Passion France or Caravan and Camping Club or both!?

[fodtommo]

OK - Off to France shortly. I love the idea of passion france and wouldnt even be asking the question were it not for my nearly 2 year old son.

Is it feasible to have a 'lively' toddler on the farms / vinyards on the passion france network?

If not is it worth joining Caravan and camping club for both France and UK?

We just gt back from a beautiful and perfectly kept campsite in Brecon, but it cost me £40 for 2 nights and the showers were 50p for 4mins!!! this is just too much and the CCC is starting to look apealing!

Needless to say it was all very 'chico warrior' and the car park was full of brand new audis/bmws/saabs/volvos from Park Lane dealers.....

Anyway... any thoughts?

[Ian Hulley]

France Passion sites are NOT campsites, they are mostly quiet, working farms ... your child would need to be kept under control (just as they should be on a camp site for that matter).

My only experience of the C&CC was a load of shed-dragging snobs peering out through net curtains.

Ian

[Madwitch]

The C&CC is fine depending on what you're looking for. They do a great line in temporary holiday sites which means you can have a great holiday for very little cost. We've just stayed on a temporary site in Newquay at £6 per night (or £7 with hook up). Yes, it was a big site with lots of facilities, but they also do fantastic temporary sites with very few facilities (Annstead Farm, Beadnell in August and Fraisthorpe at the end of August to name but two cracking ones.) We couldn't have had a nicer welcome in Newquay - we've never found them snobby at all (unlike the other lot!) They also have a lot of nice 5 van sites which are tucked away - some with facilities and hook ups etc, others just a field. You can easily save your membership within a year and there are usually lots of other children for yours to play with - even at that tender age!

The C&CC club sites are very well kept, but a bit regimented for my tastes (though we have recently spent a night at Damage Barton). Cost us £19.50 for the night, which is quite steep but at least the showers were free!

[toyclean]

I've no experience of C&CC sites abroad and their own sites in the UK are over-regimented but with good facilities, in my opinion - we've still had a good time on them though, best so far is the one at Graffham on south coast. However, their Certificated Sites are very different, much more laid back with just a few pitches on a bit of farmland or some such, often no or very basic facilities though and cheaper. We've enjoyed a couple of these ones more, there might be a motorhome or 'dragged shed' (First time of heard that put down about caravans from Ian, very very funny) there but the smaller nature of the site changes the vibe.

We've got a France Passion card for our three week summer trip to France, we've a six and three year old, we'll just be using it for one night stopovers, along with Aires, for the journey down and back to our one week booked campsite down near Arcachon. As Ian said, they're not campsites but I'm really looking forward to trying them out, particularly if I can indulge in some local produce!

MT

[fodtommo]

Thanks Guys - the toddler is always kept on a short leash, but I just wanted to check that kids were welcome / allowed (ive never come across anywhere in Europe where they arent!). So Passion France it is then.

Re C&CC, its the UK certified locations that interest me, Im not a big site person, but I keep seeing the small ones etc for £7 odd a night and that really appeals. we have the van so we can shoot on a friday when the weathers good and have a cheap weekend away. I just cant believe that now camping is 'trendy' they can charge such high rates for a bit of field - with the cost of fuel it all gets a bit expensive!

[Ralf85]

With young kids I always stayed at sites with playground facilities. That keeps them happy and gives you some mild exercise. The added bonus is your little one will meet up with other kids of their own age and have fun without the language barrier that adults often have. Get a new Michelin camping book which includes the prices for most sites. Bon route!

Patrick