Ideas for quiet camping in France with 2yo

[Posieralmer1]

Hi there, I'm looking for my perfect French holiday but tired of doing research. Hoping someone can help! My brief is: not too long a drive from calais, probably under 6 hours, small campsite preferably with river/lake swimming; peaceful; near a village or town with great food; nice walking/cycling; some stuff to do for a weeks stay, but also happy lazing by a river. Not too touristy! Fussy? Me? Was considering Loire/ Nantes, also Vosges area. First trip to France with toddler! Thanks so much for any ideas. The choice is a bit overwhelming.

We are heading to eurocamp in the morning. Admittedly in the dordogne so further than you'd like but I can report back in 2 weeks!

This may be too far for you (southern Brittany), but Camping Les Embruns is fantastic and great for children that age. There is a lovely village with shops nearby, and a couple of great beaches about 5-10 mins walk away.
https://www.camping-les-embruns.com/en/

Thank you so much I will have a look

You don't have to get the ferry to Calais. Don't know where you're travelling from. But if you can get to some of the more western ports just as easily as Dover, you could get a ferry to Brittany (eg overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo) which reduces your driving time. I have two young kids and long drives are a bit of a nightmare tbh - if you can reduce time in the car it's better. They liked the ferry last year. And Brittany is wonderful!

Get the ferry to St Malo or Roscoff and go to Brittany- our favourite site is near La Trinitie sur Mer, it's a family run site, you can book chalets or pitches direct. Not too big, nice walk into town, beautiful beaches just outside the site : www.campingdelabaie.com/

It is a fabulous campsite with a fresh market just outside every morning. Fixed barbecues in a few places too, just bring your coal and food and off you go- the French were busy bbqing every lunch time.

The same company (Sunelia) have many campsites, we're going back to Le Fief (www.camping-le-fief.com ) this year because it was so friendly and fun when our now 6 year old was 2. The kids club in St Brevin Les Pins was just French children and the animation team only spoke French so a slight language barrier. Le Fief is more of a mix of nationalities so suits us better.

Have a look at www.lesportesdelanjou.com/ We've stayed there a couple of times and there's pitches on the river bank, the village isn't far away and there's a municipal pool adjacent to the site.

Another fan of the ferry to one of the more westerly ports, cuts the driving time down massively.

I don't think lazing by a river and having a 2 year old mix very well 🤣

Agreed. An open body of water plus a free range toddler would be my idea of stressville. We actively avoided campsites with rivers etc until I could trust DCs not to toddle off and fall in the moment by back was turned. Are you planning on tethering the child using one of those screw in anchor points for dogs OP? That would solve the problem and make it relaxing again 😁

Have a look at this place. We love it and have been there twice.

le-paradis.fr/

The Dordogne is lovely. Looooong drive though. We flew there when DC1 was 6 months old.

I have stayed at L'orangeie de Beauregard here in the Loire with DC. It isn't tiny but much smaller than some of the big Eurocamp sites. It was quiet but with enough things for little ones to do.