Keycamp holiday

[Bon]

Make sure you enter the Keycamp holiday competition on the mumsnet home page. We've just returned from a holiday with them in France and it was fantastic. I know a lot of snobbery surrounds mobile homes and I wasn't sure what to expect, but having been on holidays to hotels and apartments before with my two young children, (2 & 1), I can safely say that this was their ideal holiday. They loved the mobile homes (which were great, 2 bedroomed, decent beds(!), bathroom and kitchen and very well organised), but best of all each caravan had its own generously spacious garden with sun loungers, table and barbecue. We went with friends who were opposite us, so between the two gardens, the kids had loads of space to play freely. It's the first time on holiday I've managed to lie out for a few hours and read a book.

The campsite was extremely well run with loads for the kids to do; 3 pools, (one covered for rainy days), fantastic playground (which was a magnet to the older kids in the evenings, which meant they all made loads of friends), boating lake, trampolines etc. We were also only 60 miles from Eurodisney so spent the day there. The couriers at Keycamp were helpful and always available (we couldn't light our barbie!) Our kids fell in love with 'Victor' who went out of his way to come over and visit them whenever he had a spare minute. They had a kids club for kids of 4 upwards run by the couriers that we obviously couldn't facilitate but we did use the services of Victor and co for their babysitting, which meant a night out at a local village restaurant. There's no doubt we'll go mobile-homing it again (I love the idea of camping but must admit I liked having my own loo) but I'm not booking yet for next year just incase I'm lucky in the comp! You must enter!

Hi Bon, can you tell me the name of the Keycamp that you stayed at and how long did you have to drive for in France?

We stayed at Camping Le croix de vieux points on the Berny Riviere, near a little town called vic-sur-aisne. It was a two and half hour drive from calais, and, as I said about 1 hour to Eurodisney. It was a really good way of seeing Eurodisney because its pretty full on and I don't think I would want to stay in one of the Eurodisney hotels. The tranquil site seemed like the perfect antidote to the madness of Disneyland.

Hi Bon, glad to hear rave reviews about Keycamp. We've never been with them before and we're off in 3 weeks to Le Vieux Port at Messanges on the s.w. coast, with our 1 yo and friends with a 3yo and 4yo. Also staying in a mobile home (all of us in one), they sound v luxurious compared to the caravans i used to stay in in the 70s! (How I remember with horror having to empty the portaloo!)
Will give a report when I get back but really looking forward to the break!

Hi Bon

It sounds great although I've always been very anti-camping (it's partly that old loo problem). This sounds civilised, though. Do you think it would be good for older children (boys of 6,8 and 9)- eg are the activities all in French?

Great! I've just been organising to go away and I thought keycamp sounded a bit too good to be true - I'm glad you say it lives up to expectations...I'm booking today!
(PS was the babysitting service really fine, I'm nervous leaving her at the best of times?!)

roglyn, i've never done keycamp but we've done eurocamp and they are all very similar. the mobile homes have actual plumbed bathrooms with their own shower and everything; the couriers are usually all english, both the general ones and the kids' ones. the campsites are very family oriented and have brilliant facilities...
in fact for me the only drawback is the high season cost. if you can go out of season it is incredibly cheap and they do all sorts of special deals, and if you go late enough you still get all the site facilities. during the school holidays it is dear but if you normally take a package holiday then it would probably still seem quite cheap to you!

the last time we eurocamped (we've taken our own tent or gited since) we had 8, 5 and 2 - a bit younger than yours but yes, they all had a fantastic time. do give it a go!

Where do I get the brochure? I think it's one you send off for isn't it? Can you tell me the phone number please.

rhiannon, there is a box to click on on the homepage...don't know if it'll get you a brochure but it's a good place to start!

Thanks Janh.

Thanks Janh. I wonder if we'll all end up at the same site!

Hi there, sorry for the delay in getting back: Roglyn: I think it would be ideal for your boys. The kidsclubs were run by English couriers, although there may have been kids of different nationalities there too. They seemed to be having a great time (theme days, parties etc), although we didn't go as our kids were too young. But the thing that looked most appealing was that all the kids gathered at the playground in the evenings and played together, so they looked like they were making loads of friends - all different nationalities playing together. On our site there was trampolining, motorised cars to drive around a little track, peddle boats on the river and a really good playground. As you said, it was very civilised, I don't think I could have coped with the communal toilets!

Lizzer, we found the babysitting absolutely fine. As I said, we did befriend a couple of the couriers, so our kids knew them before-hand (maybe this is the answer). It was a real unexpected treat having a night out...

Anymore news on caravanning in France anyone? We're thinking of booking for next year.

DS breaks up from school on 5th July and the site we're looking at is already booked up and it's not even peak season. Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

Has anyone got on the ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth and gone over that way? Or taken the car on the sleeper train? I am a real novice at this as you can tell!

Rhiannon, we went with Eurocamp this year. It was our first time too. The site was good, but to be honest, Eurocamp was pretty poor. One of the things we were hoping for was a good kids club & it was pretty mediocre. Kids went twice but were bored so didn't go again. Anyway, I have done a bit of investigation since we got back, and discovered most of the campsites also do their own rentals of caravans & some tents. We could have gone about 30% cheaper if we had booked it ourselves! Will have to go but can give you some websites later if you're interested. Also, we went via the tunnel, which was great, but its a long drive down to the Vendee.

rhiannon, we went portsmouth-caen with brittany ferries last time we went, overnight both ways which means paying extra for a cabin or aircraft seats.

going, it is a VERY short night because of the time difference, it seemed we'd scarcely inspected the boat and turned in than we got woken up again - coming back was better.

if you live near the south coast then a day crossing is cheaper and more convenient. caen is much handier for the more westerly bits of france than calais/boulogne; it depends where you live and where you want to go.

We went with Canvas holidays, who were v. helpful. We crossed from Portsmouth to Cherbourg overnight going, which worked really well. Went on a thursday (cheaper than fri or sat), picking up dh from work, and stopping for a meal in a pub en route. Then woke up in time to dock, and had breakfast in a cafe on arrival. That gave us a full day to drive to Brittany, stopping to buy provisions and then picnic in a wood. Coming back we stayed in a chateau (sounds grand, but very faded grandeur), owned by an English couple with two young children, so very child friendly, just 10 mins from the port. Returned on the 'fast ferry, just a couple of hours, lunch and soft play filled the time admirably!
he first campsite in Brittany was excellent. The second in the Vendee awful! (dirty showers and loos, which had no seats, to childrens horror, dirty playground with uneven surface..lots of falls...and situated near to endless karaoke bars, fast food joints, amusement arcades etc) Looking in the brochure I noticed that the first was 4 star, the second 3, so assume this is what made the difference..worth checking. Overall this holiday axceeded all our expectations, for the first week anyway. left us loving Brittany and disliking the Vendee, which is probably unfair. Our girls loved it all.

I'm very interested in everyone's experiences of camping/mobile homes as we're thinking of trying it next year. Our main concern is that with 5 children (aged 5 to 10), would it be a squash fitting into one tent or mobile home? In fact, I havn't even found a tent which will accommodate us, as most sites limit numbers to 6 per tent. Some mobiles claim they sleep 7, using the double sofa in the lounge ... I'm used to civilised cottages with all mod cons and lots of space, so I'm not sure I'd cope!

Cfr, we went Eurocamping this year, with mixed results (see previous comments), but they do have 3 bedroomed caravans available. My sis used to have one of these, and there is one double bedroom snd 2 twins. I'm not sure if one of the twins also has the 'extra' bunk style bed at the top, but that would accomodate you all. If you ring any of the main operators they should be able to help.
BTW, where were you thinking of going? I think we should all list the campsites we've been to, so we will know which are good/bad/indifferent. We went to La Yole in St Jean-de-monts. Campsite was great but had to drive to go anywhere (is this a problem with all of them??). Also, as per previous note, it is possible to book via the campsites direct, adn we could have got a much bigger caravan, or a chalet, for the same price as Eurocamp, something we are looking into at the moment.

I would love to go to the Languedoc area of France, as I've never been there, it's close to the Pyrenees and I'm desperate for a holiday with good weather! Incidentally, what was the weather and scenery like in the Vendee? I would be interested in any websites you have to book direct.

Our other problem is the long long drive down south, so I'm looking into flights and car hire - this really makes it much more expensive though. Also considering the crossing to the north of Spain, but it's still a long drive to Languedoc, and the crossings take at least 24 hours. What if we were all seasick???????

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