Ideas for 2007

[littleshebear]

I know I'm being a bit previous, but...
being at home with DS2 this am as he's ill, my mind has idly turned to next year's holiday.We went camping in our tent to the Loire this year - had a lovely time at 2 very different campsites, but I have decided I don't want to go in our own tent next year - it was all just a bit too much like hard work for 10 days as we have 4 children and the weather wasn't great. So - after a bit of browsing, have decided to go for a Keycamp tent next year -have stayed in these before.

Would like - site with plenty of activities, but not too in your face, iykwim -need a kids' club, can be site one, waterslides, pref. indoor pool. I've been thinking of going to L'etang de Breche, in the Loire, then to Chateau lez Eaux in Normandy. Don't want to go too far as it can get a bit hellish in the car.Has anyone been to these sites? Or any others that are really good for families in Brittany/Normandy/Vendee? We've been to Parc de fierbois in the loire and really like it but I'd like to try somewher new.

Please discuss it with me as my DH won't engage.In fact no-one will! DS1 hates holidays and the others just want to be taken somewhere they can play/go in the swimming pool for 2 weeks.

I have to go to work this pm but I'll pop on later to see if anyone has had any ideas.

Hi littleshebear!

I was recommended Camping Mané Guernehué in Baden in Southern Brittany by a camping MNetter. It was great. We were there this summer and it was perfect for families. I'm not sure if Keycamp go there but Canvas certainly did. We were in our own tent.

We also ventured as far south as St Jean de Monts in the north of la Vendee. We really liked it there as it was a resort without being too tacky! A friend recommended an area called Jard sur Mer which is just a bit futher south but to be honest we couldn't even find it on our map!!

Hope you get some input from your DH - we wouldn't have been away for the last 11 years if I'd left it to mine!

Thanks sarahhal. We would go camping in the Lake district every year if left to my DH, booked 2 days in advance! I just find it difficult deciding amongst the many options.

martianbishop went to a lovely site in the Vendee, can't for the life of me remember it's name, but she may be able to advise you.

I'm still trying to decide whether we can afford to go to France next year, or whether to opt for a nice site in Devon instead......

probably the latter

Thanks Lucycampcat. It can be surprisingly cheap to go to France in your own tent - this year it cost us about £90 for the first campsite,£120 for the second, £85 for the ferry with roofbox and travel insurance about £70 - so about £370 in total for 10 days. We do seem to spend less money in France as well.
However, I have to say that since reading your thread about Dorset I'm pining for a holiday there - we always went there when I was a child.

Dorset is beautiful, but I'm loathe to return to the same site twice as it never quite lives up to expectations.

As we live in Manchester we'd (or rather I'd) looked into the Portsmouth Caen crossing as it's sooo much more direct both here and for where we'd want to go to in France. With an overnight crossing - so a cabin each way, car with roofbox and us it came to £545!!

The alternative is to do Dover-Calais and find a site near Calais to chuck up the Quechua pop up tent. Still undecided, I've been pouring over the Select Sites brochure and Eurocamp Independent looking at sites, but it really is down to the finances.

Keep shopping at Aldi/Lidl!!

Check out Matthews Holidays as they have a forum which might help you decide.

We went to the Clarys Plage in St Jean de Monts this year. Keycamp were there and they had kids clubs. The pool was lovely, loads of flumes etc and indoor and outdoor. It took us about 5 hours from Cherbourg to get there.

domaine de la foret in St Julien des landes

I have written a full; review of it that is published on the UKcampsite.co.uk

campsite website

Keycamp go there
No indoor pool

Thanks surfermum and martianbishop. They both look nice sites - I really prefer a quieter site and La Foret looks lovely - but ds2 is better on holiday if there's a kids' club.He's the wrong age to play much with his siblings, but behaves wonderfully if he gets a few hours a day guaranteed with other children his own age. He went quite happily to a les Castels one, though, so that widens the choice. Will go and do a bit more happy surfing through the various websites.

There is an on site kids club , 2 euros for 2 hours, but it is run mostly in French. Mine have never been , simply because the site is small and friendly, and the kids just meet up at the playground and make new friends IYSWIM

I don't know if there is a keycamp club.

Martianbishop, while I have your attention! Do you know if la Foret will freeze your own ice packs, or hire you their own, just in case we decide to take our own tent? I see they hire out fridges, but would like to consider all options!

Better than that they will rent you a fridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

We did this and it is ace!

Have to have the vino chilled darlink!

What do you want to know.....I'm going again next year and can tell you which areas in the site to avoid, so you get the best pitch!

and yes,they do freeze the packs

Thanks for that Martianbishop -My dh is making mumbling noises about going in our own tent again - much cheaper of course, but I quite fancy a little bit more comfort,and also not having the car stuffed to the ginnels with 4 whinging children perched on top. I suppose if I leave it a while to book it'll be like childbirth and I'll have forgotten the most uncomfortable bits!

I really like the look of that site, though - do fancy the vendee but had heard some of the sites around the coast were a bit frenetic.

Yes they can be. This one os much quieter. Also good is Camping Pong (I kid you not)! Excellent is La garengerois (sp??) also in St jumlien des landes, but this can be v hard to get into in your own rig. Keycamp go there. Fantastic facilities and very nice site.

Seaside camps tend to be bigger, busier and have smaller pitches. TBH, driving to the coast isn't a big deal and all the beaches have good parking faciliteis.

If you are going to the vendee get a copy of ngela Bird's 'Vendee' a first rate guide book.

Let me know if you want any more info

There was a great article in the Telepgraph yesterday about camping at a farm in Hampshire in Luxury Tents - not too procey and the tents are lovely!!

Think it was called featherdown farm - its where we are going to go next year - closest thing you will get me to actual real camping too!!

www.featherdownfarm.co.uk/

Its lovely but I suppose it depends on what age your kids are - and of course is in this country to!!

We've just got back from Chateaux les Eaux (www.lez-eaux.com). It came highly recommended to us and deservedly so. It's a beautiful, immaculately kept campsite in the grounds of a Chateaux. There is an amazing indoor waterpark with waterchutes and slides that we found hard to tear the children away from. It has a lovely safe 'adventure' playground and you can also hire bikes (all sorts and sizes including ones with an enclosed trailer for the little ones). It is about 5 mins in the car from the beach. (Apparantely you can walk there, but with 3 children (9, 7 & 3) and all the paraphanalia it was easier just to load up the car. We went right at the end of August and the beaches were practically empty. There were miles of golden sand and clean, blue sea and we even saw shoals of fish. It was just perfect. We took the fastcraft from Poole and it was about an hour from Cherbourg to get there. The towns of Granville and St Pair sur mer aren't anything special but they have all the usual restaurants, etc,. There is a supermarket just up the road from the campsite and we tended to buy the barbecue trays of sausages, kebabs, etc and just barbecue each night. We even had the neighbours over one evening as the children had become 'best friends' and couldn't bear to be parted! Because the campsite is fairly small it attracts families with children under 10, there are no discos/cabarets, etc, just a small bar/take-away. I have been to many campsites in France and this one has been the best so far. We had a brilliant time.

We go across on the channel Tunnel....no problem with a roof top box on anything, you just have to tell them what you are driving and how tall your vehicle will be with the roof top box. It is a bit more expensive than the short haul crossings, but it is faster, a bit easier, and we are seriously crap sailors.

Dh would rather do the tunnel and break the journey on the way to the vendee in a b and b. You can also use the formule 1 type motels which are very easy to book and a very reasonable price.

TYhere is no way that we can camp for two weeks without taking the roof top box

We travel midweek if we can. Don't drive on a Saterday if you can help it, as the French moterways get clogged up with people goign to the seaside. Sunday is a bit problematical, as French shops all shut at lunchtime on a Sunday....but not a prolem if you are better organised than I am

Don't be nervous, you will have a great time. Where are you thinking of going to?

We stayed in a keycamp mobile home - sheer luxury after tenting! We always take a top box and some people have the bike rack and trailer too - the whole works! If you go on the eurotunnel it is quite a long drive if you want to go to Brittany/Vendee so if you can manage a couple of hours on the fast craft to Cherbourg/Caen/St Malo you get a shorter drive and you arrive at your destination quicker. However, we have gone through the tunnel before and stayed in a keycamp mobile home for one night to break the journey, but it is a lot of unpacking and packing and you feel you haven't actually started your holiday until you are at the final destination and therefore missing a day (if that makes any sense?). I would much rather go for the longer crossing and the shorter drive and I've been doing this sort of holiday for 9 years now and it's the best option for us. If you look on the keycamp/eurocamp website, it has all the details. Good luck. Now I must get of this computer and get some work done!!