Anyone been to Les Prairies de la Mer, camp site in cote d'azur?

[Tarabear]

We're planning to go on a eurocamp/keycamp holiday with our toddler and new baby. (will it be a holiday? |) last year we went to devon for two weeks in the rain and it waas just awful so i've convinced my husband to go abroad. i've been driving myself mad looking through the brochures. we want to be walking distance from a beach as are not really pool people. this campsite int eh south of france looks nice, but would love to hear any one's experiences of it - if youve visitied.

Also i'm rather neurotically worried about my boistrous toddler son running off so am hoping to get a chalet with a deck with a gate - has anyone had one of these before.
any tiips welcome. i can't imagine staying in a hotel with my two boys, so feel camping is my only hope of escaping england this year. xxx

[Milliways]

We stayed with Canvas at a site up the road and walked through this campsite to get to the beach every day

Pros:

You are RIGHT on the beach
Lots of different restaurants on site, on the beach, which were great value (had to book a table though).
On-site entertainment
Some of the vans had Air-Con, TV, Dishwashers etc.
Port Grimaud is walkable, and a great place to visit.
Water Taxis to ST Tropez etc available
Excursion leave the site
Loads to do.
Monaco etc are in easy reach

Cons:

It is a HUGE, VERY cramped site, we were there in the Summer Hols & it was heaving.
It is Very noisy by the beach and entertainment areas - all night.
The beach is VERY crowded
There is NO swimming pool (which my kids prefer - the Canvas site had an OLYMPIC pool & Waterslides).
The chalets etc on the beach have constant traffic walking past.
The whole area is a traffic jam - takes ages to drive anywhere - get a boat!
Personally, I wouldn't stay there, but other review sites have people returning every year.

We have stayed at La Carabasse in the LAnguedoc - lovely site and walkable to beach, but takes 10-20 mins through a vineyard.

Le Vieux Port in Gascony is a 5-10min walk - direct access to sea - but Atlantic coast so very wavy (surfer heaven).

CARISMA holidays are all direct access to beach if you want to check them out.

Or, I can recommend some on the Vendee - sea not so warm, but get there in a day??

[Elphaba]

OMG! We went there in about 1983!!! It was blardy marvellous but I'm sure it's changed, as milliways outlines!!

[Tarabear]

thanks for the advice. i thought it would probably be all those things as have been to the south of france before. We're planning to go in June. I really like the look of the Vendee but am craving warm sea. i've been on far too many british seaside holidays the last few years and would love to take my new baby and toddler into some warm sea. Its so hard to work out where to go. I know that no holiday is perfect but trying to figure out where to take the two baby boys is really hard!
I will look up the La Carabasse site. i reckon we'll go with a package as i like the idea of having all the baby equipment to hadn.

thanks! Tara

[Tarabear]

this site looks really nice with canvas - domaine des niaides campsite - do you reckon it'll be nice in June? we want to go away before the holiday season kicks in.

[Milliways]

That's where we stayed! It's a walk (about 20mins strolling) down a hill and through Prairies to the beach - but UPHILL after! You can drive and park at the bottom of the hill though.

There is NO Air-con in ANY vans on this site (site policy - not green!). (We had a 2 centre holiday, the first site we stayed in a Canvas Millenium with Air-con at Parc St James (Roquebrune). Fab site but a drive to beach - Frejus. Then we moved to Naiades, great location but no air con was felt in August.

The only thing that may bother you us the pool.My older kids LOVED it but the shallow end is 1m deep - 4m in deep end & 50m long. The only other pool is a very small paddling pool only - for tiny tots. The pools at Roquebrune are brilliant - wave maker etc.

[Tarabear]

thanks for the advice. we're planning to go in June so don't think we'll need aircon. Is the campsite nice?

[Milliways]

It was nice, not the best but OK. It is very hilly - vans on steps, and not a great deal of space around each van, but we were out & about.

Another site we loved was La Sirene, on the Med - very well laid out, and La Carabasse is very green, flower beds etc. This area is dry (forest fires were happening) but there is a lot to do.

The Languedoc area is well worth looking at - or even Spain? We have stayed at El Delfin Verde - very large site but spacious plots, directly on a large but never crowded beach and the sea was always calm. Pool fab as well.

[swedishmum]

My parents used to live at Roquebrune. We stayed at La Bauume a couple of years ago for our first Canvas experience - really quite liked it but not on the beach and ours are older therefore pool slides more suitable. Prairies has been a bit dodgy since I met dh in St TRpez back in 1993 - very crowded. Where to go depends hugely on if you have your own transport.