Eurocamp/similar with 2 toddlers

[mrshadders]

Hi all
My husband and I have a week off early July and this is the last year we can go out of school holidays. Our children will be 4 and 1 (21 months) at the time and we are trying to decide what to do. Last year we did all inclusive and it was a bit of a nightmare (hotel room with a newly crawling baby, 50 trips to the buffet every meal). This year we are trying to decide if to do Eurocamp or something similar.

We live in Manchester so not super easy to do the Eurotunnel but we would consider it. I liked the look of Bella Italia Eurocamp but my husband thinks it will be too hot for the kids. We have looked at La Croix du Vieux Pont but it's a 4.5 hour drive to Folkestone then a 3 hour drive to the site. I like the look of Duinrell and flying to Amsterdam.

Does anyone have any other ideas? We're mainly looking at a Eurocamp/Centre Parcs so the kids have loads to do but we can cook our own food/have more of a homey experience in the lodge. Thank you!

Fly into Verona for lake Garda and get a transfer - Bella italia is 30 mins away heard lots of good things
Beziers has lots of campsites nearby and Venice

Bluestone in Wales? Like center parcs but less horrible. Or drive to Plymouth for ferry to Brittany for eurocamp there? Still a long drive but less stress than London.

Or a good farm stay can be fun too.

This is what I wanted to do but we think it'll be too hot; looks to be about 30 degrees which is too much for the kids!

Brittany seems to be cooler more UK weather but not sure if there is a nearby airport that flys out of Manchester. I've found eurocamp contact centre to be really helpful if you give them a call and talk through requirements they should be able to help find suitable site.

We did this when our dc were 24 months and almost 4. We had a mobile hone on a Eurocamp site in the Loire-Atlantique. It was great, kids loved it and there was loads for them to do. We drove via the tunnel, so quite a long journey, but we broke it by doing an overnight stop in Northern France. The advantage of the car was that we could take more of their stuff eg wellies (it rained on a couple of days) and food (older child was a nightmare fussy eater at that age).

Take the Hull to Rotterdam ferry. It’s just 30 minutes to Duinrell at the other end, and you can pack as much as you can fit in your car! It’s overnight, and there’s loads to do onboard with kids www.poferries.com/en/routes/hull-to-rotterdam/onboard/kids-entertainment

If you’re up for taking the ferry (my 5 &2 year olds loved it last summer) then there’s also Beekse Bergen Safari resort. We had an amazing stay, so much to do for kids. We stayed in the resort but there is also a Eirocamp site nearby. Staying in the resort you get to go to the safari park and the water park as many times as you like for free.

www.beeksebergen.nl/en?gclid=CjwKCAiAxvGfBhB-EiwAMPakqiB_5mpaoldCgCd0oZWXt_Fpeen2G-zkTHE7Dx0hABVRVTkNBQp1AhoCaiwQAvD_BwE

The weather was very similar to the UK and the Netherlands is very family-friendly.

We went with Eurocamp to South Brittany and also to La Vende which is a but further south when our children were 4, 20 moths and 6 months. We drove from Birmingham and got the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg. Both times the weather was warmer than the UK but not too hot for the children. We chose campsites that had direct access to a beach so did not have to use the car each day, we took a collapsible cart to pop the two babies iand all the gear in which was brilliant.

We liked these holidays so much that we bought a Rowling caravan and used that every year until the children were teenagers, so much more freedom than staying in a hotel. We cut down on cooking by just having salad, fresh bread and bbq meat most days!

As other have said Brittany might be a good option. You could look at one of the longer ferry crossings and go overnight to break up the journey. You can also look overnight stops on Eurocamp sites or hotels - we found the mobile homes best for short stops. One option might be a couple of nights somewhere.

Also look at the Dutch CPs, Landal.com and Roompot.com. You can do the overnight ferry between Hull and Rotterdam.