Our first steps into French naturism almost seem like we took them in a previous life. Meanwhile, we discovered so many resorts, from small club campgrounds with just a handful of spots to huge so-called “naturist villages” that are larger than any of the real villages nearby. And pretty much everything in between.
They all look different. Some are at the coast, others in the mountains or the countryside. Some have lakes or rivers to skinny dip in, some have endless forests for naked hiking, and some offer spectacular views over the surroundings. Some focus on community and entertainment, with communal dinners and karaoke nights, and a cosy bar that attracts guests from before happy hour. Others offer you peace and solitude in nature, where you suddenly notice you’re whispering to each other without knowing why.
Yet, no matter which of the 250 naturist campsites or so in France you pick, some things never change. Details that seem to be part of the foundation of naturist camping in the country. Some of them are a blessing, others an annoyance, and all of them we wish that someone had told us before.
This blog post has been sponsored by France4Naturisme, a group of 6 campsites in France that are often considered the “crème de la crème” of naturist camping.
1. French naturist campsites shut down in the afternoon.
A break after lunch can be considered part of the French culture. Especially in the south of the country, you’ll find that many shops put up the “Fermé” sign for a few hours in the afternoon. We knew that, but what we didn’t know is that this also applies to many reception desks at naturist campsites.
We can’t stress enough how important it is to remember this. Nothing can ruin a vacation like arriving at a closed reception door after spending hours in a hot car, some traffic jam on the Route du Soleil, and kids in the back singing the same song for the millionth time. Typical closing times are roughly between 1 and 4 pm, but this differs from place to place, so double-check.
Some campsites do keep the reception running for check-ins only, and the large ones usually don’t close because the only thing worse than arriving at a closed reception door is arriving back at your reception desk to face a line of angry people who arrived at the closed reception door. Does that make sense?
2. Call ahead in summer
Well, there is another thing worse than arriving at a reception that’s on lunch break. It’s arriving at a reception that has the “complet” sign out. And you didn’t bother to get a reservation.
We used to be offseason travellers, June and September typically give great weather in France (although there’s a remark here, but we’ll get to that later), and the crowds are thinner and the prices lower. Most importantly, you can just show up at campsites, and they are happy that another guest arrives.
In summer, we learned the hard way that’s not how it works. The flexibility of deciding last minute where you want to go now regularly results in the disappointing message that every single spot has already been taken. So if you’re planning to travel in July or August, make sure to book your spots upfront. If you do want to keep some flexibility, save yourself an unnecessary trip by giving them a call in the morning.
3. No need to go to the supermarket, the camp will hook you up
So the traffic jam on Route de Soleil was worse than expected and the whole time you’ve watched the estimated arrival time on your GPS get later and later. Meanwhile the kids stopped singing and started to make it very clear that they are very hungry. But a stop at the supermarket will mean another hour of your vacation that you will not be spending naked.
No worries. The large majority of naturist campsites in France have their own shop. Maybe they won’t offer all the ingredients for the five-star dinner you were planning to cook, but there will definitely be enough to feed the family. Often you’ll also find a variety of local things that you may not have found in the supermarket. And there will be wine, there’s always wine.
But there’s also a caveat.
4. Order your bread a day ahead
Breakfast is part of the French vacation experience, and there’s nothing that will make you feel more integrated in the culture than walking naked over the campsite with a baguette in hand. That’s vacation.
We could hardly wait for the first night to be over so we could pick up our baguette, and some pains au chocolat, croissants, and other things that we had no idea what they are but would definitely be delicious. So we arrive at the shop, nicely memorised how to order in French, but instead of asking what we want, the friendly lady asks for the number of our camping pitch.
“Ehm… 34…”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t find your order”
“Order? I was about to tell you my order…”
Not knowing that you need to order your bread and all other delicious breakfast stuff a day ahead is probably the most common mistake guests make at French naturist campsites. Way more than sitting without a towel. And usually they have a small stash for those who forgot to order, but don’t expect to get everything you dreamt of the whole night.
5. Membership cards are not needed but often give you discounts
The times that you had to be a member of a certain naturist club or federation to be allowed access to a naturist campsite in France are long behind us. Most of them function no differently than any other campground. You arrive, you register, choose a spot, and at the end you pay. No need to “prove” that you’re a naturist.
But, many campsites do give discounts for holders of federation membership cards. It’s often not advertised, but if you ask, it’s not unlikely to get 10% off. You won’t be saving a fortune, but if you’re staying for a while, it does add up. But how do you say “I’m a federation member, can I get a discount?” in French? Well, here’s some good news: You don’t actually need to know that.
6. Speaking French is appreciated but not a necessity
It’s often said that the French refuse to speak English (or any other language), and just like any cliché, there’s a basis of truth. But this definitely doesn’t count for all the French and especially not for the ones who work at the reception desk of a naturist campsite.
In fact, your chances of getting a baguette without speaking French are something you can already determine from the star system. Every campsite (naturist and not) in France has a number of stars. At campsites with three stars, the staff usually speak at least two languages. At four and five-star campsites, that’s at least three languages.
That being said, the French do appreciate it a lot if you at least try to throw out a few French words, and they are usually very patient when you make the effort. So if you’re planning to practice your French language skills, the staff at a naturist campsite are great for that. Just don’t do it when we are waiting in line behind you.
7. The nudity etiquette depends on the campsite
How much skin and how much textile you’ll find at any given campsite is often hard to tell. This is confusing, we know, especially if you don’t really feel comfortable being naked when some others are clothed. So we’ll try to guide you through the basics.
The ground rule is that you should be naked in and around water facilities. This includes the pool, the sauna, the hot tub, and so on. But also the sunbeds around the pool, for example. And all natural water and their surroundings like the sea, the beach, the river, the lake,… You get it, right? In and around water: naked. It doesn’t matter if you’re the pope or the president of France, no exceptions.
Everywhere else, nudity is typically encouraged but not enforced. Like when you’re walking around, playing sports, doing activities and also in the restaurant and bar (but we’ll get to that in a moment).
Now here’s the thing. The larger the campsite, the more likely that you’ll encounter people in certain states of covering up. That’s normal, because the more people, the more different levels of comfort. At smaller campsites, it’s more likely to find that most guests prefer to be as nude as possible as much as possible.
8. Evenings can be very textile
But no matter if the campsite is big or small, people dressing up for dinner is something very French (or European, actually). We’ve been writing this blog for almost a decade, and we’ve been to France more times than we can remember, and still haven’t found the answer to the question: “why would you get dressed when it’s 30°C outside and you’re totally allowed to be naked?”
Is it peer pressure? Is it the fear that it might get cold halfway through your dinner? Is it for hygiene reasons? (If that’s the case, we can tell you that our freshly showered bodies are probably much more hygienic than your sweaty clothes) Is it because it’s in our culture to dress up if you eat out? We honestly don’t know. But it’s a thing.
However! Last year and this year we visited quite a few French naturist campsites, and we are under the impression that we’re seeing more naked bodies over dinner than we used to. It might be wishful thinking, but maybe nude dining is seeing a revival.
9. Temperatures can differ a lot between regions
The fear that you may get cold during dinner and that you’ll have to walk all the way back to your place to get something on (which can be far, as you’ll learn soon) is not totally unfounded, though. France has an interesting variety of climates, and especially when you’re up in the hills, temperatures can drop dramatically when the sun goes down.
Or just drop dramatically in general. We remember one time when we had been camping on the Mediterranean coast, and it was HOT. Too hot. Most of our days were spent chasing bits of shadow, and our definition of a successful day was when we got a spot to put up our tent that was completely under trees.
Early September, we moved on to the Dordogne region, arrived at a campsite and picked the most shaded spot we could find. By that time we were experts in figuring out where the sun would rise (you don’t want that because your tent heats up at 7 am), where it would be at midday (you definitely don’t want that), and where it would be in the evening (that’s kind of okay, but if you can avoid it…). We had a spot that covered all three phases of the day. It was perfect!
What we didn’t know was that although the days were sunny, it just didn’t warm up in the shade. It was as if we were camping inside a freezer. The night felt like we were in Antarctica, and a day later we just drove the three hours back to the coast.
10. The big domains are actually BIG
“How big can a campsite really be?” If that question is popping through your head when you’re about to book at a place like Euronat, Arnaoutchot, or La Sablière, you’re about to make the same mistake we did.
Our previous experiences with naturist campsites had mostly included a lawn about the size of a soccer field, camping pitches all around, a bar and restaurant on one side and a shower block on the other. So when we were asked if we wanted to rent bicycles when we booked at Euronat, we kindly declined. Those few days at the campsite we did more naked hiking than probably ever in our life.
French naturist campsites can be enormous. Euronat is by far the largest at 335 hectares, but many other places are easily 30, 40, 50 hectares or more. That is many soccer fields. It’s cool, but distances can be huge. So if you’re asked if you want to rent bicycles, you probably do. Or just bring your own.
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Thanks for this article. Good summary.
I would like to come back on point 8 (clothes on the evening) which is indeed quite complex with multiple causes.
We are a couple having done family naturism during more than thirty years and mostly in France and this is what we have seen.
1) There is a kind of threshold effect
Most of the people enjoy nudity when nudity is widely shared. However, when part of people are dressed, then some other people feel uncomfortable with nudity and they will also some clothes. Therefore the ratio of nude people decreases and some new other people feel uncomfortable to be nude ; and so on.
At the end, when 80 or 90% of people are dressed, you might fear to appear as an « nudity fundamentalist » if you are nude.
2) The temperature can drop quickly
This is very true near the ocean. At 7 or 8 PM, the temperature is still fine for nudity. 2 hours later you might enjoy a sweater. If the tent or the chalet is far away, you will appreciate to have some clothes with you.
We went many times to Euronat (on the Atlantic coast) and when we went to the restaurant, we used to have a bag with clothes for the end of the dinner.
3) The size (of the resort) matters
In small resorts, everybody knows each other and nudity is easier.
And if you feel cold in the evening, it is easy to go back and get a t-shirt.
4) Some restaurants might have an etiquette.
I had once a discussion with the owner of a campsite in France. He was a true naturist and his resort was know as a true naturist place. However, he preferred the guests to be dressed in his restaurant which was a good one (not a basic cafeteria).
5) The price of the resort matters too
In high end resorts, some people are just consumers. They enjoy nudity for themselves without caring much of others.
The low or middle end resorts and usually smaller and the connection between people are better.
I hope this can help to explain this strange phenomenon