Eurocamp without car from London

[MoominMumu]

Circumstances have meant we are only now able to book a holiday for this summer. We’re in London, don’t own a car and would like to travel by train or plane to a cheap (£1.5k if at all possible) destination.

Eurocamp accommodation looks affordable but is there anywhere we can get to without a car? Not fussed where. France, Netherlands and Italy have come up in searches. Has anyone done this or know of any destinations reachable by rail or air plus rail?

Children aged from reception to tween, will be happy with a pool or beach. Thanks in advance!

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MNHQ update: If you’re short on time, here’s a selection of the best Eurocamp sites that Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

😎 Bella Italia, Lake Garda, Italy

😎 La Chapelle, Roussillon, France

😎 La Grainetière, Île de Ré, France

😎 Domaine de la Yole, Languedoc, France

😎 Duinrell, Netherlands

😎 Camping Fabulous Village, Rome, Italy

😎 Internacional de Calonge, Costa Brava, Spain

😎 Ca'Savio, Adriatic, Italy

For more inspo, check out our guides to the best Eurocamp sites in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, all featuring recommendations from Mumsnet users.

I haven’t done Eurocamp but have camped in a lot of sites where they are. I think you’d find it hard without a car. Campers usually bring all their own food, towels (including kitchen towel), extra cooking equipment, plus all the toys / water sports / board games etc etc. As well as clothes, toiletries etc. There are usually campsite shops but mostly people do a big supermarket shop and bring that with them.

a cheap package might be easier, in a resort with more things in walking distance 🤷‍♀️

Thank you, these are very good points. I hadn’t factored in bringing equipment beyond clothes.

We've done Eurocamp, also camping in France with our own tent then caravan.

I think it would be very difficult without a car, camp sites are not usually on the edge of towns either.

Would a holiday in this country be a better option? A hotel or b&b in a seaside town with beach, cafés, facilities within walking distance? Easily accessible by train or coach.

I agree that it would be difficult without a car as you will need quite a lot of stuff plus need to food shop while there.

Is hiring a car in London and doing Euro star an option? That may work out too expensive though.

Maybe an air B&B somewhere in the UK might work better? You could then get the train there and use buses while there. Devon/Cornwall can be expensive but there are lots of other lovely UK places to explore.

I've not done it but believe there are plenty of Eurocamps you can do without a car. The ones near Beziers in France, Barcelona and some of the Italian ones I think you can fly to easily and therevare some in Holland and round Paris you could get the train too. Yes, you can't take as much stuff with you but none of it is essential. Main problem for this summer is likely to be availability, look on the website I'm sure you can filter by car free

Bella Italia Eurocamp on lake Garda, easy train journey from Milan or Verona or Venice airport

We have done Eurocamp multiple times without a car- and it's perfectly possible!

In fact we are flying off next week to one of the Italian sites.

The big sites have everything you need - supermarkets, shops, restaurants and the public transport links for going further afield are great too with the buses usually coming into the site itself. Every site has laundry facilities so you can wash clothes etc too.

Your budget might be slightly low- without the car you need to factor in things like bed linen and towel hire, airport transfers (although some sites are really easy to get to from airports on public transport as well).

The last few years we've driven to French sites and we were laughing the other night about how we manage to fill a car and a roof box for 2 weeks and now we are managing to fit it into 3 suitcases! But we have still manage to pack the inflatables and beach towels.

Might be an idea to give Eurocamp a call direct- they are very helpful and could pinpoint some possible destinations for you quite quickly.

You do realise OP isn't talking about just going camping independently. Eurocamp have fully equipped safari tents or mobile homes.

Bezier in france and Venice eurocamps

There's a Eurocamp page about this. Don't know how to paste links but ...
https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/information/travel/travelling-by-train

Also, typing the words Mumsnet Eurocamp Train into Google brings up past threads on this and people seem to have done it successfully and even repeated it year on year...several different campsites named.

I've done Eurocamp by car with young children - loaded up with half the household...just because we could! Much of it was totally unnecessary and would probably be very refreshing just to have minimal stuff.

You can certainly buy swim toys etc there ...or aquire them from a family who can't fit them back into their car for the way home!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/5103752-eurocamp-no-car

I have read Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands is doable without a car. It's about 25km from Eindhoven airport. I think your biggest difficulty may be budget. The sites with more facilities tend to have very expensive accommodation in the summer.

I would try and find a cheep self catering apartment, somewhere touristy - myself and my friends did this once and was pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in a small family friendly, quiet apartment a little bit out of town but plenty of taxis and buses.

read the reviews before you book though as cheap 3 star SC apartments are stag and hen magnets

https://www.loveholidays.com/holidays/l/?date=2024-08-31&boardBasis=&masterId=12480&departureAirports=LON&rooms=2-6-9&nights=7&source=share&utmsource=spd&utmm_campaign=ssh-social-share
quite a few cheap deals available

If you wouldn't mind staying in one of the pre-erected tents on a site (often called safari tents) they are usually the cheapest accommodation.

Thanks all who have offered helpful tips. I will check out all the various options and read previous threads. I appreciate the positive posts!

You can def do Eurocamp without a car! Lots of people at La Chapelle in Argeles Sur Mer on the south coast of France (we were there a few years ago) had flown into Perpignan and just got a taxi to the site. It’s walkable to the beach etc. Would be v surprised if you could get accommodation plus flights for less than £1.5k though…

If you can go towards the end of the UK summer holiday then you might be able to pick up a slightly cheaper Eurocamp/Centre Parcs holiday in any country in Europe where the schools go back before ours do.

From memory the Netherlands go back two weeks before the UK.

Try Landel Green Parks for self catering homes in a holiday village type set up. Loads in Belgium/Netherlands/Germany. Many do bike hire and if in the Netherlands you can cycle safely everywhere to get to places and go to supermarkets. Our experience is that they are less “isolated” than UK holiday parks (if that makes sense!) so you can often walk/cycle into a small town.

Lots of campsites close to Beziers airport.

Look at Yelloh and Sandaya as most of the caravans will be listed there. Eurocamp usually just have handful of caravans in the sites.

Ile de Ré is easily doable without a car. Fly to La Rochelle. Bus or taxi to the campsite. Hire bikes for the week.

E.g. Domaine de la Dragonniere has a week in last week of Aug for €1500. It's a lovely campsite and immediately outside the airport.

Beziers airport is great to fly to as not many flights per day so you whizz through passport control