France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

NIMAN

Some sites are very close to airports....one example is the parks around Biarritz.

Le Ruisseau is 6km from the airport...wouldn't cost much in a taxi.

Lex Luthor

Camping Sanguli next to Salou
Fly to Reus - 20min by taxi from airport
Walk to the front of the site and you have a beach across the road
walk to your left for 20min along the beach prom and you are in Salou with loads of restaurants
Walk to your right for 20min and you are in Cambrils village
Taxi for 20min and you are in Portaventura park and water park next door
It really has everything
been there 3 times and I never go back to the same place but this is a great place
Has everything
Site is safe, has an on site pizzeria
Camping Bella Italia in Italy is on a par

Baybay

crunchie1 wrote: »

.I'm looking for advice to those that go with the kids to the camps in spain/italy/france..I particularly don't want to drive so that reduces our options, but would anyone have advice, 2 adults, 2 kids looking for a nice park with not too much travel involved...s

One example:
Beziers airport in southern France has a number of Siblu & other campsites within bus or taxi distance, close to beaches, shops etc. The disadvantage is that there's no direct flight from Dublin but it's possible via Bristol, for example. Direct flights from Dublin do go to Carcassonne & Montpellier but I'm not familiar with campsites close to either.

fdevine

Lex Luthor wrote: »

Camping Sanguli next to Salou
Fly to Reus - 20min by taxi from airport

The above what we had planned. We've been looking at Sanguli for a few years now but the ridiculous prices put me off. €3500 for a mobile in July excluding flights is bonkers money. Add to that the fact that flights to Reus are significantly more expensive than to BCN and it adds up quickly.

We priced Camping LaSiesta, which is closer to Salou old town & near the beach and flights to BCN for less than the accommodation only cost of Sanguli.

Stone Deaf 4evr

We're flying dublin to perpignan with aer lingus, Argeles Sur Mer is only a 20 minute drive away.

webpal

Just read an article on reducing speed limits in France from 90 to 80 on secondary or departmental roads. It suggested this meant roads with no barriers in the middle as there does appear to be a distinction between these roads and dual carrigways (110kmph). I’m unable to find anything official. Anyone seen anything official on this?

mazza

Mountainsandh wrote: »

On a personal note I am planning our campervan adventure for this year, we are popping up to the Netherlands for one night right off from the Channel Tunnel, and I would like to stay around the Vlissingen-Domburg area.
I had a campsite spotted in Vlissingen but it seems they don't take campers, so any recommendations are very welcome, there's plenty anyway but it helps to have people's opinions.

Any tips of quick things to see in one day there will be appreciated, we don't know anything about the place, just going for a quick look. Dromburg looks lovely to walk around for a few hours.

Kids are 10 and 12 now so we're not as finicky on what we need, French camping municipal standards are fine.

Any recommendations between Bergheim and Colmar I'm a taker too !

We holidayed in this area last Summer. We didn't visit Vlissingen, but I think it is probably the biggest town / city in the area. It looked like mixed tourist / urban / industrial areas to me - not sure if there's any particular attraction to staying there.

Domburg is nice, but quite busy and a lot of tourists on the street. A lot of restaurants, cafes, knick nack shops. We looked at staying there, but ended up in Oostkapelle (about 5km away) and were happy we did. Depends what you're after really as where we stayed was pretty quite, middle class Germans with kids everywhere!

Middelburg is the local capital and is a nice town. Canals, old building, nice square etc, maybe a bit like a low-end Bruges, though I haven't been there, truth to tell. There's a good swimming complex there too with a number of pools, lazy river, a couple of water slides. Nice, but not full-on water park.

The whole coast there is one big, long beach really, a bit like some of the beaches in West of Ireland. There is a nice promenade along the top of the beach running through all the coast towns which is good for cycling, seeing ships coming into harbour etc.

The big attraction in the immediate area is the park at the Delta dam (https://www.neeltjejans.nl/en/). Its a mixture of historic stuff about the damn, water slides, low-key funfair type stuff. I don't think it would be worth a visit for kids your age and its pricey and a bit run down for my taste. You'd be better driving maybe an hour to a proper fun park if you're after that.

Overall its a lovely area and culture and we really enjoyed our time there, but it is quiet and family oriented.

Hope this helps - let me know if any query at all.

Gavlor

crunchie1 wrote: »

Hi, sorry if this is done already but I have searched for a recent post..I'm looking for advice to those that go with the kids to the camps in spain/italy/france..I particularly don't want to drive so that reduces our options, but would anyone have advice, 2 adults, 2 kids looking for a nice park with not too much travel involved..its a minefield!

Thanks

Have a flick through the eurocamp brochure and check for nearest airport: here are a couple of ideas

Bella italia - 40 mins from Verona airport and bus stop at the campsite gate

La soliel & la serine in argles sur mer - fly to Perpignan €200 return transport for family of 5

Stone Deaf 4evr

Gavlor wrote: »

Have a flick through the eurocamp brochure and check for nearest airport: here are a couple of ideas

Bella italia - 40 mins from Verona airport and bus stop at the campsite gate

La soliel & la serine in argles sur mer - fly to Perpignan €200 return transport for family of 5

is that a private transfer to argeles sur mer? seems expensive to me, its a 15 to 20 minute drive tops, you'd nearly hire a car for the week for that price.

fdevine

webpal wrote: »

Just read an article on reducing speed limits in France from 90 to 80 on secondary or departmental roads. It suggested this meant roads with no barriers in the middle as there does appear to be a distinction between these roads and dual carrigways (110kmph). I’m unable to find anything official. Anyone seen anything official on this?

http://www.gouvernement.fr/en/rallying-everyone-behind-road-safety

http://etsc.eu/france-announces-new-road-safety-measures-as-deaths-rise/

https://about-france.com/highway-code.htm#speed

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/10/france-cuts-speed-limit-rise-deaths

http://www.euronews.com/2018/01/09/france-to-lower-speed-limits-on-most-roads

Gavlor

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

is that a private transfer to argeles sur mer? seems expensive to me, its a 15 to 20 minute drive tops, you'd nearly hire a car for the week for that price.

Yeah, I was just looking around last week. We need a 7 seater so it’s pushing the price up a bit. Good luck trying to get a car for two weeks in early July for that price!

I’m thinking of just chancing a taxi but I’ll look into a bit more over the next few weeks

Edit: I should add that we have a 1 & 2 year old with us

crunchie1

thanks for all the advise for resorts, have it narrowed to 3 near girona airport. Just in ye're experiences is it better to wait for flights to drop or do they??

Thanks again!!

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

We're flying dublin to perpignan with aer lingus, Argeles Sur Mer is only a 20 minute drive away.

When are you going? La Sirene?

Stone Deaf 4evr

Quazzie wrote: »

When are you going? La Sirene?

Yup, our third time back, love it.

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Yup, our third time back, love it.

Brilliant. Going in the last week of June for the first time.

Any tips? Things to do/restaurant etc

BTW flying into BCN and rented a Ford Focus for the week for €180.

fdevine

crunchie1 wrote: »

thanks for all the advise for resorts, have it narrowed to 3 near girona airport. Just in ye're experiences is it better to wait for flights to drop or do they??

Thanks again!!

Pop your dates & airports in on this

http://www.airhint.com/

If it's during high season the risk would be that flights sell out

Stone Deaf 4evr

Quazzie wrote: »

Brilliant. Going in the last week of June for the first time.

Any tips? Things to do/restaurant etc

BTW flying into BCN and rented a Ford Focus for the week for €180.

I wrote a fairly detailed review back in the old thread, I'll try and dig it out.

We Drove the first year, down from roscoff, last year we did like yourself and flew to BCN also, the drive is a handy 2 to 3 hours tops.

Stone Deaf 4evr

here it is.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=100391897&postcount=978

just to counter some of the points I was a bit negative on in that post, the second year we went, we flew, but our kids were obviously a year older as well (7 and 5). They got exponentially more enjoyment out of the camp the second year around, the days ran like clockwork - late breakfast, off to the pool, break for lunch, more pool, then poolside group dancing at midday, back to the mobile for a small break and a bit of a BBQ, or else up to the show in the theater. Most nights we'd nearly end up bringing them back asleep in our arms, allowing us to relax on the deck with a bottle of wine and a book or movie on the ipad.

last year, and this year, we booked with lifestyle holidays - they offer the option to pick your mobile home spot before you go, so we snagged a nice one, down a quiet cul-de sac that wasnt too far from the main pool.

Also, the park across the road had renovations done to the restaurant, we ate there 2 or 3 times, and the food was great, with a more laid back atmosphere than whats in the main camp.

The town itself is relatively easy to navigate, the camp is a little bit outside, but there are plenty of landmarks that you wont be long . Theres even a relatively upmarket mcdonalds around the corner if the kids need a break from the culture immersion.

If you're into sports, there a decathlon sports shop, just 20 minutes up the road in perpignan. we've gone to the stage now where we're booking an extra bag on the return leg as we get so much stuff here.

All in all, its a fantastic site, i reckon you'll be well happy with it.

Eoghan55

Hi all. First time posting here so here goes. Travelling to Spain with the boss and two kids in June. Taking brittany ferries to roscoff and driving to North East Spain overnight. Did the same last year and stopped in la Palmyre atlantiqe Parc overnight. The site wasn't great but did the job. No ac in mobiles in 35 degrees heat was a challenge. Hoping this year to travel a bit further down on the first day to maybe Bordeaux. Anyone know of a stopover campsite that won't take us to far off the a10 motorway. Took us an hour and a half last year to get back on the motorway from la Palmyre.

darragh o meara

Anyone got a discount code for Yelloh Village campsites? We are thinking of going to Le Littoral in June instead of Clary’s Plage and trying to keep the costs down a little.

If anyone also has an Irish ferries discount code I wouldn’t mind that either

54and56

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

If you're into sports, there a decathlon sports shop, just 20 minutes up the road in perpignan. we've gone to the stage now where we're booking an extra bag on the return leg as we get so much stuff here.

We won't be needing to stock up once a year in Decathlon for much longer - https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/french-sports-retailer-decathlon-to-open-up-to-nine-shops-in-ireland-1.3379797

54and56

Eoghan55 wrote: »

Anyone know of a stopover campsite that won't take us to far off the a10 motorway. Took us an hour and a half last year to get back on the motorway from la Palmyre.

If it's just an overnight stopover you're looking for then why not stay in one of the cheap but very safe and functional motels? There's a ton of them West of Bordeaux around the airport which is driveable from Roscoff in 7-8 hours such as Ibis or Hotel F1 and in the morning you can tip into this shopping centre to have breakfast and stock up for the remainder of your journey?

Quazzie

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

We won't be needing to stock up once a year in Decathlon for much longer - https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/french-sports-retailer-decathlon-to-open-up-to-nine-shops-in-ireland-1.3379797

By the time they adjust to "Irish" prices it'll still be cheaper to buy over there

Stone Deaf 4evr

Quazzie wrote: »

By the time they adjust to "Irish" prices it'll still be cheaper to buy over there

You're not wrong, and tbh its a nice little ritual that we have midweek in our trip.

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

You're not wrong, and tbh its a nice little ritual that we have midweek in our trip.

Having never been there, I'm looking forward to checking it out this year

54and56

Quazzie wrote: »

Having never been there, I'm looking forward to checking it out this year

We always end up going to Decathlon at least twice during our holidays. Once on arrival to really stock up on sports and beach wear and once towards the end to stock up on sports/training gear for the coming year. We find their own brand clothing and shoes etc to be excellent quality and value for money. I particularly find their cycling clothing and sailing gear very good and their utility clothing for general gym/running etc is amazing value. Good quality technical tops for €8 etc.

If you're any sort of sporty / outdoor type family be prepared for a big bill a checkout!!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Yeah, without hyping them up too much, I'd rate them highly for the hiking / hillwalking gear, swimwear and general athletics stuff. My young ladies also picked up gymnastics leotards for a fraction of what you pay here.

The stuff is decent quality overall, sometimes the selection is a little lacking - the one in perpignan wouldn't have the greatest selection of cycling kit tbh,

Miley Byrne

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Yeah, without hyping them up too much, I'd rate them highly for the hiking / hillwalking gear, swimwear and general athletics stuff. My young ladies also picked up gymnastics leotards for a fraction of what you pay here.

The stuff is decent quality overall, sometimes the selection is a little lacking - the one in perpignan wouldn't have the greatest selection of cycling kit tbh,

Also polos and tracksuit legs for smallies in National School are for peanuts. As in a couple of euro for each :eek:

Clothed for the whole school year for €20

SusanC10

We are not going to France this Summer and I miss it now - all the planning etc !

But we will be returning to the Ferry/Campsite France Holiday in 2019.
Would love to hear Reports back on the new Irish Ferries Boat if anyone goes on it.

SusanC10

We are not going to France this Summer and I miss it now - all the planning etc !

But we will be returning to the Ferry/Campsite France Holiday in 2019.
Would love to hear Reports back on the new Irish Ferries Boat if anyone goes on it.