Nausicaa Boulogne - recommendations for overnight please (free aire if poss, but proximity is more important) - we will have the grandchildren with us

[MisterB]

Good morning, we will be making our way back to Blighty next week and will be picking up the grandchildren en route, after they have spent the weekend at Disney with their parents, so have been looking for somewhere 'relaxing', but with enough interest, not too far from the Tunnel for our crossing on Tuesday morning.

i 'think' we have decided on Nausicaa at Bolougne, so just need to find somewhere close enough to stop overnight and arrive when it opens at 0930 on Monday morning. I have read that we can leave and re enter throughout the day, so it would be brilliant if there was parking on site for a motorhome ( i have emailed them this morning to enquire).

Has anyone been and stayed on site or at an aire within walking distance (7 and 4 year old) that would be prepared to recommend it please? we would rather not drive too far from where we stay over on the sunday night (as we know there are lots of park ups within an hour or so).

Thanks and best wishes

 

[rb62]

Last time we were in Boulogne we stayed at the one just over the bridge,it's on 'Search for sites'

 

[Clipgate]

I came away angry at large species being kept in relatively small tanks.
Each has to make there own choices in life, however bare this in mind when communicating to young minds..
I did discuss this with the senior staff, there view obviously differed from mine.
I would not encourage this as entertainment or educational.
Just a personal view

 

[Johnen]

There is a municipal aire up the hill from Nausica, entry is by a keypad using a bank card. We have used this aire quite often, although if it is windy it does get gusty. We have also stayed in the car park at the old town walls, although it is a bit further away from Nausica.

 

[MisterB]

Thanks, we are on the Aire 'up the hill' - it's convenient, if a bit noisy re road noise up to 11pm and from around 6.30 am this morning. It did get a bit windy yesterday but didn't affect the sat dish too much, so the grandchildren were entertained in the evening by a bit of box watching!
Bad planning though means that our Free sim (name of the company NOT 'gratuit' lol) data ran out this morning, by date not by overuse, bur we have enough on our phones for them to survive lol!

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[MisterB]

Final thoughts/review

Nausicaa itself was a great visit, there is so much educational information that it could take a whole day to walk around, but with two children aged 4 and 7, it took us around 3 and a half hours. Cost was 84€ for us all, so not massively expensive. I would imagine that when it's full of visitors it would be a nightmare, so I would avoid school holidays etc if you can.
Food inside was a reasonable price, one child's 'menu' at 5€ would have fed two children, but was basic.
It took around 20 minutes to walk down from the Aire and about 45 mins to walk back, it's a long way back, walking into the wind if you're only 4!!
I did notice that a few motorhomes we're parked along the road in parking bays, a lot nearer. If we came again I would try and find a spot there, if not I would pay the 24 hour parking fee but would only stay one night on the Aire.

The Aire itself was clean and all facilities worked, though you paid extra for water, so make sure you top up first. Road noise however WAS an issue, late evening and early morning, so I would definitely try to stay elsewhere and not stop overnight on the Boulogne Aire. You MUST have some way to level your van as the pitches are all on a slope.

What 3 words for the Aire
appetite.fairness.toggle