Canvas holidays, Eurocamp etc, can anyone dumb it down for me?

[Notasunworshipper]

I'm quite keen on the idea of booking with Canvas holidays to France for the end of August. I've two boys aged 10 and 4 and seems to be lots to do for them.

It all feels a bit daunting.

I don't know France at all but we'd like a mobile home rather than a tent, and possibly a slightly nicer one. We'd like to be near a beach too.

Looked at flights to Bordeaux but they're quite expensive, I'm presuming the ferry crossing is cheaper but involves lots of driving?

I'm guessing up to 24 hours travelling time?

High horse about what MyName? I think you are confusing me with someone else? I have given OP lots of advice, personal experiences etc. No high horses around here! Sounds like you're the one in a snit....

The Vendee is a good choice. We’ve done Sol a Gogo and La Foret with Eurocamp and had a great time. If you get the overnight ferry to St Malo , the drive is about 3-4 hours. A bit of a slog if you’ve never driven on the Continent before but worth it when you get there.

I forget the name of the town that Sol a Gogo was in, but there were a lot of family resorts there and lots of facilities in the town, such as supermarkets and bike hire. Very well set up for tourists which is easier if you haven’t been abroad before.

I’m with you TwitterQueen.

OP I don’t think this is the holiday for you.

I think it depends, a 6 hour drive in France is A Lot different to a 6 hour drive in the UK. The road system works much better however if you go through a major city like Lyon you can crawl along for 4 hours or more. Also you have the tolls to account for . For reference we did 12 hours driving door to door with no stops other than fuel each way to the lakes of verdon. Tolls totalled approx €280
Fuel £300 and I have to say the drive back was Hard going. But I still prefer a 1 day approach

Always check reviews reviews reviews.

It seems many sites have different operators, eg euro camp and canvases etc. Canvas seems to have gone down hill in many places so always check.

Yelloh seems good and other ones like that. Eg we went to camp site and we hired directly with site, independent owners, our mobile home was in spacious area with privacy hedges.

We saw canvas area, cramped in no hedges between caravans..

I did Canvas - it was good but the kids were very little so mainly spent time eating sand on the beach. Canvas and Eurocamp are sometimes on the same site.

We went to Brittany but end of season it can be quite chilly - it's nice but not as different from England as if you go further south. But you sound nervous about going to France and driving so maybe stick closer to home.

I'm really happy driving long distances and the French motorways are great much better than British ones. It's really easy.

But you've left it very late to book.

25 aug-1 sep Camping Oyam at Biarritz. Unit with kitchen and bathroom £420.
Flights from Stansted or luton to Biarritz (daytime both ways) approx. 270 per head return.

25 Aug-1 sept Camping Grande Italia unit with kitchen bath etc £386
Flights from leeds to Venice for £180 per head return. You'll have enough in your budget for a trip over to venice! and maybe car hire for a couple of days to explore.

We used to go to eurocamp all the times as kids. Italy, Luxembourg, France and many more. We drove to Italy/ Rome area from Kent. Took the euro tunnel as quicker than ferry and drove the rest of the way.

They're long drives but tbh, by the time you got to an aiprort and done all the waiting there got the flight the off waited at customs and so on, there isn't much difference.

Also by driving, you have the freedom to stop and look at the countries you pass through also and to travel where you want while always.

We stayed in a small but really nice camp near Saumur this year. It's on the banks of the Loire and near chateaus and other interesting stuff.
We've got a 3 year old and a 6 month old and spent a lot of time on the site at the pools.
We took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, it was a 6 hour crossing and we had a cabin so we could sleep. We got the early ferry out and it was a 3 hour drive from Caen.
We've been to Brittany as well previously and we had a similar drive from St. Malo.
The Tunnel is cheaper but obviously the drive is longer to get to the same places. PIL drove this year and it was 7 hours to the same site from Calais.