NZ or OZ at this time of year?
gplhl
Posts: 119
Joined: 9 Oct 2013, 1:41pm

North to south of france ?

Post by gplhl »

Wild camp - most definitely yes, you can basically wild camp anywhere, it's just a question of difficulty finding good spots. France is easy.

Fires - no, it'd give away where your wild camping if you need stealth.. Get a good stove and sleeping bag :-)

Campsites, there's a good iphone app called "Campsites EU" most of the municipal ones which are the cheaper will be shut in winter.


Gary
http://www.longbikeride.co.uk
rannochraider
Posts: 90
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 3:44pm

Re: North to south of france ?

Post by rannochraider »

Certainly doesn't sound like a winter tour would be much fun when you get right down to the practicalities and the difficulties of getting by comfortably along the way. :shock: It is supposed to be enjoyable after all . Perhaps doing a bit more research and gaining a wee bit more experience would be in order before letting my enthusiasm run riot. I don't really fancy sleeping under camo netting and dodging the local gendarmes. :(
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