Corporate camp sites, Euro-techno discos, communal Agadoo – the list of continental camping faux pas is longer than the Channel tunnel. Yet, contrary to popular belief, France is blessed with an enviable selection of small, characterful places for pitching up: clifftop camps with cracking views, remote farms tucked away in the countryside, lazy, shady riverside hang-outs and a bunch situated right on top of some great places to eat and drink. Just don’t forget to leave room in the boot of the car for a case or two of the local wine on the way home.

Unless stated, prices are per night, for pitch/adult/child

A TENT WITH A VIEW

ROMARINS, Èze: it’s perched in the hills near Monaco; you can’t buy views like these, even if you’ve just broken the bank at Monte Carlo. Pitch your tent among the rosemary and olive trees, sit back and enjoy peering over Cap Ferrat and the Esterel, with millionaires’ yachts cruising the Med and the smell of warm money wafting along the coast. There’s no swimming pool, no kiddies’ club, no loud entertainment – just chilled refinement. If the roulette tables at the casino have been Ekind to you, take a trip to the nearby medieval hilltop village of E`ze. After a walk in the Jardin Exotique, full of cacti and other rarities, you can visit the Michelin-starred restaurant at Château Eza (www.chateaueza.com) to blow your winnings.

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BACKGROUND

• All your tent gear

• Girls go mad on a motorhome in Yorkshire

• A novice and his caravan in Dorset

• Why not buy a static caravan or holiday lodge?

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www.campingromarins.com; from £12.50 per night for two

LE GRAND CHAMP, Chamonix: jagged, white-tipped peaks surround this site and create an almost private valley. The beautiful terraced gardens boast neat, grassy pitches separated by a jumble of trees, bushes and hedges, all overlooked by the brooding granite spires of the Aiguille du Midi. This site isn’t so much on the doorstep of Mont Blanc as making itself comfortable on the sofa in the front room. You know all about the nearby town of Chamonix as a winter resort, but in summer, mountain-biking, rafting, rock-climbing and abseiling will goad you into activity. But you could equally well just sit and breathe in the mountain air, feasting on the views.

00 33 5 62 92 48 92; £3.30/£3.50/£1.70

LES TILLEULS, Gèdre: the valley views from Les Tilleuls, 3,000ft up in the Pyrenees, are chocolate-box stuff. Old stone houses are scattered around the deep, green gorges of Campbielh, Coumely and the Cirque de Gavarnie like faded Lego bricks. The site has four terraces to pitch on, so everyone gets a slice of the view, though you may prefer the sheltering shade of the trees when the summer sun is at its fiercest. Just be careful where you put your feet – your eyes will be permanently fixed on the view.

00 33 5 62 29 19 44; from £8 for two adults

GREAT GOURMANDISING

LA BROUQUERE, Gondrin: you can’t go wrong with a camp site in an old winery in the Gers that has only six pitches and the motto: “Arrive as a guest and leave as a friend.” With a pool-cum-hot tub, a terraced patio, a gorgeous bijou home and fields and fields of vines and sunflowers, you’ve the makings of the quintessential French site. But the real attraction for gourmands is that this is foie gras country. Well, actually, the whole of France is foie gras country, but here you can visit La Ferme du Cassou (www. fermeducassou.com), which offers a tour of its pâté-production facilities and a sampling of all things duck. From omelettes and sausages to tarts and jams – you name it, there’s duck in it. Add in a quantity of the locally produced armagnac and you’ll be in serious need of a postprandial walk. Or maybe just a waddle.

www.brouquere.com; from £3/£2.30/£1.90 (ages 6 and under)

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