Are Eurocamp holidays worth the school holiday prices?

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I think eurocamp holiday would be great for my family but have never been before. However the costs are really offputting. The good places are over £2000 a week, which seems mental for a campsite, and even the smaller campsites are around £1000. Of course I'm talking school holidays.

Are these places really great (i.e. better than cheaper AI hotels, better than nice self catering villa)? Or is the hugely inflated school holiday cost going to make it feel like a campsite that I've paid too much for?

Thanks!

No, it's glorified camping and it's hard work. I'd much rather go to an AI resort where everything is sorted for you.

Eurocamp you need to take or hire bedding and towels, empty the bins, sort 3 meals a day and clean up too. That's not a holiday to me.

We've done it and had a nice holiday, but it was very expensive and not at all relaxing.

It’s very expensive you can go to a hotel for that!!!
I personally wouldn’t but if you enjoy basically being at home with all the jobs but sleeping in a tent then that’s fine - I like to relax when I’m on holiday and that doesn’t include washing up, cooking and emptying bins and taking my own bedding and towels!

I wouldn’t go in the summer holidays, it’s really not good value for money. We usually go May half term, and can get a premium 3 bed for about £700. You get decent discounts if you book early, and most places do a loyalty scheme where you get extra discounts for each stay.

Oh dear. This is what i was worried about! Thanks for responding.

Any recommendations for family of 5 who like activities, school hols, approx 5000, much appreciated!

Eurocamp can work well if you a) want self catering rather than hotel/All Inclusive and b) want an easy way for DC to make friends on holiday. That combination is why people do it.

Get thee onto Google Maps and do a search for "Camping Municipale" or "Camping a la Ferme". Presumably you were looking for a chalet or a serviced tent rather than bringing your own camping stuff? There's loads of options like that at municipal campsites in France for a fraction of the price. I really don't get the MN obsession with Eurocamps.

One site we liked with safari tents (no chalets) was the municipal (actually intercommunale) campsite at Chinon in the Loire Valley.

We stayed on campsites where eurocamp operates, I was rather envious as it looked like alot of fun. However neither of my kids liked the clubs and would escape repeatedly, therefore we never did eurocamp as they wouldnt have participated.

We have an only ds, went last year and it was great for him meeting and having holiday friends. We just wouldn't have got that in a hotel/air b&b etc. it worked well for us so we're doing the same this year (although using yelloh not euro camp). If you weren't bothered re child friends/playmates then probably cheaper air b&b's with own pools etc!

The advantage for us is that we can get a 3-bed so we have our own privacy & have a fridge for cold drinks & snacks which you don’t get in a hotel room. Also the outside space is bigger than a balcony.

Also you are saying £2K is too much but then say you have £5K. We wouldn’t be able to afford a hotel & can keep costs down by making breakfast & lunch at the mobile home & having beers & wine in fridge. I suppose if you never prepped any food at Eurocamp costs would add up quickly. It’s a different sort of holiday & I think people who want to recreate AI will always be disappointed.

It very much depends. We love a eurocamp as we had a large family and it was totally worth it for us as we would pay for the largest van that sleeps 8 and drive over. Often stopping at 2-4 different places for 2-4 days each so we got a fantastic mix of places and could vary a cheaper site, then an expensive top notch one and then a medium etc. I was never averse to stealing a few days from the end/start of term and it always worked out good value for us…. But nowhere near as great value as the times we could take the kids out of school. Luckily as my DNephew has an EHCP we don’t get fined for going away in term time so I still make annual use of it with my sister and her kids and take my grandsons along with us. With Ai, I think European school holiday prices are shocking and you don’t really get much for your money at all for the same price. Anything below £7oopp a week in summer school holidays tends to be very carb heavy, recycled pasta salads and cheap fatty meat etc.

This is really helpful thank you. It sounds really lovely, i agree about the fridge etc.

I am not coming at this from AI, I'm actually usually UK camper and very much used to cheap and cheerful! It's not so much that i can't afford 2000, it's that I'm worried it's not going to feel like an upgrade and I should stick with. Devon.

The holidays were worth it for us. We didn’t go Eurocamp but booked direct with eurocamp campsites as they have a number of operators and that was cheaper for better quality caravans.

We've always done self catering because it’s easier with ND children, particularly when ARFID got added into the mix, and I like going to markets abroad! We would eat out for dinner either at the campsite or in a nearby town.

we really liked the pools - we went for places almost with water parks onsite plus sea / lake or river and then did a mixture of sight seeing using the campsite as a base and swimming days.

I'm staying at one presently ,near Sommiere.
It's peaceful, other guests are very respectful and well behaved.The cycle paths are fantastic, my children have never had the freedom of cycling with no traffic near them before.
We've had 2 meals away from the camp every day and there's also a restaurant on site.
My children are young and the school aspect isn't much of an issue yet but the facilities are great.

We always have a fridge in our hotel rooms, and usually also have 2 bedrooms (we don't need 3), for privacy.

I'd look at jet2 op, use the free child places finder and sort prices low to high. What airport are you going from and what dates? How many people? We've never paid more than £4k for family for 4 all inclusive, usually less.

The ones that expensive are usually the really top-tier camps that have so much to do. We paid £1700 I think for the largest cabin at Domaine des Ormes for a week last summer and it was worth every penny. We absolutely loved it, there was so much to do and the pool setup was incredible.

We have also paid £300 for a week during holidays at much smaller camps and enjoyed it, but it’s a very different kind of holiday.

Amazing thanks. This is one of the sites i was looking at. My kids are 11,11,13 and i was worried it might be too 'young' but i have no bench mark! What do you think?

I think I'm putting myself off by thinking it's 'just' camping

Thanks for the reply. I think perhaps having 5 of us is the killer on cost.

A 3 bed, 2 bathroom Eurocamp van is way better than sharing a family hotel room with 3 tweens/teens. You won't get 2 or 3 cheap AI rooms for the price. Find the site you like and look up the name, often you can look directly cheaper.

At that price, remember you’re in a caravan not a tent. If you’re already used to camping and have the kit, and are happy to drive, you can book a pitch direct with the site rather than through Eurocamp.

My experience is the more expensive European sites
have much better facilities, at least in terms of pools, than equivalent UK sites. Plus the further south you go, the weather is so much better so you can actually use the outdoor pools. You’ve mentioned Domaine des Ormes, I’d say it would be great for your kids ages.

We do Eurocamp because our children (now young adults) can have separate bedrooms. The outdoor space is great. And I don’t mind cooking but I do mind washing up so we always get a caravan with a dishwasher.

There’s a lot for older kids. The treetop adventures, there’s like four different courses, water sports, giant zip line, horse riding, archery, bike hire, the pool setup is really amazing, we spent hours in the massive inside dome, the wave machine goes every hour, there are flumes and slides.

There’s a big shop on site that sells freshly baked croissants and baguettes etc in mornings and an ice cream shop, restaurant, bar, they were building a whole big new section when we were there too.

It really was excellent. I had planned various day trips but in the end there was so much to do on site that we didn’t get round to any of them! Except the aquarium in St Malo one morning.

They have various kids clubs, we saw a lot of kids just forming football teams or just meeting up to go around the site together.

My kids are younger but I remember thinking at various points we would need to come back when they are older to make the most of it as they were too young for some stuff.

And we had the largest chalet for six of us, four adults and two kids. Big patio area with a barbecue we used several times or just sat out in in the evenings, decent size of kitchen, air conditioning.

Also keep in mind that ‘caravan’ or ‘mobile home’ can actually be nicer than a lot of hotel rooms. The one we stay at is similar to Center Parcs accommodation with dishwasher, air con, nespresso machine, en suite bathroom on the main bedroom which has a queen sized bed, etc. It’s definitely not “camping”.

This is the one we usually book in the South of France, Douce Quiétude. Off-peak is around £700 for the week, and the pools are great.

I expect so. I know EJ are often cheaper than Jet2 so perhaps worth looking there too.

We’ve booked direct with the one in Slovenia- so we haven’t booked with Eurocamp although there is Eurocamp there. We’ve booked a lodge that has bedding. It was about £300 for 3 nights in summer holidays and the pool looks amazing. Never been before so am hoping it’s good! Friends that have been to euro camps have really rated them

yes I looked for may half term and once flights/luggage/transfers were factored in, it was cheaper to book a package holiday with a much higher standard of accommodation.

I think it can depend on different factors though depending on which site/location/how big your family is/whether you are flying or doing ferry and car etc. I’m sure it’s more economical in some instances but I still don’t understand the default responses of ‘do eurocamp!’ on threads about not being able to afford abroad in the summer holidays.