Camping stay: four tips before booking

Do you enjoy the simplicity and conviviality of camping, caravanning, tenting, or mobile home stays? Here are four tips to help you prepare for your outdoor accommodation stay and avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Research the category, price, and location

First and foremost, research your vacation spot in advance. What’s its category? How much does it cost? What does the location you’re looking to rent look like? These are all important factors.

Rules to know regarding the camping category

Campgrounds are classified as such with the mention Tourism or Leisure .the Tourism label applies when more than half of the pitches are intended for rental by the night, week or month, for transient customers,

the Leisure label applies when more than half of the pitches are intended for rental for more than one month, by customers who do not choose to live there.

The regulations also distinguish between star campsites (1 to 5 stars), “natural area” campsites and residential leisure parks:

1- to 5-star campsites : accommodate tents, caravans, mobile homes, and lightweight recreational accommodation. The number of stars is determined based on the comfort of the facilities and amenities, the services provided to customers, accessibility, and sustainable development. The star rating is awarded for a period of five years by a monitoring body accredited by the French Accreditation Committee

“Natural area” campsites: are exclusively reserved for tents, caravans and motorhomes. Therefore, light leisure dwellings and mobile leisure residences are prohibited from being installed there. The comfort of these natural area sites is more basic than campsites; the pitches and accommodations do not need to be connected to the sanitation system or individually supplied with water. Finally, their operating period cannot exceed six months per year.

Leisure residential parks: these sites accommodate light leisure dwellings , mobile leisure residences and caravans . It is possible to buy a plot there.The campsite category must be displayed at the entrance or in the campsite reception office with a certain amount of information .

Labels can be assigned to a campsite. For example:

the European Ecolabel for Tourist Accommodation (symbolized by a flower) means that the campsite has implemented a number of actions in the environmental field

Rules to know regarding the price of camping

Prices are free but must be displayed , along with the text of the campsite’s internal regulations, at the entrance to the site and at the customer reception point.

The original of the detailed invoice must be given to you.

Please also note that the municipality where the campsite is located may ask holidaymakers to pay a tourist tax in addition to the rental price.

See tourist tax rates by municipality

Rentals of furnished caravans, mobile homes or bungalows installed permanently on a campsite for the duration of the holiday must, like other seasonal rentals, be subject to a descriptive statement given to the tenant.

This document must include a description of the rented premises, their location in the locality and the rental conditions (article 1 of the decree of October 22, 2008 ).

Before booking, review the information provided by the professional

Before confirming the rental, please note that the operator must provide the future customer with the following information in writing:

administrative information about the campsite (name, address, website, classification, etc.),

the description of the accommodation (type, surface area, maximum capacity in number of people, accommodation accessible to disabled people, etc.),

the price of additional services or supplements not included in the rental price (water, electricity, rental of sheets, accessories for children, car supplement, etc.)

For damages suffered

Only items locked in a hermetically sealed area or left under surveillance can be insured against theft. While some insurance policies cover the loss of camping equipment, they generally exclude the theft of luggage and other personal items inside the tent.

Campers should check that the “furniture away from home ” warranty applies to camping. There are also camping and leisure insurance policies that include both civil liability and damage to camping equipment.