Backpacking in France makes for a great summer. Not only are there a huge range of activities to choose from while you are there, whether they be outdoor pursuits or just lying on the beach, there are also a huge range of places to go as well, with great variety between them. There are the cities with the hustle and bustle, or quiet county villages, or beaches, or canals; a very wide variety of places to go and to choose. There are theme parks as well as green parks, and rivers as well as the sea. Not only all of that, but there is also the great weather ? who can complain when the sun comes out and you are sitting outside a street side restaurant with your food and drink?

Another option would be to simply backpack from beach to beach down the French coast. This is also a particularly popular option, as it isn't particularly strenuous and requires little planning and effort prior to doing it. There are many restaurants that serve fish freshly caught that day when you go to the coast, and these are particularly enjoyable. Why not save a bit of money on travel and accommodation so that you can spend a bit more on food? It's worth it! One simple thing that you can do whilst in France is fishing; take a line and catch your own fish, cooking it on a barbeque, and save yourself some more money there. Fresh fish tastes even better when you've caught and cooked it yourself.

Backpacking allows a lot of flexibility in travel and accommodation, and that is one of the main reasons that it is so popular. It is possible to completely custom design a holiday to suit your every wish, and many more people come away from backpacking holidays feeling fulfilled and pleased with their choice than people who go on package tours. However, things do sometimes go wrong, and in those situations you need insurance to fall back on. It is quite easy to lose a wallet, or mobile phone, or any number of other things. If you didn't have travel insurance, then these things wouldn't be covered and you wouldn't be able to get them replace for the relatively small amount of money that it takes with insurance. However, with travel insurance, there is normally cover for lost possessions, and for personal accident as well ? hugely important if taking on risky activities. It is highly recommended by all the television programmes about money and travel websites and magazines that you buy travel insurance if going away, as it could save you a huge amount of money in the long term. In some areas the hospital won't even consider looking at you, no matter how bad the injury, unless you have insurance, so it is worth it even if you never use it. If you don't then at least you had the safety net of it being there if you needed.