Cabin / camps - Stuff to take

[winetimenow]

We are off to a few campsites in France - staying in cabins and driving our own car.

We haven't done this before.
Two primary age dc

In assuming it's worth taking basics with us but so far have washing up liquid, marmite, surface spray and cloths in mind

What are your 'must take' basics for this kind of trip?!

I make a small first aid kit, bring a little bottle of olive oil. I bring a little Tupperware of stashed away ketchup, salt and pepper sachets.

I bring lots of games like boules, skittles, nets for rockpooling. It’s one of the perks of driving. Have a good trip.

I took the sodastream last year. 🤣🤣🤣 My DS laughed but I saved money and recycling waste.

I pack a box with kitchen paper, tea towels, washing up liquid, a scrub daddy and cloth, a small bottle of surface cleaner, some tinfoil, citronella tea lights, plug in mosquito repellants (but I'm already in a two pin plug country), first aid kit, sewing kit and scissors.

In addition to what’s been mentioned, bin bags, tea towel, Tupperware, ice cube tray, a few clothes pegs, tea bags, toilet roll (for the car journey!)

Quite craft. Like water colours or gem sticker type thing. Board games or card games. Books for bed time.
I tend to take dinner and first breakfast stuff and then go go to a super market.

Last time we went to France we took a little George Foreman grill and an extension lead so we didn’t have to hire a proper bbq 🤣

• Tea towels x2
• microfibre cloths x4 (1 for bathrooms, 3 for kitchen)
• all purpose surface spray
• half-empty bottle of toilet cleaner
• small Tupperware full of teabags and a small pot of coffee granules (I measure out enough cups for one per day!)
• small Tupperware full of salt/pepper, ketchup and bbq sauce sachets (saved up)
• a scourer in case the oven/bbq isn’t clean
• tupperware full of pegs and a coil of string (check if your accommodation has a clothes airer)
• Small pot of non perishable snacks for the kids
• matches
• insect bite cream and Jungle roll on
• toilet roll x2
• breakfast for day 1 (then visit supermarket)
• small bottle filled with vegetable oil

I pack anything small eg first aid kit in mini lunch boxes or tupperwares so once I’m there I can empty the boxes and use them to store snacks for days out.

We’ve just come home from this sort of holiday, we stay in cabins regularly. We took the absolute bare minimum clothing and toiletries with us, as flying with hand luggage only. (Long story, but we travel at short notice on staff standby tickets and have found our luggage is better kept with us than risked in the standby system if we play the staff travel lottery in the school holidays!) We had a great time. They have supermarkets in France, and you can buy absolutely everything listed above (except books in English, your own favourite teabags, and possibly marmite but you can get even that if you are in a big expat area) in the shops. Our cabin this year had a welcome pack with cloth, scrubber, tea towel, little bottle of washing up liquid, 2 dishwasher tablets, a couple of bin bags, 2 loo rolls, hand soap, shampoo bar, as well as a bottle of wine, bottle of fruit juice, and a packet of nuts.

The only items other than clothes, personal toiletries and medication, and books, that we brought with us were beach towels, teabags and a single laundry tablet for a ‘halfway’ wash. There is absolutely nothing I wish we’d brought more of with us, in fact if anything I could have got away with bringing fewer clothes and another laundry tablet. It was lovely on our last day, just packing up 3 cabin bags in minutes and then spending the rest of the morning sitting by the river. We saw several families loading up their cars and roof boxes with what seemed like all their worldly goods. I find it amazing that they were on the same sort of holiday as us, and yet somehow they had brought so much more stuff with them.

But if you want to take everything with you, fill your boots. You’ve got an entire car. Some people like to take their own stuff with them.

Fwiw, posters mentioning taking salt, pepper etc with them - we bought a tub of salt for 39c. We also bought a giant citronella candle that easily lasted the week for €2, tin foil for €1, a huge bag of ice cubes for €1, and bought olive oil, shampoo, suncream, soap, more loo rolls, and the all important (for us!) pack of playing cards with local pictures on whilst there.

Teabags, salt and pepper and a cheese grater! We stayed in a lot of camps and air bnbs is Europe that didn’t have one: we also take boxes of cereal as we found it hard to get weetabix in Europe

Nobody has mentioned Uno! It’s an essential for any holiday like this

Laundry detergent sheets
bath mat if not supplied
clothes pegs
loo roll
sharp knife
teatowels

Save space in the car for bringing back the remnants of what you buy out there. Part of the fun is shopping the hypermarche for local brands.

Decent knives
chopping board
Husband v v fussy about tea so brings that
Marmite
seasonings salt, pepper anything else

I always take a few tea towels to places like this as they never provide enough. Also a bath mat

Crazy to bring salt, pepper or oil. You can find it better quality and cheaper in the supermarket, especially if you're in Brittany or Normandy where beautiful sea salt is really cheap.

I'd bring a few loo rolls; normally the campsite give you one. Plus teabags. Check with campsite which coffee machine is provided, so you get the right capsules. We had a supermarket order delivered to the campsite on arrival day.

I also bring s few random sachets of spices/herbs, and a stock cube or two.

I take my air fryer. Everywhere
Tea bags
Bath sheets (the towels there are tiny)
Ketchup

Everything else we buy there from the local supermarket and it's much better quality.

I also take a spare camping fridge for beers and drinks as the one in the chalet is often too small and we like a beer and wine fridge.

Thank you everyone! Didn't reply in the haze of packing but happy to say we had everything we needed - including uno - and made good use of the supermarkets too!!

Ketchup / salt / brown sauce
Oil
Foil
Decent knife
mixed herbs
peanut butter / jam / honey
weetabix!
Tuna

Its also helpful to take a day or so of food in case you cba to go to shops - long life croissants / UHT milk / the long life filled pasta and a jar of sauce.