To think a family friendly campsite should not have fireworks at 11pm?

[ridingsixwhitehorses]

We just got back from camping trip in France - huge 'family friendly' campsite full of families with young kids Our kids (all under 7) were in bed by 8.30pm at the latest each night as they were knackered and also we wanted a grown up evening. Though we noticed lots of other kids up much later. And twice they were woken up on separate nights by the campsite's own organised entertainment of very loud fireworks at 11pm.

to be honest, if I ever want a quiet and peaceful holiday, the last thing I will book is a family friendly place as I fully expect them to be noisy from early morning to late evening.

We were at a party yesterday - not only were DC (7 and 5) still up at 11pm, they didn't have dinner until 10pm!

My children are 9 and 12 (both with birthdays in the next few months). I would still look for a family friendly resort.

Bedtime for us is sometime between 8 and 10 on a school night and 9 and 11 on a non school night.

So I wouldn't expect places to be quiet until 10pm ish.

Not everyone has got small children... So you can't expect everyone to have bedtime at 7pm. Especially not on holiday. Usually my children are only eating their tea then!

I don't expect the site to close down at that time. But I do expect it to be confined to the main area. So fine with the discos etc as all by the bars. But the fireworks were loud so woke the kids in the actual tents a good ten mins walk from that area.

Yes tbh 10pm would also be too late for us. I expected a family site to be nice a quiet at bedtime!

I have never stayed on a campsite yet (and I have stayed on a LOT of campsites) where everyone was expected to be quiet after 8 bloody 30.

we stayed at a campsite in the UK this weekend, there were still kids running around and music playing at 11pm. (no bar or organised entertainment on site). The children I was with ranged from 5 - 9, but there were tiny babies up to teenagers there, everyone just relaxed and went to bed when they wanted. Didn't stop early risers though!

What do you expect if you're sleeping with only a couple of thin sheets of material between you and the outside world....

11pm isn't late. I'd expect quiet after midnight on a campsite

At 10-11pm it's only starting to get dark and people are leaving the club just then.

I think Yabu. It's camp life.

But family friendly does not mean bedtime for 8 and parents drinking wine by 5 past your expectationsof campsites is far to high people are on holiday. Maybe go for a quite non family friendly site next time its lights out by 10

Why do the parents of young children so often think that the world revolves around them? 11pm isn't late when you are on holiday, let the kids sleep in if they were disturbed.

I used to love being allowed to stay up really late during the holidays when I was a kid!

The cultural difference isn't just between Britain and Southern Europe: northern Europe also has a more relaxed attitude about bedtimes.

Though bedtimes are generally not as late in northern Europe as in Italy or Spain (for climate reasons), Scandinavians also expect children to join into occasional adult events and stay up late when something unusual is happening. Children asleep on a blanket under the table is a perfectly normal sight at a Swedish wedding. And summer holiday bedtimes tend to be very lax. I used to take my nephews for moonlight swims at a very early age- and you have to wait quite a time to see any moonlight in that part of the world in July. If it made them sleep late the next day or nod off after lunch, nobody cared. Also have pictures of ds aged about 2 wrapped up warm for late evening fishing expeditions: when he fell asleep we just hauled the fish over his head.

This whole idea that disruption of routine is a bad thing and will cause untold problems seems a very British thing. Or possibly a MN one. Likewise the idea of the child's world and the adult world as completely separate places.

Very much doubt that any of my Scandinavian relatives would understand what the OP means by family friendly, so I hardly think the French campsite can be blamed if they didn't instinctively understand it either.

These are some of the many reasons that a camping holiday would never suit me. I know that other people's noise would aggravate me and I'm not keen on communal fun.

I dont join in on comunal fun rather stick pins in my eyes but site noise does not really bother us its usually quite by midnigt but yeah camping is not for everyody.

Have only been camping once. Had the opposite issue. Night owl kids were fine with late nights, but kids running around screaming at 5am and their parents shouting across the campsite at them when you didn't get everyone to sleep till gone midnight had me seething. 3 nights of that and I swore never again!

We have been taking the kids camping since they were babes in arms. Bedtime on the campsite is whatever time they conk out at.

Gosh 8.30 bedtime on holiday.... That's a bit strict isn't it? Holidays should be more relaxed IMO. For family friendly read entertainment for families which they'll miss out on going to bed so early. My little girl 4 stayed up until around 11 or so on hols, she just had a lie in the next day to catch up.

As a seasoned camper I have found the rule of thumb on campsites is no noise after midnight or before 8am.

The only time I get irritated is when another family's kids are up for the day at stupid o clock in the morning and the parents let them go and play noisily outside other people's tents.
My lot rarely rise before 8am on holiday, but if they do, they are kept occupied at our own tent until then.

The children that come to play football outside our tent at 6.30am will be told to go back to their own pitch and play.

It is worth noting that the occasions I have had to shoo other people's kids away from the tent at silly o clock in the morning have been rare. Most people loosely stick to the 12-8 understanding overall.

Having to creep around after 8:30 while on holiday in case I woke up someone else's kids is just ridiculous

I am actually with you OP but I realise we are in the minority. Youngest DS is 7 and just will not lie in or nap, its not in his DNA! We like an early bedtime. We are currently on holiday abroad and our room is close to the entertainment which goes on until 11-12pm. We are in bed way before this, but we just have to accept that most people/families do stay up late. We read in bed, youngest conks out, I wear ear plugs when ready to sleep.
I think the only way to avoid this is to hire your own self catering cottage somewhere quiet,mwhich we have done before and enjoyed.

My DCs were terrible sleepers, but when we went to Greece when they were little we just adopted a Greek way of life and all went to sleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then stayed up late. It worked very well, didn't take long to make the change, and also, the tiredness and outdoor life quickly made them sleep later in the mornings. I would just go with the flow.

Having said that, on quiet UK campsites, I think it is good manners not to make noise after 11pm or midnight (some sites stipulate 10pm) , not to run round and yell by people's tents or talk loudly. But on a holiday site with 'entertainments' I would expect them to go on until midnight or so.

Your kids would always be in bed when the fireworks are on though. 8.30 it's still light outside and you have to wait for dark to let fireworks off.

Family friendly means there are things for the whole family to do, most campsites like these will have things going on up until 11pm. The majority of families stop worrying about bedtime with the kids because it means the parents also lose out on the entertainment - it stops being a holiday.

If you think noise is unreasonable at 11pm, I would be very interested to know what time your kids get up in the morning because the worst people we have ever camped next to would put their kids to bed at 8pm and they would be up at 6am much to the annoyance of almost every other family nearby.