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!

Where are you going? We did many years of Eurocamp and don't remember not having an oven. European CPs - yes. Second the sharp knife, some tea towels and a bath mat. We always used to alternate cooking, eating out and getting a takeaway - often there would be pizzas or roast chickens etc. I never spent much time cooking "proper meals" BBQ stuff, salad, crusty bread, cold meats, pasta for dd when she was little. French supermarkets can be lovely and often have a huge selection of prepared stuff.

Most Eurocamp type parks let men wear shorts. They’re definitely more relaxed than they used to be. You would need to wear speedos in a public pool (like a leisure centre). DH always takes a pair of emergency budgie smugglers, but he’s only needed to wear them once in probably 25+ holidays to France.

H always takes a pair of jammers (sort of mid thigh length but tight like speedos) but I’m not sure he’s ever been asked to wear them. We favour smaller, more rustic y campsites, and not on the coast. I’ve seen people saying they’ve been forced to wear them and that’s so alien to my experience, but I wonder if the bigger, busier, coastal sites are stricter? Especially if you have been on the beach all day in the shorts?

decathlon is a good place to buy jammers, and it’s easy enough to take a pair with you.

Also, women’s swimwear has been tight and figure hugging for ever. It’s only recently we’ve had adult swimming costumes with skirts or thigh covering legs or anything like that. Why are men so prissy about it when we’ve had to do it since we were teens?

On the perennial issue of swimwear, we’ve found sites in the south of France to be much stricter than those in the north. Certainly the sites we’ve been at recently have been, to the extent of lifeguards hauling men out in board shorts (one also wouldn’t allow swimsuits with an integral skirt). So be prepared!

ETA: you only need to wear tight swimwear in the actual pool, you can wear shorts when lounging about the pool. I’ve seen plenty of men/teens wearing shorts, taking them off to go in the pool or on the slides, then putting them back on when they get out. Although be warned: my DH was also not pleased but decided that tight swimwear was actually much more comfortable and now wears them all the time for swimming. 🫣

On ovens, Eurocamp have been merging with another company so it depends whose caravan you get. Having always had an oven, last summer we didn’t at either of the sites we stayed at. It wasn’t a problem, just meant we had to buy chips and pizza from the site takeaway. We’ve always had a kettle, but sometimes it’s been a stove top one.

Yep, we were in the South of France, fairly small campsite. My sons jumped in in their board shorts and were immediately asked to get out by the lifeguard. But yes, no problem wearing baggier shorts around the pool.

Cheese grater - these seem to be a British thing or we have been unlucky. For the last two years we have stayed in air bnbs in Switzerland and two different eurocamps in Italy with no cheese grater

We do this frozen bolognaise!

We do usually do frozen pasta sauce too, and take a block of cheddar and some milk for the first night. But we shouldn’t. And you aren’t supposed to any more!

Get the welcome pack.

It skips faffing around with half used salt and pepper etc.

Supermakrte rotisserie chicken makes good dinner with salad.

Where in France are you going if you don't mind me asking. We are off to at jean de monts late July. Hope you have an amazing time 😊

we started visiting Eurocamps last year, off again at Easter. We take a few dishwasher tabs, dishcloth, tea towel, washing up liquid, salt & pepper, teabags, loo roll, handwash & kitchen roll. We do a mix of eat out & cooking in the van & make do with what’s there, keeping meals simple. We either do a shop en route or the first morning for supplies.

Are you going to South of France? Unfortunately due to forest fires and high temperatures in summer, sometimes BBQs are banned on sites and they get removed from accommodation, some sites do hire out electric type grills those, so if you have one at home always worth taking along.

Not directly related to your question, but French supermarkets are amazing, so don't fret too much if you forget something!
As a kid, I loved trips to France. Check whether you need to/it's advisable to order bread a day in advance from the campsite shop.
A trip to a proper hypermarket in France is a real joy - I particularly recommend the cheese counter, charcuterie counter, jams/conserves and crisps and biscuits. Depending on your DCs age, consider giving them a budget to pick some treats when you go.
Tbh, you may find yourself mostly eating bread, cheese, jam, snacky bits and fruit. In which case, I am sure you will enjoy it - there's some fab stuff available in France.

If you are in France you will need to clean ahead of checkout (unless you pay the cleaning fee). For that reason some cleaning supplies might be helpful.