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

MelachiT

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Is this correct? If you Google "fire on Oscar Wilde" you get reports of a fire on 3rd March 2010 off the coast of Cornwall.

That's all I get and on their site trips up to 10 March are cancelled.

I've tweeted them but no reply as yet.

MelachiT

Sorry, read the dates wrong. It seems it's just out of service until 11 March.

MelachiT

MelachiT wrote: »

I've just booked an Easter trip to France with Irish Ferries on the OW.
Then noticed on their site that their sailings up to 10 March are cancelled. It seems there was a fire on board
when it was being brought back from being in dry dock.
Anyone know when they plan to have this ship back in action?

Sorry this was my mistake. Saw on IT website, dated today, but the news story was for 2010.
Don't know why they have cancelled on trips up to 10th but they say their first sailing is on 11th March.

Donald53

Has anyone been to either St Georges de Didonne, La Palymire or Saint Palais sur Mer in France, if so which town would you recommend that would be nice for a family with 2 small children. We have a campervan and are looking for somewhere we could park up for a while and possibly walk to the beach and the town centre. We would like the option to ramble into town for a bite to eat without having to drive. Any campsites recommended?

Donald53

Hi, We are heading to France this year in our campervan and thinking of La Palymire, or St Georges de Didonne or Saint Palais sur Mer, has anyone been to any of these towns and if so any recommendation? We would really like to be in a campsite that we could walk to the beach and the town for restaurants or a glass of vino. We have twins of 2yrs so no late nights but we do like to ramble around shops and restaurants. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks

NIMAN

Can you get a deal with ferry and caravan included, or do you have to book them separately yourself?

Ryan Mac Sweeney

Hi there
I have read your post. That sounds like a lovely idea. I was in France myself when I was younger. Brittany is a beautiful place with lots of castles, parks and there are also a few really nice fishing villages with small narrow cobbled streets and there are also lots of nice places to eat as well. I stayed in a lovely campsite called Le Dolmen in Carnac which is a lovely little village and there are plenty of things to keep the small ones entertained with a funfair and there are also plenty of really nice restaurants and there is also a lovely beach that is only minutes away from the campsite and what we did is that we got the ferry from Cork to Roscoff with Brittany Ferries and then drove from Roscoff to Carnac which is a very scenic drive and there are plenty of places to stop off. We also went back from Roscoff to Cork and if you have a few hours to spare Roscoff is a lovely little town with lots to do. So the best way to get there is to go from Cork to Roscoff return with Brittany Ferries and then drive from Roscoff to Carnac. Le Dolmen is a lovely campsite and there are three playgrounds to keep the little ones entertained and it is only a stones throw away from the village of Carnac and the beach and we stayed in the campsite for 2 weeks and the owners didnt mind a bit. With regards to food if you dont want to eat out every night there is a supermarket around the corner if you want to stock up and then cook some evenings in the campsite. It is a great place.

54and56

Donald53 wrote: »

Hi, We are heading to France this year in our campervan and thinking of La Palymire, or St Georges de Didonne or Saint Palais sur Mer, has anyone been to any of these towns and if so any recommendation? We would really like to be in a campsite that we could walk to the beach and the town for restaurants or a glass of vino. We have twins of 2yrs so no late nights but we do like to ramble around shops and restaurants. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Donald,

If you mean "La Palmyre" I can tell you that in my experience it's a great place to holiday. The beaches there are amazing and http://www.zoo-palmyre.fr/en is one of the best Zoo's I've ever been to.

The town itself is relatively small and quiet but has lot's of free parking. Some good info here - http://www.francethisway.com/places/la-palmyre.php

The only issue is if you're planning on parking up the campervan and walking it's not going to work very well as the beaches, town, zoo and many of the campsites (such as http://www.siblu.ie/france/charente_maritime/bonne_anse_plage.php where we stayed a few years) are all dotted around and can be 3-4 km's apart which isn't going to work that easily with 2 year old twins unless you like pushing buggie's a lot!!

Donald53

Thank you for your reply and information. Do you know of anywhere else in the general region that would meet our needs, a good campsite walking distance to the town and beach. I realise its a tall order as many campsites are located outside the town but I'm living in hope that we'l find someplace where we can ramble to the beach, and grab a glass or two of vino on the way back!!??

54and56

Donald53 wrote: »

Do you know of anywhere else in the general region that would meet our needs, a good campsite walking distance to the town and beach. I realise its a tall order as many campsites are located outside the town but I'm living in hope that we'l find someplace where we can ramble to the beach, and grab a glass or two of vino on the way back!!??

The difficulty you'll have, on this thread anyway, is that most of us and increasingly most of the campsites we use don't have pitches available for caravan or campervan owners to hire. I've certainly noticed over the last 8 years or so that pitches that were reserved for use by caravan and camervan owners who pay for a few nights or a week or two at a time are being replaced by permanent mobile homes which I assume the campsite owners can generate more income from.

I'm sure some posters here will be able to recommend some places which meet your criteria of:-

1. Having rental pitches for motorhome/campervans.
2. Walking distance to the beach.
3. Walking distance to nearby shops and restaurants.

You might also look for advice on specific campervan/caravaning type forums and on sites like this which let you set your criteria and will present you with a list of options - https://www.pitchup.com/motorhomes/france

Hope that helps.

GeneralSherman

Lads checkout the forums on www.ukcampsite.co.uk
T'was invaluable to me when deciding which campsite to choose when bringing the family camping with our tent to France. There are so many campsites to choose from if you can look beyond the ones in the brochures that are targetted at us Irish.

jimmyging

just went to book Oscar Wilde for July 😧.missed the boat , pardon the pun . Has anyone been to Les alicourts as we are looking at this for 11 day mobile hol for parents and 3 kids under 10 .
Thanks in advance

jonny99

Donald53 wrote: »

Has anyone been to either St Georges de Didonne, La Palymire or Saint Palais sur Mer in France, if so which town would you recommend that would be nice for a family with 2 small children. We have a campervan and are looking for somewhere we could park up for a while and possibly walk to the beach and the town centre. We would like the option to ramble into town for a bite to eat without having to drive. Any campsites recommended?

Youll find literally loads around La Palmyre..Been going there for years on end at this stage,couldnt recommend it highly enough

average_runner

Donald53 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply and information. Do you know of anywhere else in the general region that would meet our needs, a good campsite walking distance to the town and beach. I realise its a tall order as many campsites are located outside the town but I'm living in hope that we'l find someplace where we can ramble to the beach, and grab a glass or two of vino on the way back!!??

Hi

The beach close to La Playmre has a campervan site with a restaurant beside it and an ice cream parlour. Ice cream is not great there though. The beach here is not ideal for two year olds as the water gets deep quite qucikly, but if you keep them in the sand its grand


Checkout Marennes also, it has a great beach for young kids, no waves or deep water and I think they have a site for campervans.

If your going to the zoo, please don't feed the animals popcorn that the zoo give you, its cruel to the animals diet.

Sequioa park allows campervans but its a bit away from everything

Also the restaurants usually don't open till after 7pm, so not sure how that will affect you with young kids.

54and56

Donald53 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply and information. Do you know of anywhere else in the general region that would meet our needs, a good campsite walking distance to the town and beach. I realise its a tall order as many campsites are located outside the town but I'm living in hope that we'l find someplace where we can ramble to the beach, and grab a glass or two of vino on the way back!!??

If you can't find a campsite which meets your needs it might be worth checking out http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Aires to get an understanding of French "Aires" which are (generally) municipal sites for parking campervans and are very inexpensive e.g. €5 a night. They are all over France and there is good info on the one in La Palmyre here - http://airetoday.co.uk/aire%20la%20palmyre.html

This YouTube video is also useful

This website seems to have all the Aires mapped out http://en.airecampingcar.com and there's app which is supposed to list out all the Aires in France - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.aires.ccinfos&hl=en but I don't know if it's any good or not.

If you could find an Aires which was beside a beach and walking distance to restaurants etc you'd save a lot of money Vs a commercial campsite but you wouldn't have the benefit of a pool complex and kids clubs (not a problem with 2 year old's!!) etc.

Donald53

Thanks everyone for the great information and for taking the time to reply, much appreciated

ECO_Mental

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Donald53 wrote: »

Hi, We are heading to France this year in our campervan and thinking of La Palymire, or St Georges de Didonne or Saint Palais sur Mer, has anyone been to any of these towns and if so any recommendation? We would really like to be in a campsite that we could walk to the beach and the town for restaurants or a glass of vino. We have twins of 2yrs so no late nights but we do like to ramble around shops and restaurants. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Donald,

If you mean "La Palmyre" I can tell you that in my experience it's a great place to holiday. The beaches there are amazing and http://www.zoo-palmyre.fr/en is one of the best Zoo's I've ever been to.

The town itself is relatively small and quiet but has lot's of free parking. Some good info here - http://www.francethisway.com/places/la-palmyre.php

The only issue is if you're planning on parking up the campervan and walking it's not going to work very well as the beaches, town, zoo and many of the campsites (such as http://www.siblu.ie/france/charente_maritime/bonne_anse_plage.php where we stayed a few years) are all dotted around and can be 3-4 km's apart which isn't going to work that easily with 2 year old twins unless you like pushing buggie's a lot!!

Highly recommend this campsite we stayed there three times, la Plymre and the surrounding area there are loads of things to do. I am sure that this campsite has pitches for camper vans but double check. Great thing about La Plymre is there are great cycle paths that are segregated from the roads so very safe. So hire a couple of bikes with a baby seat or trailer and you are sorted. Also that aire for the campervans is basically a car park even though its very popular so I wouldn't recommend it especially if you have young kids

Donald53

Hi, Has anyone camped on Il d'Oleron in France. We are going there this year but there are so many campsites to choose from I wondered if anyone had first hand recommendations. Ideally we would like a site near to the beach and village.
Thanks

Donald53

Hi again, We are going to stay on Il d'Oleron for a week in our campervan and would really appreciate campsite recommendations. I know there are loads of campsites on the island but which to choose is the difficulty. ideally we would like to be in a modern campsite with a pool complex as we have small children and ideally near to the beach, supermarket and town...tall order I know!

BlazingSaddler

Hi all. Has anybody been to Les Mouettes? Very close to Roscoff. For the last 3 years we've been to La Croix de Vieux Pont (2 years) and Domaine Des Ormes in Brittany last year, both from Cherbourg. We're going to have a 15 month with us this year along with a 7 & 10 yr old so I am hoping to keep the driving to an absolute minimum! I am struggling rather with the price of the ferry to Roscoff which is nearly €1500 (Irish Ferries, nothing available with Brittany in July)! Almost double what I paid with Stena last year - I realise I've left it rather late this time around!

Bananaleaf

I have done this kind of trip.

It is a wonderful trip - the freedom is something else.

I'd like to suggest this book - https://www.vicarious-shop.com/All-the-Aires-France-north-and-south-together.html

It is a kind of catalogue of all the 'Aires' that are available throughout France.

An 'Aire' is a campervan or motorhome stopover spot. They aren't campsites but are safe places to stay overnight. Most are free and some might charge something tiny like €2 per night. Some are as basic as just a carpark space labelled 'campervan' others provide a power outlet and waste/water facillites.

The idea behind them is to offer campers a safe place to stay for the night for either very cheap or free in the hope that the camper will repay the favour by shopping locally for his/her food/fruit/bread etc the next day. A lovely idea I thought.

The book is very detailed and gives the GPS coordinates of each place, a list of all the things they offer, the prices if any and - most importantly - colour photos of what they places look like. Oh it also tells you how many spots are available.

I used it a lot - as a means of saving money to be honest - but looking back it was a fantastic experience and I got to see little towns I would never have seen otherwise!

Donald53

Thanks Bananaleaf, really helpful.

BlazingSaddler

Hi all. I'm about to book with Eurocamp, travelling outbound with Brittany and returning with Irish Ferries. I have a fairly big one for all voucher I'd like to use against the payment. Would any of these 3 companies accept it in part payment? Also are there any other operators other than Eurocamp that I can approach for Les Mouettes before I take the plunge, just to make sure I'm getting the best deal!

Stone Deaf 4evr

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Hi all. I'm about to book with Eurocamp, travelling outbound with Brittany and returning with Irish Ferries. I have a fairly big one for all voucher I'd like to use against the payment. Would any of these 3 companies accept it in part payment? Also are there any other operators other than Eurocamp that I can approach for Les Mouettes before I take the plunge, just to make sure I'm getting the best deal!

I'm 99% certain that Irish Ferries accept one4all.

actually, just check their website - they do
https://www.one4all.ie/retailer/travel.html

Cianmcliam

Yes, Irish Ferries do accept one4all. I think Les Mouettes is part of the Yelloh group so you might get better deals direct through them or look them up on Booking.com. We used Keycamp/Eurocamp the first year we went to Brittany but have gone direct ever since. Last year we stayed at La Ranolien which is also one of the Yelloh camps and it was the best one we've been to.

BlazingSaddler

Thank you both, much appreciated. I'll check out Yelloh as well. In fairness the Eurocamp price is not bad as I'm looking for a 3 bed and the kids love the kids clubs!

webpal

16RISC02n - this is a discount code for eurocamp, to be used by 20 April. I think you have to go through the website booking and then enter it to see how much you can actually save.

19th March 2016 – 23rd June 2016 50%

24th June 2016 – 21st July 2016 25%

22nd July 2016 – 28th August 2016 15%

29th August 2016 – 4th November 2016 30%

BlazingSaddler

Finally booked. I'd given up hope but availability appeared in July with Brittany Ferries!, out on the 9th back on the 22nd. Very short drive in store for us in France this year as we're going to Les Mouettes (Carantec) in Carantec, a very early landing (7am) so we should be at the campsite around 9am! What are the chances of getting an early check-in?
I'll be interested to see how the Port Aven compares with the Oscar Wilde and Stena Horizon, we've used both of these in the last couple of years so I'm going for the full set! I suppose one of the downsides is the extra distance from Dublin to Cork as opposed to Rosslare

Stone Deaf 4evr

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Finally booked. I'd given up hope but availability appeared in July with Brittany Ferries!, out on the 9th back on the 22nd. Very short drive in store for us in France this year as we're going to Les Mouettes (Carantec) in Carantec, a very early landing (7am) so we should be at the campsite around 9am! What are the chances of getting an early check-in?
I'll be interested to see how the Port Aven compares with the Oscar Wilde and Stena Horizon, we've used both of these in the last couple of years so I'm going for the full set! I suppose one of the downsides is the extra distance from Dublin to Cork as opposed to Roscoff.

A lot of camps book from Saturday to Saturday, to there's every chance you'll get an early check-in.

Enjoy the pont aven, it's a great ship.

cjmc11

Hey everyone
Anyone know of a company that will hire out a campervan to travel from Ireland to France for the euros?
There's 2 of us planning on goin so a small one would do.
Looking to go for approx 2 weeks to cover the group stage, have no tickets unfortunately but would still like to go for the craic, I'm presuming accommodation will be both expensive and booked out in most parts so I think camper is the best way to go.
Cheers