Questions about possible camping trip to france next year, please help...

[PigeonStreet]

We are thinking about taking ds (7) and dd (4) camping in france next year. Ideally we want to be in 2 campsites (keycamp type of thing) overall, maybe start in brittany and move somewhere else for the 2nd week.
When do you get the best prices when booking? Am i better booking before christmas?
Does anyone have any specific campsites to reccommend?
We are not too fussed about facilities but I gues we would like a pool.

We haven't got loads to spend, probably £1000 overall.

TIA

We went to a Siblu campsite this year and it was ace. We went out of season so I couldn't tell you what it was like when it's busy but the pools were ace and iirc it was a lot less than £1000 for the fortnight.

I think they have one in Brittany and if they do we'll go in 2013 (DC2 due next summer so not planning hols abroad).

I don't know if that is the kid of campsite you are looking for as I don't know about Keycamp but I can definitely recommend Siblu. We stayed in a static caravan but it had a bit for tents, lots of playgrounds, shop, laundry facilities, three pools, bike hire etc. I'd never been to anything similar and loved it.

Oooh I'll have a look at siblu thanks openerofjars. Was there much to do off the site? My idea of having two parts of the holiday was so that we get the chance to see something of the surrounding areas.

I don't know about Siblu but you'll be lucky to get 14 nights with Euro/Keycamp/Canvas for under £1000 during the school summer hols. I just did a quick check and cheapest I could see was £999 for a supertent in the Vendee). That would include a cheap (i.e. Dover/Calais) channel crossing, but from there you are also looking at around 90 euro petrol + tolls each way to Britanny (check Via Michelin.com) A Western channel crossing would be better but undoubtedly more expensive. I'm not trying to put you off - Britanny is a lovely area and I've had some fantastic Keycamp style holidays - but you might need to do a bit of shopping around to get what you're hoping for for your budget. Britanny is also a very, very long way from Calais. I drove from Dieppe to Perros-Guirec last Whitsun - it took nearly 7 hours and I was practically in tears by the time we got there at 9pm having been travelling non stop since 3.30am. The other thing to remember with Britanny is that the weather isn't guaranteed and given the distance from the main channel ports, depending on your crossing you might want to look at sites further south. The Vendee isn't as beautiful as Britanny but it has a microclimate and is said to be as sunny as the Mediterranean coast. We've done Eurocamp etc for the last few years but have now taken the plunge and invested in our own camping kit and are hoping to do two weeks in the Dordogne at the end of August this year for under £350 + petrol and tolls using Tesco vouchers for the Chunnel

pigeon - this is the post i did for a similar thread recently. if you read weather stats for south brittany i don't think its that far different to north vendee and its much prettier and closer. do not travel to vendee on a sat in school hols as traffic bad. can you go outside school hols as 1k is not much - end of aug/start of sept is cheapest i think. i would just get quotes from all of the companies and ask them for guidance on maximising your budget. mid week crossings are cheaper. agree with cheerup ref driving from calais.

sites we've been to are:
dol de bretagne - quite large and busy, has great football pitch, north so less travelling, but 30 min drive to decent beaches
perros - le ranolien - nice pool complex and near sea - can walk along coast. bit squashed in - only went once
fouesnant - camping altantique - can walk through woods to nice beach
carnac - favourite area in south - good at half term, might be overly busy in summer. la grande metairie. also one in centre which haven't been to but is in fab position near one of the best beaches anywhere
raguenes - les deux fontaines - liked this site as can walk through fields to good beach and fair amount of room on site.

happy to answer questions on these. also been to n vendee which didn't like as less character and longer drive. weather in south brit more reliable. think cornwall with less tat/people and better weather.

we do the longer crossing from portsmouth to st malo which reduces driving and go for largest van with dishwasher - but this is expensive. suggest contacting canvas, keycamp and eurocamp, and thomson all fresco and getting quotes and advice on crossings etc.

ukcampsites have reviews. this is excellent hol for kids - though we know some people who hate it. we like having lots of activities and kids having some freedom.

We went to La Garangeoire (Northish Vendee) this year and it was a lovely site. You could try booking through Les Castels, who own the site (though they also have Eurocap, keycamp etc on site). We were recommended to do this by a friend who always books with them, and it does seem to be cheaper. They have sites elsewhere int eh Vendee and in Brittany too.

We crossed Portsmouth-Cherbourg as cutting down driving time was important for us as we'd already driven down from Scotland to the channel. It's only 3 hours if you take the fast crossing, but it is more expensive than the eastern crossings.

la garangeoire best site we've been to in france in over 12 years, but not keen on vendee. canvas and thomson have best pitches

Book early if you have to go in school holidays. That way you get the choice rather than the last turkey in the shop.

agree gnome - we booked a year before we went and half the mobiles with canvas had already gone.

Just seen this thread and one thing I would say (I went on these holidays as a kid and now take my family to the same place (southern vendee - it is lovely!) but I would say that a two-centre trip would definitely not really work for us - so it is maybe worth thinking about the actual logistics of packing everything up and moving on half way through?

I know it does work for some, but I think it is different if you are in a hotel to self-catering in a caravan / tent. It takes us most of the first week to really settle in and for the girls to start to enjoy the freedom and if we then moved on I think we would just have to go through the whole process again, and waste a bit of holiday, IYSWIM? Hope that is helpful

I agree, i wouldn't want to have to pack up the whole family part way through, we've stayed in various campsites in France and to be honest once the kids are settled they dont want to leave.
If you want somewhere close to Roscoff in Brittany then i dont think you can go wrong with Les Mouettes. We stayed there for 10 nights and our kids loved it.
If you are looking at going a little further then try the Vendee or Loire there are many superb campsites there. Try having a look at www.gocampfrance.co.uk/ we've booked through them for next year and found their site quite good. Has all the major companies on and the special offers are starting to come through now with many of the companies offering up to 25% discount depending on the time of year.