Report a problem

What is the problem?

Could not attach a screenshot — send without it

Filters

At a Calvados campsite, campers self-manage and spend less on holidays

12.09.2026 12:30 1 min 1 source РУС
actu.fr CES
At a Calvados campsite, campers self-manage and spend less on holidays
© La Renaissance le Bessin

About 15 campers were still present in the first week of September 2026 at the GCU campsite in Grandcamp-Maisy (Calvados). The site operates without salaried staff: campers handle cleaning, reception and treasury tasks themselves. Annual membership costs €29, and the site has 44 pitches and two rentals. In summer 2026, pitch occupancy reached 80%, with reservations doubling over the year. One camper paid just over €1,300 to keep a caravan on site from 20 May to 22 August.

Aggregated by OpenVan.camp from the public sources listed below, with AI-assisted translation and summary. We always link to the original source. Machine translation may differ from the original -- check the source for important details. Images and content remain the property of their respective owners. Copyright information

Story sources

At a Calvados campsite, campers self-manage and spend less on holidays

12.09.2026 actu.fr CES Original source

FR France — fuel prices

Updated: 19.09.2026

SP95-E10

$2.51 /l

€2.18 · £1.87/l

155 of 167

pricier than 92% of countries

SP98

$2.61 /l

€2.27 · £1.95/l

89 of 101

pricier than 87% of countries

Gazole

$2.74 /l

€2.38 · £2.04/l

153 of 166

pricier than 92% of countries

Gazole premium

$2.71 /l

€2.36 · £2.02/l

39 of 46

pricier than 83% of countries

GPL

$1.20 /l

€1.04 · £0.90/l

48 of 55

pricier than 85% of countries

Superéthanol-E85

$1.02 /l

€0.89 · £0.76/l

4 of 6

cheaper than 50% of countries

Cheapest on the map

Popular route

Distance

Fuel cost

~

Est. time

~

Visas and vehicle on this route

Working out the rules for this route…

No passport set — showing the common ones. Tap yours to count by it alone.

Count the days by trip dates

Reference data, not legal advice. Rules change without notice — check with the consulate or at the border.

Quiz: test yourself
Guess the vanlife lingo — 3 quick questions
1 / 3
Q1 A French sign says "Aire de service camping-car". What should you expect first?

Best regions in the coming days

Brittany +20°·20 km/h
93
Pays de la Loire +23°·27 km/h
93
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes +23°·46 km/h
92
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté +23°·28 km/h
92
Grand Est +24°·36 km/h
91
Avoid now
Corsica +27°·23 km/h
80
Occitania +26°·27 km/h
88

You May Be Interested

All News

In 2026, a night on commercial motorhome stopovers in France costs €13–25; 15 nights exceed €300. Travelers increasingly opt for stays on private land—farms or gardens—which are legal for up to six motorhomes on a property for three months. Services like France Passion (≈2,200 farms, ~€35/year subscription) and HomeCamper (€8–18/night) reduce costs legally. The key rule is not to set up camping equipment outside the vehicle.

French campsites are increasingly dominated by mobile homes, driving up costs. In 2025, overnight stays reached nearly 148 million, up 4%. A standard mobile home for four or five people costs on average €336 per week in a 1-star site and up to €1,600 in a 5-star site during high season, while a bare pitch in a 3-star site runs €190–210 per week. About 80,000 bare pitches have disappeared over 20 years. Alternatives include municipal campsites (over 1,400, 18% of all) and farm campsites, where a tent night costs €15–25.

News from France

All News

Freya Gill and Charlie Thackwray, both 29, moved into a caravan parked in Charlie's mother's garden to save on rent. After a year in the older caravan, they bought an Elddis Crusader for around €4,800, then in June 2025 switched to a more modern Adria Adora costing €19,000. Living in the caravan allowed them to save nearly €24,000 toward buying land to build a house and farm. Monthly costs include about €180 for the plot, €65 for fuel, €155 for financing and €420 for food; they pay no council tax or water bills, and gas refills cost about €95 when needed.

The Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe race starts from Saint-Malo on 1 November 2026. The race village opens on 20 October. Motorhomes can use a municipal aire near the racecourse (open 24/7, with water and waste disposal, free shuttle to the centre) and a private site with electricity. Overnight parking is banned on seafront car parks, including the Davier car park. On race day, road access to Cap Fréhel from Plévenon is closed, and motorhome parking is prohibited at the cape and at Plévenon municipal campsite. A year-round motorhome aire is located 5 km from the cape in Fréhel (from about €13/night in low season). In Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, a free year-round aire with service point is available, but motorhome parking on the seafront boulevard is banned.

The Les Chênes Verts motorhome stopover in Brem-sur-Mer, Vendée, has been shortlisted by Camping-Car Magazine for its annual best campsite award. The site operates year-round, offers around 40 pitches and is part of the RVR environmental network. Overnight stays cost €13.60, plus a tourist tax of €1.22 per person per night, covering parking, waste disposal, water and electricity.

Suggest news or event

Sent to "Submissions" for moderation

All suggestions go through automated checks and moderation. We publish excerpts and a link to the original source. By submitting you agree to Copyright Holders, Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookies.

Install OpenVan.camp

Get quick access and offline reading.

→ Glossary