Eurocamp France

[marilynmonroe]

we are thinking of doing this in June. Never been eurocamping before so would love advice on which one is the best etc. We have dc 4 and 2.5. We like to be quite active on holiday but also want a bit of rest time. Don't want to stay in a tent but happy to stay in a mobile home. We were thinking of the Dordogne...
any advice would be greatly appreciated. would like to see a bit of real france too.

We've been to Les Penyrals several times and it's always been great, lovely and clean with fantastic pools and friendly staff.
Get the biggest mobile home you can and try to get one with decking as it provides somewhere to keep washing etc and stops feet getting wet from the dew.

St Avit Loisirs near Le Bugue - lovely area, loads to do. 2nd the decking. Aircon is normally a must too.

St avit is the one I like the look of. Seems like it could be a fun holiday!

Are there any hidden extras?

You normally have to pay for sheets and damage waiver, but quite often get a discount for booking early. Check what it costs to book direct with the site, especially as yours are too little to be left unaccompanied at a kids club as the cost of this will be built in to the Keycamp etc pricing.

Le Bugue has a fab aquarium, Le Bornat village with lots of old buildings and fairground rides. In the summer on one night in the week they have a fiesta type thing, with live music, and lots of food and drink stalls in the square above the river. Can also recommend Parc Jacquou.

If you drive down to the Dordogne river, Domme is lovely and the villages in the rock along the valley are stunning. Views from the Jardins des Marqueyssac are incredible - and doable with a pushchair. Castelnaud is also fab but a bit less accessible in places. We did the caves at Ruffingnac where you go on a little train to see REAL cave paintings.

Sarlat is lovely also Les Eyzies where the pre-history museum is really interesting. Last year we stayed at www.lebanquet.com. Depending on when you are travelling, it might be worth comparing prices with Keycamp etc, as you get all mod cons....

St Avit is lovely - we went 2 years ago with dc aged 4, 5 and 7 and are returning again this May/June.
Their pools are great with a lovely toddler splash one and some fun but not scary rubber ring slides - full of parents with little ones on their knees! There's also a really warm tropical type indoor pool if the weather is a bit cool. Eurocamp and Keycamp run joint kids clubs - yours would be able to go to the mini fun station where you stay with them and there are activites. I think they also do learn to swim and ride a bike for under 5s too.

It is a bit of a drive into Le Bugue, about 15-20 mins on country road, easy though. The local market is also really good, but as with all, get there early!

The dordogne has a bit of a reputation for being busy and full of Brits, but we went at a similar time before, and as it's not high season, we found this wasn't the case at all.

We stayed at Les Penyrals a couple of years ago at a similar time and had a great time there.

One point to note, many of the caves needed to be booked well in advance even out of season.

www.franceforfamilies.com/Dordogne/RegionsDordogneCavesPadirac.htm

We went to Rouffingnac where a little train takes you to see the cave paintings. We wanted to see the ones at Font de Gaume which was practically across the road from where we staying....and the Gite owner reported back to tell me they were booked up - 2 months ahead of time. She felt terrible about it, as she had promised to get some tickets....

We had a similar experience Portofino. We thought it would be fine being early in the season but instead found that all those sensible organised people got there first!