Where in Vendee?

[melrose]

Thinking about next year's summer hols and want to head to France, probably Vendee. We will take out own tent and plan to go for 2 weeks. Have 2 DS who will be 6 and 3. Would like to be very close to the beach (ideally walking or biking dstance but not essential) Think a pool is fairly essential and probably a children's play area.

Any ideas??

Hi Melrose - La Vendee is on the west coast, below Brittany and above La Rochelle so it's the Atlantic coast but much warmer than Brittany. The weather when we were there was scorching but the whole region is lovely, if not very flat. It very much reminded me of the Netherlands in its landscape; there are lots of dykes and windmills and flat fields but the beaches are outstanding. There are some fab water parks and lots of campsites close to beaches. We stayed in a key camp at St Jean de Monts - but it was about a 3 mile walk to the beach if I remember. There are lots of nice wooded camp sites near there though.
Good choice for kids an ok drive from Calais or Cherborg.

Oh, we had a wonderful camping holiday there last year. We were near St Jean too. The town itse;f is a bit souless, but the beaches are amazing, and if you are a bit further out, there are fabulous pinewoods between the sea and the campsites, which have great cycle tracks (& bike hire isn't too expensive)

If you look in the holiday review section there are lots of sites reviewed.

I remember the night market being fab though in St Jean. There is also 'Ile de Re' to visit. It's a bit lower down, just off the west coast and think you can't take the car onto the island - everyone goes around on bikes. See here: www.holidays-iledere.co.uk/

bump

'Ile de Re' is really lovely with fab baeches bike routes, markets pretty towns etc - but in season end of July and first three weeks of August it is absolutaly heaving with parisians and very expensive.

It is the sunniest place in france I think and the wether is pretty good May June if you can get away then

We have had 2 lovely hols near St Giles Croix-de-Vie - the site is this one - a variety of beaches and places to visit nearby.

we've visited the vendee several time sand love it. we stayed at jard sur mer which is lovely - much better than many reviews suggest imo- and perfect for kids. we went with eurocamp and canvas (same site, different prices!). I think we ewent 3 times! You can walk to the beach but its far enough for a car trip too, so you get all teh gear you need woth little ones) - its just down a long road! You can walk into town from the campsite and can have 'pudding' at the many icecream shops and there's a lovely small and slightly tacky funfair too. We loved it!
slightly further south and technically not the vendee but usually put in that section is the area around la rochelle which is great too. We have stayed in ile d'oleron for the last three years and its WONDERFUL. I'd like to live there. We have also stayed in brittanny (three times) and normandy.

all of these we've done via caen and also via calais. calais is cheaper but we had astop off in campanile type places each way. That way you can do futuroscope or parc asterix with your tesco clubcard ouchers. btw, my kids are now 16, 14 and 10 and we've been going to france since the eldest was 6. eurocamp/keycamp are very hepful and their staff seem to know the sites well. they have helped us find the right site for us and with no pressure to buy. I highly recommend them even if you have your own tent.

overthemill which is cheapest, Eurocamp or Canvas??

eurocamp is cheapest definitely and not significantly 'worse' at all! I thinkk canvas are better for kids clubs but tbh its never been a big pull for our 3. one year they all loved it but otherwise it wasnt so appealing. the french amiteurs are quite good too ime.
and if you are pushed for cash, check out keycamp and french life camping, we've used them both too but eurocamp i think we've used for 5 consecutive years because of price and customer service in uk and niceness of reps on site
if we liked mobile homes i'd go direct with the sites tho for cheapness

i've just done a price comparison with the french site we are thinking about for next year (tho may yet go to spain) and for the tent option keycamp is £709, eurocamp £785 and canvas £809.
although we would get a loyalty discount of 15% from eurocamp (i think that's how much they give us) I think we'd go with keycamp on price alone. We always sneak a look at everyone else's tents and there's little difference.

You will find that even changing date of arrival by one day can knock off a lot. We now use eurotunnel as it is at no extra cost, it's really quick and we share the driving down sleeping at B&B hotels, or ibis type ones. A family room can be as little as 39 euros.

that's interesting, overthemill- thanks

citizenprecious also you can do overnight stops with all of them (if you're using them iyswim) on the way so if you have quite a long drive you can stop off at a campsite of theirs on the way. Sometimes this works out cheaper eg £35 a night but it depends on the season. but it means the kids can run around and swim and the site is pretty much guaranteed child friendly - eg there's a good site near disneyland paris which makes sense if you want to stop off there.

hmm maybe i should start a pricecomparison website for camping holidays!!!!!

btw, we only tent it with their tents - using mobile homes is much more pricey and its worth checking out eu owned sompanies or booking direct somewhere that eg eurocamp use so you know there'll be some english kids (tho we have made lots of dutch friends!)

Camping Bel at La Tranche Sur Mer is absolutely fab. It's five walk mins from the beach and a large Super U supermarket, about 15 mins walk from the town, loads of cycle paths around, and the campsite itself is brilliant for small kids - there's a lovely pool, several playparks including one outside the bar, and every night the owner puts a film on in his little outdoor theatre for the little ones, they all sit there in their pj's with drinks and biscuits and watch it whist you sit in the bar (often a nice Disney film). And he insists on quiet at night, which is great. Can't recommend it highly enough - if it wasn't so far to the Vendee we'd go every year!

la garangeoire good site, but prob not near the beach enough for you. there's also keycamp. we went with canvas last year and whilst they were good there was no kids club - we had to pay for kids to play football at eurcamp club. we've done keycamp, eurocamp, canvas - suggest choosing where you want to go and then do online searches to get reviews - some companies are better at some sites than others.

Lots of sites to look at here:

www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/maplarge.asp?county=Pays%20de%20la%20Loire

many with recent reviews

Acapulco in St Jean is fab, fab, fab with everything youi've asked for! Canvas, Matthews etc went there - prob still do!!! I loved it. Can walk to a small beach or drive/cycle to the main St Jean beach.

dreaming, we're thinking of la garangeoire, can you give me a little more info on your stay there. Its me, DP and DD who will be 2.9 wanting to go to that area in a mobile home. We're thinking keycamp, eurocamp etc. We don't mind being a short distance from the beach, just wondered what your overall holiday was like there. Thanks.

canvas and thompson seemed to have the biggest pitches. some of the others were a bit mixed - but i am very fussy. do not drive down on a sat in the school holidays - this was the worst bit of the hol for us as there were queues at the tolls - took us around half the time to drive back. campsite is one of the best we have used in france - and we've been to around 12. pool nice and warm, bars good, good entertainment - rock group great. puy de fou (fun park) worth the money - you'd enjoy but your childs too young. what else would you like to know? its was the first time we went to vendee - couldn't fault the site but we prefer brittany. supermarket in local town good. site restaurant ok, nothing special. prob about 15 mins to local beaches from what i remember - the very nearest one which we found on the last day would suit you best as it hand an inland lake adjacent to the beach which would be good for young children - waves in sea good for surfing

i second camping bel. abosolutly fab for under 10s

thank you dreaming, great info

Just logged in here for first time in ages so belated thanks for your recent responses. Going to be taking our own tent, is camping bel still good for that?

pologies if I am being hick, but just looked onlien for Bel and it only takes me to keycamp. Do they ahve their own website, and can I book direct?

Hi - new here but have been trying to get information about Camping Bel. It sounds great but doesn't seem to have its own website. Can you book direct or do you have to go through keycamp or someone? Thanks for any info.

Camping Bel at Jard Sur Mer is lovely, so near the beach and we had a lovely time last year. Nice, quiet with good facilities considering it is a small park. Super U only a short walk away. We also liked the bread man who drove round the park each morning. We went with Eurocamp in the Whitsun half term and the weather was glorious. Apparently the Vendee has it's own microclimate.

Sorry meant Tranche Sur Mer.