Taking caravan to France - where to?

[Nowthereistwo]

I've got the urge to take the caravan to France for the first time but don't know where to go or the best ferry route to get there.

We're in Hertfordshire with 2 adults and 2 dds who will be 10 and 8.

We're looking for a site near water (river, lake or sea) with swimming pools and playgrounds etc. Not bothered about kids clubs or entertainment.

Ive seen the eurocamp type places but could only see options for the static vans.

Any recommendations?

The Ardeche is lovely, canoeing , kayaking , lake etc…. The dordogne also. I’d pick your then look for sites!

We stayed in one of these pitches www.campingpinparasol.fr/en/3-flowers-pitches/ at Le Pin Parasol in the Vendee. The campsite was ideal in every aspect and the Vendee isn’t too far south, yet it’s south enough to get some really good weather.

We've been to these two, the first one for 3 years running, amazing and the last one we tried for the first time last summer also fantastic, we're going again this year.

We're in North London and take the Euroshuttle and then play it by ear, France is amazing for municipal campsites which are very cheap, any village/city will have them. We usually never prebook and just look them up on Pitchup.com, most expensive last time was £40 for the night (we have a tent though) and the cheapest one was £11

Beaulieu sur Dordogne, right by the river Dordogne and a very pittoresque lovely village:
europe.huttopia.com/en/site/beaulieu-sur-dordogne/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAxbefBhDfARIsAL4XLRpTHtlALlCk5LzhU9nXkPjRXI7UppRnyOsyfNziV05CW7bxw-n32owaArydEALw_wcB

Cote D'argent - Camping Hourtain Plage. Right by the atlantic and a fantastic beach, lots to do in the surrounding area
www.camping-cote-dargent.com/en/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=adwordsUK-RLSA&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxbefBhDfARIsAL4XLRp1slRn6wmztfa8vIanc2m7h__UHdrN4fWLXly2BDWhTPWm_U-t3cEaAnd9EALw_wcB

I tend to look for the Eurocamp sites and then go directly to their websites to see what the camping/caravan pitch options are. Also try googling flashpackingfamily or travelynnfamily for French campsite ideas for kids. We went here last summer. www.sandaya.co.uk/our-campsites/chateau-des-marais Really great for ours who were 11 and 5. They were in the pool all day long, and there were good bike rides in the local area.

We went to St Julien- des -Landes in the Vendee last year, loved the area and as pp recommended upthread, we’re off to PinParasol this year. And then down to the Massif Centrale afterwards. Have a look at a yelloh villages. They have lots of lovely sites that you can take your own tent/van to.

Also, we’re going Portsmouth-St. Malo with Brittany Ferries.

I could spend hours listing places for this. I miss our caravan so much when it comes to travelling abroad in the summer.
My favourite ones are:

https://www.sandaya.fr/nos-campings/la-ribeyre
The auvergne region of France is amazing. The lakes and mountains are stunning and this campsite was amazing. There's been quite a few people who've been here from my recommendation and enjoyed it.

https://www.lesvalades.com/en/
A mn favourite- a few years ago everybody seemed to go there. When we went there were the other families from mn there (never actually spoke to any of them irl though)

Both of these campsites have fabulous lakes with activities on them as well as swimming pools.

Thanks so much for you recommendations. Getting excited looking through the websites