Bouldering camp in
Fontainebleau
France

Our camp in the Fontainebleau bouldering area is located on the edge of the small village of Noisy-Sur-Ecole. About 60 km south of Paris, the area is easily accessible by public transport or by car. The camp itself is in the middle of the forest and the first boulders are within walking distance.

You travel to the camp independently. We will be happy to put you in contact with other guests for a joint journey if you wish. Depending on where you are coming from and what you prefer, there are the following travel options:

The months of May, June and July are highly recommended for all pleasure boulderers and course climbers. Compared to the cold winter, the days are long in these months, the forest is bright and, above all, pleasantly warm and dry. Around Easter in particular, the forest is crowded, often rainy and still really cold in places. In our offer, however, we are not looking for the hardest boulders in the forest! We are looking for the interplay of physical challenge, mental strain and secluded nature in order to experience optimal relaxation and fantastic experiences. We don’t want to suffer on vacation 😉
Tension and relaxation, adrenaline and deceleration – that’s what this forest offers us in June and July.

The Fontainebleau area is one of the largest contiguous forest areas in Western Europe and a dreamlike place characterized by a mixed beech-pine forest, ferns and sandy and springy forest soil. The area with its numerous boulders on soft forest soil was formed millions of years ago from the primeval sea through sedimentation and erosion. Bouldering on the sandstone rocks of all shapes and colors is the origin of outdoor bouldering in Europe. Small forest paths lead from the parking lot into the forest and make it easy to access and discover this bouldering mecca.

You can go bouldering in Bleau all year round. However, as the summers in central France can also be very hot, the forest offers a cool retreat and numerous shady spots.

In addition to bouldering, nature lovers will also get their money’s worth in the forest of Fontainebleau, as the area is also ideal for hiking, cycling, horse riding and relaxing. And if you’re in the mood for culture, you can visit beautiful, historically valuable places in the area, such as the castle of Fontainebleau or quaint little villages. Of course, the city of Paris, which is easily accessible by public transport and offers numerous attractions, is also worth a visit.

Our concept is aimed at complete beginners and novices as well as advanced boulderers and professionals. The only requirement you need to bring is a basic level of physical fitness and your own climbing or bouldering shoes. These should be individually tailored to your feet, which is why we cannot provide shoes. If you need advice on what to buy before your vacation with us, you are welcome to contact us.

So it doesn’t matter whether you have never bouldered before, have some experience or have been doing it for years: you are always welcome. Our aim is to find the right sectors and courses for the group and to provide plenty of variety. We want everyone to be in their comfort zone and be confronted with the right challenge. The nice thing about “Bleau” is that easy and difficult routes are right next to each other, just like in bouldering halls, so we can all climb together, regardless of level. For us, that’s what bouldering is all about: facing a bouldering problem together and working out how we can all do it. For us, bouldering is a group activity!

In general, the climbing in “Bleau” is rather technical. But what does that mean with 30,000 different problems 😀 You can find everything here. From overhang, roof, slab, dyno, etc etc… simply everything. Because of the sandstone, a lot is solved by friction – so you inevitably learn to stand well on your feet in a very natural way, to load footholds correctly, to move in a controlled manner, to support here, to push there – ultimately to use everything that the climbing trick box contains. The rock often doesn’t make it easy at the beginning, so you have to work out problems together to crack the boulder. A solution is usually found in the end – and if not, our guides are sure to have a tip or two up their sleeves. Bouldering at Goodtimes is a team affair and you will have great memories of your time together in the forest – so look forward to a fun time out in nature.

The idea of our bouldering camp is to make it as easy as possible for you to practise and learn this sport. That’s why we have all the equipment you need for bouldering on site. If you prefer to use your own equipment, that is of course no problem at all. However, as we know how annoying it can be to travel by train or plane, for example, and lug a crashpad around with you, you are also welcome to use ours.

We have crash pads, chalkballs, brushes, floor mats, seating for the sectors, hammocks, tape, homemade topos and guidebooks, first aid kits and much more on site. If you have any questions, please contact us.

All you need to bring is your bouldering shoes and you can start bouldering together!

We chose 3 beautiful, cute little “gites” as accommodation for our bouldering camp in the forest of Fontainebleau. The 3 gites are located near Noisy-sur-Ecole, secluded and quiet on a plot of land in the middle of the forest.

The location of the gites offers access to more than 30,000 bouldering problems (routes) and around 250 courses (series of 30 to 80 bouldering problems of the same difficulty), accessible on foot, by bike or car. In addition to the gites, there are two glamping tents on the site.

6 bedrooms, 2 of which are in glamping tents, 4 bathrooms and a guest toilet, offer space for up to 15 people. There is open-air training equipment in the trees, hammocks and beanbags scattered around the property and plenty of equipment to pass the time after bouldering. Meals are almost always served in the garden or, in bad weather, in the main house.

Our aim was to be as close as possible to the bouldering spots and still find a nice, quiet spot. We can proudly say that we are the first and so far only bouldering camp of its kind in the Fontainebleau forest.

In the morning
At around 09:00, we serve our delicious breakfast buffet with baguettes and other French specialties. Sweet or savory, various spreads, cold cuts and a muesli bar offer everyone a balanced opportunity to get going in the morning and pack a lunch box for the day. From around 10:15 a.m., it’s off to a different bouldering sector in the Fontainebleau forest every day.

At lunchtime
As you have already filled your lunchbox at breakfast, you can decide for yourself during the day when to have lunch. At lunchtime we eat in the forest and try to extend the bouldering time by not having to return to the accommodation at lunchtime.
We spend the whole day in the bouldering area and either boulder through a course (see “Parkour”) or sections of it or work together on very specific and sometimes even famous bouldering routes and problems.

Afternoon
When our fingertips are already slightly pink or our muscles are showing signs of fatigue, we return to our camp. Now you have time to relax in the hammock, play darts or table football, read or use our slackline. There are also games such as Mölky, Kupp and lots of board games available. While we are recovering from the tension and excitement of the day, or perhaps mentally re-climbing one or two routes, part of the group is already preparing dinner, which we then usually set up together outside the tiny houses.

In the evening
there is always a short briefing about the next day, area selection and weather forecast and then we end the day together or individually.

Our double rooms are available with a large double bed or two separate single beds. If you are traveling alone and still want to stay in a double room, that’s no problem: in this case you will get to know your roommate on site. We make sure that the rooms are occupied by people of the same sex unless you explicitly request otherwise.

If you prefer to have a room to yourselves, you can book a single room for an extra charge. This means you can decide for yourself at any time whether you want to mingle with the other guests or simply withdraw for a while. Our single rooms have either a large double bed or two single beds – in which case the second bed simply remains free.

If you would like to be accommodated together with others or are already traveling as a small group, then there is our shared room. Here we can accommodate up to 4 people. The shared room is actually a Tinyhouse in its own right, which is then available to you. Like each of our houses, it is equipped with a bathroom and furnished by us so that you will want for nothing.

Our glamping tents are very spacious and offer room for two to three people. We have chosen the location of the tents so that you feel like you are “in the middle of nature” and yet remain part of the camp. The distances are therefore short. The bathrooms of the houses are also available to the glamping tents and since 2023 there is also an outdoor toilet and shower with a unique view of the countryside.

The glamping tents have a small terrace, chairs with coffee tables, shelves for your belongings and, of course, the tents are supplied with electricity.

At our bouldering camp, our team takes care of the daily breakfast buffet, from which you can pack a packed lunch for the bouldering trip every day. In the evening, self-selected teams from the group cook for everyone else. So once a week it’s your turn to cook and wash up and you can sit back and relax for the rest of the week.

In the morning, we will welcome you with a delicious breakfast buffet, including French baguettes and a muesli bar. So you don’t have to worry about a thing and just sit down at the table we’ve laid for you.

Around midday we have lunch directly on the rock. We pack our lunch boxes in the morning so that we can stay in the areas for a long time and everyone can decide for themselves when to eat.

In the evening, everyone cooks for the rest of the group in cooking teams at least once a week, alternating daily.

We usually form teams on the first evening so that at least 2 people always cook for the rest of the group. We always have recipes and cooking ideas ready if you can’t think of anything yourself. We also organize the shopping on site and weave it into the daily schedule. In the end, you cook once a week and have the rest of the week off 😉 Bon appetit