Budget for camping in France

[teapot2015]

Just trying to work out if we can afford camping in France this year.
If you camp for 2-3 weeks in France, how does your budget break down?

We generally manage a 2 week holiday for about £1500.

£130 DFDS ferry Dover to Calais. Book this as soon as you can.

£200 municiple campsites. Last year we stayed on the island next to Amboise. It was amazing and only €100 for 2 weeks.

The rest we sort of juggle between food, days out and petrol. We take packed lunches out and generally eat at the tent, but will have a few lunches out, coffee and beers in a cafe most days, dinner out a few times plus takeaway (pizza). Fresh croissants and bread every morning from the bread van are my holiday luxury!
Days out will be walks, beach, local museums. Some bigger days out for local attractions.
Petrol, we generally go where the fancy takes us but generally it's within an hour or so of where we're staying. Furthest south so far on this budget has been the Vendee.

It's a tightish budget, not many luxuries in there, but we always have a great holiday!

We have never been to France or on a family holiday abroad or camped but I really want to go!

I could drive (but never driven abroad before) but don't have a clue how to plan such a trip. We'd have a similar budget for 4 of us.

I'll be heavily pregnant so just want to rest (not lots of trips), DCs just want a pool!

Any ideas?

The first time we camped as a family, we slept on a cheap inflatable mattress with normal bedding, no chairs, a small table, single burner stove and not much else! I would recommend you at least get chairs. The lack of kit was also because we had a tiny car and couldn't fit much in! Go to Decathlon and GoOutdoors as they both have good, cheap deals on.

We sail with DFDS as they're generally much cheaper but book as soon as you can.

We usually go to municiple campsites and find them either from recommendation or www.camping-municipal.org/. They're not all singing and dancing, but they are usually well maintained and have access to the town swimming pool. Also look on UK Campsite as they cover France too.

The other option would be somewhere like Domain des Forge. We stayed in one of their eco lodges in 2012 and it was about 900euros for 2 weeks so would save the cost of tent and equipment.

My DCs last year were 4.5 and 1.5. The 4.5 made friends on the first day and was quite happy hanging around with them at the playground and on his bike.

For things to do, we look on the local websites and good old Rough Guide from the library. And of course once we've decided on the area I stick a message on Mumsnet.

Good luck! I love holiday planning!

Thank you.
Just wondered how much I should budget for food, ice creams and a few meals out?