Northern France with 8 & 11yo

[RedDoorBlueHouse]

We want to go on our first holiday to France with DS11 and DS8, they have never been abroad before!

We were thinking of driving and getting a ferry, as that will be an exciting new part of the holiday too.

In terms of location we don't want to drive for more than an hour or two from the ferry port, and we want lots of activities for the kids to do, ideally some kind of pool complex. Don't mind about the accommodation type, just not a tent.

Not essential but would be nice to be near the sea, and if so with surf to be able to use body boards.

Kids also very excited by the idea of eating "real" French croissants, baguettes etc so proximity to some kind of town would be a bonus.

Any bright ideas?

We were wondering if we should do a longer ferry journey to get further west along the coast, as this is mostly also further south - so would it be warmer?

Many thanks!

https://www.pierreetvacances.com/gb-en/fp_BLL_self-catering-belle-dune-holiday-village?currency=GBP

https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/france/normandy/la-vallee-campsite?adults=2&children=2&infants=0&pets=0&arrivalDate=2025-08-16&duration=3

We go to Sandaya sites in chalets and love them. Plenty around within a few hours of the ports.

Yes, take the ferry further south. Le Chatelet is a small friendly site in Brittany between two sandy beaches and 20 mins walk from the centre of Saint-Cast le Guildo.

Do an overnight ferry from Portsmouth - we like the St Malo crossing because you get a decent length sleep. Then you'll be 3 hours from the Vendee and the chance of decent weather. We stay on Yelloh sites a lot - you could have a look at Le Jard which would tick French town, bodyboarding and not tent boxes.

Which ferry port are you near? I don’t like ferries but we’ve done Plymouth to Roscoff overnight a couple of times when kids were younger and had an ensuite cabin with bunks which worked out ok. Equally we’ve done the faster one from Poole. My brother prefers the train car tunnel option but he lives nearer to that terminal.

We're in the home counties just north of London, so most South Coast ferry ports are similar ish distance right?

Is always go further south. Better weather more likely, otherwise you may as well go to Bognor. The Atlantic is also cold!