Where to stay within a couple of hours of Calais

[Nightfall1983]

Any advise for our first car holiday? We usually fly but want to experiment with holidays by car, we live about an hour from Folkestone so plan to try the Eurotunnel. We have two DC aged 5 and 2, the youngest can’t handle more than a couple of hours in the car yet so I am looking for ideas. We are flexible on accommodation - camping/hotel etc. Stuff to do like Swimming/beach would be good. Should we head into Belgium or stay in northern France? Where might the weather be best? We would go either May half term or August. Sorry for vague request but all thoughts appreciated...

We had a lovely holiday at St Valery sur Somme - probably an hour and a half west of Calais. We stayed at a Eurocamp site and there were a couple of beautiful beaches nearby. It's not a big tourist area but if you want a beach and the French atmosphere its fine. We've also had a couple of holidays at Sunparks in Belgium (self catering with pools etc) quite near Belgian coast. Not a big place like Centerparcs but fine for us. Did all these about 10 years ago when our kids were small.

Fab JumpingFrogs is love to try Eurocamps - will definitely check that out 😀

Le Domaine du Val is a collection of wooden cabins. It's a great place from which to enjoy all the outdoorsy fun of the marvellous Baie de Somme in northern France,including seal-spotting and steam-train trips through a nature reserve –andjust a short drive from Calais.
It's also a great place to spend time in its own right. Guests are free to explore the vegetable plot (with free produce handed out to guests twice a week), visit the beehive, play football in the pastures, follow the discovery trail and use the indoor pool. There are alsochildren's play areas and a brasserie serving food.
It's such a good place to unwind.

Yelloh sites are always good if you can find anything up in Normandy or Brittany - would highly recommend .

Yelloh sites are always good
Really? We had a bad experience a few years ago with a Yelloh site where they had overbooked and our pitch was litter strewn and we were kept awake all night by noise!

There are a number of Pierre et Vacances complexes along the Northern French coastline. Le Touquet is a nice seaside resort with a lido on the seafront and wooded areas, about 45 minutes from Calais. If you go in May consider Belle Dune which is a purpose built complex of houses and apartments and has a large indoor/outdoor pool complex on site and plenty of activities for the kids. Take or hire bikes to get around. The beach is not far to walk over the dunes and a small village has bakery etc. There are also several nature reserves along the Picardy Coast and the Baie de Somme. Bagatelle is a theme park near le Touquet.

le touquet is lovely, as is Wimereux or further up into belgium.

There are quite a few centerparcs in belgium and holland too which are cheaper than UK ones and wouldnt be a massive drive

I second St Valery sur Somme

Steam train around the coast from the sea front. Then moules frites at the towns t the end of the line fresh from the mussels fishing right by town.

Lots of gardens to visit if you like that, also a Go Ape type place.

Lovely scenery. The town is lovely too - art noveau plus a mediaval citadel - a bit like Rye if you’ve been there. A castle on the top and a secret walled garden too.

Montreuil sur mer is lovely, and second st valery mentioned above. Abbeville and Amiens are within an hour or so if you want big shops whilst there.

Belle dune is nice

Ooh, loads to look at. Thanks everyone I will check them all out! Swimming, biking, go ape, moules frittes - all of those sound like our cup of tea :)

Depends what your budget is like and the weather ( unfortunately although you know your budget you can’t plan the weather)
I love driving the costal road in Normandy. Wimereau is just glorious , beaches round there are HUGE and clean. But it can be cold if it’s windy. Some lovely towns along the coast- we have driven to Bayeaux and been to the Normandy landing beaches - (my FIL was in the navy, on DDAY he was at Arromanches).
It’s all beautiful,scenery , super food ( I ate mussels nearly every day. There was an R in the month!) lots to do, gorgeous beaches for the kids.
But it’s maybe worth looking at the ‘site based’ holidays while your kids are young. Gosh.......writing this has made me want to go back...........

Check out Venue holidays - they are like Eurocamp but tend to work out better value, especially for May half term. We have used them quite a few times and have always found the static homes to be lovely and clean and the staff very helpful.

We have had a few good holidays at Berny Riviere which has a lovely 5 star campsite just north of Paris. Is around a 2.5 hour drive from Calais and has loads for young children including bouncy castles, little go-karts, soft play, swimming pool with great fountain area for toddlers and more. It is not near a beach but the campsite has a lovely man-made beach with a fresh water lake which the children love.

Center Parcs at Lac d’Aillette is slightly over 2h from Calais (2h 22 according to google) but nice easy drive (we always pass it en route to Alps).

We have stayed at berny riviere too - le croix de vieux pont.
Thats a good one actually, lots to do on site.

A fresh water lake would be perfect as DC1’s eczema is actually sensitive to saltwater. Will check that out.

Will also look at that Center parcs - always wanted to try one of the European ones - thanks!!

I’m loving Berny Riviere - looks perfect. Does anyone know what the difference of between booking with eurocamp and booking elsewhere? There is low availability for the dates I’m looking at with eurocamp but plenty with ‘Venue Holidays’. Does it affect access to facilities or anything - looks the same?

We’ve stayed in la Croix du Vieux Pont with Eurocsmp, Canvas and Lifestyleholidays. Lifestyle were cheapest by far, they don’t have kids clubs but my kids are bigger now so aren’t into them. You can pay extra to choose which pitch your mobile is on. The lake is fab and the kids splash zone at the pool is brilliant too.

La Croix du Vieux Pont would be a perfect stop if you're on the route to Belgium. It's a massive site, Eurocamp, Canvas, Venue and al fresco all have places to stay. You have access to the whole site and facilities no matter which company your staying with.

if you were going calais to belgium why on earth would you go towards paris Ginteresting?

I dont think it makes any difference to which company you book with, although weve always gone with eurocamp because we liked the kids clubs.

Canvas had quite a few good spots on that site

Because I misread the post, I thought she wanted somewhere to stay a couple of hours from Calais to go to Belgium. It's not towards Paris. It's quite a distance from it.

Le Touquet is lovely. We stayed in P&V
Day trips to Boulange - fab aquarium
Lots to do!

Would really recommend Berny Riviere - it's perfect for the ages of your children. We have booked through Venue several times and once with Canvas. Makes absolutely no difference re facilities, you will just have a Venue static home or tent rather than a Eurocamp one. We have always found the Venue accommodation to be in lovely clean condition and the staff are very helpful. We try to book the largest static home they offer as you get a little more room, an un suite bathroom and nice wicker outside furniture rather than plastic. It is an amazing campsite.

Thought I’d come back and share that I’ve booked Berny Riviere for May - a Safari tent which should be fun!! A very short trip (2 nights) in the end but if all goes well we will consider longer/further afield in the future...

The safari tents look amazing - you will have great fun! We have done short stays at Berny before - think our last visit was for just 3 nights. When in May have you booked? We went last May bank holiday weekend and got a great deal.