Travel and holiday village/park in Brittany advice please?

[Newbiecrafter]

Hello

Just looking for advice on travelling to Brittany and also on the holiday villages in South Brittany.

I have looked at Siblu and Yelloh and am confused about which ones would be best. In the last few years we have been very fortunate to stay in a beautiful place in Cornwall but cant afford it this year.

So a friend recommended siblu and a good option.

Having looked on their website I think if we did this we would want to do the static home option as due to dd's allergies we need to be able to cook from scratch and would need a fridge and freezer. I like the idea of the pool and other activities on offer and the option of holiday clubs for certain activities.

Some static homes however look very - ermmm - chintzy and I'm not sure how clean they would be. My DD is very sensitive and although I am happy to clean wherever we end up going to, after a long journey I may just have a nervous breakdown if I walk into somewhere not clean. We had an awful experience with center parcs in the Uk so am worried about a repeat.

The rentals with yelloh look a little bit nicer and it would be good to feel comfortable if we end up having a rainy days to have somewhere we don't all mind being and where we can all be comfortable with enough space to do a jogsaw or colouring or watch a dvd. My DC are 7 and 5 and
would absolutely love the types of facilities on offer.

So, my questions are:
1] if we go by ferry from Portsmouth, overnight, there are no cabins left for the dates we're considering so are the reclining seats that are compulsory comfy enough for 4 of us to be comfortable on, overnight?

2] does anyone have any recommendations for a resort/holiday village in south Brittany that they would recommend. My DS is a bit nervous of water so a place with a toddler safe area would be great for him. I've seen some that have spaces with sprinklers and water spouts and they look like great fun.

3] any places that are an okay distance from an emergency room, just in case DD had a severe reaction?

4] any other tips or advice for how to manage whilst we're there in terms of laundry if we go for two weeks, shopping for groceries etc.

Many thanks in advance for any help or advice.

We went to the Yelloh park near Benodet last summer, but we booked our static caravan through a British company called Benodet breaks who have several caravans on the site. The caravan wasn't chintzy at all, very clean and well equipped, and the Benodet breaks rep lives on site and was really helpful. There was a fridge with a small freezer compartment at the top.

There are three pools on site, an inside one with slides, small lazy river and shallow toddler area, a deeper outside pool and another shallow play pool. There are loungers by the pools and during the day while we were there a pair of bouncy castles were inflated in the outdoor pool area. There's also a playground and kids clubs, but DD didn't do the kids club so I don't know how good they are.

The laundrette on site is fine, but a bit pricy, €5 for one wash if I recall correctly.

There's the usual small shop for groceries on site, and they sell fresh bread and croissants every morning, but just outside the camp gates is a good sized supermarket (Carrefour I think) where we shopped mostly.

We drove so I can't comment on ferry crossings, and I'm afraid I don't know anything about the nearest a and e.

That's all I can think of, but feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

thanks so much for your reply. I think you might have stayed at the Port dePlaisance park which looks really good but they have no availability.

I will try the benodet breaks people and see if they have anything left.

did you travel from the UK? We'd be getting the ferry, I guess to st malo and then driving on to the park.

such a shame they don't have any space as the toddle area sounds perfect for DS.

i'll keep looking and really appreciate your reply.
xxx

I can't advise on holiday parks - we have only done one once in France, and that was in Northern Brittany. Was v nice - our DC were older than yours but they enjoyed it.

With regard to the ferry though. I don't think that the reclining seats would give you enough rest for a drive the following day. I/we not a fan of long ferry crossings anyway - and would far rather take a shorter crossing - Eurotunnel or a max 4 hour day ferry crossing and do more driving. If in a cabin you would have more chance of getting the DC to sleep, and yourselves. Nothing worse than being tired and having to drive the day after. A lot depends on where in the UK you are starting from too.

Are you looking at going this summer ? I think the good places do get booked up pretty quickly.

You could look on sites such as UK Campsite - they have a good array of reports/reviews on various campsites - tents and mobile homes. If one sounds okay, then you can contact the site directly as they will have their own accomodation available for hire- which may cost less than the big company rentals too.

Something like here ? campsite

iwantgin, thanks for your reply.

we've found somewhere with availability in Carnatec, so am going to have a look to see what sort of reviews that get and might book that.

Thanks for the tip about the ferry crossing and seats. The only reason we're doing that is my DP isn't keen on a longer drive. I'd much prefer the shorter crossing too, as I'm not sure I'd sleep well on the ferry but DP can sleep pretty much anywhere so as he'll do the majority of the driving I'm hoping that will be ok. Brittany ferries have some cabins left for the same time as the holiday park so if the reviews are ok we might just book it and see how it goes.

Thanks again for your help,

:)

oops I meant

Carantec

We went to Carantec a few years ago with the DC (around the age of your two), and it was pretty good. I would go back, except there are so many other places to try .

The pool is lovely. From what I recall there is a large shallow area for the little ones, a lazy river and slides for the older ones, and plenty of sunbeds.

The beach next to the site is ok, and there are nicer ones a short drive away in the village, with café and parking and views across to the lighthouse. There's an island that is accessible by causeway at low tide which is a fun adventure. You need to watch the tides, as the see can be a long way out from the beach!

There's a Casino supermarket a couple of minutes drive away. And the nearby town of Morlaix has a market.

Get a cabin if you can on an overnight crossing. If St Malo is not available, Cherbourg or Caen are only about an extra 1.5 hours drive.

Thanks so much Chippy.

Am trying to decide beyween the caraibas and canopia areas. The accommodation in the canopia is a bit bigger and we will have a lot of stuff. Mf DC have allergies and I will need to take extra supplies from here so need to make sure we have space to store things.

Did you stay in a rental or on a pitch? I prefer the look of the caraiba ones but think the canopia will be more practical in terms of size. decisions decisions eh ? :)

There are cabins available on the crossing to st malo so will def get one for both the journey there and back as its a long crossing so might as well be comfortable.

Its great to know that you enjoyed it when your dc were the same-ish ages. That's a big relief. It does sound like it should be lovely so hope I can decide between the accommodation and get it booked soon.

thanks again. xxx

I think we booked with a uk operator, so we had one of their own mobiles.

Watching with interest as dc are the same age as yours and we are looking at brittany next year

I can't comment on accommodation options but I would say get a cabin if you're doing the overnight journey. It makes such a difference and you'll feel rested in the morning. As the pp says there is a shorter crossing (4 hrs) I think to Caen or Cherbourg then you wouldn't need a cabin.

There is also an overnight ferry to Caen. You could check if they still have cabins available? If you are able to travel on a weeknight this may be more likely.

Centre parks always superclean in my opinion, so if you have problems with that you might have problems everywhere

I always try to book a cabin on both night and day crossings - somewhere to leave bags when you wander around the boat and also have a shower. A better night's sleep than in the lounge.

Id like to think we were very unlucky with our centre parks experience. The company gave us a full refund as they investigated and confirmed that the home had not been cleaned properly for quite a while. My understanding is that they don't often refund but we got a full one after one email.

Also I am more than prepared to clean wherever we are staying especially if it's for a week or more so figure it will be okay.

fingers crossed anyway.

We will def try and get a cabin both ways. SOme of them have the bunk types so hoping that they'd be safe enough for the dc to go on the upper one. I'm overweight so would worry about the top bunk collapsing if I was on it

thanks for all the replies.

Carantec is lovely. The campsite was good and the town is delightful with a fab patisserie. The beach from the site is just a muddy creek but just a short drive away are lovely beaches. Most people go south so this part of North Brittany is a wee bit quieter. Roscoff was a nice town from memory.