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!

I’ve booked an apartment to sleep 4 in Austrian alps for £1100 for 4 nights in August . Includes a free public transport card and summer card which goes you loads of free activities.

This is the most amazing thread. I appreciate every reply!

You've all totally convinced me that it is the ideal holiday for my family but I'm overwhelmed with choice.

I'm aiming for great swimming pool and sports for my super active children, near enough to an interesting town or city that there's somewhere to visit and hopefully not an excessive late night club on site, or at least one i won't hear!

I am happy with france, spain or Italy. Probably not very north of France as I'd prefer not to chance the weather.

If you've been to somewhere that's your absolute favourite please can you tell me where? Thank you so much to people who've done this already, I'm sorting a brilliant list!

Interpals Ecorescort, closest city is Girona but the nearby towns are lovely

We were lucky enough to go on some lovely holidays as kids - but the eurocamp ones always stand out to me! Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses (and I didn’t do any cleaning up etc!!) but I can still remember the little walk to the on site bakery for croissants every morning, the swimming pools and slides, making friends at the kids club and takeaway pizzas etc on the terrace in the evening.

I can’t wait to recreate it with my kids because honestly they’re some of my fondest childhood memories!

There's a brand new one opening near Venice next year that looks like it has an incredible water park. Considering going at May half term when prices look very reasonable.

I have very happy memories of the Eurocamp sites in the Dordogne. Wonderful weather, rivers to swim and boat on, cute villages and markets and the neolithic cave paintings.
Brittany is wonderful, but weather is very hit and miss. I personally don't like the Vendee, the sea is cold and I just don't like the flat salt marsh environment, but is great for cycling.

They are very expensive in summer. I have stayed at several sites but we have our own caravan - it is expensive enough just for the pitch on the bigger sites! I would say it is a great style of holiday for kids though as they can get freedom in a safe environment. I prefer a campsite to a hotel stay as you can be more independent.

If you want to be more budget-friendly, sites with fewer facilities are cheaper. The Huttopia chain has more low-key sites, you will usually get a pool and low-key entertainment but not water slides etc. There is a nice one near Saumur in the Loire Valley which is a lovely area, but the pools are not huge. There is a Yelloh village site near Amboise which is also a nice area for visiting interesting places. I find Yelloh a bit better priced than Sandaya or Siblu which tend to be all bells and whistles. Most sites have safari tents you can hire which are also cheaper but would probably be hideous in hot weather! Booking the site's own accommodation rather than using Eurocamp tends to be cheaper.

The Dordogne area is lovely to visit and has loads of campsite options. I have also heard lots of good things about Serignan-plage in the South of France if you want something with lots going on and to be near the coast.

I can really recommend these holidays with children. The kids clubs and opportunities for the children to make friends keeps everyone happy. I disagree with it not being relaxed - you are on your own schedule, you can sort out your breakfast and lunch in the accommodation and either BBQ for dinner or go out to the nearest town so you can be flexible in that way. Yes there is still some of the drudgery involved with daily life that you get at home but very worth it for the other reasons. The children get so much freedom on the campsite as well as depending on their age they can have free run of the site which my children 8&12 last time fully took advantage of. Plus not having to be all squashed into the one hotel room is also hugely beneficial, but each to their own !

So many great ideas here, I will investigate the smaller sites. I think I've been too focused on large scale activities.

Why not hire a villa with swimming pool in France and pay for a ferry crossing? Half the fun of a French holiday is going to the market and supermarket and picking up wonderful food. The Loire has loads to do and isn’t that far a drive from Calais.