Fires

[Kev56]

Have the Wild fires in France / Spain affected your plans? I’ve put on hold my France down to Portugal trip.
Mean while i’m booking a couple at home, but fk me how are they charging such ridiculous fees. £40+ for a non elec. pitch in a field. Different topic but relevant at this time.

 

[Up10]

Have the Wild fires in France / Spain affected your plans? I’ve put on hold my France down to Portugal trip.
Mean while i’m booking a couple at home, but fk me how are they charging such ridiculous fees. £40+ for a non elec. pitch in a field. Different topic but relevant at this time.

It begs the question as to how careful we should be with our bbqs and check that we have a fire extinguisher on board and how to use it.
However, if you are going to Scandinavia in the next month, it will rain because it always does when we take our van away!

 

[Souter]

We had 4 weeks in France in June, averaged €24/night. Prices varied from €16/night to €37/night and always had all facilities.
Just done 3 weeks in England and Wales and averaged £33/night some with virtually no facilities or not all of facilities and in need of some serious upgrading.
All owners pleading poverty, blaming covid and/or the cost of everything!
Intended doing North Wales coast but drew the line at the £40+ mark.
Funny how they always have availability or “can squeeze you in”.

 

[WelshGas]

Have the Wild fires in France / Spain affected your plans? I’ve put on hold my France down to Portugal trip.
Mean while i’m booking a couple at home, but fk me how are they charging such ridiculous fees. £40+ for a non elec. pitch in a field. Different topic but relevant at this time.

Supply and Demand.
Business rates and increase in Minimum Wage.
Increase in Taxes courtesy of Rachel.

 

[Up10]

Supply and Demand.
Business rates and increase in Minimum Wage.
Increase in Taxes courtesy of Rachel.

And school holidays!

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Firstly, the situation in France, and in Spain, is awful. My thoughts are with those affected by it all, there doesn't seem to an obvious end in sight. No meaningful rain due soon and another heatwave seemingly on the way.

Personally, we were due to head off into France on Saturday. No fixed plans other than staying with some friends in Les Sables-d'Olonne towards the end of our two weeks. The original idea was to head over to Epernay and then slowly wander over to the west coast. I don’t think going south is a good idea and whilst we could go through Normandy and Brittany, I’m not too keen on Normandy and we’ve done Brittany several times in recent years. Aside from many changing plans and heading into more Northern France I suspect the last thing France really needs now is more tourists getting in way.

So, we’ve pulled the plug on France and are now heading to Denmark and Sweden for our two weeks. Can’t comment on UK prices as they don’t apply to my situation, but I think France would have been cheaper but not by that much, especially as I now won’t spend my usual silly amount of money stocking up on wine before coming home. We were in the Ardeche in June so I’ve had a decent French fix already this year.

One thing this does all show, is that the flexibility of a campervan means that you can change plans very quickly and not lose any money.

 

[pchmlk]

We are off in 2 days to France, inc a week nearish to Bordeaux. No we haven’t considered changing plans as whilst the fires are brutal, it’s a *relatively* localised area and won’t get to where we are, or even close really.

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

We are off in 2 days to France, inc a week nearish to Bordeaux. No we haven’t considered changing plans as whilst the fires are brutal, it’s a *relatively* localised area and won’t get to where we are, or even close really.

How nearish to Bordeaux is nearish?

 

[pchmlk]

How nearish to Bordeaux is nearish?

80km east

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

80km east

Active and reported fires within the last seven days. With another heatwave now hitting the south of France basically a tinderbox. Be careful down and exercise caution.

https://forest-fire.emergency.copernicus.eu/apps/effis.csv/?c=89164,5628584.92&z=7.277334572088264&t=sentinel2&tiles=modis.hs.week,viirs.all.week,s3.hs.week,modis.ba.week,severity_time.week,nrt.ba.week&forecastActive=false&sourceId=ecmwf&indexId=fdf.ecmwf007.fwi&forecastDate=2026-07-28&rdaFrom=2026-07-21&rdaTo=2026-07-28&rdaDateRange=week&layerInfoPoint&fdcPoint&fdcDate

 

[pchmlk]

Yes I’m monitoring the situation.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Google maps has a great feature for the fires, also shows which roads are closed & is updated regularly.

 

[pjm-84]

Supply and Demand.
Business rates and increase in Minimum Wage.
Increase in Taxes courtesy of Rachel.

Yep I looked to get away for 1 night this Saturday....between £40 - £82 for a grass pitch typically without EHU......hmmmmm....nope....now my FB is bombarded with come back / last minute availability and still available..........

Supply and demand works both ways - from me its a no.

 

[WelshGas]

Yep I looked to get away for 1 night this Saturday....between £40 - £82 for a grass pitch typically without EHU......hmmmmm....nope....now my FB is bombarded with come back / last minute availability and still available..........

Supply and demand works both ways - from me its a no.

That's how a Market works.

 

[Wish]

Going to Ronce Les Baines, Le Tremblade (NW OF Bordeaux) this week. Then Poitier, (or vice versa) playing it by ear atm

 

[pjm-84]

Agree....I can just walk away and financially I don't need to......if others did, then it changes the market. We can be our own worse enemy......

 

[pchmlk]

And school holidays!

Yes this is the real reason. Nothing to do with minimum wage.

 

[Betsycalifornia]

We are off in 2 days to France, inc a week nearish to Bordeaux. No we haven’t considered changing plans as whilst the fires are brutal, it’s a *relatively* localised area and won’t get to where we are, or even close really.

regional authorities in southwest France have urged tourists to avoid the area until the situation calms down. Authorities have warned that another heatwave could make wildfires in southwestern France worse in the coming days, with temperatures expected to rise to as high as 40C from Tuesday, July 28.
Just to be aware, though I’m sure you already are.

 

[pchmlk]

regional authorities in southwest France have urged tourists to avoid the area until the situation calms down. Authorities have warned that another heatwave could make wildfires in southwestern France worse in the coming days, with temperatures expected to rise to as high as 40C from Tuesday, July 28.
Just to be aware, though I’m sure you already are.

Yup, thanks Betsy, keeping an eye on it and no concerns from our contacts there currently.

 

[willwander]

It’s very sad. We’re still heading to France again soon, but we don’t really make plans so will keep an eye on things and decide on route.
The main thing for us is that it’s not too hot in the van for the dogs, but it’s a big place and we can always head to the hills.

 

[Christopher Thomas]

Firstly, the situation in France, and in Spain, is awful. My thoughts are with those affected by it all, there doesn't seem to an obvious end in sight. No meaningful rain due soon and another heatwave seemingly on the way.

Personally, we were due to head off into France on Saturday. No fixed plans other than staying with some friends in Les Sables-d'Olonne towards the end of our two weeks. The original idea was to head over to Epernay and then slowly wander over to the west coast. I don’t think going south is a good idea and whilst we could go through Normandy and Brittany, I’m not too keen on Normandy and we’ve done Brittany several times in recent years. Aside from many changing plans and heading into more Northern France I suspect the last thing France really needs now is more tourists getting in way.

So, we’ve pulled the plug on France and are now heading to Denmark and Sweden for our two weeks. Can’t comment on UK prices as they don’t apply to my situation, but I think France would have been cheaper but not by that much, especially as I now won’t spend my usual silly amount of money stocking up on wine before coming home. We were in the Ardeche in June so I’ve had a decent French fix already this year.

One thing this does all show, is that the flexibility of a campervan means that you can change plans very quickly and not lose any money.

We live in Denmark. The prices quoted on the thread even UK. prices are cheap in comparison to Denmark. Norway and Sweden Is different as there are thousands of great wild camping spots.

 

[Dave Wickham]

We had 4 weeks in France in June, averaged €24/night. Prices varied from €16/night to €37/night and always had all facilities.
Just done 3 weeks in England and Wales and averaged £33/night some with virtually no facilities or not all of facilities and in need of some serious upgrading.
All owners pleading poverty, blaming covid and/or the cost of everything!
Intended doing North Wales coast but drew the line at the £40+ mark.
Funny how they always have availability or “can squeeze you in”.

If there is one thing you should try and avoid its campsites in the UK. They are a ripoff and simply just not worth it when you compare to France - this June the most we paid was 32 Euros and that site was next to the beach, 2 restaurants, 3 swimming pools, splash pools etc. However most others we used ranged from 18 Euros to 28 Euros and ALL of them had a pool and either a restaurant or a pizza bar. Having once paid £28 for a field with a solitary porta loo in the UK I vowed never again. Responsible wild camping wherever possible in rip-off Britain.

 

[RichardH]

We are off in 2 days to France, inc a week nearish to Bordeaux. No we haven’t considered changing plans as whilst the fires are brutal, it’s a *relatively* localised area and won’t get to where we are, or even close really.

On the ferry right now. Heading for the beachside forest 60 km south of the fire at Bicarrosse (now described as under control) itself not far south of the big one near Bordeaux (described as “fixed”). Fingers crossed! The Feux Forêt app and website give useful updates.

 

[pchmlk]

On the ferry right now. Heading for the beachside forest 60 km south of the fire at Bicarrosse (now described as under control) itself not far south of the big one near Bordeaux (described as “fixed”). Fingers crossed! The Feux Forêt app and website give useful updates.

We’re in Gironde. Honestly, no issues at all. On our drive down we must have seen 30+ fire engines heading north, returning from duty I presume.

 

[Souter]

If there is one thing you should try and avoid its campsites in the UK. They are a ripoff and simply just not worth it when you compare to France - this June the most we paid was 32 Euros and that site was next to the beach, 2 restaurants, 3 swimming pools, splash pools etc. However most others we used ranged from 18 Euros to 28 Euros and ALL of them had a pool and either a restaurant or a pizza bar. Having once paid £28 for a field with a solitary porta loo in the UK I vowed never again. Responsible wild camping wherever possible in rip-off Britain.

Use and choose sites as carefully as we can. Primarily for security, then location near places we want to see and visit, then facilities on site and finally because we are on french plates and don’t need any hassle if parked off grid. In UK the prices are crazy compared to what you get in France and Spain for about half the price.