A little bit about Bayonne, how to get there, and the facilities for camping and mobile home holidays in that area of south west corner of France.

What a super place to be for your camping holidays this year. Lots of sand, lots of sun, though there is some rainfall here because of the nearby mountains, but it is pretty well distributed throughout the year and doesn't last long at any one time anyway, and certainly not enough to put you off taking a holiday here.

Bayonne is situated very near to the French/Spanish border, just a little way north of Biarritz and the smaller but very upmarket resort of St Jean de Luz which is just about on the border, though of course there are no border controls these days so you can slip into cheaper Spain and fill up with all the bits and pieces which cost more at home.

The town of bayonne is facing the Cote Atlantique or Atlantic coast, also known to us as the Bay of Biscay.This is where the rollers crash in on the beach, this is where the serious surfers come to from all over France, the UK and other European countries to combine surfing and camping holidays.

If you look at this area on a map it appears to be pretty much deserted, and indeed, the population in this region is rather sparse outside the larger towns and villages, and if you tire of surfing and other watersports then you can drive gently north past the lakes and past Bordeaux and bypassing Soulac sur Mer on your left to end at Pointe de Grave where you can ferry across the mouth of the river Gironde to Royan in Charente-Maritime and explore the history there. Sadly, that won't leave you enough time to visit and explore Bordeaux on the same day, but possibly you could save that for another trip?

We have provided directions on how to get to your camping destination on all our other pages so this one showing you the route to Bayonne will be no exception, and as with other resorts in the south and south west the degree of difficulty in getting there and the milage you cover depends entirely on which ferry route you have opted for.

We try to make things as simple as possible for those drivers who are not so comfortable about driving in France, and our aim is to give you directions detailed enough for you to be able to reach your camping resort town - after that you have to rely on what is provided by your travel agent/tour operator. We fervently believe thatonly the completely mental drive either in or on the outskirts of paris, so we prefer to give you the alternatives.

From Calais/the Tunnel to your camping resort in or around Bayonne: Get onto the A28 to Abbeyville and Rouen. Drivers from Dieppe join us at Rouen, and all carry on that road to Le Mans.

Drivers from Le Havre, Deauville, Caen and Cherbourg head initially for caen, Alencon and join us at le Mans. From le mans we carry on the A28 to Troyes where we automatically change onto the A10 and follow signs for Poitiers, Saintes and Bordeaux - in fact you can forget the rest, just head for Bordeaux where you will pick up the Bordeaux peripherique, or ring road. Head Ouest (west), and you can exit the ring road at either junction 15 or 16 and take the A63 or the N10 (free until you meet the autoroute again). From there simply follow signs for Bayonne where we sincerely hope that you find your camping site with ease.