France or Italy

[Bubblemilk]

I have no idea where to go next year, DP really wants to visit France, I'm more keen on Italy. We'd like to take our car wherever we go as we have two young DC so need to consider car seats. We live an hour and a half away from the channel tunnel and ferry ports, so I think France makes more practical sense. Ideally we'd like five days staying in a holiday park then a few days at Disneyland or visiting a city. I'm just going round in circles looking at places to stay as we've never been abroad as a family and neither of us travelled before we had children. If you had a fantastic holiday in France or Italy this year where did you go?

Italy is safer. I haven’t been to either since lockdown, however, so I hope someone with more recent experience can answer.

If you're only going for a week too 10 days or so and by car with young children, then definitely France. Italy is really two days driving each way (unless you live very near Dover and don't mind a 5am start followed by ferry/tunnel then 12 hour drive). Brittany is the most accessible really pretty bit of France. Normandy is quite nice too.

I would have said Italy as I think the standard of holiday park in Italy is better than in France. However, as you’re driving and you have two young dc, I’d go for France, but just be really discerning when choosing a park.

We have had some amazing holidays in France when our dc were young.
What do you like to do? Beaches, cities, history?

Not sure what previous poster means by Italy being safer.

For a 10 day holiday with 2 small children, I would vote for France due to it being closer. If you already know that you want to go to Disneyland then the choice is made.

Do you want to stay in an apartment or camp, do you want a beach, city, water park, countryside? There are lots of beaches on the North coast of France, lots of campsites with pools and the best time to visit Paris is August, when everyone else leaves!! You can even drive round the Arc de Triomphe without it being a bare knuckle ride!

Pierre et Vacances is worth looking at, as are Castels Camping, Huttopia... to get some ideas.

Or something more special:
www.canopyandstars.co.uk/france/normandy/orne/la-renardiere/the-hilltop-house-at-perche-dans-le-perche#search_type=keyword&search_text=france&
www.airbnb.com/rooms/4421966?adults=2&children=2&infants=0&check_in=2023-05-12&check_out=2023-05-19&federated_search_id=2a688dc2-3adc-4d1a-893e-4082bdfcfe0e&source_impression_id=p3_1661673778_MfNCHO6v%2F5%2BKnJX8

Italy is a long old drive we did with teens over 3 weeks younger chi

Children no way. Hours in the car.

Depends on what accommodation / scenery / food you like. I’d choose Italy over France but I love both. Italian food and culture just comes a little above the French. It’s a question of taste.

Thank you for all the advice. We really have no idea, I should have looked at driving distance to Italy. We will save that for ten years time if we are going to drive!

We aren't set on Disneyland, but it's an idea. Definitely don't want to camp but happy to stay on a site with static homes. We want to experience some of the culture (food) but also want somewhere we can go to beaches and waterpark on site hence the idea to split our time whilst there, as I don't think a 3.5 year old will want to spend much time in the city being told they can't touch anything, so I don't think we'll be doing museums and art galleries
We will have 8 year old to occupy as well, who does enjoy history but we need to keep the younger one occupied too, which for some reason I am imagining will be hard to do in France.

We used to do 1 week in Italy and 2 weeks in France then 2 weeks in Italy and 1 week in France alternate years. In Italy we went to Umbria or lakes. It is a 2 days of none stop driving to get there and we slept overnight at Le Man's on the way down and up again. With 2 small children I would opt for Brittany. There are miles of unspoilt coast that is safe for bathing with coast guard's on duty. You can hire a 3 bedroom villa for about £800 per week in summer. Morlaix is beautiful and only 45 min drive from Roscoff. It has a huge viaduct you can walk over and pretty port to walk around. It is About 17 mins from coast with diving platform and shower on beach. Mini golf, swimming pool complex with outdoor water play about 10 mins and supermarket with everything you could need. There is a market twice a week. Lots of lovely Italian and French restaurant for eating out, cafes, even a subway and 2 pizzaria.

Agree that Italy is too far for 10 days. Have a look at companies that do well-equipped campsites in France and use that as your starting point: Yelloh Village, Eurocamp, Sandaya, Siblu. Look at locations that appeal and check the reviews, and then you can choose something that suits you based on that. Do you want activities, a town close by, historical sites, beaches? We used to stay at Jablines for trips to Disney - no pool but it had access to a lake with sandy beach and was about a 15 min drive to the park. You can also get the RER into Paris if you want to venture there for a day.

It really depends how long you want to drive for.
This was one of our best ever holidays and we stopped off at Disneyland Paris on the way home.
https://www.sandaya.co.uk/our-campsites/la-ribeyre?gl=11t5055i5igaNjM3Mzk0MTg3LjE2NjE2NzQ1OTc..gaa_YK551KD2DR*MTY2MTY3NDU5Ni4xLjEuMTY2MTY3NDYyMC4zNi4wLjA.

Definitely France. We have owned on Siblu sites in the past and they are all fantastic and there is kids to entertain the kids. La Pignade and Les Charmettes are very traditionally French. Quite a long drive so id want more than five days there though.

If you want Disney have a look at center parcs.

Have you considered the Netherlands? You could stay at the Mumsnet favourite Duinrell which is walking distance of a lovely town. Or you could stay at Center Parcs, De Kempervennen isn't too far from Efteling which in my opinion is better than Disneyland Paris.
If you're set on France you could try La Croix du Vieux Pont. It's a nice site, driveable to Disneyland from there. There are lots of Brits there so if you're not very confident with your French it might give you some reassurance.

France for practical reasons. There is lots to love there, although I do prefer Italy.

France for the shorter drive but the south to guarantee the weather!

My dd's favourite French holidays were the Dordogne. We've done both Eurocamp and gite with pool. Lots of lovely french towns, castles, cave dwellings, dinosaur parks, mini golf, aquarium etc. We've stayed at St Avit Loisirs, near Le Bugue and Les Peneyrals, which is closer to Sarlar. Both have good waterparks. Also at Le Banquet gite complex which is just outside Les Eyzies. For 10 days you could plan a week with a stop off each way around the Loire region - Tours or Angers. I wouldn't drive to Italy for that length of time.

For a shorter drive, Normandy - Bayeux and the D-day beaches. Lots to do in that area.

Italy too far to drive with young DC. I've taken my kids to France since they were babies. For young kids I'd stay somewhere on the coast as most kids love the beach. Brittany is my favourite because of the variety - sandy beaches, rock pools, pretty villages, historic sites but the weather isn't always reliable.

Most tourist towns have carousels in the summer for kids. There are also lots of "parc de loisirs", often with kids activities or watersports.

I would have said Italy as I think the standard of holiday park in Italy is better than in France.

I would have said the opposite! IME French sites are more spacious with better sanitary facilities but I suppose it depends where you go. If you want a campsite/holiday park I have stayed at Castels and Huttopia and liked both but there are others like Siblu, Yelloh, Sandaya. You could look at the Eurocamp website to find sites but it is usually cheaper to then book direct with the site.