Shocked that Eurocamp coming out same price as All Inclusive?!

[Orangeinmybluelightcup]

I have been looking into going somewhere in Europe with DH and x2 primary aged kids next summer. I have always fancied Eurocamp. But the prices when you add it all up are a shock!

The cheapest looks like ferry and drive to Brittany, which adds up to £2000 for the most basic accommodation but goes higher as soon as you want a bit more. Anywhere further south (hoping for some sun) it easily comes to £3500, for accommodation with AC, flights and car hire. And then food is on top of that.

It just seems a bit unreasonable when £3500 would get us something all inclusive e.g. TUI / Jet2... Just a bit surprised as I would have expected Eurocamp to be cheaper as more basic.

I may well do it anyway, as I am not keen on being in a high rise hotel and don't want to be contained in a resort. I'd like to stay somewhere greener and see the local area. But it's a lot of money for a caravan hol...

Driving will make it much cheaper - Chunnel and petrol instead of flights and car hire.

When I went to Eurocamp in Barcelona.

It was clear from the amount of huge and expensive cars around that it was aimed at a certain clientele.

More bougie than budget.

We have done eurocamp this year after years of all inclusive. It was slightly more expensive, once factoring in food etc, but not as much as I expected. It's been a great holiday, especially as my children are getting older now. We are going to do it again next year.

I haven't looked at chunnel yet to be fair. Ferry was £818!

I haven’t priced up Eurocamp myself. But AI is coming out much higher for next year than this year (assuming you booked this year a year ago, if you see what I mean).

I think Eurocamp offers discounts on the ferry?

Otherwise widen your search to non-Eurocamp sites which often have all the same facilities but might have cheaper accomodation. Chains to look at are Yelloh, Siblu, Sandaya, Castels, Sunelia, Huttopia (though these tend to be more low key). We camp so can't comment much on the accommodation it most are great for kids.

The cheapest ferries are Dover Calais but you have a long drive. We always go from Portsmouth where the ferry journey is longer but less driving in the other side. Have had many lovely holidays in Brittany and weather has always been good but it's not guaranteed in that area.

Camping/glamping can be ridiculously expensive ime. Often you pay less for a budget hotel than a patch of grass and a compost loo, nevermind a bell tent which can be more than a luxury hotel. Sometimes we camp anyway if we want to be on site for something or for a group weekend but it's not where the smart money is.

Eurocamp comes into its own price wise if you drive and have a larger family as you pay by crossing (ferry, tunnel,etc) and by accomodation.

There are 5 of us - all three children are teens so much more expensive for AI.

we tend to drive and tunnel, then stay overnight in a motel so we can get further south plus the road trip feels like an adventure as well.

Euro camp has never been a cheap option, good value imo but not cheap, factor in fuel, payeage, ferry. Chunnel always worked
Out cheaper for us but we are only 49 mins from Folkestone.

If budget is restrictive tent camping can be a cheap holiday option in France but you need to buy the kit.

As a family of 5 Eurocamp works out cheaper than a flight/hotel package. We also prefer self catering due to food allergy and love the freedom having our car affords us, plus we can take bikes and other stuff.
But no, I don't think it's necessarily a cheap holiday.
Eurocamp do give a discount on ferries/tunnel crossings too though. We usually cross then stay a night or two en route to final destination, although we're staying northern Europe next year so will do a lunchtime crossing and arrive at camp in the evening so no extra days needed whilst traveling. We share the driving so can get further than we might manage if only one of us drove.

It depends where you go. If you go somewhere in Northern Europe, use Tesco vouchers on the tunnel and have any discounts- loyalty, early booking etc, you can easily get a week for £1000.

You get a good deal on the chunnel if you've got tesco vouchers.

Where are u going? Different parks have different prices. We went to a nice euro camp near beziers and shared a large static with our friends (4 adults 3 small kids in total) for 10 nights with flights, and car hire for £1000 per couple this June. The park up the road was twice the price for some reason.

I don't think the two are comparable really. The holidays are completely different in style. I have done both and much prefer Eurocamp holidays. They are definitely becoming more expensive, especially for the really good sites with water parks and decent restaurants but they're such a great holiday with so much freedom and fun for the kids

AI is shit

Eurocamp is lush

That's why it's pricier

Venue holidays - It’s cheaper than Eurocamp .we found very good when we used to go to France small company often Eurocamp were also on the same site

We like the Huttopia campsites in France. If you're after greenery, take a look. Pool is bit more basic and they don't all have restaurants on site but we liked the vibe.
Euro camp sites can be trashy and rundown sometimes and agreed its expensive

We always just used to book direct with the campsite we wanted to stay in - much cheaper

Remember you are getting a 2/3 bed unit rather than one room. The longer ferries are horrendously expensive now though, we do use Portsmouth or Plymouth due to where we live but even out of peak season on a (single) motorbike it was £200 each way

Ive been looking at Eurocamp for next year and discovered it’s often much cheaper to book direct with the actual campsite rather than through Eurocamp. Lots of the sites have a range of companies that offer holiday accommodation onsite so it’s worth investigating which is the nicest and cheapest!

That said Eurocamp do some good offers, there’s an offer on now for a week holiday in September to Italy site for a family of 4 including flights and transfer for £775, I don’t think that could be found cheaper elsewhere.

The ferry prices can be eye watering! Especially if overnight, with cabin etc. You can book crossings through Eurocamp usually at a significant discount, and it's all covered as a package deal if you need to make any changes or cancel the holiday. Dover > Calais is the cheapest but means longer drive time depending on where you are looking to stay. I don't think the ferries are available to book for next summer yet, but if you tick the box to add a crossing during checkout, they'll get in touch with you once they are available and add it to your booking.

To get cheaper prices, you could look at booking directly with the campsite. They often have their own accommodation and it can be much better quality than Eurocamp. Many of the kids clubs now are site run and open to anyone staying there, not just Eurocamp. Also look at the other providers - Roan, Homair, or book through Allcamps who compare all the different providers for each site. There's also the likes of Sandaya, Yelloh, Capfun campsites. You should be able to use Tesco clubcard points towards Eurocamp too, but this hasn't been confirmed for next year yet so double check with them if you can use them for your booking before transferring loads of points.

The last two weeks of August tend to be cheapest as many European countries are back at school by then. Also ferries and Chunnel are cheaper mid week if you can play around with your travel dates. Alternatively if you are flexible with where and when, you could wait to book something last minute but the most popular sites will have limited availability left.

Also just a note that Eurocamp have started to use a dynamic pricing strategy, so the more people that look at a site, the more the price increases! If you see a big jump in prices, try clearing cookies or using a different browser. They are also quite useful on chat and can sometimes find you better deals than you can see on the website.

I hated Eurocamp! Said it did lots of kids such as sport mine wrrr on a grass verge jumping over swimming woggles. I got eaten alive by bed bugs. The pool was grubby ..

it was the one outside of Paris

Might also be worth taking into consideration what benefits you get with euro camo/key amp etc that you don’t with AI. Eg no restrictions on when or where you can eat, no having to leave the room for cleaners, fresh air, kids can roam the site safely , nature , the one we went to bear Bordeaux rented out bikes and we cycled everywhere for two weeks! So much better than a hotel or villa with pool! We took the ferry and drove down over two days btw

We were thinking of Bordeaux for next summer. Can I ask which park you stayed at please?

Yes freedom for the kids will be better with eurocamp I think. Thanks for the reminder!