1st Tour to France with Children: Campsite Recomendations (1 Viewer)

[John&Kate]

Hi All

I know this has probably been asked a dozens times already, but this year we are doing our 1st tour to France, we have 2 young children (5&10yrs), and we are looking for recomendations of camp sites that are relevant to our needs.

We only purchased our MH in August 2015 and Ive spent a S#!t load of money on her to ensure that we drive there and back on our own steam and not on the back of a tow-truck, so were not affraid of doing a few miles.

Never holiday'd in France before, was possibly looking down near Bordaux/Dordogne region beginning of August ? Our aim is to A: Have a holiday and B: Find that object that many refer to as "THE SUN" !!!!

All recomendations greatfully appreciated.

John&Kate

 

[Hollyberry]

Arcachon area is beautiful, lots for kids to do. Huge choice of campsites. Right on the coast and lots of sites have pools, mini golf etc..

If you all like cycling there are loads of cycle tracks away from roads.

Look at a village called Montalivet les bains, not far from Bordeaux. There's a Campeole site that was refurbished, new pool, about 4 years ago. The Aire, with EHU and water is next door. Cycle paths through forest to beach. My favourite beach ever -- I've photos of miles of sand and just me and my dogs on it. There's surfing further along the beach towards the village. Daily market in the village less than 10 minutes walk, plenty of shops and restaurants.

 

[Just smiffy]

You and the family will love it.... Don't overlook places to park near lakes and rivers inland, the French use them like beach's and fun places for swimming, canoes, cycle trails and lots more..... Learn the basic greeting bonjour and they will welcome you and you'll wonder why you haven't been doing for years.....
August is the most manic time over there for coastal holidays so don't neglect the interior of France ...

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[Stealaway]

Spoil them with a fun park - http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/guides/inspiration/collections/top-10-theme-parks-in-france

We always used to end the holidays with our kids at Meli Park (now Plopsaland) just up the coast in Belgium at De-Panne - also a sea side resort.

http://www.plopsa.be/plopsaland-de-panne/en/attractions.

There are a selection of free Aires nearby

 

[lorger]

La Rochelle area is excellent for first trip to France, not to far to drive and is the second warmest area in France if I remember correctly, there is an Aire you can use or a few campsites the one we stayed at had a cycle path all the way to town. Also just south is Royan we stayed at the municipal which is a 10 minute easy walk to beach and what a lovely big beach it's.

 

[deleted-member02]

Some great advice already.

'kid friendly' sites are busy and expensive in August. Also worth bearing in mind that some sites insist on minimum 7 night stay.

In my experience, as long as the kids can have a run around and get wet (cool off) they're happy...

Generally speaking, anywhere south of Loire should be hot and sunny.

A few ideas of the top of my head....

www.yellohvillage.co.uk some sites are better than others but they're all good and kid friendly.
This year we're returning to Serignan Plage on the French med (a yelloh site) it must be one of the best sites in Europe... great pools/beach/entertainment/facilities.

Dordogne is good, lots of sites with pools and the kayaking is fantastic for young families.
If you have a site in mind, it might be prudent to book now as popular (best) sites will likely sell out...

http://www.lacsaintpardoux.fr/ is a convenient stopover a few km off the A20. It's very handy if you're travelling south.
You've got lakes, playgrounds and woodlands. It's secluded and only a few euros to stay on the aire.

http://www.puydufou.com/en great tourist attraction, worth at least 2 days' visit. Great aire on-site and only 45min from the Atlantic coast.

I'm sure you'll have a great time where ever you end up - I don't recall ever having a bad French holiday in August

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[Hollyberry]

If you're in the Dordogne your children would love this lake.
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Lake with beach, playgrounds, cafes, free kayaks, lifeguards on duty school holidays. You can stay overnight, ask in office, or lots of village Aires in area.
Get there early ish in day though there's lots of parking suitable for Motorhomes .
Photo of a photo so not great quality. My grandson aged 7 months on the shore of the lake. ( his mum is just out of shot - he's not been abandoned!)