Eurocamp

[ThatDreamSheep]

Can you talk to me about Eurocamp please? Never been but really intrigued by the idea of it for next year. Anyone who's been what is it like or what tips/tricks are there for the best trip? Thank you!

Afaik eurocamp rent the ground to plonk their caravans on in an established Campsite, then presumably pay the Campsite for their clients use of pools and so on. The Campsite will usually have vans from all different Eurocamp type businesses and usually their own too plus pitches.

I usually book directly with the campsite (in France Yelloh Campsites are excellent) but in Spain I had to book through Eurocamp. Tbh the experience wasn't as good as the Yelloh ones. The staff were lovely and we were definitely hand held more than when you book through the Campsite. I imagine the benefits are children's clubs and an English team looking after you.

There are several companies offering these type of holidays. You can book direct with the sites which is often cheaper. Eurocamp and Canvas can be worth it for the discounted ferries you can book through them. They often have their own kids clubs as well. Just browse their sites and decide which country, region, facilities you want and book. We love them because kids get their own bedrooms and freedom to explore the sites and make friends.

I am a bit confused about Eurocamp as well. I remember going to one as a child and it was a big frame tent, all set up for you with beds and an electric fridge. But basically still camping. But looking at eurocamp sites they don’t seem to have much of that sort of thing at all - they’re more eurocabin / eurocaravan / eurolodge. Is it the case that they’re basically nearly all lodge-based rather than pre-erected tents?

We like eurocamp (or equivalent) holidays for the benefit of having my own self catering space while having the facilities of a big complex around us. I like ones with bigger pool complexes and football pitches as that suits my children. We do get a caravan though rather than a tent

Not many pre-erected tents these days. We stayed in a safari tent with our own bathroom last year which was amazing. We’ve also booked direct with our own tents on sites used by Eurocamp as there are generally English speakers around for our children to make friends. We always drive and take bikes with us. Some sites are huge so bikes are handy for the morning patisserie run.

Eurocamp holidays were brilliant for us when our kids were toddlers up to the age of 10. We did loads of them. We always booked the highest standard of lodge available and always one with air con if going somewhere hot. Got some really good deals booking in Easter holidays too. One holiday was £350 including ferry for a last minute week in Normandy and was one of our best ever holidays.

Look at the prices between the different companies - Eurocamp/Canvas/Siblu/Yelloh/Sandaya etc to get the best price. Also check direct with the campsite. Always get the biggest/newest mobile you can afford. Aircon and covered decking if you go anywhere remotely warm. Normally the websites give info on which sites are better for different ages - what you want with toddlers is different to what you want with teens. Canvas / Eurocamp run kids clubs on certain sites where you are guaranteed to get English speakers. Others just have site run kids clubs. The Canvas family sites were very good as I recall when dd was between 5 and 10. We've done quite a few in France and Italy. Where are you thinking of going?

Though it's worth bearing in mind, that booking through one of the big companies can mean a lower deposit and better cancellation conditions than booking direct. Especially if they have special offers on. It's worth signing up v the website/FB etc to get advance notice of deals.

Sliblu/Canvas/Eurocamp all offer discounts to returning customers too. Or at least they used to.

We have been on several Eurocamp/ Canvas holidays and have found them generally to be fine. We went with Eurocamp last year due to Covid and the Abta protection that booking a package offers, this year in the same position we would quite happily book directly with the campsites. As others have mentioned there are other companies such as Yelloh and Sblu in France which can be cheaper or book directly with the campsite. Also Flower camping in France which tends to go for smaller sites. Check also what you get for your money - some companies provide sheets and towels as part of the booking whereas for Eurocamp its extra or bring your own.

One advantage of the Eurocamp/Canvas setup used to be that you had British staff - I had a friend who had a great time working as part of a gap year - we noticed last year that virtually all Eurocamp staff on the campsites now are French/German/Dutch presumably as a result of Brexit and restrictions on working in the EU.

One thing to bear in mind is the size of the site and the size of the pitches on the site - they can really affect the enjoyment of the holiday. Larger sites obviously have the best facilities but they can feel a bit impersonal with all the Eurocamp lodges and tents in one place. Also the number of people can put pressure on the swimming pools and other facilities, on smaller sites you are far more likely to be nearer to or next to other companies' accommodation and private family campers which we found more enjoyable. Pitch size can also affect enjoyment - the pitch we have had on one of the Eurocamp sites we stayed on last year was very small and it felt very cramped. It says in each campsite write up what size the pitches are.

As others have said go for the best accommodation available as it will be bigger and have better facilities resulting in better sleeping and fewer arguments!

Love love love eurocamp type holidays. Like pps, we book with whichever company works out cheapest - not necessarily eurocamp. But if they are on site we know the site will be good.
Most we've been to still have tents as well as caravans.

www.eurocampings.co.uk/ is what we have used to search for sites.

We did Eurocamp a lot when kids were younger. Mainly caravans in France but one (wet) trip to Lake Garda in a tent. We used to combine the France trips with a week in a Gite booked through Brittany Ferries first in the Dordogne and then drive down to a Eurocamp place in the south of France. Great times!

Another vote for Yelloh. But we don’t do tents we get cabins with air con. I don’t recall seeing pre erected tents but there were definitely pitches to bring your
own tent. Good facilities on site, very international atmosphere.

I've used them but prefer pierre et vacances. If anyone fancies Italy I highly recommend Pra del torri, which is a huge holiday complex where you can bring your own tent, rent a tent, lodge, bungalow, caravan or even there's a hotel. Amazing swimming facilities, fun pools, toddler pools and including Olympic sized pool set aside for serious swimming, so unusual (I went 10 years ago so check details!) right on beach too. It's 2 overnight stop's really, that was from midlands.

We stay on many sites but with our own caravan. Eurocamp tends to be on the biggest sites with the most facilities but most biggish sites will have their own accommodation, not just Eurocamp. This will range from safari tents to mobile homes to wooden lodges. My DC like it because of access to pool and other kids around. It also gives them a good sense of freedom but in a safe environment.

We try to avoid the more manic sites but then these will usually have fewer pools/slides etc. You can look at Les Castels and Huttopia if you want something a bit quieter (have stayed at both and they have pools/restaurants/kids clubs etc but not quite as big as some of the other sites). Look at Sandaya and Siblu for all-singing and dancing. Yelloh has a good variety of sites.

A lot of sites will require you to have your own car, although there are some that are walking distance to town/beach.

We’ve been and our children really liked it, but I felt a little like I didn’t get to see anything of the area we were in and we just stayed put. Which is the point (!). But a long weekend was enough for me.

The kids absolutely loved it though - they had the freedom to bike around. They liked the playgrounds and cycling etc more than the pools, funnily enough!

(In the summer holidays, the pools were so full that they weren’t much fun!)

We've done Yelloh, Huttopia & Eurocamp & found Yelloh & Huttopia to be far far better value & better customer service.
We're trying Canvas this year as it came up as £500 cheaper than than Eurocamp.

My DC love it. They're 10 & 14 & have been going to various sites since they were small.

We stayed in a Trapper Tent in the Netherlands for a week last year with Huttopia & it was amazing. We had a loo & shower indoors which helped! It was a quieter site than we're used too but was lovely & would definitely go back.

We did eurocamp when our kids were little they loved it . It was keycamp then . Had some lovely times xx

We've done Huttopia several times. The village sites are car free (park up then use trolleys to transport luggage). We love the relaxed, peaceful atmosphere and less manicured forest setting.

@Soozikinzii yes! I was trying to remember who we went with. Keycamp were fab. Much better than Eurocamp who we also used. Mind you this is going back 15 years or more. Just remember very happy holidays with so much freedom for our children that we got a chance to relax too.

Freedom for the children absolutely sums up this type of holiday.

We went to one this year in southern France with kids aged 2 and 4. It was an ace holiday. The one we went to was a wine resort so the wine was 2 euros a bottle and came out of a barrel in the wall (!?)

Very basic amenities but great pools, great beach, great pizza and French food.

it’s not posh, it was quite cheap. Not sure if teenagers would like it, but for little kids it was fantastic. Will be going again next year.

@Gpnever would you mind sharing details of which site this was sounds perfect!

We do a lot of French campsites, and many of them have Eurocamp caravans, but they are often shabbier and in less great locations than campsite own accommodation. So check also bookings directly from campsite.