Camping Bel, Vendee - tell me about it please!

[wickedfairy]

Hi everyone,

We are booked to go to Camping Bel at the end of this month (our children are 4.5yo and 11 months) - anyone on here been there recently? I have read up on older reviews and all sounds good, but was looking for some recent feedback....

Any tips you can recommend for things to do when we are there? Things we should take with us? Things to not bother about? Not been to the Vendee since I was a teenager, so any advice is most welcome!

We have all our own stuff, and really looking forward to the trip
Thanks in advance for your advice!!

anyone???? please?

Sorry, I don't know the campsite, where in the Vendée is it?

We are going to a "camping municipal" in the Vendée this year.

I think there is plenty to do in that area, we are hoping to go canoeing or kayaking, bird-watching, fishing on foot (ie in the sand - not sure how you say that?) and for bike rides.

I think there are various zoos and theme parks too but we'd rather avoid the crowds.

Our campsite is in La Tranche sur Mer, we booked directly with them although I hear they also give pitches to eurocamp/keycamp as well. Not planning on going to zoo's, etc - possibly Puy de Fou (maybe) but mainly chilling out at the pool/beach and walks in the forests. Just planning on spending quality time with Dh and the kids :-)

Was just wondering if anyone had been to the campsite and had any recommendations.

Or, if anyone knows La Tranche and has any recommendations, that would also be great!

TIA

Just back and it was gloriously hot! So we spent most of our time with gentle walks in the morning, staying out of the heat in the middle of the day, and then the pool. La Tranche has a nice little shopping centre, with a market thats worth a look. The site is clean and the staff friendly. You can borrow board games and books from the keycamp/eurocamp reps (they don't seem fussy who you're travelling with). Our caravan site was secluded and screened from others by trees. If you have hayfever, bring your remedies!

Super U is round the corner, as is the beach, which isn't as nice as some, but still pleasant and sandy.

And its lovely and quiet at night!

DD (11) said she enjoyed this one more than the previous ones where there was more to do in the way of kids clubs and entertainment, which surprised me.

Thanks Mary - it's lovely to hear you had a great time and that you enjoyed the campsite!

Do you have any recommendations (names) for beaches? Tbh, not too bothered by beaches, as long as there is some sand and somewhere to potter/paddle, DS (4.5yo) will be fine. Plan to spend quite a bit of time at the pool, in the hope we can teach DS to swim :-)

Thanks for the hayfever tip - DH suffers quite badly from that, so will make sure he brings his meds!

We just went to the local beach, 50 yds from the campsite, anything else I guess you'd have to drive to. The sand is lovely, the sea goes out quite a way and so long as the sea is in, its nice to paddle in. When it goes out, it leaves a trail of seaweed and other natural debris. We collected some pretty shells. DS (9) loved rushing in and out of the water, fully dressed (!) and attracted the attentions of a sweet little French girl :o.

There is also an indoor pool, with water slide practically at the beach - as you head towards the beach (all of 50m away in distance) you can't miss it. 17 Euros for a family ticket, so DH said - we didn't go in the end as it was so nice outside.

We ate one meal at a restaurant on the beach - it was pricey, but delicious - I had the seafood speciality dish, and the seafood was sublime. We also ate at Le Goldwing, as it came recommended by the rep. Much cheaper, and the steaks were great, and the kids really enjoyed their dinners, but the crepes were disappointing. Most of the time we BBQed though, there's a small charcoal BBQ if you have a tent or caravan.

Thanks for the info Mary, that is much appreciated!

Re BBQ's - we have a little camping one that uses charcoal (metal one on legs) - would we be allowed to use it on the campsite, or do you have to use one of their specific ones? I know some sites says gas only, but as you mentioned above, they seem to allow charcoal....

Thanks!

I would say they would let you use it, can't see it being different from using theirs. They seem very laid back.

Something else to mention is that the Super U shuts at 7:30pm, not sure what time you're likely to get there? You can buy a small bottle of milk in the bar cafe, and I think they do a panini loaf type thing too, if you're desperate, plus they sell lasagne, chips, ice cream, beer, filled panini but not a lot else.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly!!
Great, we'll take the BBQ along with us. We're docking in St Malo early morning then driving down - will probably stop for a picnic lunch and then get there early afternoon, so we have plenty time to pitch the tent, etc.

DH has said he would prefer it if we took our evening dinner with us to cook, so that we don't have to bother finding the shops until the next day, so we'll probably just to that. If we don't, at least it seems like we'll have plenty time to get to the SuperU.

Thanks again and if you think of anything else you reckon would be useful for me to know, then I'm all ears