Eurocamp

[Whiiiissstle]

Morning everyone,

I've seen Eurocamp pop up on a couple of threads recently, I have to admit I had never heard of it before.

I had a, quick look at the site and it seems to offer a good compromise on having a holiday abroad but not breaking the bank so would like to look more into it for the four of us (kids are 6 and 8)

I was just wondering if anyone had been to a Parc before? Are they easy to get to, was the parc nice, can you do day trips outside of the site etc. Does anyone have any experience they can share some insight to? 😀

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If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best Eurocamp sites Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

😎La Vallée, Normandy, France

😎La Croix de Vieux Pont, Paris

😎Des Menhirs, Brittany

😎Union Lido, Adriatic, Italy

😎Park Albatros, Tuscany

MNHQ

Following with interest!

I'd like to do this too, but the getting there and back puts me off. Like do we drive with all our stuff or fly, in which case the costs probably rocket.

We've not been yet but we are booked for Dunirell this summer. Driving and taking the ferry. Lots of days trips available to Amsterdam, Leiden, beach. It isn't a cheap option though. We used to go on Eurocamp holidays in France when we were kids. Loads of sites to choose from with activities on site and local day trips. We used to get the ferry and drive then too.

We just came back from our first! We went to Le Vallee in Northern France since we had never driven in Europe before.

We travelled to Portsmouth from the NE which was a 5.1/2 hour drive ( we went through the night so no issues with traffic) very straight forward ferry boarding another 5 1/2 hours on there ( get a cabin, so you can nap!)
Then 45 mins on the other side to get to the camp.

It wasn't half as long a day as it sounds due to relaxing on the ferry during the crossing.

I can honestly say we had the most fantastic time, our DS (6) absolutely loved it. The swimming pools were heated, we had BBQ ,fresh baguettes and cheese (dont forget the wine for mum) honestly it was superb, we will be going again next year.

2 weeks + ferry crossings and petrol cost £1000 all in.

For me it was the cleanest, most organised caravan holiday I've ever been on. The UK ones do not have a patch on them.
Highly recommended!

If you are in Facebook then join the page eurocamp unofficial supporter club. Loads of information and you can ask questions and people will suggest sites to suit you

We did Eurocamp and similar sets ups for years.Our adult children still reminisce about how great they were. Brilliant for giving children a bit of freedom safely and to meet kids of different nationalities.

Best holidays ever 😊

We have done several.
Great for kids, plenty to do and friends to make. Lots of different parks to suit different likes. Some are big and busy with several pools and lots of organised activities, some are smaller and quieter. Some are near a beach, some are inland/near Paris etc. We've been to Paris, Loire Valley, Vendéè, Bordeaux area, Tarn gorge, Dordogne, south of France, Austria and Germany.
Generally best to have your own transport wether you drive there or hire a car. Then you can go wherever you want in the area. Sites have restaurants/takeaways so easy not to cook if you don't want to. Some have more than 1 restaurant. One of our DC favourites was a roasted chicken from.the supermarket with salad and a big bowl of chips from the takeaway.

Yup done loads of these holidays. My advice is to find a site you like the look of and then book with them directly as it's often cheaper than Eurocamp. We've flown down to south of France and to Italy many times and picked up a hire car. We've also driven down to Dordogne region. Ideally you need a car but not always.

I'd recommend checking out Yelloh (mainly France) and Hu Openair (Italy) as well as alternatives to Eurocamp. Go for the best mobile home you can afford.

Be prepared for noisy 'animations' (entertainment) during the day and in the evenings, which may or may not be up your street. You can usually tune it out though.

The pool complexes are usually excellent - be aware in France many do not allow swimming shorts for men - only tight fitting trunks (not all though).

We have been to the one near Paris, we went last year. Good location, easy to get to, loads to do. 3 pools, splash park, good play park, kids club, evening entertainment.

This year we are going to Carnac in brittany, I went as a teen but sure it has changed. We are getting the overnight ferry Southampton to St Malo. We go in a van so can bring loads, there is 5 of us, driving from nw England. Its a long drive but we love it.

We went on our first one last year and going on our next one in a couple of weeks. Me, DH and DD (9 months old last year, now 21 months)

Last year, we went to one in Brittany - we drove down to Portsmouth and took the ferry across, so had our car. This year we're flying to Spain and just going to use public transport to get around. You could filter by parks that were 'car optional' too.

IMO it's a nice mix between having all the facilities of an AI resort (restaurants, bars, pools, entertainment), with the option of eating in and having your own living space, as well as not feeling like you have to eat there as you've already paid so can go and try local restaurants etc. My rule, though, is that I don't cook - so easy meals only in the caravan (pizza, something and chips, bread and cheese etc) and that we eat out at least once a day.

Des Menhirs? That's where we went last year and it was lovely! I hope you have a great time.

We did many Eurocamp holidays when DC were younger, but only in France. Always had great holidays and the DC loved them, especially those with waterparks. One place we even went back to the following year (after much nagging from DC), which is something we've never done before or since. That one was St Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne and had plenty to keep them entertained. We also did quite a bit off the site - canoeing on the river, visiting a theme park and a bit of culture, not to mention the food. I think the kids liked it when they were old enough to get round the campsite on their bikes, as they could go off to the shop by themselves. They also made holiday friends. We quite enjoyed some of the 'animations' in the evenings tbh 🤣.

I would echo what pps said about going for the best accommodation you can afford and getting AC if you can, as we had temps of 35+ one year and it was a life saver.

Actually it's making me quite nostalgic now as mine are teenagers and more concerned with good Wifi than anything else 🤣.

We did one in Tuscany. The accommodation was basic but clean.
The swimming pools were brilliant, lots for 7 year old dd to do. She made a ton of friends.
We did hire a car as anything food wise, and the the shop on site were really expensive

We've done a few and really liked them. We go by ferry, usually an overnight sailing.
How far you drive on the other side is up to you - we've done some around Carnac which is a couple of hours drive, some to Vendee which is more like a 4-5 hour drive.

I always choose sites that have a big pool/water slides and a kids club as that's what my children like. And ideally walking distance to the beach. It's a very low-stress holiday for us as we just let the kids do what they like and don't tend to try to do any sightseeing or trips. Ours just want to do pool, beach, make friends with other children and have barbeques.

Love these kind of holidays. There are a few sites near Beziers (France) that don't need a car to get to so if you can put up with Ryanair they're worth looking into. Duinrell near Amsterdam is also easy to do without a car/combined with a few days in the city. There are also some sites near Rome and Venice if you fancy Italy - again totally doable without a car. Having said that loads of sites are easier to get to with your own transport and you can bring more stuff from home obviously.

Just remembered another park that we stayed at which was nice - Les Alicourts, also in Dordogne I think. It had a lovely lake, as well as pools, for swimming and boats, wakeboarding etc. Also had pony trekking. I remember they used to have a firework display over the lake on the weekend I think.

It's all coming back to me now - that was the site when eldest DD admitted (several years later) that she took herself off on a "bike ride" which actually involved buying and eating 3 pain au chocolat by herself 🤣🤣. Happy Days...

We’ve been doing this style holiday since I was a baby. And we do it now with our own children.

eurocamp aren’t the only operator. Look at canvas too. Or some of the French providers like Yelloh! and Sandaya.

eurocamp generally don’t own the campsites, they just have a load of pitches on other peoples sites. Canvas and alfresco and a few other operators will also have pitches on the same sites.

there is a huge range of sites available. We generally prefer the more rural, rustic ones. Coastal ones tend to be a lot bigger, busier and noisier.

we hated the one near Paris, La Croix du Vieux Pont, but a lot of people love it.

st Avit was ok, but not my favourite.

chateaux des Marais was lovely.

parc du Val de Loire (yelloh) was a good one.

we’ve always driven. We like to have our own car. We usually use the channel tunnel, but this year we are going to Brittany, so taking a ferry further west.

Does anyone have any recommendations for specific sites that don’t require a car?

We would be flying so would want to use public transport to get to it and would hopefully be near to maybe a beach and/or some shops too.

No particular preference on destination!

Eurocamp is just one of many operators that have accommodation on campsite. But their website is very good at filtering the type of campsite you want eg car not needed, water slides etc.

Des Menhirs is our favourite Eurocamp site. We've been four or five times.
You don't really need a car when you're there - the site is walking distance to the beaches, town and supermarket. There's also a bus service to Auray.
We booked direct last time and got a much nicer caravan. Also not convinced the eurocamp couriers provide much value for money: the caravan cleaning standard was 5/10 and our DC aren't bothered about the kids' club activities.

Myself and my family love these kind of holidays and use the site as a base to travel... we fly then hire a care. We've done Frejus South of France to visit Nice, Cannes, Monaco and St Tropez. Then Lake Garda, and Rome, I can't tell you my favourite as they were all fantastic. The points previously made have been spot on as food is expensive on-site but my family loved these holidays.

I'd echo a pp that it can be cheaper to book direct. We'd stayed in the logis hôtel at Guînes near Calais and it's part of the le bien assise site, just down the road from the Azincourt museum, and things like Nausicaa at Boulogne sur Mer.

Have found gîtes through amivac.com which are generally much cheaper than gîtes de France. You can select campsites, too. Bit of a plug, but the husband of my old GP's secretary runs a site called le bois coutal about 80km south of Limoges. Lovely big pool, pitches and chalets.

The ones on the Venetian riviera are fine without a car - e.g. Union Lido, Portofelice etc. You can get the bus and boat to Venice. Mind you we spent a week at Union Lido without leaving as it's massive and there was so much to do. La Carabasse in Vias Plage is also good (fly to Beziers) as everything is in walking distance - beach, shops, restaurants, mini golf, funfair etc. Club Farret is closer to the beach, but I never stayed there.

My favourites have been Les Ranchisses in the Ardeche and Les Peneyrals in the Dordogne. Dd's favourite was Park Albatros in Tuscany. It's huge though. Canvas used to run the kids club in the evening a couple of times a week meaning we got chance for a child free dinner.

As PPs said - check with the site direct/different operators to find the best options/prices. Go for the biggest/newest mobile home you can afford. I would also recommend the aircon/covered decking options.