Eurocamp - what's the low down? And any you particularly recommend?

[DarkBlueEyes]

Just as it says on the tin. We are Eurocamp virgins but definitely considering it for this year's summer holiday (two DDs aged 7 and 10).

Help!

I'd also look at Key Camp and Canvas. (I choose on the size of tent after our first year.)
Where are you thinking of going? The further South the better. Beware of the end of August as once the French schools go back sites can get quiet. The clubs are fun, and give you a chance to have a quiet swim/coffee. Some pools won't let men swim in short style trunks, so you need Budgey smugglers.

If you are like me and not a natural camper, then wine helps.

What do you want to know?
I've done a few Eurocamp-style holidays (one was with Thomson Al Fresco, and one with Keycamp I think) and really enjoyed them. You get the benefits of a camping holiday (being outdoors, relative cheapness) but also get indoor plumbing and electricity (if you stay in a caravan anyway)
I think it would be great for 7 - 10 year olds as you can allow them a bit of independence to roam the site by themselves.

My key piece of advice would be to pick a site you like and then find the company (Eurocamp, Thomson Al Fresco and Canvas are probably the biggest - not sure if Keycamp is around anymore?) that offers the best deal with the accomodation that best suits you as there can be quite lot of variation in price and facilities.

By the way, the best site I stayed on was Ca'Savio on the Venetian coast. Considering going back there, we loved it so much!

Well, I've never done camping like this before - only dig your own toilet and pitch your own tent in the middle of nowhere in NZ (though obviously am past this now couldn't live without my hairdrier).

I'd love Italy - the lakes preferably - as I'm fluent in Italian and don't get much chance to speak it!
will check out the one you mention BornToFolk, thank you.

I want to know everything! What it's like, are the campers friendly, what do you do food-wise, is it stupidly crowded etc etc

Mummytime, i like your style. Wine ALWAYS helps!

Campers being friendly and how crowded really depends on the site, I think. But I've never experienced unfriendliness or over-crowding! Check site reviews.

Are you thinking about having a tent or a caravan? I've only ever stayed in caravans, which tend to be fairly well equipped with kitchen appliances, so it's perfectly possible to cook decent meals. Most sites, especially larger ones have supermarkets and restaurants that will also do takeaway food. You can also BBQ on some sites but not all. We usually do a combination of eating out and cooking easy stuff for dinner.

There have been many threads on MN about useful things to take with you to Eurocamp - definitely check these out!

We've found the further south you go the less Brits ( which we prefer, but the dc don't make as many friends), which makes sense really.

Definitely a caravan with Aircon! Dingit I like being amongst the locals but it's not good for DH or the DDs. We went to Sardinia last year and DH moaned that he'd taken a vow of silence for two weeks, whereas I was chatting with any random person I could make talk to me! Also I had to translate during our tennis lessons (as well as play, and try to do what we'd been told). My poor wee brain.

Keycamp doesn't exist any more I don't think. They and eurocamp were owned by the same ultimate owners and keycamp just uses eurocamp name now.

You need to look at the pitch size. We always go somewhere with big pitches otherwise you can be crammed in like sardines and mobile homes are just tin boxes so you can hear a lot from adjacent pitches 'Cameron, Finlay Isla...Come Here!' 'isla, do a poo'. Still echoes years later. However because of that and you are in the same boat, people are generally really nice. The only probs happens when you've someone near who like to sit on the verandah till all hours talking and drinking or noisy teens coming back. If you like peace and quiet then go for a smaller site. If you want evening entertainment then look for something bigger.

A tip might be to look on the Castels website. They are a group of independently owned sites in France who have a chateaux around which the site has developed. Usually they have good standards of upkeep and are quite strict about bikes not being used after ten pm say. You can rent a mobile direct from the sites and that can (but not necessarily) be cheaper.

If you go, book a linen pack as washing endless sheets when you get back is hell. Also a good chopping board and a decent veg knife. It's all self catering but most have BBQs and many sites have good restaurants and chips, pizza takeaway (can get expensive).

The best thing about this type of holiday is that the kids just go off, make friends and are free range and happy. You do get a problem dragging them off to do sight seeing and we used to have the rule that we do so ething in the morning and early afternoon as a family then back in mid late afternoon for pool, and playing time. The great thing is that there is no tv, no gadgetry so you actually get to be with them without those sorts of distractions.