Indigo Noirmoutie, Noirmoutier-en-Lile, Vendee, France

We spent 4 utterly miserable nights at Indigo Noirmoutier in July 2009 with our 11 month old son. Despite being in a pine forest, our pitch had no shade at all. The fierce July sun beat down on us from 6am waking us all up and making it unbearable to be inside the tent.Unfortunately the wooden base of our pre-pitched wood & canvas tent was covered in splinters - so a big problem for our crawling little one. The tent was pitched in a sandy which was dotted with very spiky thistles - again a problem for our boy to crawl about. The biggest problem though was that the brown canvas of our tent attracted swarms of flies which plagued us all day long. We were also placed between a stag weekend on one side and a hen weekend on another. VERY noisy.

The beach at Noirmoutier was beautiful, the area is great for cycling and lots o really interesting stuff to explore. The facilities on the campsite were fine, if a little basic and we felt the lack of a shop.

It could have been a perfect holiday - we did see some nice shady grass pitches and if we'd taken our own tent things would've been much more pleasant. But I definitely wouldn't recommend a wood and canvas tent if you have a baby. We were so relieved to check out!

Absolutely fabulous campsite right on the beach. Very protected bay, perfect for the kids to paddle whilst you relax. Beautiful pine tree camp pitch and if you are really lucky you can get a beachside pitch. Great for days on the beach and biking (very flat!). Things to do on rainy days too... would recommend to all my friends.