Your family friendly Brittany / 3 hrs from St Malo campsites please!

[WoweeZowee]

Mumsnet Campers! We're planning on heading to France with our tent and two kids (4&7) next August. It'll be our first camping trip abroad as a family, hence wanting to keep it within reasonable drive of the port.

So far I like the look of Mané Guernehue (Morbihan), port de plaisance (finistere), Le Pin Parasol and La Garangeoire... but looking more ideas and inspiration! (Any excuse to do more research ).

Would like decent water park (if good weather kids will mostly want to do this) and some entertainment / on site activities (doesn't have to be a full on kids club or disco every night etc). Beach nearby would be nice but not essential. I think the ones I've mentioned are quite big so a smaller site that has some of these ^^ facilities that'd be ideal.

Where do you love? Hit me with your recommendations!! (Or experience of any of the above). TiA

La Garangoire is our favourite but it gets booked up very quickly.
Domaine des Ormes is only 30 minutes from St Malo. It's massive but there's loads to do on the site and there are lovely beaches nearby.
It's a little more than 3 hours drive, but have you thought about visiting the Ile de Re? Gorgeous beaches and lots of cycle paths everywhere

Thanks @reallyneedmoresleep
I'll have a look at Ile de Re - we briefly visited a few years back and thought it was lovely but haven't ventured that far down in my research for this hol, although I think for max sunshine/warm weather we probably need to go as far south as we can (and our sanity in the car will allow)!

Pin Parasol is awesome, really fab site with lovely pool complex. Most relaxing holiday ever...!!!

Thanks @samlovesdilys - Pin Parasol is def on the list. It looks amazing!

Pin Parasol or Ile de Re - then venture further down to Les Grands Pins the following year.

We did a Eurocamp thing a few years ago, arriving at and leaving from St. Malo.
One week in the north of Brittany at Domaine des Ormes, then a week in the South of Brittany at Le Grand Metairie in Carnac. Both huge and really good, with lots to do.
The second one had lots of good, safe cycling, including to the beach.

If you have time you should spend a few days at this site www.loire-gites.com

It is one of the most relaxing campsites I have stayed in and your dc are the perfect ages to enjoy it. It doesn’t fit all your requirements but a few days there would a perfect. Lots to do in the area, market, castles etc as well as a fantastic zoo.

@artfooldodger
I’m looking at Les Grand Pins in Lacanau...what did you think of it? Wanting a surf beach nearby. Thanks

We’ve done La Garangeoire a few times and it’s fab but kids are older now so a longer journey down doesn’t seem like such a hurdle.

@VanVentures

Les Grands Pins is definitely for you then. The beach is about 500m walk so if you’re taking your own boards either take a rucksack style carrier or be prepared to walk.
There’s a surf school on site, great pool (use the adults one to get some relaxing in - I didn’t use it until the last day and regretted it as I could have been using it every day). The pizzeria is good, excellent bar, walking distance to town.
I would suggest booking earlier as I think they fill up quickly.
It was our first longer drive. Took us about 7 hours from St Malo.
We also did a day trip to St Emilion as we had fond pre-kids memories of visiting. Still just as beautiful as ever.

La Plage at Guilvinec is good - it’s a Yelloh campsite.

It’s on the most fantastic sandy beach - Waterpark not massive though and it’s quite quiet but we’ve been twice now and loved it.

I've been to a lot of Brittany campsites and des ormes is def my favorite. It's one of only two campsites I've ever returned to.

ifeellikeanidiot which was the other one?

We'd got out of the habit of French camping, but really want to get back into it!

The other is ty Parke in pembrokeshire. Small, laid back, beautifully cared for, campfires.

Thanks! I live not a million miles from Pembrokeshire, so I'll check it out.

@artfooldodger
That’s great, thanks for the info

Another vote for Domaine des ormes. It's lovely

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll also look at the Pembs one - we're in South Wales and looking for somewhere not a million miles away for weekends and half terms.  we stayed at Dolbryn campsite near Newcastle Emlyn earlier this year and it was fab! Would definitely recommend for a short break!

Can I please ask any camping experts a question about accommodation on these sites?

We are looking at booking for Aug 2019 for a big extended family trip. Personally, I'd be all for the tent experience but there is some reluctance from the rest of the campers and it looks like they favour the 'mobile home' type accommodation tour operators a la Eurocamp have on offer. My only stumbling block with this is the lack of AC in what is essentially a tin box. I know some have AC but there is no availability for our dates (apparently these things get booked up pretty far in advance!) can anyone who has stayed in Brittany in August in this type of accommodation comment on whether that is likely to be bearable? fine? or truly uncomfortable? I appreciate this is a somewhat niche question.

In addition, thanks for the tips for the campsites, this thread has been most useful.

brighton19 We’ve stayed in Brittany twice and never needed it. Once at Les Mouettes and another campsite near Carnac. We didn’t need air con in either of the mobile homes. Both times were in the School summer holidays. It was warm but not that stifling heat that you need to have the air con on. We stayed near Rome last year and definitely needed it there! I would look at booking with the site directly as cheaper and better accommodation usually.

brighton19

Depends where you go. Brittany isn't much warmer than here, so it's not needed; if you're going further south it may get a little hotter midsummer.

Apologies to OP, I'm hijacking the thread as I'm also looking for a campsite in the same sort of area. We would prefer the Vendee as we've already booked a week in southern Brittany and want to try two different locations. I was going to book La Garangeoire but I had the email today to say that booking is now open but all the pitches with electricity are already sold out for the dates we need!

Does anyone have suggestions of anything similar? We would like a pool and some entertainment for the children but nothing too big or noisy. I had a look at Le Pin Parasol that was mentioned upthread but it looks a little too full on in terms of entertainment for us. Doesn't have to be too close to a beach, we're happy to drive.

RCN Ferme du Latois might be ideal.

Thank you prof, that does look like it might suit us. I am dithering between there and La Guyonniere.