Is there a French equivalent of Haven?

[JustKeepSlimming]

We're thinking of booking our summer holiday, and taking the kids abroad for the first time. Neither of us has been abroad for years and we've realised we don't really know what's out there!

We've had holidays in Haven parks a few times and enjoyed them, so some thing along those lines would be great. I know there's Eurocamp, but that's tents rather than caravans, isn't it? (DH not happy to stay in a tent)

DC are 8 & 6; neither of them would be keen on doing lots of activities (like high ropes courses, kayaking or whatever) - they like messing about in a swimming pool, but they're not fussed on slides or anything, so we don't particularly want to go to a water park.

Essentially what we'd like is a site like Haven, where we can hire a caravan, play in the pool and the kids have some space to run about. Preferably a playground too. We'd like self-catered, but with a cafe or take away place nearby where we can get dinner. Also a supermarket not too far away (we'll be flying so won't have the car).

Also needs to be easy to get to (by train or bus) from an airport. Any ideas?

Eurocamp is mostly caravans now. Very few tents.
also check out Yelloh, vacancies soléil, canvas.

Not been for a while (13 years to be exact!) but we stayed in a caravan in a eurocamp (they also had tent pitches) and the site had a swimming pool, playground etc.

Holiday parks everywhere in France! We find Yelloh very good for pools and kids activities, but always upgrade on the accomodation as the basic chalets are VERY basic.

Eurocamp is definitely not tents. We go every year and always stay in a caravan. Apart from the one year we stayed in a 4 bed lodge.

You may struggle without a car in the French Eurocamps, but some of the Italian ones are very accessible by plane plus public transport.

Seriously, go and explore the Eurocamp website. Each site tells you whether a car is recommended or not.

Eurocamp have been phasing out there tents in recent years, very few of them still left and even thoose that are, are more Safari style tents with more mod cons.

www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/holland/hl013-beekse-bergen/ataglance.html

We stayed here once and flew. We flew into Amsterdam and took two trains and a bus to get there. If we went again, we'd drive as it's about 3 hours from Calais.

Public transport in the Netherlands is excellent, so it was easy enough to get there, though a bit secluded so not easy to get around the local area.

Look at lifestyle holidays. They have caravans on the eurocamp sites but are usually much cheaper.

We used Eurocamp, once was caravan and once a fancy permanent tent.
They had pools and activities. Dc really enjoyed them.

Have a look at Spanish campsites too. There are quite a few near airports so you don't need car.

Try Canvas.

There are lots - Siblu, Yelloh, Eurocamp and many more. If you go to Google and type 'the best holiday parks in France' it brings up loads of choices.

Sandaya are much better than Eurocamp. Most of the accommodation is recent, their sites are great and the staff are very professional. They've got a good choice of sites, and accommodation ranges from budget to luxury. We had an ensuite bathroom and a dishwasher. We weren't in the best , they have private jacuzzi's.

Try these- www.yellohvillage.co.uk

We stayed in one in the Loire valley in a premium caravan which was lovely- and the aircon was very welcome as it was about 35c when we were there! The site had a lovely pool and activities for children every day.

The one we went to would need a car really, but I'm sure there are some that don't.

Another vote for Yelloh. We stayed in a 5* one last summer and it was so good that we are going back. The mobile home didn't have air con though, and there was a heatwave, so I would really want air con if possible.

Keycamp?
Matthews holidays - have statics in French campsites

Sandaya or Yelloh if you like caravans.
But if you really like activities in nature you can also try Huttopia.

Thanks for these suggestions! Loads for us to check out!

Siblu actually used to be Haven Europe.

(The two names co-existed for four years from 2000 to 2003.)

La bien assise near Calais. Snack bar, pool and logis hôtel on site with restaurant. It used to be on eurocamp but much cheaper booking direct.