Talk to me about Eurocamp

[didihearthatright123456]

Have you been?

Is it worth it?

Do you drive (thinking more specifically of France) or fly?

Would it be suitable for my (would be then) 4 year old twins

Any do's or don'ts based on past experience?

TIA

---

MNHQ update: If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best sites Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

France
😎La Croix du Vieux Pont, near Paris

😎Siblu La Carabasse, Languedoc Roussillon

😎Le Lac des Rêves, Languedoc Roussillon

😎Péneyrals, Aquitaine, France

😎St Avit Loisirs, Dordogne

😎La Rive, Landes, France

Italy

😎Bella Italia, Lake Garda

😎Piantelle, Lake Garda

😎Marina du Venezia

😎Union Lido Mare, Italy

😎Norcenni Girasole, near Florence

Netherlands

😎Duinrell, Netherlands

For more inspo, check out our guide to the best Eurocamp sites for families, featuring more recommendations from Mumsnetters.

Yes I’ve been many times in Eurocamp holidays, as a child and now as a parent with children.
I was even a courier 25 years ago!
It is great, but very varied depending on where you go, if you stay in a mobile home, tent or chalet. If you are going in term time or school holidays? What time of year?
We have taken our own car, and flown with car hire.
The French Riviera in a mobile home during August is a very different holiday to a tent in the Loire in May for example.....

We've had several and it's been a mixed bag. One, in the south of France, was amazing. We went in the school holidays, flew and hired a car, ended up with a brilliant mobile home situated in a quiet stretch where we could park the car easily.

We did another, also school holidays, also flew and hired a car, in the italian lakes and it was horrific. Parts of the park (that the photographed for the website) was gorgeous, but the section we were in was horrific. Late night noise, kids running up and down outside shouting until after midnight, mobile homes were dirty and run down. If I used a hairdryer, the electrics would fuse. We were a good 45 min walk from the pool complex and you had to be there before 8 to get any loungers. Just awful. We haven't EuroCamped since and won't do it again.

Thanks for you reply

We'd be looking to stay in a chalet, and probably during school holidays as we'd be going with family who have children at primary school. I've had a brief look and the one in Brittany looks very good but I also love the look of Lake Garda (for my own selfish reasons as I've always wanted to go). We'd be going in either May or July.

@BreathingDeep

We've had several and it's been a mixed bag. One, in the south of France, was amazing. We went in the school holidays, flew and hired a car, ended up with a brilliant mobile home situated in a quiet stretch where we could park the car easily.

We did another, also school holidays, also flew and hired a car, in the italian lakes and it was horrific. Parts of the park (that the photographed for the website) was gorgeous, but the section we were in was horrific. Late night noise, kids running up and down outside shouting until after midnight, mobile homes were dirty and run down. If I used a hairdryer, the electrics would fuse. We were a good 45 min walk from the pool complex and you had to be there before 8 to get any loungers. Just awful. We haven't EuroCamped since and won't do it again.

oh blimey that does sound grim

4-11 are the perfect ages for Eurocamp.

The mobile homes are better as you don't have a bathroom in the glamping tents and if you're very unlucky with the weather they're still tents... A family our kids played with one year were flooded out of their tent and have d to move to a mobile home, and spend two days washing and drying wet stuff.

IMO if you want to keep to yourself they're not the right holiday for you - half the point is the kids make friends. We just had the rule they couldn't go inside anyone else's tent or mobile home, but the kids played where we could see them from the terrace.

You can book more cheaply directly with the campsites for virtually the same facilities minus the rep. The kids clubs etc. are run by the sites.

We went on at least 5 Eurocamp or similar (booked directly or via a Dutch company - Happy Camp or something similar) holidays; the first when our oldest were 1 and 3, the last when they were something like 11, 7 and 4.

I'd definitely recommend them but it does depend what you're looking for.

If you want Lake Garda Bella Italia used to be good - as far as I know it still is (neighbors went two years ago). It does get busy in school holidays though and is a lot more expensive than nearby smaller sites (because it has more facilities).

We used to go to Duinrell in Holland every year before Covid and absolutely loved it !
We haven’t been in a few years, but it was always great, reasonably priced, and the chalets were always fine.
We would drive to Calais then do the crossing then drive onto Holland.
Definitely look into Duinrell especially with 4 year olds, there is a small theme park on site and a water park, my daughter had the best time when she was about 4. The local town (short walk away) Wassenaar is lovely too, with a supermarket and other shops.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

4-11 are the perfect ages for Eurocamp.

The mobile homes are better as you don't have a bathroom in the glamping tents and if you're very unlucky with the weather they're still tents... A family our kids played with one year were flooded out of their tent and have d to move to a mobile home, and spend two days washing and drying wet stuff.

IMO if you want to keep to yourself they're not the right holiday for you - half the point is the kids make friends. We just had the rule they couldn't go inside anyone else's tent or mobile home, but the kids played where we could see them from the terrace.

You can book more cheaply directly with the campsites for virtually the same facilities minus the rep. The kids clubs etc. are run by the sites.

We went on at least 5 Eurocamp or similar (booked directly or via a Dutch company - Happy Camp or something similar) holidays; the first when our oldest were 1 and 3, the last when they were something like 11, 7 and 4.

I'd definitely recommend them but it does depend what you're looking for.

Thanks for your reply, could you recommend any sites that you have stayed at previously?

I'd definitely be looking to stay in a chalet for those exact reasons lol

Or best Eurocamp holidays were in the easter or June holidays or early September - avoid August.

We used them for years when children were young but I'm going back a long while (my boys all in their 30s). They were absolutely the best type of holiday for them, they particularly enjoyed all the sporting activities available. I always drove and have been as far as tuscany but my absolute favourite was lake garda on a spring holiday (if I remember correctly was Bella Italia) and if you go there garda land is a must for the children and all the little villages around are lovely for wandering around in the evenings to find the best restaurants for pizza (their favourite food, can't beat real Italian pizza😋)

We've been to a few in France over the years with the children and have always had a mobile home type thing. We love it because it gives us all the freedom to do what we want. I like it better than a hotel as you have your own space but there are kids activities if you want them. We drive and just find a supermarket and stock up on day 1.
I'm always impressed by the "real" camping holiday professionals who arrive with all sorts of kit, from foldaway wardrobes to recycling bins!

The first one we stayed at was Yelloh village in France - that was 14 years ago so it might have changed. It was a big site split by a road as far as I remember, so experience might vary depending upon where you're located. There was a busy bar and restaurant area. You wouldn't want to be there or by the road. We were near the kids pool and it was perfect.

Bella Italia in Lake Garda is another big one - we had a great stay there but it was at Easter.

I'm trying to remember the names of other sites, I worked a night shift yesterday and have brainfog!

Piantelle was another good one - we went there two years in a row. Its also lake Garda and a lot smaller than Bella Italia if you like quieter, but big enough. I don't think it was actually Eurocamp, but the same type of thing. After a while we stopped booking directly with Eurocamp and shopped around a bit (especially once we had 3 children and needed a 3 bedroom mobile home during school holidays so prices soared).

We've always driven to France and the Netherlands.
La Croix du Vieux Pont is a great site with lots going on. Quite close to Euro Disney so lots of people do a day trip.
Duinrell as pp have mentioned is good. They have a great water park and an excellent ice cream shop in the nearby town.
If you wanted to fly we went to Marina du Venezia in Italy. It's right on the beach which is lovely. We did some day trips to Venice as well cycling around the lagoons.
Four is a perfect age for Eurocamp. We've been going since my eldest was four and youngest has been going since birth.

Yes have been to Eurocamp and similar as parent and many years ago as child.

I would recommend them -they are good for children. If you choose a good site there always lots to do and they will have children their own age to play with.

As well as Eurocamp there is also Canvas Holidays and also French companies such as Yelloh Camping and Flower Campings which all offer similar (in many cases costing less than Eurocamp on the same site). Its also worth going to the website of the actual campsite as many have their own facilities to book as well.

The value of these is being able to bring all that we needed and also have the car to drive around once there. I would recommend taking a leisurely approach to getting there. When we have gone to sites in the Vendee and Dordoigne we got the ferry across from Portsmouth and then drove for 2-3 hours on day one and 4 hours on day two to arrive for 4pm. This we felt was easier than getting the tunnel/ferry to Calais and then having an 9 hour drive.

My tips

• Work out what type of site you want to go to in terms of size, location and facilities on site - all have swimming pools and bars etc, but see if they have resaturants and whether they are walking distance to other facilities and the local town. Also see if they have kids clubs run by the site or by the holiday company.

• In terms of location the inland sites generally have better and more facilities but obviously dont have direct access to the beach.

• See whats in the local area in terms of attractions in the local area - castles, vineyards, museums, zoos, beaches etc for trips off site. Especially check out possible rainy day places so you have a contingency for bad weather

• Its hard but you may want to try and work out what the mix of clientele is likely to be - we went to one big site in teh Vendee where 90% of people were British or Irish which gave us a different holiday to the next year when were on a smaller site with a mixture of British, Dutch, French, German and other families.

• Choose your accommodation carefully - first time we went we had a tent which was good as it had all the facilities but no bathroom meaning it it was tricky in terms of taking the children to the toilet facilities in the middle of the night. We also had a thunderstorm which was a bit unsettling under canvas. Other times we have been in a cabin which has a bathroom etc and is more substantial and you have more privacy.

• Take some basic foods with you so that you are prepared; especially on the first day after a long journey it can be difficult to get children to be adventurous with food!

I have done a good few mobile home holidays to France but generally just book direct with the campsite. We did Eurocamp once but didn't have a good experience. Our mobile home seemed quite old and musty, the oven didn't work and our pitch was really dark and overlooked. The reps were all teenagers and had no interest in doing any actual work ( such as sorting the oven). We also wanted to use their toddler club but it turned out in the small print it said it didn't run in peak season 🙄

Generally I think booking direct is better - usually cheaper and you get better pitches and mobile homes and they usually have a kids club and entertainment on site anyway.

I did lots when my dc were younger - we always had a fab time and they loved it. We always drove and generally went to Italy or Spain and once n the south of france. Booked through different operators - I generally found the site I wanted to go to and went from there.

if we drove we often stopped in France overnight and also combined it with a trip to e.g. Rome or Venice, Barcelona(and booked a hotel for a night). My kids just loved the whole thing - the entertainment, pool, making friends and, when they were older, independence going to the camp shop etc.

We always did loads of day trips too - so combining camp time and culture etc made it better for me (I'm not a pool/lounging person).

We've done loads and always had a great time. My advice is always to get the best/biggest mobile home you can afford. Some of the newer ones can be quite plush, with covered terraces and aircon - both a must when it's hot. Ones I could recommend:

www.siblu.co.uk/camping/france/south-coast/la-carabasse

• fabulous because everything is in walking distance, including the beach www.siblu.co.uk/camping/france/south-coast/le-lac-des-reves

• smaller and you need a car, but dd was about 4 and it was perfect

www.sunelia.com/en/france/rhone-alpes/ardeche/largentiere/domaine-les-ranchisses/

This place was lovely - think Canvas and Eurocamp do vans there. Our van was on the hill overlooking the park. Pools not huge but the bar and onsite restaurant were lovely and there's a little river running through for paddling/canoes.

www.sandaya.co.uk/our-campsites/peneyrals - we went with Eurocamp. Great pool complex. Lots of entertainment for all ages. Nice restaurant / bar terrace. Close to Sarlat.

www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/tuscany/in022-park-albatros/ataglance.html Absolutely massive - but loads going on. Used to be a Canvas family active park.

www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/venetian-riviera/ia015-union-lido/ataglance.html Also massive. We went for a week in June and never felt the need to leave the park at all. Portofelice was also recommended but never made it there.

PS - I have never been to any of these places in August. Our school holidays start 1st July, so we always went then once dd was at school. Places got notably busier after July 14th BH

We have mostly always driven as we live in EU, with a stop off in Burgundy or Rouen depending on destination. For Union Lido we flew to Venice and got a taxi. La Carabasse is only about 15 mins from Beziers airport and you can easily manage without a car.

If you want a chalet type holiday, can I recommend La Baie at La Trinitie sur Mer- Brittany.
They do eurocamp, but you can also book direct.
Right by a lovely Sandy beach, short walk to a pretty harbour town, not too big, kids club, pool, ideal for families.

Get the Plymouth- Roscoff ferry (or Portsmouth to St Malo) and it's an easy drive.

We have been lots of times, going later this year, and would say it's pretty much perfect. We take our own van though.

en.campingdelabaie.com/

We first went with Eurocamp back in 2013 when it was Keycamp. Stayed at Bella Italia in Lake Garda for a week in April. It was half closed at the time!

Then we went with Alfresco (sister company of Eurocamp) to Park Albatross in August 2020. It was heaving with Italians, as at the start of the pandemic.

We have just booked the Costa Dorada in Spain with Alfresco again for April this year. Just hope it's more open than Bella Italia was 9 years before!

I've done various companies. I preferred Pierre et vacances to euro camp. Brittany or the vendee are easier as it's a 6 hours ish drive from Le Havre (take overnight ferry) but I love Lake Garda - we stopped off at europa parc on the way and neuschwanstein castle on the way back (and Aachen)

We did a few Eurocamp holidays a long time ago. Did a couple of overnights in Brittany, and didn't like the campsites. Might be different now, but it felt like being in the UK. First time, we drove to SW coast and stayed in a tent. Second time mobile home and nobody wanted to go back to tents. Four year olds won't care, but you might!

When our kids were that young, we chose quieter camps. When older, they liked livelier. Also, when we first went, we couldn't afford to eat out so shopped at local supermarkets (one of the highlights). In the last couple of holidays, we made sure we were near restaurants.

I like being very close to the beach, so it's worth going just for an hour or two if it's very hot, rather than it being a car trip. Some campsite pools got very crowded. Might just have been our kids, but they never wanted to leave the campsite. They always made lots of friends (usually Dutch children).

I was very nervous driving off the ferry every time, but I soon got used to it, and I enjoyed driving around. Then we did a couple of fly drive holidays. Obviously saved the long drive, and it allowed up to go to Spain and Italy rather than France.

Our children, all grown up now, have very fond memories of those holidays.

My parents used to take me and DB on Eurocamp holidays in France when we were kids. They were always brilliant: all the children would roam the site for the day while the parents relaxed, unless we were going on day trips.

As an adult, I took the DC to one of the 'basic' Eurocamp sites in the south of France in 2019. The chalet was tiny but had everything we needed and the site was perfect as a base. It had a nice pool, was 5 minutes' walk to a beautiful sandy beach and there was loads to do in the local area.