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

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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.

We had great holidays with the children over the years, both in a tent and mobile ( prefer mobile as it's easier for the loo!)
Then we started booking direct with the sites as was often cheaper and doing ferry/ tunnel separately, we always drove as could lob everything in the car. When they were toddlers often opted for a mobile with decking and a gate so they were contained!

My advise don't go, we have been 3 times now and I'm not sure why we went back after the first time.

All the sites were in France although I would think they are similar everywhere.

We found that the children were to young at 4 & 6 to make the most of the facilities and there were lots of teenagers hanging around the smaller children's facilities like the play area.

It can get very expensive if you use the on-site bar and restaurant, but you will find this difficult to avoid as the children will want to watch the evening entertainment.

The laundry facilities are limited and with young children it's difficult to avoid needing to wash.

We always felt that the accommodation could have been cleaner and the beds are terrible!

I would find a gite complex for you and your family as the cost isn't that much different and your children will have more freedom, as they will be able to play outside without fear that they wonder off if you look away for a second.

I second Duinrell in Holland . Although Eurocamp have a base there you should stay in the premium accomodation that belongs to the camp owners.
We went every year for 5 years in a row and heading off again in February.
Lovely theme park, amazing waterpark, beautiful village , cycle to beach, trip to Amsterdam and so many lovely places.
Really good value off peak.
www.duinrell.com/holiday-park/duingalows/premium-4-person-with-sauna

Have a look at Alfesco holidays or Sibiu. We had lots of great holidays in France with Sibiu in the Charente region. In Lake Garda we stayed twice at Camping del Garda with Alfresco and loved it.

We’ve been twice, one in France and one in Spain (we drove both times, ti France with then 4yo twins and to Spain with then 6yo twins) . On the whole, we had great holidays. Great pools and mobile homes were fine. My advice would be to get the best grade accommodation that you can afford. We did some short stop overs in basic models and I wouldn’t have been happy spend my whole holiday in one.

Are you a member of Twins Trust? They do discounts.

Oh and we found that the star ratings on the sites weren’t very consistent. One 4 star site was FAR nicer than one of our stop over sites.

We’ve been doing Eurocamp since our daughter was about 6/7, in a variety of sites in France and Italy. We have had fantastic holidays every year, and some sites were so good we went back multiple times. Some sites have tattier accommodation, so I’d recommend reading reviews.

Our favourite sites are: St Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne, Norcenni Girasole near Florence, with runner up positions for La Rive (France) and Bella Italia (Lake Garda). I would highly recommend all those sites. All have very good pools/water parks.

Advantages to Eurocamp: low deposit, easy to pay in instalments; I’ve always had a good booking experience with them; reps on site useful as a contact particularly on big sites, or if you struggle with the language.

Disadvantages: yes, you might get your holiday cheaper booking directly; we’ve found the reps can be pot luck (big sites can have young people rushed off their feet, but a small site in Italy had an absolutely wonderful middle aged couple who were like hosts).

We book our own flights and hire car, never used them for that side of things. All in all I’d really recommend them. We actually booked with a different company for our (ill-fated!) 2020 holiday, a French company called Sandaya, and I really regretted it once the covid cancellation process started. I was very envious of Eurocamp customers who seemed to get much better customer service.

I am 40 and my fondest childhood memories are of our Eurocamp holidays! We used to stay in the tents and my sister and I had a blast on the campsites at the pool and playgrounds meeting other children. I haven't been as an adult so can't say what they are like today but back in the 90s they were great!

We did 6 French ones and duinrell.The ones based at Castels sites were really nice. Loved Rougemont but the first language for kids club was Dutch, although the leaders spoke English as well, but maybe less good for socialising than some of the parks further West. Has been 10 years since our last trip, but our kids loved them - a very easy holiday. Tended to go for smaller sites with good pools . Personally found Duinrrll too big, although it’s obviously a completely different site to most eurocamps.

I forgot about Alfresco, we stayed at this site year ago. Was fab

https://www.alfresco-holidays.com/campsites/vendee/vn016-sol-a-gogo/introduction.html]