Recommendations for camp sites in France?

[AnnieT]

Hi there,

We are thinking of going to a French camp site over the sunmer.

We have never been before- so wondered if anyone has any recommendations for good ones? We are looking for one with a pool as we have x3 youngish children.

Many thanks,

Annie

[Ginster]

Check out Glisten Camping. We flew to Biarritz and hired a car. You stay in a dome with (covered) outdoor kitchen. 3 pools, on site restaurant and good playground. Near St Jean de Luz and we also spent 2 nights in San Sebastian just over border in Spain which isn't far at all. Kids loved the dome. Might depend on kids ages as 2 of the beds are cool "hanging" beds suspended from ceiling!

[AnnieT]

Wow this sounds awesome! Will definitely check it out. Thank you!

[mayo]

Castels are a chain of French campsites that are really good. We have stayed in several and they've all been excellent with beautiful settings and fab facilities.

The Eurocamp website is good for choosing campsites as it categorises and describes them well but book direct with the campsites not through eurocamp as will be much cheaper for usually better standard accommodation. Only annoyance with booking direct is that you have to leave the place spotlessly clean or pay a high cleaning fee but we found even with cleaning fee included was still cheaper than eurocamp.

There are loads of fabulous campsites in France and it's a brilliant holiday with children.

[bodsier]

We went last year with our 10 year old....

If the kids are very young it can be great, and it was ok for us, there was a pool and places to visit. However it's a completely different experience to uk camping..

Families tend to go off for the day usually if there are sites to visit nearby. If your kids play well together that's fine but for single kids not so much so. Also you can't light fires so many an early night as it got too cold so that's worth considering too,....

It was ok but we found uk camping far more relaxing and really missed Sitting by the fire

[Loz334]

Eurocamp is great but agree with Mayo as can get very expensive if you don?t book early. Last year we went to a few sites but my favourite is camping la ravoire in Annecy which we?ve stayed at twice now. Great for kids and can rent bikes to go around the lake. Indoor and outdoor pools, water slides, playground and bouncy castle.

[AnnieT]

Thanks All for the tips- and yes French camping does seem quite different to British camping - but yes swings and round about i guess.

Thanks again!

[mayo]

We've always found that there were lots of other children around for ours to play with but we have always chosen sites with good swimming pools as well as playground etc. so is plenty to do on the site and generally people seem to only go off for the odd day trip or to the supermarket etc.

We've also always found it warm enough to sit outside all evening but we have usually been in either the Vendee, Dordogne or further south and been pretty lucky with the weather.

Interesting how different people's experiences can be.

[mayo]

Yes would add if you're going early / late in season or not right in the south so less guaranteed weather, is a good idea to find a site with an indoor pool as well as an outdoor one so that you can swim even if it's too cold for the outside pools (which are often unheated)

[ekaweka]

I love french campsites. Great facilities, well located and often with amazing shops / restaurants on site selling incredible local produce.

We've done lots of camping in France with our two young kids and loved the Huttopia sites and also the Castels sights. We've always just taken our tent, rather than booking one of their other options to keep costs down.

Here are a few ideas:

This one is brilliant and very drivable (but no pool): https://www.campinglebrevedent.com/?lang=en

This one was close to the Brittany seaside: http://www.keravel.com/

This site is probably my all-time favourite. Located on the beach, you can head out and dig your own oysters. We hired bikes with kids seats and explored the whole island on bike - totally stunning! We are heading back there this year: https://europe.huttopia.com/en/site/noirmoutier/?gclid=CjwKCAjwiPbWBRBtEiwAJakcpN1uJtEd6o0wglQXMdR4b6_d0PUTLaig6XWpm0Ut6t_q10xcdg2stBoCMjAQAvD_BwE

Hope this helps!

[theratprincess]

We had a fab holiday a couple of years ago at the Huttopia site in the Gorge du Verdon (it?s the French equivalent of the Grand Canyon). We took the Eurostar direct to Marseille and then hired a car.

https://europe.huttopia.com/en/site/gorges-du-verdon/

This year we?re going to their site which is within walking distance of Satlat in the Dordogne. No direct train this time but the kids are super excited about the prospect of a double decker TGV, which is only 2 hours from Paris to Bordeaux.

https://europe.huttopia.com/en/site/sarlat/

There?s a good write up here on Sarlat and surrounding area.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/travel/2018/apr/07/dordogne-france-holiday-guide-best-restaurants-hotels

[sanity girl]

We stayed at this place 2 years ago - as above got the Eurostar direct to Marseille then hired a car. We're going back this summer! Last week of August is a good time to go as the prices drop and it gets a bit quieter. Lovely pool, waterslides and water play section and it's a short drive to the beach.

https://www.lapascalinette.com/

[scareyt]

We stayed in this site alongside a little river that?s a tributary of the Dordogne and it was really lovely. http://www.campingmaisonneuve.com/campsite-france-dordogne.html

There is a swimming pool but we didn?t use it because you can swim in two swimming holes in the river which had the cleanest clearest water and was just stunning. All the kids buy or bring a big rubber ring to float down the river on.

It?s quite small but we liked that and it?s walking distance to a little village with a bakery & a good butcher for barbecues and a canoe hire place for trips on the Dordogne. Our only child who is a bit shy did find it slightly hard to make friends though. But it?s very friendly in general and lots of the other campers go back every year.