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campsite recommendation france

Posted: 11 Jan 2011, 22:00
by stephen t25
Hi all, looking for a recommendation for a family site in the south west brittany/vendee area near the beach.

Thanks !

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 12 Jan 2011, 08:07
by T'Onion

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 12 Jan 2011, 21:12
by OXI
The Vendee area has lots of sites near beaches but they are always very expensive.

I would be afraid to recommend one for a family because I'm on the "empty nest" stage of life bt we often camped around St Hilaire, St Jean and all along that coast.

As I said they are expensive and it's actually cheaper for this type of holiday to book a Eurocamp package and take the car - probably not what you'd want although we've done just that loads of times.

Frank.

PS Or book eurocamp and drive the camper for added flexibility?

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 12 Jan 2011, 22:16
by stephen t25
Thanks

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 13 Jan 2011, 14:43
by matt brighton
Hi

After getting very exited at the prospect of taking our camper overseas to Royan/La Rochelle (second stage of a 2 centre family holiday in France) we found that a beachside holiday static home/chalet was only £100 ish euros a week more than a camping pitch.

with 2 bedrooms - bathroom /kitchen etc I had to give in to reason and agree it was worth the few pounds extra and not go in the camper.

I will have to be content to use of camper for short weekend jaunts and long weekends closer to home this year.


Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 13 Jan 2011, 19:52
by anaconda
Stephen

Ive booked dozens of camping holidays in France and would disagree with the view that sites in the Vendee are always expensive. Ive also never booked a via a holiday conpany because thay have to take a cut and have found them to be expensive.

The cost of pitches in France varies quite a lot depending on when in the season you intend to go and on the site itself. If you go out of season you can use the ACSI card or Camping cheques which means you can get a pitch for around £13 per night at participating sites and there are many of them - check those two schemes out on line.

Sites operate on a star rating system in France but its not like in the UK, the stars in France dont reflect the quality of the facilities but the range, so a 2 or 3 star site can be just as high a quality as a four star but may not have quite as many facilities. We tend to avoid all singing and dancing four star sites as we would be paying for facilities we simply wouldnt use. There are also many municipal sites in France which are owned by the reqional authority which are again cheap to use but are generally a pleasing place to stay and good quality. France is set up for campers, but its well worth doing your homework. Work out the best ferry options by looking at the providers (LD lines, Seafrance, Norfolk Line, P&O, not forgetting Eurotunnel), chose sites carefully and I guarantee you...i mean I absolutely guarantee you , you will get a decent priced holiday in a lovely site somewhere that takes your eye. Whats more you will pay considerably less than a package camp/ferry deal.

T'Onion put a link to an earlier thread which included the following link.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/count ... ion=France

It takes you to a french map. Each area of France is shown , click on the Vendee (pays de la loire) or Brittany then on the next page go via the 'VIEW ALL ON MAP' link which is in the middles to the right. You will then have a convenient map with hundreds of campsites shown as individual markers on the map. Each marker is a link to the site website and also to reviews from users. It is very easy to use. You can read what people think about each site, what the pitches are like, whats going on in the area, strengths, weaknesses and spend time perusing prices, locations etc. Its a great resource.

For what its worth i much prefer Brittany to Vendee, as its much more french in feel. I find the Vendee a bit flat and featureless. Some of my fave sites near beaches are - La Plage and La Baie at Carnac, Kervillor at Le Trinite Sur Mer, but there are loads of others you can select with the reviews to help you.

I love spending time searching for just the right site, its all part of the fun I guess.

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 13 Jan 2011, 19:53
by anaconda
matt brighton wrote:Hi

After getting very exited at the prospect of taking our camper overseas to Royan/La Rochelle (second stage of a 2 centre family holiday in France) we found that a beachside holiday static home/chalet was only £100 ish euros a week more than a camping pitch.

with 2 bedrooms - bathroom /kitchen etc I had to give in to reason and agree it was worth the few pounds extra and not go in the camper.

I will have to be content to use of camper for short weekend jaunts and long weekends closer to home this year.



Matt, this sounds curious. Which site and when in the year are you going?

cheers

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 13 Jan 2011, 20:27
by stephen t25
John, thanks for the info, have now found a good few sites on that site that we like.... now to choose. Going to try and use tesco club card vouchers for the ferry( anyone done this ? ) yet again club 80-90 has been ace... thanks all

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 13 Jan 2011, 20:54
by anaconda
stephen t25 wrote:John, thanks for the info, have now found a good few sites on that site that we like.... now to choose. Going to try and use tesco club card vouchers for the ferry( anyone done this ? ) yet again club 80-90 has been ace... thanks all


Glad youre making progress!

My understanding (though I may be wrong) is Tesco club card discounts apply to the Eurotunnel but not the ferry. If you find a ferry company which does take em, please let me know.

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 14 Jan 2011, 03:18
by Bowton Lad
anaconda wrote: My understanding (though I may be wrong) is Tesco club card discounts apply to the Eurotunnel but not the ferry. If you find a ferry company which does take em, please let me know.


Iirc P&O used to offer club card discounts on the Dover - Calais route but they discontinued this at the end of 2009.

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 14 Jan 2011, 14:50
by matt brighton
anaconda wrote:
matt brighton wrote:Hi

After getting very exited at the prospect of taking our camper overseas to Royan/La Rochelle (second stage of a 2 centre family holiday in France) we found that a beachside holiday static home/chalet was only £100 ish euros a week more than a camping pitch.

with 2 bedrooms - bathroom /kitchen etc I had to give in to reason and agree it was worth the few pounds extra and not go in the camper.

I will have to be content to use of camper for short weekend jaunts and long weekends closer to home this year.



Matt, this sounds curious. Which site and when in the year are you going?

cheers


Its at Royan called Bois Soliel - the comparison between camping pitch and "chalet" is at the same place - We are going in August - hope this helps

Matt - brighton

Re: campsite recommendation france

Posted: 14 Jan 2011, 22:33
by oorwullie
i passed through royan last 1st of august, first time i'd been there in nearly 30 years. i didn't stop long this time either.

even the french go there these days:

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