eurocamp

[Bogwoppit]

Has anyone been eurocamping?
what is it like? tent or holiday home? fly/drive or ferry/drive own car

we'd like to go to french alps. is driving across France with a toddler a good idea? how long would it take.

my sister lives in folkestone so eurotunnel to Calais is prob best for us (she is coming to)

any advice, suggestions, experiences welcome

[Tortington]

we do that type of holiday every year - and it suits us - the worst part is the kids in the car - and i imagine a toddler would be a nightmare.

these type of holidays either float your boat or dont - i work with someone who hated the experience -they went to the south of france, she didnt realise how close together the tents were and she complained about having to be outside when her toddler was asleep inside - no noise barrier you see. tents are not sound proof int he least.

we go to brittany and the vendee for our holidays simply becuase we think that 5-6 hours max is enough in a car for me and for the kids ( DH doesnt drive)

the RAC website does a routfinder european - and that will give you an indication of how long it will take.

i went on holiday with my friend and her hubby and their 11 yr old and their 18month old - and he was happy enough although his mum hated his routine being disrupted and hated the fact he was doing the toddler wiggle bum dance in the bar area at 11pm - she is pretty anal about routines and things have to be just so - so it didnt suit her as a holiday.

good luck

[Bogwoppit]

DS has been camping at Guide camp with me since he was little so tents & noise not an issue (you can imagine what 15 11-14 yr olds are like at night .
Routines are flexible too.
I think this could be the holiday abroad for us.
Thanks for advice & will look at RAC site for journey times.

[janh]

Hi, Bogwoppit (wonderful name! Did you used to be somebody else?)

We did a Eurocamp 2-siter tent holiday with kids aged 8, 5 and nearly 2 - first site was in Normandy (Houlgate) so not a bad journey from Calais. Then we moved on to one in Jura - quite a long journey but we did it in a day, can't remember details of journey but it involved the peripherique round Paris so that was fun.

Then we went back to Houlgate for a few more days to make the journey home easier - had a different tent though and toddler got a bit confused - kept going back to the first tent!

It was a fantastic holiday, kids all had a brilliant time, we took toddler's little ride-on which kept him happily occupied for ages on-site. We had their baby pack with highchair, playpen/cot and baby bath - baby bath was v useful for carting laundry, we bathed him in laundry sinks, and the playpen kept him out of the barbecue.

Hope you have a great time

[codswallop]

I have a pal who lives at bogwoppit cottage

[Bogwoppit]

was a diff name indeed. in fact coddy I sent you some pushchair stuff.
Bogwoppit is from a kids book i read.
see my post on the why you chose your name thread

[codswallop]

you ve changed then?

[Bogwoppit]

Coddy -I fancied something a bit more original.
now I should go cook tea. DH might not be happy if he thinks I've been on here instead of cooking
then it's packing to see my sis for BHol. the one going with us to eurocamp.
Will keep you posted with what we choose.

[Lindy]

W've been Eurocamping in France the last 2 years (DS now 2yrs 6 months) - I would recommend a mobile home rather than a tent, although DH & I have enjoyed camping on our own for many years I did find it hard work being in a tent with a toddler - at least you can shut them in their own room at night in a mobile home!!

Eurocamps have great facilities for all ages, lovely pools etc - only 2 drawbacks: the noise factor if you're a grumpy sod like me who likes an early night (thats why the mobile home is better) & the mobile homes are VERY cosy - the double bed is 4ft wide! DH ended up sleeping on the sofabed.

This year we've gone for a gite though - but with 3 extra days at the end in a Eurocamp in the South of France.

Custardo - where did you stay in the Vendee? We were there last year, fab.

[hmb]

We have just come back from a Canvas holiday in the Vendee. First rate! The best family holiday that we have had (and that counts Mark Warner and Sunsail). For similar reasons to Lindy we also chose the caravan option. The one we had was excellent, with 3 bedrooms and lots of room. The camp facilities were great, the kids loved the pools. The beaches were wonderful, and at the end of the day we would have a BBQ while the kids ran aound out pitch, or dug in the sandy soil.

We went to St Jean de Mont. It was more built up that the sort of places we have gone to in the past, but because of this there were lots of things to do with the kids. We even had a teddy bears picnic in the woods. I'm already planning next years visit there and would buy a caravan there if we only had the cash.

[Tortington]

we went to st jean too. it was a haven site - bois masson& bois dormant - accross the road but the bigger sister site - it was great

then we went a bit further down near sables d'lonne(sp) and the site was crap - cant remember its name.

this year we went to two in brittany - st laurant - again shite. and another one that i am not telling becuase it was so fantastic i dont want to advertise it becuase i want to go again next year!

i would recomend dol de bretagne it was the first site we went to ever - and we had the best time there.
we went inland a little to bernie rivierie - the site itslef was a bit rubbish but it was close enough to eurodisney and astrix land and so things roundabout kinda made up for it.

[Tortington]

can i just say although we are talking about the "genre" of camping involving eurocamp - euro camp are one of the most expensive. do shop around we find key camp cheaper - although i think its the same company somewhere along the line actually!

[hmb]

We were at Bois Dormont! And it is good isn't it? We have also done one in Brittany- Fousnant. That was good, but when we went there thte weather was dreadful and that put us off a bit. Canvas have a cheaper offshoot as well, same sites but less choice and flexability about when you can go, and you don't get the kids clubs.

[jodee]

We've just come back from a Haven holiday in a mobile home in La Baume (Frejus) in South of France, with no complaints - apart from being a bit too close for comfort to the forest fires; the campsite a mile down the road burnt down on our second day ...

Travelling-wise, we drove from Calais with a stopover in a Novotel in Dijon (ds aged 3.3) and found that as long as you timed your breaks every 100 miles at decent service stations so everyone could stretch their legs, it wasn't really a problem. The only downside to the driving was that our holiday coincided with the extreme heatwave, especially the day we drove back - it was almost unbearable even with air con in the car. We were hoping for a bit of respite on our return to the UK but unfortunately (for us anyway) we arrived back on the hottest day EVER ... !
We did the same trip 2 summers ago to Messanges (with Keycamp) and found the weather disappointing - and I was more impressed with Haven than Keycamp.

[janinlondon]

Can anyone enlighten me on the difference between Haven owned and Haven Europe sites? Is one better than the other? And has anyone been to Domaine de Kerlann? Please?

[Jimjams]

I think Haven owned actaully own the whole site - whereas they just rent space on the haven sites iyswim. So you can buy your own caravan on the haven owned sites.

We didn;t go to dommain de kerlann, but stayed near it on a Eurocamp site Raguennes- Plage- (fantastic except for the mosquitoes). It's a great area. If we had the cash we would consider buying a caravan at the domain de kerlann site- maybe in a few years. Hmb maybe we should go halves It's a shortn drive to the sea, but the beaches are lovely in that part of Brittany.

[Bogwoppit]

Well I have booked . I panicked a bit because when I checked availability there was only a couple of weeks that suited what we wanted.

We are Euro tunnelling to Calais (sis who is coming lives in Folkestone - makes sense)
then Driving to Joinville for a stop over.

then off to La Revoire in Annecy.

Back to Joinville O/N then to calais & home next day

2 weeks total hol. Quite a bit of driving, but DH & I can share. DS used to sitting in car for long journeys nearest rels are 3 hrs away.

for anyone who has seen me on ttc thread - I bet I get preg now

[codswallop]

I booked ours (Keycamp) and got the last three bedder

[Bogwoppit]

we decided on euro camp simply because it was one with sites close to Annecy - which was where we wanted to go.
I couldn't believe how early the places seemed to disappear.

you booked yours weeks ago too. my friends can't believe I have next summers hol booked already!