Eurocamp tips needed!

[MamaAndSons]

We are going to France this Summer for our first Eurocamp trip (driving/ferry). We've stayed in caravans in the UK before but never abroad and I've realised we won't have an oven. I think there should be a gas BBQ so that will help immensely but wondered if anyone has tips on utensils/food it might be worth bringing with us. We don't plan to eat in a huge amount, but am not sure whether there will be much in the caravan that would enable us to cook proper meals easily if we wanted to. Any advice would be appreciated!

We just always got a taxi to the local supermarket and done a big food shop for the week. All the utensil we needed were there. We have always arrived late at night so ordered the welcome pack that had tea, coffee milk, bread, etc for the first morning. We only ate out a couple of nights. The rest we had barbeques or I made a big pot of pasta or pizzas. We really enjoyed the more laid back feel of not having to all rush for showers before dinner etc. Enjoy.

They’re usually very basic/cheap cooking utensils. Take a couple of sharp knives for food prep. There may or may not be things like a peeler or grater. You’ll usually have big glass bowls, spatula, ladle, fish slice, big spoons, cutlery, crockery. Often there’s no tea towel so take a couple.

We take two big tin mugs because the cups are always tiny. Likewise plastic beakers. Also, take Tupperware and sandwich bags for food storage and picnics.

Thank you that's so helpful. Part of the reason we're doing Eurocamp this year is because although my DH and I love AI, it wasn't really right for our DS when we went last year so the idea of more relaxed, informal meals etc. Is what we're looking for. But we also want to feel like we're on holiday and not doing all the normal house stuff! I'll look at the welcome pack as hadn't thought about that at all!

Thank you for the tips! I wouldn't have thought of the tupperware at all so that's a great shout!

Tbh I don’t think the welcome pack is worthwhile. We take tea bags (sorry France, I love you but Lipton yellow label is terrible), breakfast cereals (I find French cereals too sweet), washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, washing powder (I do laundry whilst away). Plus tea towels, dishcloths, a sharp knife and a bath mat. We buy everything else out there.

Although the one thing I won’t do without is my camping rotary washing line 😀.

If you’re driving anywhere with tolls, we have found a toll tag very useful. It does cost a bit more than just paying the tolls but it is so useful to be able to skip the queues at the péages.

Things I take:
Sharp knife and bread board ( they supply a glass one)
Tupperware
Big dish/platter
Tea towels and wash up stuff
Kitchen towels
Foil (wrap and cook on bbq)
Citronella candles
Mugs and larger drinking glasses (although often bought at carrefour which usually has AMAZING kitchen section!)
Shower mat
Fairy lights and bunting for veranda
Cleaning stuff (I know can is clean when we get there but I usually re clean)

No oven is no problem, we have lots of bbq meat with salads, pasta, bread and takeaway chips from the site, microwave often has a grill as well if needed.
Enjoy!!!

Knives and chopping boards - They're always shit. Decent bottle opener (priorities!)

If you can be bothered and you are going to be cooking salt, pepper, olive oil, seasonings etc but easy enough to buy there.

It is also worth taking bin bags, a loo roll and some cleaning stuff (particularly loo cleaner as it gets a bit whiffy)

I have a long list of things I take but apart from what PPs have noted, the basics are...

Adapters for electrical sockets (you can get some with a three pin socket and a number of USB ports all in one)
A 100ml travel bottle filled with good quality washing up liquid.
Washing up sponge
Small packs of multi surface wipes and floor wipes.
A few J cloth type things
A few liners for small bins.
As above mugs, and large plastic glasses for long drinks.
There is often a coffee machine that takes filter papers but no kettle, so I take some filter papers and a travel kettle for tea etc.(we have a collapsible mains electric camping kettle)
There may be toilet paper but taking a roll to keep you going until the supermarket trip can be handy.

I’ve heard of people taking along their slow cookers and air fryers when they do eurocamp abroad, but don’t think I could be bothered with all that! We tend to just do easy meals that you can do on the hob. Assuming you have one, you can do things like pasta, sauce and salad, fajitas. BBQ on a couple of nights.

French campsites usually do amazing takeaway chips (frites), so well often do a variety of BBQs with baguettes and chips and salad on the side.

I think our entire route will include tolls, never heard of a toll tag but will look into it!
Yeah we were planning to take Cereals and bits as easier to know you already have it with you!

Yeah definitely not taking my air fryer but my dad has been known to bring his slow cooker 🙈
I feel reassured by the lack of oven situation... I still want it to feel like a relaxing holiday for us so didn't want to be fretting around cooking some of the nights!

I will have to check about a kettle as I only drink tea, so thanks for the heads up!

We’ve always had a kettle. Never had a caravan with Canvas, Eurocamp, Yelloh! Or Sandaya without one.

we usually use the jug from the coffee machine as a teapot 😂

Are you sure you won't have an oven? We did Eurocamp for years and always had one. You will have a bbq though! Over a week we would usually do-

• Pasta and sauce first night as everyone tired
• bbq burgers - steak hache- with chips from the takeaway and salad
• marinade chicken in spices and yoghurt, cook on bbq served with microwave rice and veg
• eat out one night
• fajitas
• takeaway pizza one night

I've stayed in eurocamp many times and there's always been either an oven or a combi microwave with a built in oven/grill. They're not the best, but they work. Although I'm guilty of taking my air fryer on holiday with me on occasion!

Your adventure sounds like a great one! We traveled with a caravan all over Europe for a while and my main cooking tip is - cook only simple food. The cooking equipments are very basic. Make it easy and simple, if the weather is nice bbq is a great option otherwise cook one main dish that doesn't require much preps like pasta, rice with curry, soup etc.

If your flight/ferry arrival means you get to the site before 4pm then book early check in or book from the day before so you can access your keys right away. This has saved us SO MANY TIMES!

A sharp knife, proper size mugs and most recently a travel kettle. We used to just use the coffee pot to heat the water but it once tasted dubious, so now we bring a kettle.
I cook from scratch every night at home in the UK. I don't bother on holiday. We tend to eat out at lunch and have a baguette, cheese, charcuterie and salad in the evening.
Not a chance that I'm cleaning a barbecue at the end of a holiday.

Cleaning supplies, air fryer, and my nespresso machine. Nothing better than sitting on your decking first thing in the morning sipping a lovely frothy latte!

Coffee in France is weirdly shit.

Yeah I'm pretty sure, it was only because I happened to be on my booking page and it mentioned it on the accommodation section. So I checked it on the park website and it doesn't refer to an oven. I didn't notice when I booked it though so they may have changed the vans around or something!

Agree with the toll tag suggestion. I would always take a sharp knife and my chopping board (having previously got stuck with tiny glass chopping boards!). And a day or two worth of food until you can drive to the supermarket. Take squash if you drink it, French syrop isn't the same!

And an easy dinner (and wine!) for the first night if we arrive late. I usually take a cool box in the car with something like frozen bolognese which defrosts on the drive but keeps the travel picnic lunch and the milk cold.

Slightly off topic, but if you have men / boys in your group, bear in mind that most campsite pools in France require them to wear tight swimwear, as in proper trunks or budgie smugglers, not baggy shorts. We found this out the hard way. The local supermarket did a roaring trade from uninformed Brits!

Yes I did see this! My husband was not thrilled when I told him 😂 although friends have stayed at the same resort and they took pairs of each kind and managed to get away with it so I've tried to sell it to him that way!