France, camping, August + 2 kids

Biff0r

Been reading the forums for some time now, but never contributed. Information as a whole been excellant and I have saved a few pennies here and there. Thought I take the plunge and see if you fine folk can help me out.

Excuse the long post, probably start rambling!

so

HELLO!

Just asking people who have had experiences camping in France for thier opinions on where to stay and how to get there.

We have 2 children, one aged 14 and one aged 5, so straight away it is going to be hard choice on venues.

We have our own gear may need a few other things, but ebay will help out there. Looking for a venue that promises good weather for August Holidays, so the kids can enjoy the outdoor life and fine weather. Also it seems expenisive to camp over there according to the many sites around and I assume France is similar to the UK with it many small holding where you can stay for a few nights here and there for under £20 per night.

I have seen on ebay many various 'vouchers' for cheap travel with set return dates but feel that these are either a con, which only allow foot passengers etc. I have been lucky enough to have travelled around the world with the Armed forces, but now with kids it is a lot different, got their safety in mind.

Slightly 'scared' about taking them abroad. so France seems a logical place to start and camping is an easy way to go about it. It would be nice to goto various places and have a mini tour and maybe even get on ferry to calais and return via alternative port further down.

Look forward to some interesting and informative suggestions.

Johnny_Hamster

Most of France is on holiday in August, so don't expect peace and quiet, although the last week shouldn't be too bad. Head south for better weather, the roads are pretty good, driving is a pleasure although the tolls are expensive on the Peages. South of the Loire you tend to get better weather. Vendee is good for big beaches, Brittany is nice but the weather can be a bit English.

If you want to do it on the cheap, avoid western Channel crossings with are extortionate. Speed Ferries, tunnel or Norfolk line are among the cheaper options. We paid £70 for peak time return crossing with the latter (Dover - Dunkirk) for this August.

Expect to pay about £20 to £25 a night for a 3 or 4 star sites, although municipal ones can be surprisingly good and much cheaper. Basic camping is dirt cheap.

http://www.campingfrance.com/ covers thousands of sites

http://www.campingqualite.com also useful as is

http://www.alanrogers.com/ with some site reviews.

It's easy to book online with many sites

Best of luck anyway..

angchris

we always take my son + 2 of his mates to occupy him and to fill up the car so theres normally 5 of us going to france camping in august (which makes it a bit cheaper for us as they pay their share and they get a nice fun filled cheap hol out of it ) we normally stick pretty close to home just in case something goes wrong by staying in normandy which is beautifull, the kids absolutely love it they make friends with other kids almost immediately and the site i go to (le brevedent) is so safe that i am happy for them to go off and enjoy themselves and only see them when they run back for a quick drink or are hungry, it is so kid friendly and enjoyable there that after a 3 week holiday they still find plenty to do and dont want to come home! i must admit there is nothing nicer than waking up on a lovely morning opening the zip to the tent and the view of the lake with the woods behind it gets me every time! sitting next to the lake and just chilling with a coffee or a bottle of cheap plonk in the evening is fantastic and you leave all your worries and stress at home!
i give them each a french phrasebook (not that they need it because all of the staff speak english) and send them off to buy fresh croissants/french stick or whatever we need and they must spend an hour reading through the book beforehand figuring out what to say which does wonders for their french language and my lad has become quite fluent over the years. camping is a back to basics holiday and teaches kids great skills in general, granted everything takes about 3 times as long but thats half the fun of it! each of the kids helps with the cooking or whatever we are doing at the time and its a real pull the family together type of experience that every child should have i dont believe in handing kids things on a plate as they grow up with no life skills.
the roads are great, weather is gorgeous ,plenty to see/do cheaply, the people very friendly,the campsite is fab and the locally farm produced cider is to die for and dirt cheap! i`d advise anyone to go as its much nicer than the uk and is literally an hour or so`s drive after jumping off the ferry,a word of advise though is to plan your journey/campsite and book up asap as the popular/nice sites get full very quickly happy camping to you all

billlew

Try https://www.venueholidays.co.uk I personally wouldn't bother taking my own camping gear when you can get all mod cons already set up. Venue are flexible where you can have 3 nights at one sight, move on, then another 3 nights etc. Give them a call and they'll help tailor your holiday. We usually went to Brasilia Camp site in Canet Plage. Kids club,Teens Disco, Sports competions, entertainment in the evening. The owners started out catering for forces families stationed in Germany. Great value, we went with them for 15 consecutive years while the children grew up, ready to go with the grandchildren next year!!!!!!!!!

Louise1521

We've been to the North of France in August, and it's been scorching hot. We're off to the Loire this August, so I hope it's the same. We went to Berny-Riviere
La Croix du Vieux Pont, fantastic facilities. We've been there a few times in the past, usually Sept, and the weather has always been good. Have fun.

Louisa_Jane_2

Have a look or post a question on the message boards/ camping abroad section of https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk -http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_forum_topics.asp?ForumID=7 - I've found out a lot of information in the past from here. It's also worth looking at all the Eurocamp, Keycamp, Canvas holidays websites and see where their sites are , you can either get some ideas about areas and whether you would like to go there or know which sites to avoid! As said previously, I've found https://www.alanrogers.com to be very helpful when doing it yourself .