Suggestions for touring caravanning holiday in Europe

We are planning our first touring caravanning trip to Europe next summer and I am after some advice and tips for good places to go based on experiences.  There will be two grown ups and a 12yo.  We are looking for sites with lots of facilities such as water sports, mountains, pools with slides and the like.

Thanks for any help

What areas/countries?

https://eifel-camp.freizeit-oasen.de/en/ – huge lake/reservoir next to campsite that’s free to use for paddleboarding, swimming etc. Also cafe/bar/pizza. 30mins from the Nurburgring too if that’s your thing.

Titisee (Black Forest). https://www.camping-sandbank.de/. On the shore of huge glacial lake, again brilliant for swimming/paddleboarding. Nearby there’s https://www.badeparadies-schwarzwald.de/en/ walkable from the campsites – huge number of slides plus spa pools, swim up bars etc. That particular campsite had ‘kin tight roads around it so not the easiest to get a caravan onto a pitch. There’s another campsite at the western end of the lake that’s more spacious.

https://europe.huttopia.com/en/site/bourg-st-maurice/ – good option if you want to ride the Les Arcs / Tignes areas or travel slightly further for day trips. Swimming pool on site. Also bigger municipal pool nearby with slides.

We stayed in all 3 sites this summer with a 11yo and 9yo. Recommend all although BsM site can be noisy.

https://www.lazyrancho.ch/en

Becuase its a brill, well run friendly site, perfect for kids, situated at the foot of the most stunning set of mountains and you are absolutely surrounded by activities and things to do. Not as expensive as everyone says, with planning ahead (train passes etc)  I found it good value and everything you pay for, food, transport, etc is typically excellent.

We were in a tent but lots of caravans and motorhomes. Great place for family/leisure cycling, flat easy roads and bike paths into town and through the woods from the door.

ETA if touring, I would do a combo of Southern Germany/Black Forest, and Switzerland. Thats basically my plan for next August. I’ll be looking up Allys reccomendations above!

Interlaken’s on our places-to-visit list so I’ll be checking out that suggestion @snotrag.

Those 3 areas I mentioned above work well for travelling between. Eifel easy reach from Rotterdam/Amsterdam ports (our preferred routes over). Travelling between each doable in a day with enough time to pack up (tent for us), travel, then set up camp again, even with kids.

This chain in Croatia is not cheap but they’re EXCELLENT: https://www.valamar.com/en/camping-porec/lanterna-camping-resort

I know it’s not what you asked but is it worth taking a caravan? Campsite fees are c£500 per week, plus c£400 to get a caravan on hull Rotterdam, plus extra fuel. £1k per week, or £1500 for 2 weeks will by you a pretty nice apartment(s)

I only say this after meeting a chap on an expensive German site (I was forced to be there by the wife). He had been there 2 weeks so must have spent a grand. He also had a fancy transporter towing a fancy caravan. The economics of splashing over £100k on a setup and then STILL having to spend £1k on accommodation didn’t seem to stack up

@nealc it really depends when you go. We are on Scottish school holidays so this year had a great 5* site for E500 for 2 weeks (Yelloh pin parasol, for us it’s a relaxing break rather than adventure so probably not the area the OP is looking for).

I don’t know where you get £400 for the Hull ferry though, it’s well over £1200. The tunnel is about £700ish. Newhaven-Dieppe (overnight Saturday night, with a cabin) was £300.

Fuel towing from Scotland is our single biggest expense by a long way.

We use our caravan for about 60-100 nights per year so the capital purchase is split over a lot of trips.

IMO, it’s not the cheapest way to do a family holiday, but it is the best way.

£400 extra to take a caravan on the ferry.

Thanks for your observations Neil but the costs are not necessarily the sole considerations wrt our family holiday choices.  We enjoy the camping/caravanning experience and we have done both over the years.  There are some definite social yields from camping/caravanning holidays and the kids get a real sense of freedom and all of my kids have reflected very fondly on their camping holidays.  That’s not to say there has not been the odd wash out where we have come home early 🙂     We have made our investment up front with the van and caravan and its a choice we are happy with and we are just looking to get the most out of our investment.

Thanks for all of the input from everyone some lovely looking sites suggested 🙂

The Vosges are lovely too. Gerardmer, Saverne, Obernai and Colmar are all great places to explore from. We’ve stayed on some good sites there too.

Titisee is excellent for families. It’s really worth looking at the Bavarian lakes. The locals use the for swimming in the summer. There are too many to mention. Corinthia in Austria is the same.

I don’t know where you get £400 for the Hull ferry though, it’s well over £1200.

Kinell!

I have been to 2 amazing campsites that might work you. Some time ago so check reviews

Camping Le Tedey

It’s on a lake just west of Bordeaux. The lake is warm and enclosed for cat sailing, stand up paddle boarding etc. You’re also not far from the sea for surfing. The campsite a sandy wood on the lake shore

The other was the campsite in lauterbrunnen switzerland. Unbelievable scenery and walking. Best combined with a pass for the trail and cable car network

We’ve done quite a few of these in a caravan and before that in a trailer tent.

You can’t really go wrong, just do a bit of research into what you like. I don’t think we ever had a “bad” site.

Loire valley is quite close, very green, lovely castles, you can paddle board on the river and the cycling there is generally easy and near the river so family & picnic friendly.

https://en.francevelotourisme.com/cycle-route/la-loire-a-velo-loire-valley-by-bike

Along the west coast of France you’ll get more summer sun and beautiful fresh seafood. We quite liked Saint-Palais-Sur-Mer which was quiet and less busy than La Rochelle. Great roads for road cycling and a network of cycle trails for getting to the beaches.

If you head further south down towards Bayonne you start to get Spanish influences blending with French and more sunshine.

You do get a variety of sites so you’ll want to think whether you prefer more rustic and chilled or more like centreparcs that to me felt less French and more standard corporate. Huttopia towards the rustic end of corporate for example and Campings Sandaya have water slides and entertainment etc.

For mountain biking the best we stayed in was in Samoens but the bathrooms were not always the cleanest.

Bourg St M was good but biking (for me) was nowhere near Samoens and the PDS region.

Good luck ?

Thanks again for the input, most grateful. 🙂