MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi all,
We're off to France for a couple of weeks mid August. We'll be taking the car, and spending most of our time on the west coast sleeping in various marinas on a boat.
However, during the initial journey from Calais to the west coast, and at various other points during the trip, we'll be camping. We've never camped in France before (at least, not in campsites), and not with children in tow (3 and 6).
How does it work over there? Can we just roll up, or do we need to book. Any hints or horror stories? Any recommended campsites approx half-way between Calais and La Rochelle?
Yes book.
Lots of campsites between La R & Calais!
The Loire valley is v. nice. Good luck.
iiwy I'd book, saves being disapointed, however in the several times we've been camping in france in peak season there is generally some empty slots.
Take a look at the sites offered on the canvas or eurocamp website to get inspiration and pictures and then find the website for that site and give them a ring.
You really cant go wrong camping with a 3 and 6 years old, they'll love it.
Best to book in advance if you can in popular areas in peak times.
We stayed at [url= http://www.o2camping.fr/ ]02 Camping Granville[/url] a couple of weeks back to watch the Tour. Brand new campsite just opened 2 weeks before we arrived, lovely couple running it who were really helpful (and spoke good English). Obviously brand new showers/toilets, nice site, excellent indoor pool, fairly cheap! Owners delivered fresh croissants, bread and cheese to our tent each morning. Campsite was very quiet as its new, they've not had many advance bookings yet, so plenty of space to let kids run free.
Granville is 5 mins drive away and worth a visit. Close to Mont St Michelle, so about hits your half way to La Rochelle mark.
Thanks for the suggestions
camping will be great for them, they make friends and you get a bit of time 'off'. I'm just back from a week with my 3 year old, mum was working so it was just the two of us and he spent lots of time with some German kids on site, which gave me a bit of a breather. I've done loads of camping all over France and I wish I'd noted down the good spots which I'd love to go back to with the lad, as I can't even remember which end of the country they were.
Downside is if you venture into the town to eat, the French can be a bit eyerolly when you take kids to a restaurant (some will just tell you they're full), at least it seems that way coming from across the border in Spain.
Might see you there, I'm headed that way. Planning on a late train and an overnight drive though to ideally keep the boys asleep for a chunk of it, and not stopping for more than toilet breaks (so every 10Km then)
[url= http://www.yellohvillage.co.uk ]Camping sites in France[/url]
We found there was almost too much choice, but have never been let down by the link above
I would advise booking, It's a popular time of year and we have seen some people turned away from some nice sites, but there has always been space in campsite close by with less facilities. With the kids in tow you don't want to be touring round looking for a site with a space
I can highly recommend Chateau Domain de Drancourt, only about 1hr from Calais, great price and good facilities.
Feel free to drop me an email if you want any specifics, my email is in my profile.