Le Var en Camping-Car : advice, areas, routes

Want to leave on the road all day? What if you opt for a tour of the Var on a motorhome?

Are you going on a road trip through the roads of France? Go visit the Var by camping-car or in furnished van! The Var department is the second largest in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur by its surface.

This treasure of Provence, hidden between the Mediterranean Sea and numerous massifs, offers a festival of colours and flavors. Rich in abundant nature, the Var is known for the beauty of the coast of the Côte d’Azur . Beyond its beaches, it is a land with an exceptional natural heritage, and scattered many sites and monuments, cities and villages to visit.

From the canyon encased from the Gorges du Verdon to the heavenly islands of Hyères, from the massif of the Estérel to the Massif des Maures, you will take full view. Here is our mini-guide advice to visit the Var by camping-car or in furnished van.

Ideas of itineraries in the Var by camping-car

Your steps will logically vary depending on whether you have visited the Var since Nice , Aix-en-Provence , Marseille or from Gorges du Verdon .

The Var extends over 5,973 km2 and requires several hours to cross it. You will also need to establish your routes according to your wishes, duration and type of travel. You can't visit the Var in full camper for 3, 4 or 5 days. It would take a minimum of one week to start having a good look at it.

Also, define your expectations: do you want a fierce stay at the beach? Would you like to visit the Provencal hinterland? Do you want to stay in town or country? Also consider seasonality. Visiting the Var in summer camping can be a real calvary, both on the beaches and on the roads of the hinterland. Outside the summer season, you will be more quiet and you may be better considered by the locals. On the other hand, you cannot swim in the sea.

Here are some possible routes to visit the Var in motorhome:

• The west of the Var in 5 to 7 days: Toulon and its radius, Mount Faron, La Seyne-sur-Mer, Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, Bandol, the natural park of the Sainte-Baume, Le Castellet (medieval village), Barjols, Cotignac;
• The Var Coast in a week: the Hyères Islands (Porquerolles, Port-Cros National Park, Levant, Bagaud), Embiez Islands, Bormes-les-Mimosas, Le Lavandou, Fort de Brégançon, le Rayol-Canadel, Cavalaire-sur-Mer, La Croix-Valmer, la plage de Pampelonne, Saint-Tropez (Cap Camarat, the massif of Estérel with Fréjus and Saint Raphael ;
• The Var and the hinterland in a week: the Gorges du Verdon (lake of Sainte-Croix, Aiguines, Trigance, Castellane), the classified villages (Fayence, Bargeme, Collobrières, Châteaudouble, Ampus, Mons, Aups), Draguignan and the throats of Nartuby;
• Visit the Var by motorhome in 15 to 20 days : the same steps, the more Sainte-Maxime, Port-Grimaud, Ramatuelle, canoeing and hiking in the park of Verdon, the Presqu’Île de Giens, Cap Bénat, Nans-les-Pins (source of the Hauveaune, the pass of Saint-Pilon), the cave of Castelette);
• The Var in a month: the same steps, the more the villages of the Haut-Var and the coast (La Garde-Freinet, Bargemon, Evenos and the Vallon de la Rouge, Esparron-de-Pallières, Brignoles, Carcès, Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Entrecastaux, Correns, Seillans, Gassin).

Ideas of routes for more than a month

You have the feeling that you've made the round of the Var and you have time? These steps are only indicative and are far from exhaustive. You can decide to stay more at beaches where in the cities-steps.

Also, enjoy it to discover the cities and villages of the neighbouring departments. For example, Cannes , Grasse, the natural park of the Préalpes d’Azur (Alpes-Maritimes), Manosque, Valensole and Forcalquier (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Luberon Regional Natural Park (Vaucluse) or Calanques de Marseille and Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône).

Drive in the Var by motorhome : traffic rules to know

Driving in the Van obviously involves respecting the rules of the French road code. You can therefore circulate as if you were driving a car under the law. Be sure to respect speed limits and have your papers (driving licenses, insurance and gray card), especially in rental vehicles.

Each department or region has specificities inducing the need to adapt the conduct. Notably because of topography, quality of roads or tourist affluence. The road network in the Var is good quality . On the main axes, you will have no difficulty driving in camping-car.

But the hinterland, the Haut-Var and the massifs are made up of small, sometimes winding, departmental roads. This is the case, for example, in the Verdon Regional Natural Park and the Sainte-Baume Natural Park. On motorhomes, keep as close as possible to the right during the difficult crossings. Sometimes motorists often have an incivil or even dangerous driving: excess speed, absence of flashers, dangerous exceedances, etc. Increase caution because in addition to that, your template will be imposing in motorhome.

The Var is a department that has a lot of relief. In sometimes tight corners of medium mountain, be very careful. Reduce your speed and take care of the vehicles that "differ" the lines. Motorcyclists and motorists sometimes get too fast in the corners. So always turn right to avoid accidents. You will sometimes even have to klaxonner in a turn, to announce your arrival.

Other tips to drive in the Var: Consider that the French Riviera is a very tourist area. In the summer, the roads can be congested and very bottled.

Motorways in the Var: what price for your camper category?

The total length of the road network is 10,669 kilometres, i.e. 7,513 kilometres of communal roads, 2,956 kilometres of departmental roads, and 200 kilometres of highways. The highways crossing the Var department are the A8 , A57 , A570 and A50 .

The A8 motorway connects Aix-en-Provence and the French Riviera from the A7 to Menton . It is 223 kilometres long and is managed by the private network ESCOTA (Estérel-Côte d’Azur-Provence-Alpes). It is therefore a tolled highway. The A57 motorway, known as the “Toulonnaise”, connects the Toulon tunnel to the A8 to the Cannet-des-Maures. It is also managed by ESCOTA and has tolls. The A50 connects Marseille to Toulon and is also subject to a toll. Finally, the A570 is part of the undivided network. It connects La Garde to Hyères.

What rate to pay to visit the Var in motorhome, van or fitted van? Although the motorhome is considered to be a car according to the law, private highways use the Class 2 fare for this vehicle. The vans, they, are subject to the Class 1 rate like cars.

Here are some indicative rates to visit the Var by motorhome via the motorway:

• Toulon-Fréjus: 12,70€,
• Aix-en-Provence-Toulon : 13€,
• Nice-Toulon : 22,40€,
• Nice-Fréjus : 9€,
• Aix-en-Provence-Fréjus : 19,60€,
• Marseille-Toulon : 10,30€,
• Marseille-Fréjus : 17,50€.

Borrowing the highway to visit the Var by motorhome costs relatively expensive, given the few kilometers to go through the department. In fitted vans, the prices are lower. For example in van, count 11,80€ to make Marseille-Fréjus, €8.20 for Aix-Toulon, or €14.80 for Nice-Toulon.

How and where to rent a motorhome in France?

But how to rent a motorhome to visit the Var? Now it is very simple to rent these vehicles between individuals, especially in France. Many platforms allow this type of rental, online, as Yescapa For example.

How does it work?

• At first, you have to choose the motorhome in your city (For example Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Paris, Montpellier or Marseille).
• Be careful choose unlimited mileage, to check the number of beds available and if travel abroad is possible.
• Do your work online rental request and share your travel information (dates, rental options, mileage, etc.) to the owner.
• If your request is accepted and after payment, you will have access to the owner's contact information to organize a First meeting.
• Day J, present your driver's license and pour bail.
• One. status of premises is executed and a lease is signed between the two parties. You'll have to sign it as soon as you get back from 83, and once done, the tour is played!

The camper areas in the Var: where to park?

By camping-car, you can park wherever cars can. In other words, on the regular pitches, dedicated to parking (white and blue lines) and wherever it does not cause traffic or signalling. However, due to the high tourist affluence, some communes restrict parking. It can be limited, paid or both.

You will find private parking in the basement of the agglomerations (Toulon, Fréjus, Draguignan, etc.). In the city centers of the resorts, it can be complicated to find a place in the middle of the summer. We recommend that you opt for camper service areas. Each urban area has it. Parking will be logically easier in van than in motorhomes: parking is often closed by porticos making it impossible to access motorhomes.

To find where to sleep at night, know that the law allows you to sleep in your vehicle, but not to do anything camping wild . As a result, spending the night on the public space is almost impossible by camping-car in the tourist areas.

In case of control, the authorities will sum you up leaving the place, especially in national parks and natural areas. The Var is equipped with many service areas to sleep legally in motorhomes. For example, go to Camping-car or Park4night. The latter is a mobile application that refers to a large amount of spots where to settle in campervan, van and van.

What is the best time to travel by camping-car in the Var?

The best times to visit the Var by camping-car are on spring, summer and early autumn. The Var is indeed characterized by a Mediterranean climate, with warm and dry summers and mild winters. The south of the department is mild in winter. But the north of the department has a mountain climate, which sometimes causes severe winter frosts.

Nights can be fresh even in summer. The snow sometimes falls in winter, on the heights of the mountains. Autumn can lead to heavy rainfall, with regular and dangerous floods. In the summer, temperatures above 30°C are frequent despite the maritime influence. Values close to 40°C or even locally more are not rare in the interior of the land.

The best season to visit the Var in camping-car is so May to September . If you don’t want to find yourself in the strong tourist affluence in the summer on the coast, you should be in the hinterland (but it might be very hot)!