France with 3 kids (family of 5)

[lafranceestbelle]

Hello,

I've been to a few French cities as a solo traveller. I now have 3 kids with the eldest being 7.

We've previously done package holidays in Spain (pool,sea, evening entertainment) for the convenience of not having to food shop but I'd like to try something new.

I'm open to eurocamp style/renting a house.

What's been your favourite holidays to France with 3 young children? Any tips/things to avoid, all welcome.

Merci.

www.sandaya.co.uk/our-campsites/la-ribeyre

Well it's thanks to Mumsnet that we went there! Search on here for les valades and there'll be loads of threads.

Overnight ferry from Portsmouth to st malo - would require two children to share a bunk though - and a Brittany euro camp is really easy. I’ve stayed in a few but Camping La Grande Metairie was a huge hit and my favourite when my children were preschoolers.

another option is a European centerparcs - Lots in Belgium and Holland that are easy for a family of 5.

Right, at a quick glance those places look amazing. I'm looking for somewhere up north cos I'm a bit nervous about travel time!

I thought for my first go I'd stick to less than 3 hours from French port!

@Iggleoggledaffy I don't envision it being the height of comfort at all. Needs must!

Could always drive on further to Folkestone and do the shuttle.

I think it depends if you want speed. For us travelling from the north, the Dover ferry was good time to switch off, get some food and start the holiday iyswim.

Ah the ferry cabins are perfectly comfortable, all are en suite, it’s just that family of five in spaces-for-four hassle. But still so much cheaper than car hire for a family of five with car seats the other end.

We are veteran France-holidayers (my parents live there so we go at least once a year and have often tacked on a week's holiday). We're also a family of 5.

Brittany Ferries (any of the Plymouth routes) are great! The ferry really feels like part of the holiday. The cabins don't work brilliantly for a family of five though - when the kids were very little two could top and tail; then we went through a stage of taking on a rollmat, sleeping bag etc and now they are late teens we pay for two cabins (expensive, but we do see it as part of the holiday). The food is really good and we've quite often seen dolphins from the boat.

If you need to break up the journey, lots of the French hotel chains have rooms for 3 people, so you only need two rooms for the five of you - we usually go for premiere classe (which are fine), but we've stayed in formule 1s (cheaper), kyriads, and B&Bs as well.

We don't stop for lunch at service stations - we go to supermarket cafes just off the motorway (particularly like Flunches, but the Leclerc cafes are also good). Or taking a picnic and stopping in one of the aires which doesn't have services other than a loo works well too, especially with little kids who might benefit from a run around!).

We've done both Eurocamp/Siblu etc and gites - both good, depends on what you're like and what you like to do really. You can have a great holiday in either of them.

A mention for French supermarkets - very much part of the fun of the holiday; they are brilliant! If you do go to a Eurocamp or similar, make sure you go to an actual supermarket rather than the campsite one to stock up.

We've traveled on several Black Saturdays, and always found it fine. My (French) mother is always muttering darkly about it, but in our experience it's meant the roads are about UK motorway busy, rather than the virtually-empty state they're in a lot of the time. I'd much rather drive in France on Black Saturday than down the M5 on any August Saturday - it's probably nice to avoid if you can, but definitely not something to worry about if that's when your travel dates are.

Sorry, this has ended up an essay! Happy travels...

@danesch very helpful, thanks.

The ferry crossing is overnight so we'd be arriving super early in the morning and would have a few hours spare before check-in...

You're going to the same place we are. La Croix Du Vieux Pont. This will be our 7th visit there. We absolutely love it and you'll be fine on the roads. It's further down that the traffic builds.

When do you go?

Huttopia campsites are nice if you want something which caters for children but is a bit more low key. We stayed in one in Saumur in the Loire Valley. We crossed to Cherbourg as it was cheaper and it was four hours drive from there. 3 hours from Caen or St Malo. St Malo is the best ferry crossing IMO as it sails at 8pm and arrives at 8am. Caen sails late at night and arrives very early in the morning so not much sleeping time. The overnight crossings are very expensive and the cabins sell out quickly but we prefer it if travelling to the Loire or west coast as there is much less driving.

Other areas we really like are Charente Maritime and Southern Brittany, both an easy drive. Vendee is also an easy drive but we found it less scenic and not as much to do/visit.

We have also stayed in gites many times. Most will say in the description if the owners are nearby. Most of the time we have only seen them at arrival and departure. Our only negative experience was one where the pool was shared with the owners and they seemed to be in it all the time. I think we were unlucky though as mostly if there is a shared pool the owners will work around you or have a schedule.

We have also travelled numerous times on Black Saturday and never had many traffic issues. The worst places if you are going West are the Renne and Nantes ring roads and if you've travelled by overnight ferry you are usually early enough to miss the traffic.

Brittany is too cold and Provence overpriced, IMO.

@BonjourCrisette I'll pack some fleeces

Well, you might be hardier than me and my family!

La Garangeroire in the vendée is a great campsite for young children.

Weather in Brittany isn't very reliable but we've been able to go in the sea every summer that we've been. We go to Southern Brittany where the weather is usually a little but better than further North.

We've done several eurocamps with our children:

1. Chateau des Marais in the Loire.
2. La Garangeoire in the Vendee
3. L'Oceano d'or in the Vendee
4. St Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne
5. Domaine de la Breche in the Loire

This year we're doing Le Ruisseau near Biarritz.

If you have any questions I'm happy to try and answer them!

We’ve done Chateau de Marais - loved it. Have taken note of your others!

That’s quite a broad description 😂

@SecretTango, thank you for the reassurance. We're going in the 2nd week of August.

Any tips for the campsite?

Yes, sorry. I find myself unreasonably irritated by the type of spammy links @nooh321 posted just above my post and was possibly a bit short.

I would stand by those opinions in the main, though!

Ok - hols all booked. Not sure if already said but I've gone for Sandaya in Brittany and a ferry crossing.

So far...

I've ordered a European driving kit from rac (with the 2 triangles, headlamp deflectors, UK stickers etc.)

Ordered GHIC cards for all family as didn't have any/expired

Booked travel insurance

Ordered tight swim trunks

I didn't go for the prepaid food option on ferry...any tips/advice on food on ferry (with 3 young kids)?

Need to:

car insurance
breakdown cover

Anyone think of anything else I need to do?

How much do you pack and do you just buy literally everything at supermarket there? I'm thinking in terms of foil/toiletpaper/washing up liquid?!

Have paid for a premium cottage which should include linen, towels and end of stay cleaning. Correct me if wrong!

Thought this might be helpful for anyone else doing it for the first time!

I wouldn’t take anything you can buy in France - either in a supermarket or local shops/market, which is pretty much everything. So I would take Yorkshire tea with me (though this is increasingly available some French supermarkets it’s not guaranteed). Re food on the ferry (not clear whether you are going overnight or a day crossing) I would probably buy food on board and treat it as part of the holiday or pack a picnic if on a budget. Also factor in the possibility of sea sickness (one of the reasons I prefer a night crossing as it’s usually me who feels seasick and it doesn’t affect me when lying down for some reason).

Only take foods your children can’t live without. Eg favourite brand of cereal, tomato sauce. For household stuff.

I usually see what the accommodation has, then hit the local Lidl. I may put a few dishwasher pods and washing machine pods in, as these, so I don’t have to buy a new pack , but the rest I buy the cheap range. Also I may pack extra tea towels.
Usually pack toilet rolls and have them at hand for journey down as well.

Which ferry crossing are you doing? If Dover-Calais, it’s only an hour.