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

If you don’t want to drive then consider French trains rather than planes. I’m not sure how the costs compare though, but it’s definitely worth looking at as their trains are usually excellent.

@willstarttomorrow sorry I missed your reply when I posted my last response.
Thank you for tip on websites etc as well as the cleaning as that hadn't even entered my head (not that we would leave it a tip), I'll have a look at the link later today. Its reassuring to hear about driving though! I wouldn't say I'm a nervous driver or anything but having to navigate in a different language slightly put me off tbh.
@BareBelliedSneetch, trains is an interesting thought as well, it would be worth doing some price comparisons (one of the kids is a train fanatic as well so it would definitely be a tick in their box)

@Fixesplease how did you find driving over there if that was your first time?

I was so nervous but honestly as soon as we got off the ferry I was away.
It sounds silly but you just follow everyone else!
We done a fair bit of driving plus unknown to us we ended up driving about over a bank holiday there.

Avoid those if you can!

We did Carnac Des Menhirs without a car last year and it was fine. Took the Eurostar to Paris and did a couple of days there and Disney, then took a train from Paris to Auray, and a bus from Auray to the campsite. Google maps will give you the transport options. The beach and town are a short walk from the site, and there's a big supermarket within walking distance. The on-site shop doesn't sell very much, though you can get fresh bread daily. My DD enjoyed the animations, though we went at the end of August/start of September and they stopped the entertainment halfway through our stay as it switched to off-season. So that was a bit disappointing for her. We booked through Eurocamp and it was our first time doing any Eurocamp holiday. We're going to do another Eurocamp holiday in the Netherlands this year.

@Whiiiissstle, last time we went as a group of 4 plus one child. The two men drove with all the luggage and the rest of us flew.
The previous times, when our DC were children we drove, making stops along the way. But this was back when you could book one or two nights at different sites - it all seems to be 7 or 14 nights only now.
We had some fantastic road trips and had short stays at places we wouldn't have visited otherwise. It's sad you can't seem to do that any more.

We're very close to booking the parc near Paris for a week in September but I'm worried that everything is going to be closed/semi closed in terms of activities and entertainment for the kids. Does anyone happen to know what will still be open in the first half of September?

You should be able to find out on the website. But when I worked for eurocamp, the kids' clubs' reps went home early September so it might be all closed

Thanks @WeWereInParis the website isn't clear and I've chatted to them and they weren't sure either. Gutted as we were so close to booking and it's unaffordable in the holidays 😭

The Eurocamp kids clubs only run til the end of August. I doubt the parc's own entertainment will run much into September to be honest.

Do they enforce the tight swimming trunks for men? I'm going to a Yelloh but assume it's similar?

Most places in France do as it's the law.

I've been to loads of different parks and never seen it be enforced

We did them for years. Perfect holidays for kids between 4 and 14 years old

Does anyone know the easiest site to get to if driving from the UK?

There's one very close to the Caen ferry port.

Yay! We went to La Grand Metairie about 16 years ago. Across the road from a long field of standing stones! It was fab. Was great to cycle round and easy to get to the beach.
That - south Brittany - was week 2; the first week was in North Brittany, Dol de Bretagne, also nice. Can visit Mont St. Michel. The drive between the two was gorgeous, through nice medieval towns.

We’ve stayed in several locations with Eurocamp over the years. I particularly liked the Ardeche and Dordogne. Those are a long way down so we’d always stop to break up the journey for a few days on the way down in another camp, in the Loire (Parc de Fierbois, St. Catherine was a favourite) or Vendee. I was just saying to DH the other day that we should do it again… now I’m feeling inspired!