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

ONY

josip wrote: »

Put them in the top bunk and then strap them in with that really strong elastic Irish Ferries use to keep the bedlinen in place when the beds are against the wall.

I’ll keep that option in mind

webpal

ONY wrote: »

I was just curious how others manage.

Phenergan.....so I'm told :rolleyes:

ONY

webpal wrote: »

Phenergan.....so I'm told :rolleyes:

johnytwentyten

Hi,

I am looking to take the wife and kids away on a foreign holiday for the first time,
Myself and wife have been away before but kids haven't, daughter is seven, son 14,

I'm nervous about it because we don't do much travelling,

i want to make sure they have a good holiday but as the budget isn't massive i'm afraid that by cutting corners that we wont get what we want,
People say to take kids out of school for a week to get a better deal but i don't want to do that, im willing to stretch if i can feel comfortable that im getting what i pay for,

Do people have any recommendations for these enclosed camps i see advertised all the time?

I was thinking France would be the best option so we could drive there,

Ive looked at different camps (venueholidays seem ok?) and some of them seem to have loads to do, pools, tennis courts, water sports etc,
others not so much,

Are there places that someone can recommend that include meals, seem to be a lot of self catering places,

Just hoping for a few pointers, whether better to go to Spain or France, peoples own experiences, safety for kids etc,

Thanks in advance for any answers

treascon

I can only go on the experiences we've had. 3 kids 6-11. Went to a campsite in France, 2016 through Eurocamp. The customer service from them once there from start to finish was non-existent. In 2018 we booked the same site direct with the campsite & the ferry. Going to do the same again this year. The prices with Eurocamp are crazy. We are getting 2 weeks on site & ferry for a good bit less that what Eurocamp are charging for 2 weeks accommodation only! We'll have access to all the same things including kids clubs.
The site we go to is very child friendly/safe. Not sure how it would fare for teenagers though (as in would it hold their interest). The search for campsites can be mind boggling & even harder when you've never done it before but I would recommend booking directly yourself if you can, where ever you decide to go. Good luck with it!

johnytwentyten

Thanks,
This is the kind of thing I'm afraid of,
I just looked up eurocamp, deals for €300 on the first of June, same deal when they're on school holidays, €1400!!

fdevine

We have always found Eurocamp to be very reasonable when it comes to pricing, certainly when we've compared with similar companies. "Enclosed camps" makes them sound like open prisons though LOL

As with any holiday prices are going to go up when school holidays kick in altough there is usually about a month between Irish & UK school holidays.

As regards getting there, we've only once taken the car (to Brittany) and would be hard pushed to do it again, besides which , we have yet to find a ferry/drive option that's cheaper than a fly/drive or fly/public transfer.

The only campsite we've been to that I'm aware do half board/full board as an option is Camping La Siesta in Salou.

We've also found that if you're getting a good deal on accommodation the flight prices are ridiculous but sometimes the opposite.

Holidays that we've done include;

Perros Guirec, Britanny - Al Fresco holidays, ferry & own car
Camping Esterel, South of France - Booked direct, flew to Nice, hired a car
Union Lido, near Venice - Eurocamp, flew to Treviso & used public transport
La Croix de Vieux Pony, Picardy - Eurocamp, flew to Beauvais & hired a car
Duinrell, Holland - Eurocamp, flew to Schipol & got a private shuttle
La Siesta, Salou - Booked direct, flew to Barcelone & bused to Salou

Never had any problem with any of the above. Don't be afraid to book accommodation & flights seperately. Shop around & see what suits you best. Some sites will have their own kids clubs, some won't. Eurocamp and the like have clubs for older teens at some sites but do be sure that there's something for your teen to do. Nothing worse than a bored teen on holiday.

If you aren't too fussed on guaranteed sunshine I'd suggest Holland. Very safe, very friendly, very easy to get around & everyone speaks English. Duinrell has it's own theme park & aqua park, is 30-40 minutes from both the Hague & Amsterdam & European Space Agency is close by.

average_runner

ONY wrote: »

2 adults plus two three year olds (will have just turned 3 when we travel). Ended up topping and railing them last year with me on the outside of the bunk - they had a great sleep - I didn’t At the moment I have a four bunk booked on the WB Lates.

Why not bring a portable bed barrier with you and you can use on the hols also?

We used to do that when our kids were small

johnytwentyten

Thanks so much, loads of info, really helps

manshay

johnytwentyten wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking to take the wife and kids away on a foreign holiday for the first time,
Myself and wife have been away before but kids haven't, daughter is seven, son 14,

Ive looked at different camps (venueholidays seem ok?) and some of them seem to have loads to do, pools, tennis courts, water sports etc,
others not so much,

Are there places that someone can recommend that include meals, seem to be a lot of self catering places,

Just hoping for a few pointers, whether better to go to Spain or France, peoples own experiences, safety for kids etc,

Thanks in advance for any answers

If you decide on Eurocamp check their UK, Dutch and German websites, our 2019 holiday was €1500+ cheaper via eurocamp.de

Macy0161

There's also an Irish company, whose name escapes me, who do similar to eurocamp, but iirc you can book ferry and everything through them. We went eurocamp for the first time last year (off peak), and had paid a deposit but they're no longer offering the site we wanted so took a refund and took the plunge on a tent!

fwiw, going directly to the campsites there's a big price increase during school holidays, particularly school holidays. It's not purely the middle man/ firm taking the whole extra.

fdevine

manshay wrote: »

If you decide on Eurocamp check their UK, Dutch and German....

Or try the Daily Mail holidays promo. Can't guarantee it's still working but got us 50% off our accommodation. Single password worked for us (BEACH). Search camps and dates/durations up to 14 nights. We got a week in Duinrell for c.€350. Booking is via an agency it seems but we got a Eurocamp confirmation within minutes.

https://www.mailholidayparks.co.uk/mymaileu

johnytwentyten

thanks folks, loads of help,

The whole booking flights, hidden charges, getting from place to place etc and all is a little daunting when you don't have much experience of it, need to study a bit more!

Treviso

If the budget isn't massive, then I wouldn't go with Eurocamp, but book directly with the campsite. Use Eurocamp to find the campsite you'd prefer but contact them directly to book - loads to be saved that way, peak or off peak.

Have a look at this boards forum on all things regarding campsites in France, ferries, practical advice etc. Really useful. Really helpful ppl on there too if you have specific questions

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057621952

munchkin_utd

Treviso wrote: »

If the budget isn't massive, then I wouldn't go with Eurocamp, but book directly with the campsite. Use Eurocamp to find the campsite you'd prefer but contact them directly to book - loads to be saved that way, peak or off peak.
<snip>

for us, we saved a few hundred euro by going with Eurocamp rather than booking direct.

The Irish site was also cheaper than the german site for our booking this year, whereas last year it was the other way round. (I think the way it works is that the irish base price is higher, but you can knock off loads with offers and codes, whereas the germans state a reasonable price and thats it)
Eurocamp also have a nice facility that you only pay €100 deposit and then the balance by a month or 2 before the actual stay, so if on a budget, youve time to save.

I checked last week and it also seems like you can pay smaller installments before this deadline, so you can chip away at the balance bit by bit rather than pay it all in one go nearer the date, so again, might be something that suits.

It was mentioned above that "Eurocamp" was zero service. It must vary from camp to camp as where we were last year (Altomincio in Italy) there was great service at the beginning, and we had visits from the eurocamp people every day or 2 just to make sure all was grand.

As for where to go, theres loads of Eurocamp (and other operators at the same sites) along the Adria coast beside Venice which seems like a handy place if youre not driving. You'd need to spend 30 or 40 euro on a taxi to get there and back from Venice airport. From looking for a week in that area in August, theres a massive difference between the simpler sites which for me were coming out at 800ish for a week for a caravan in a place with a basic pool and beach access and the mega sites like Union Lido (which have cart tracks and I dont know what) which were about 2grand a week.

That area of North Italy from Milan to Venice is very well served with reasonably priced and regular trains so you could fly to Bergamo (Ryanair airport) and take a train to Venice if direct flights were looking too expensive, or at that stage look for a place near lake garda which is also no distance from Bergamo, and I've seen very reasonable prices (for high season) for the simpler sites along lake garda.

Ninesell

I would echo the points above, it pays to shop around! The end of June/ beginning of July or near the end of August is best for price if you are tied to school holidays.
We have used Canvas, Lifestyle Holidays, Al Fresco, Eurocamp and direct booking with the campsite. We have also used the ferry and tried the flight and car hire option. We have been to campsites in France and Spain and to Duinrell. We haven’t had any bad experiences as such but there were definitely some sites that the kids would be much more keen to return to than others.
If you are looking for better weather, you will have to drive further south in France or fly. That’s not usually a priority for us but some sunshine is nice!

NIMAN

Macy0161 wrote: »

There's also an Irish company, whose name escapes me, who do similar to eurocamp, but iirc you can book ferry and everything through them. We went eurocamp for the first time last year (off peak), and had paid a deposit but they're no longer offering the site we wanted so took a refund and took the plunge on a tent!

fwiw, going directly to the campsites there's a big price increase during school holidays, particularly school holidays. It's not purely the middle man/ firm taking the whole extra.

Kelair?

https://www.campotel.com/

Macy0161

NIMAN wrote:

Kelair?

Yep, that's them. Although where we stayed last year, their area was a bit like "little Ireland" with a row of Irish families in the mobiles. The euro camp mobile homes were more of a mix, which I think we preferred. Anyway, our own tent this year!

NIMAN

Macy0161 wrote: »

Yep, that's them. Although where we stayed last year, their area was a bit like "little Ireland" with a row of Irish families in the mobiles. The euro camp mobile homes were more of a mix, which I think we preferred. Anyway, our own tent this year!

I think the mobiles can depend more on the site.

I have used Kelair twice, 1st time all the mobiles round us were full of Dutch and French. But I think it was more because the site itself attracted those people.

The 2nd time there were plenty of Irish about, but I think the site was very UK/Irish based. Better for the kids to make friends.

Ninesell

fdevine wrote: »

Or try the Daily Mail holidays promo. Can't guarantee it's still working but got us 50% off our accommodation. Single password worked for us (BEACH). Search camps and dates/durations up to 14 nights. We got a week in Duinrell for c.€350. Booking is via an agency it seems but we got a Eurocamp confirmation within minutes.

https://www.mailholidayparks.co.uk/mymaileu

Thanks for posting this. Great bargains!

BailMeOut

Apologize if been asked already but what is this Connemara ship like? Would 14 hours on it be miserable?

Your outbound sailing is on the no-frills Brittany Ferries économie service.
Overview
Brittany Ferries économie
Connemara joins our fleet of économie vessels that have been operating between the UK, France and Spain for a number of years. This is a simple, yet comfortable, no-frills service without the premium experience offered by our cruise ferry Pont-Aven between Ireland and France.

Self-service restaurant with limited choice
Small bar and boutique
No entertainment
Limited public seating
Some vehicles may be parked on an open-air deck
Accessibility limitations
No lift

First Up

BailMeOut wrote:

Apologize if been asked already but what is this Connemara ship like? Would 14 hours on it be miserable?

I've not been on the Connemara but I've used the Stena Horizon from Rosslare and its a similar ship.

No, it wouldn't be miserable. It will get you there; the cabins are comfortable and the food adequate. Its just less spacious and offers less choice than the cruise ferries operated by IF or Brittany Ferries.

The open car deck is a bit of a pain; a very steep ramp, your car is exposed to the elements and disembarking can be slow.

MorganIRL

Heading to Vendee region in June, and would love to bring kids to Puy Du Fou, but would like to use a bad weather day to bring them. So my question is has anyone just rocked up to the place on the day and bought tickets or do they be sold out in advance. TIA

treascon

MorganIRL wrote: »

Heading to Vendee region in June, and would love to bring kids to Puy Du Fou, but would like to use a bad weather day to bring them. So my question is has anyone just rocked up to the place on the day and bought tickets or do they be sold out in advance. TIA

You could buy tickets on the day no problem. However what do you mean by “bad weather day”? A lot of the shows are outdoors and a lot of queuing for same is outdoors too

BailMeOut

MorganIRL wrote: »

Heading to Vendee region in June, and would love to bring kids to Puy Du Fou, but would like to use a bad weather day to bring them. So my question is has anyone just rocked up to the place on the day and bought tickets or do they be sold out in advance. TIA

Overcast cool day is ideal for Puy du Fou and bring good walking shoes as you walk lot. It is however incredible and well worth visiting.

Getting in is not a problem however once in you need to plan well as the shows themselves will fill up 20-30 minutes before they start.

SusanC10

MorganIRL wrote: »

Heading to Vendee region in June, and would love to bring kids to Puy Du Fou, but would like to use a bad weather day to bring them. So my question is has anyone just rocked up to the place on the day and bought tickets or do they be sold out in advance. TIA

You can book Tickets online and iirc there was a 20-25% Discount. We did this a couple of days before we went.

I don't think a "bad weather day" is really suitable. When we were there 4 out of the 5 larger shows were outside. It was raining when we got there (but had been forecast to clear up) and we did the indoor show first. It was dry when that finished and stayed dry but I wouldn't have fancied the rest of the day in the rain there with the Kids.

MorganIRL

SusanC10 wrote: »

You can book Tickets online and iirc there was a 20-25% Discount. We did this a couple of days before we went.

I don't think a "bad weather day" is really suitable. When we were there 4 out of the 5 larger shows were outside. It was raining when we got there (but had been forecast to clear up) and we did the indoor show first. It was dry when that finished and stayed dry but I wouldn't have fancied the rest of the day in the rain there with the Kids.

By bad weather I meant cloudy/overcast. Thank you for the info, I think we'll wait till we're over and watch the weather forecast and pick the coolest day to do it. Thanks once again

SusanC10

It's been 3 years since we were at Puy du Fou but few tips below!

The times for the Shows change daily. The times for the following day come out at 5pm but only on the French version of the website. We downloaded the Timetable as well as a Map onto our phone so we could plan.

We managed 5 out of the 6 Main Shows and our favourites were the Romans, Birds, the Secret of the Lance and Vikings.

There are no water fountains there to refill water bottles.

legohouse

fdevine wrote: »

Or try the Daily Mail holidays promo. Can't guarantee it's still working but got us 50% off our accommodation. Single password worked for us (BEACH). Search camps and dates/durations up to 14 nights. We got a week in Duinrell for c.€350. Booking is via an agency it seems but we got a Eurocamp confirmation within minutes.

https://www.mailholidayparks.co.uk/mymaileu

Ypu might also try "the Sun Hols for £9.50" offer
www.ukholidaysinthesun.co.uk

This is the 3rd year I have booked with them and they are all Eurocamp campsites
This year we are going further south to Les Tropiques, near Perpignan
We have 10 days booked from 5th - 15th July and cost incl supplements etc is €333
1 Week works out at approx €220
Have previously used it stay in Les Ormes, Sol a Gogo, and Torres de Sol in spain.
bit awkward to book but some great deals to be had even in peak season

flangemeistro

legohouse wrote: »

Ypu might also try "the Sun Hols for £9.50" offer
www.ukholidaysinthesun.co.uk

This is the 3rd year I have booked with them and they are all Eurocamp campsites
This year we are going further south to Les Tropiques, near Perpignan
We have 10 days booked from 5th - 15th July and cost incl supplements etc is €333
1 Week works out at approx €220
Have previously used it stay in Les Ormes, Sol a Gogo, and Torres de Sol in spain.
bit awkward to book but some great deals to be had even in peak season

Does anyone have to codes for the sun holidays or know where I can get them please?