Heading abroad with your tent...

[User07]

Hello!

So we have done a few camping trips in the uk. It is fair to say we have caught the bug and absolutely love it as a family. We are now considering trying camping abroad next year, all been well on the covid 19 front anyway.
We are thinking france or maybe spain. We would be driving/eurotunnel/ferry depending on where we go.
We are wondering if anyone has any tips for a good holiday abroad in your tent and if anyone has any recommendations of site. We like quieter sites in general but while abroad would like a pool etc

Thanks in advance

If it’s your first time abroad & driving then I would suggest France, driving to Spain will take a couple of days and if you use motorways this will add another £100 + to your trip

There are some great ferry routes to use that take you further into France towards holiday destinations than Dover, though I like Dover and Normandy, Brittany & Vendee are popular easy to get to destination. Use st Malo and Cherbourg- the ferry will be more expensive but the cost of fuel and driving has to be factored
The st Mali route is overnight and there is entertainment on board ( pre Covid19 anyway) and it’s a great way to start the holiday

Alternative is new haven

If you stay in a municipal site it’ll be cheaper and a municipal pool is usually sited next door and entry is free if you are staying on campsite. These are not “touristy” places as such

There are literally hundreds of sites in the Vendee and Brittany alone to choose from and I’ve stayed at some really lovely campsites over a number of years. My dds were happy with just nice showers, swimming pool and ice creams sold on site

Is there a particular area of France you wanted to visit?

I would happily recommend both of these campsites.

Vendée - www.camping-la-garangeoire.com/en/

Dordogne - www.mathevies.com/

The former is a big site as it also has chalets for Eurocamp etc. but it's peaceful and lots to do. The latter is much smaller and low key.

www.hpa-laforet.com/en/

This is a lovely campsite and exceptionally clean

Well located to cycle with children into st Jean de Mont. get to the beach through the wood

Take a few day trips

Relax on the small campsite

OP apologies - am place marking as we’re in the same boat!

Thank you for the replies! We have never been to france so again we are open to suggestions.
I think my husband is keen to do France and use the euro tunnel for the first time.
We have 3 children and we had thought and discussed we might stop at a camp site near disney land paris for 3/4 nights as this is something we haven't done before either.
I will look through all these suggestions of places thank you!
Would you say it is a good idea to take your own tent etc with you? We are thinking it will keep cost down and therefore allow us to spend more time there? Plus we love it

Definitely France! We've camped there most years for the last 15 years. LOVE IT.

Never camped near Paris though but I'd definitely recommend heading somewhere else after the business of Disney.

France is incredible - so beautiful. My favourite things are wandering the enormous weekly markets and kayaking on rivers.

Campsites range from municipal sites which are cheap as chips to 5* sites - Castels, Indigo, Yelloh etc. We use both. One site we came across in the Loire was utterly gorgeous and simple next to a stream and cost us just €15 a night. Fresh croissants in the morning and campfire cooking at night.

Love it.

France is a good start, you'll find the sites are quite different! We have stayed at 4 vents for eurodisney. Ideally you need to think about your ports early on, how long you want to drive before you get more suggestions as there's zillions of sites. How old are your children and what do they like?

France is great - we go every year (but not this year because of Covid). The roads are a dream and the supermarkets and food fabulous. Many campsites have ready made tents to hire which make life a lot easier. If you want to dip a toe in the water then the Baie de Somme region is lovely and only an hour from Calais. For guaranteed good weather, I believe you need to travel to anywhere below the Loire. The Dordogne, Ardeche, Annecy and Alsace are all places we loved. Brittany, Normandy and Vendee also great.

Remember you don’t have to sail out and back to the same port, it’s not like flying

You could sail to Cherbourg and have a holiday in Brittany and then so Paris and Disney- then drive to Calais and get a ferry to Dover

There are plenty of cheap motel type places at Calais to book if you have a morning ferry - easier than sorting a tent or get tunnel

We are in yorkshire so we had thought we could drive from here to folkstone, stay the night in a travel lodge. Get the tunnel the next morning to Calais then google maps says it's about 3hrs to paris. Stay around there for 3/4 nights and then do another drive maybe 3/4 hrs again and stop there for 7/8 nights. Then make our way back again.

Our children will be 8, 6, 3 by the time we go. They are happy playing outside, small parks, a stream to paddle in, pool etc they would be over the moon.

We did this a lot when the kids were young and had some fantastic holidays, my favourites were probably, south of France languedoc area, south Brittany (concarneau) lake annecy, lake Garda in Italy and zell am see Austria.

We also used www.eurocampindependent.co.uk/ these guys when the kids were small you get the use of the Eurocamp facilities so the kids could use the kids clubs and borrow games and things.

We do this thing every year and have just woken up near London on our overnight stop en route to the tunnel. Our kids are 8 6 and 3.
We love it so much we have even gone this year!

@User07

We are in yorkshire so we had thought we could drive from here to folkstone, stay the night in a travel lodge. Get the tunnel the next morning to Calais then google maps says it's about 3hrs to paris. Stay around there for 3/4 nights and then do another drive maybe 3/4 hrs again and stop there for 7/8 nights. Then make our way back again.

Our children will be 8, 6, 3 by the time we go. They are happy playing outside, small parks, a stream to paddle in, pool etc they would be over the moon.

We often stayed at the travel lodge in Dover and every time I said we should have got a night crossing and stayed in Calais then you can get a proper early start the next day.

www.venueholidays.com/UK/picardy/camping_la_croix_du_vieux_pont?gclid=CjwKCAjw1K75BRAEEiwAd41h1JUdRVyKb3-fUm6amANplR3PPfbPFi4HVmub3dRLSzkDBGySZ3iKnBoCI2QQAvD_BwE

This is quite a big site but well positioned for Disney and Paris, then maybe go on to somewhere like Annecy

Have a fab time Fartyface!

Thank you again for suggestions. Did you all take your own tents?

It depended on how the finances were, it’s cheaper to take your own tent, but much easier to pack a car for a fortnight, and more comfortable doing eurocamp. Especially if the weather wasn’t kind.

It's a good idea to do different ports, we have often done that L'Arada parc in Sonzay (Western Loire) is a lovely camp for that age group and wouldn't be too bad on the drive front.

La croix de virus pont is great. Easy 2 hourish drive from Calais - we hardly saw another car - lovely site & you can book a coach to Disney or into Paris itself from the site.

Vieux Pont! Apt autocorrect given the current situation!!!

This place is doable in a day and your kids would love the pool.

www.sandaya.co.uk/our-campsites/chateau-des-marais

There will also be other companies that rent out chalets/mobiles/tents there as well:

www.rent-a-tent.uk/france/loire/campsite/chateau-des-marais

We live in France and I can highly recommend any Yelloh village campsite, we've stayed in loads and they are all fantastic! Completely centered around families and children, free kids clubs, amazing pool complexes and play parks!

Thank you so much! Will add all these to a list. We are very excited x

I think it might be useful to post more about what you want in a site, as there are so many from simple and quiet to massive and lively. some are also v british and obviously some like this and some don't.

For a site we would like somewhere that's fairly relaxing but not somewhere we would feel uncomfortable having the children. They need space to be able to play etc. The kids would love a pool and other activities. If there was a little on site shop/bakery that would be a bonus.

We have just been to a site in the uk that had a pub and restaurant onsite but it was rowdy and not somewhere we would chose again. I've heard that the sites in France are completely different though so I dont know if a pub etc on site would make them rowdy too?

Many campsites have deliveries of bakery goods, so you can order your pain au chocolate and croissant the day before. The children always like to go and pick up the order in the morning.

Some sites do pizza to take away, some do a take away supper and I’ve been to one or two sites where you can book dinner at 7om and everyone sat together to eat ( but that’s going to have stopped for now)

Not been to a site with a rowdy bar, though some sites are packed and noisy

Site can become very expensive, we turned up at one site which had all bells and whistles - flumes in the pool and shops etc it was £60 per night ( this was 12 years ago) we then went to the local municipal right on the beach and it was £60 for 3 night and had a pool on site. We never booked unless we stayed in Vendee, which we did 3 times for a few nights

Some areas will be very expensive- Ile de Re is very pricey but very lovely

The last week of August prices drop on campsites, generally around 21st August, so if you go then you’ll find it cheaper and less people about

We did this 2 years ago, used a small trailer to give us more space in the car. The aires in France made stopping easy as they have long spaces to park.
If possible, I’d second staying the night in France rather than the U.K. The ibis hotels In Coquelles are fine and I prefer being there and enjoying my first French breakfast!