17 by the water campsites, individually selected, to book directly with the establishment.
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A verified selection, presented on equal footing, in an order that changes with every visit.
Lake Serre-Ponçon, straddling the Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence departments, is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe, created by the building of a dam on the Durance in the late 1950s. With seventeen campsites listed, sixteen of them facing the lake, it's by far the best-supplied camping destination in this batch, built around an immense body of water framed by mountains rising above 2,000 metres.
The vast majority of establishments directly benefit from the lake: swimming, sailing, windsurfing and paddleboarding are all particularly popular here thanks to calm stretches of water and good exposure. A few campsites also benefit from more of a river setting, on the upper Durance side, rounding out an already wide offering for a stay between mountains and fresh water in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Lake Serre-Ponçon was formed by the flooding of a former village, Savines, rebuilt higher up on the shore and renamed Savines-le-Lac; its suspension bridge, one of the longest in France at the time it was built, remains a landmark on the road that runs along the lake. The Chapelle Saint-Michel-de-Cousson, perched on a peninsula overlooking the lake, offers one of the best-known viewpoints in the region.
The lake is surrounded by peaks that herald the Écrins massif, and the towns of Embrun, with its cathedral and old streets, and Gap, the capital of the Hautes-Alpes, are reachable within about half an hour's drive. People come here for the mountains as much as for the water, between high-altitude hiking and sailing on one of the largest lakes in France.
Other campsites less than 30 km away, in neighbouring towns.
Every by the water campsite is checked against its official listing and real photos, not a marketing pitch.
We cross-check public Google ratings and reviews. An establishment below family standards doesn't make the selection.
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| Campsite | Rating | by the lake | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camping Les Tourelles | 3 ★ | ✓ | — | 4.0/5 |
| Camping Baie de La Chapelle | 2 ★ | ✓ | — | 4.0/5 |
| Camping La Viste | 4 ★ | ✓ | — | 4.5/5 |
| Camping La Cle des Champs | 3 ★ | ✓ | — | 4.3/5 |
| Camping Les Grillons | 3 ★ | ✓ | — | 4.6/5 |
