European sites - your favourites?

[millimat]

Off to Europe in the summer. Been to France 3 years on the run now, and looking for inspiration for new places? Where have you been and loved? Please advise!
We've 2 children under 10 and like to be active ;-)

You could tour the Netherlands. It is compact, so you can see a lot in just a few weeks.

I like camping Witterzomer in Drenthe. Website is only in Dutch I am afraid. Lots of things to do for kids, such as small lake with beach with play equipment, swimming pools, mini golf, pony riding, several playgrounds, kids clubs, bicycle and tricycle rental. There are various other things to do in the area, such as Verkeerspark Assen, Observatory, etc.

I also like camping de Noordduinen, if the weather is nice you spend the whole day on the beach, if not so nice you can still go and look for shells and drift wood and walk to Noordwijk (nice restaurants, shopping etc). Also close to Leiden (very pretty and lots of musea), Delft (beautiful old city and lots of things to see), The Hague, Scheveningen. Amusement park Duinrell is not too far either. You can rent bikes on the camping and by bike you can go to many places, cycle paths are excellent, you can also cycle along the coast through the dunes to other coastal towns.

Best amusement park for kids in the Netherlands, possibly Europe, is the Efteling though. It is huge, truly huge, way bigger than Disneyland Paris. This mini camping is a very very short walk from the Efteling. Camping is basic but adequate and cheap, also short walk to Kaatsheuvel to do shopping.

anyone else?!

Lac de chelain, France, I know. Bella italia. Lake Garda.

Lynned, that lac de chelain is my ideal site - but this time really fancy a change from France? I'm quite intrigued by the Netherlands but suppose in all honesty would prefer somewhere with warmer weather

Advantages of the Netherlands:

• quite close, so travel costs are very do-able
• very small country so you can see and do lots of different things
• great if you like cycling
• lots of things for kids, lots of sports like cycling, pony riding, sailing, rowing, 'puntering' not sure what it is in English - you do it in Giethoorn, etc. etc. but also nice amusements parks like the Efteling, Verkeerspark Assen, Duinrell and many more, lots and lots of museums, beautiful dunes and beaches when the weather is good, nice forests to go on a journey with horse and cart if you like that sort of thing, really for kids it is heaven. On a camping like Witterzomer kids have so much freedom to just go round and play and make friends so easily, nice zoos etc
• beautiful museums with some of the most famous paintings in the world, just came home from the Van Gogh museum - simply brilliant, Kroller Muller museum, Rijksmuseum, etc etc etc
• everything is close by, so you don't have to spend much time shopping, travelling etc.
• when the weather is good, like last Summer, the beaches are beautiful, clean, sandy, spacious and warm, lots of seashells and driftwood to find, we were swimming in the sea last Summer, it was wonderful

Disadvantages

• not cheap, especially given the weak pound
• if the weather is miserable, everything can be miserable unless you go to the towns/museums
• if you are with a family it is worth taking the car. Public transport is excellent but expensive

Plus low crime - always feel very safe on campings whereas of all things I had a kids chair stolen on a camping in Paris

The journey there is longish but Croatia is fabulous for camping, prices really good, english spoken everywhere. And warm, with beaches.

We are going to Dunriell in May half term, will report back!

I have camped at the following site in Germany a couple of times with the children and can recommend it. It is south of Munich, just in the Alps close to the town of Mittenwald. It on the banks of the Isar river and is quite spectacular.
www.camping-isarhorn.de/deutsch/mittenwald.html