Camping/Mobile Home Vendee France

[Mosse]

Was thinking of going camping in France (Vendee Region) with Keycamp. I have three boys (14, 11, 7) and am travelling from Rosslare (Ireland) to Roscoff. Any advice on good sites in Brittany or Vendee. Have read some horror stories online and am beginning to get cold feet...first family holiday abroad so we want to make it a good one for the kids.

Hi Mosse

We went to Les Genets this year with Matthews Holidays. Keycamp also go there (more expensive but have kids clubs if that's what you want). The site is well placed, you can walk to beach or take car as plenty of free parking. Did not eat on site, restaurants down the road were fine.
Pools were BRILLIANT. They were properly heated, even at the bottom of the slides. There is also a running rapids section. No Lifeguards though!

The site next door was Le Clarys Plage. Bigger & looked better, a bit nearer the beach. Looked a better quality site, depends what you want (we just needed a base).

Have also been to The Bois Masson with Haven (they own the site so are cheapest option, actually they are cheaper than Keycamp all the time). Site is huge & a short drive to beach, but good entertainment etc on site.

Loads to do in area. We did high rope adventure, go karts, quads, aqua park, markets etc etc.

Matthews holidays have a good forum on their website where loads of sites are discussed (even ones Matthews don't go to).

Mosse we went Keycamp to the Zagarella site at Longeville sur Mer (there are two called Zagarella - I don't know anything about the other one). The site was okay, and all the kids thought it was fab. Adults felt that the pitches were VERY small, and there was a bit of a cramped feeling about it. Although it is close to the beach, access is via a 30-40 minute walk, so you end up driving if you have little ones. Restaurant on site was very ordinary. The area is lovely though. I would look for one of the other sites around that region, but check that the pitch size is a bit bigger than the ones at Zagarella. Hope this helps.

we had two great holidays at bonne anse plage

ideal for your boys as it big - oura re younger ( 7 5 an d 2)than oyurs but love dit

here
can tell you laods nore
do a search on here for it as a nothe mn went ther too

it was a 6 hour driv e frm cherbourg so lees form roscoff

get a three bed grand

we've been to La Bois masson, should suit your boys perfectly!! We're going back to St Jean de Monts next year to camping Acapulco, closer to the beach but haven't had a recommendation about it. We went to brittany last year and this year, Mane guernehue in baden which was lovely but quiet so may not suit teenagers but site was lovely. Great if they like fishing, pools were fantastic. This year we went to Le Guilvenic which was fantastic location wise as it was right on a gorgeous beach. Pool was OK but the kids pool was awaful (not relevant to you I suppose). The bar got a bit lively at night (has pool tables, tabele football etc) even though we went end of season and there is a volleyball pitch, crazy golf,play areas, big chess set and a takeaway. the teenagers on site seemed more than happy with the pool and slide but we weren't as the baby pool was so awful we had to take our 2 and 3 year olds into the big pool. Big pools hould be OK for a 7 year old.

Why not try the message board on www.matthewsfrance.co.uk. Just hover over a destination then use the drop down menu to selct messgae board, there's a great forum for posting views on various campsites.
Take care

ps we only go with French Life so don't knw much about Keycamp

Thanks for all the advice, am busy researching various suggestions.

we stayed at Camping Acapulco in 1999, it was very nice and the beach was quite close

hi mosse, we camped in st jean du mont three years ago - usual lovely swimming pool, bar food wasnt great. good club at night, and daytime too. had to drive into town and to beach. went to parc du fierbois in loire valley, this year; really GREAT restaurant on site (and one within walking distance as well). good club and pool, also lovely lake to swim across, and indoor pool also. We flew over as it was 1000 euros cheaper (and theres 7 of us!) than the ferry and hired a car. (we are in Waterford)

me still (sorry!!) however, last year we went to porto colum in majorca;it was perfect for all our kids (then aged 10 to 16). Great beach, (warm mediterean sea - non tidal), BRILLIANT club. the kids could have gone anywhere in the village and they couldnt have got lost. really lovely, safe resort for a family (we are going again and we can get 3 bedroom, en suite apartment for 100 euro per day if we book direct. our campsite cost us that a day, this year. oops i sound a bit obsessive (really i just need a holiday...)

We have been to the Acapulco twice and last year went to Sol-a-gogo which was also nice although smaller. We go with Charles Alexander - they are a small company (ie. no kids clubs etc.) but are always cheaper than the bigger companies and their mobile homes are among the best on the site!

To: laurawaterford, From Mosse
Thanks for your information, can you give me some website addresses or any advice on majorca?
Also I am suprised that flying to france was cheaper than ferry option as our travel agent (in Wicklow) assured me that flying would be much more expensive!! What campsite did you stay on?? Any info greatly appreciated. I'm a novice at this and don't want to get it wrong.

Isn't mumsnet a great website, just stumbled on it by accident>
Doreen Moss

Mosse
We travelled from Rosslare this summer with Irish Ferries.
Do NOT under any circumstances book with this company - it was the worst journey i have ever taken. Apparently the route to take is with Brittany Ferries (but i think they might only go from Cork). Agreee, if you're able to book early enough, it would be as cheap to fly and hire a car in France.

Thanks for the advice MrsBoo, think I'll have to look into the flying option!

hi mosse, we flew from shannon to paris beauvais at end of june for 500 euro all in for 7 of us!!!! (including cabin charges, the ferry quote was 1600 euro. we booked through ryanair website via their special offers (or cheap flights?) page. you just key in your dates and they show you the next 30 days and their fares so you can pick the best for you! The apartments on porto colum are called ole club cecilia. i don't have their website or phone number (you could get that via directory enq easy enough) but the ole club chain have a website address in budget travel brochure - i think!! im happy to answer any questions - brings back the holiday memories!!

ps; i agree this is a great site - there is an irish site called rollercoaster.ie too, which has similar discussion forums. laura

i'm sorry cod - have i said something wrong?!

Hi Mosse
We stayed at Les Genets and Zagarella (the one near St Jean de Monts) last year with Keycamp. Both sites were fine and we had nice pitches particularly at Les Genets. We stayed in a Villagrand 2 bedroom and a Villagrand 3 bedroom which we really nice. It's a great region with loads to do. We took the overnight ferry to St Malo which was fine and sailed back from Cherbourg. Hope you get something booked.