Has anyone done Eurocamp in France?

[Tractorprincess]

I would like to take my 10yo and 3yo abroad but are pretty much priced out of flying anywhere half decent.

I've never done camping or caravan before and usually go to a nice holiday apartment in Cornwall which is very home from home.

I've heard the accommodation at Eurocamp can be pretty basic.

Any tips? Recommendation? Warnings?!

Not France but we are at one in Italy just now. I’m usually a 5* kind of girl, the accommodation is basic and VERY small although we booked really late so suspect we could’ve got bigger if booking earlier, we just had to take whatever we could. However, the rest of the facilities are really fantastic for kids, my 7yo is having the best time and there’s plenty for her little bro too.

What's your budget?

Very basic and if you go more towards the north the weather can be hit and miss. We spent a week with a storm stuck over us a couple of years ago. We all came home very poorly.

Ive done loads of eurocamps. There are some great ones out there and you can get some brilliant bargains if you avoid the main summer holiday

Often it works out better to book direct with the campsite.
I have stayed several times at La Trinity sur Mer, Brittany- camping la baie en.campingdelabaie.com/
It's perfect, much much cheaper to book direct than through eurocamp.

Another vote here for La Trinite. De La Baie and De La Plage are both superb sites (same tiny peninsular and owned by the same family).

We are going to the latter again this year as we prefer the direct beach access and to be further from the restaurant. We have our own tent but family with us will be Eurocamping. I would book direct with them myself though as their accommodation is great.

That's a coincidence! We are hoping to have another week at la Baie with The dgc!

Some of the smaller older vans are a bit basic, but the newer ones can be lovely. More expensive though of course. My favourites that we have been to are Les Peneyrals in the Dordogne and Les Ranchisses in the Ardeche. Medium sites with plenty of activities. I always get the decking and aircon. Most sites have reasonable wifi these days.

i think its worth looking at how different sites are laid out and reading reviews.
Ive had amazing times at eurocamp sites, but there have been one or two where ive felt i wouldnt have wanted to be in peak season, such as some of them have reviews that they are really noisy in peak summer, and I stayed in one in the May half term where all the caravans were so damn close to each other, that if the site had been busier, id have felt uncomfortable. Nowadays I always check out stuff like park layout and read reviews and try and notice stuff like that.

We have used Siblu, Canvas, Thomson Alfresco, Carisma and Matthews.
Eurocamp and Keycamp were always more expensve.

Matthews were by far the cheapest, but only go to Vendee and Charente regions. Cheap and cheerful.but their largest van was great space and quality. Thomson were always good and had decent pitches and sites too

Whereabouts in France do you want to go?

I think they can be massively busy, I've only ever been out of season, but some of them are amazingly equipped in terms of sites, they are generally very friendly, and you can get vans with airconditioning. They are a great budget option. Be careful if you book directly though, as they often charge extra for cleaning, which Eurocamp do not.

I’ve been going there since I was a child. Don’t tend to repeat campsites but La Trinite is special.

I stayed at Eurocamp nearish paris. The accommodation was pretty basic (but it was the most basic option - nicer options would have been available if we’d booked earlier) but the pitch was quite nice - we had our own terrace and space and thick hedges separating us from our neighbours. We could hear them on their terraces, but we weren’t at all on top of each other. There as a teeny kitchenette or BBQ outside. We were a two minute walk from the main pool area but couldn’t hear any of the nighttime activities.

There was a decent shop, bakery with fresh pain au chocolat every morning, good pool complex, nice restaurant and cheap separate take away with pizzas, chips, etc. Our kids were a bit little for activities but there were plenty advertised.

The previous year (before my eldest started school so we could go outside of peak) we’d done an all inclusive resort, which was “nicer” in terms of accommodation and food options but I wouldn’t say the kids enjoyed it any more than Eurocamp.

Ahh, we've done la trinite, it was the most brilliant holiday. So simple, but so perfect. My baby learnt to walk there. It holds some precious memories.... We stayed in a Euro camp tent there and it was fab. Couriers were an older married couple and their standards of cleanliness were high. It was basic, but had everything we needed.

We've also been to la garangeoire in the vendee. Safari tent which was really good fun but expensive and we are actually going back there this year with our own tent which is saving us over £1000. (School holidays).
We've done eurocamp in Italy- union Lido which I've been going to since I was a child. Fantastic site. Had mobile home there with a/c - again basic but only really used to sleep in, the rest of the time we were using the sites facilities which were 5*.....

Eurocamp is an expensive choice

It is much cheaper to book direct with the site and nearly all have chalets or Mobile homes that they let directly. but as this is your first type of holiday like this then I think you would be better going with an established company, there are plenty and often they are on the same sites so the only discernable difference between holidays is the colour of their staff uniform.

Have you looked at the cost of ferry crossings? They are often equal to a cheap flight somewhere especially in high season and the most popular crossings do sell out. The tunnel is much cheaper but can mean a long drive depending on where you want to holiday. You also need to be aware of road tolls as they can quickly rack up.

We love our campsite holidays in France but personally avoid sites that have eurocamp etc. It takes a while to work out what you like.