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

average_runner

SusanC10 wrote: »

Thanks a mill. Will have a look at Les Charmettes.

Don't mind isolation if Site itself is suitable. Decent Pools a must. St. Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne is our favourite Site and it is pretty isolated.

Would still say Les Charmettes. I stayed at both, La Sequiona 6 years ago and Les Charmettes, we went there for three years in row 2015, 2016, 2017. Our kids are young also.

average_runner

Charliebull wrote: »

La Sequoia Parc- anyone been and how did ye find it

possible flight to La Rochelle and travel from there

La Rochelle airport is very slow via passport control 3 years ago.
But worth staying in La Rochelle for a night as a very good aquarium there.

Les Charmettes i would recommend over La Sequoia

SusanC10

average_runner wrote: »

Would still say Les Charmettes. I stayed at both, La Sequiona 6 years ago and Les Charmettes, we went there for three years in row 2015, 2016, 2017. Our kids are young also.

Had a quick look. Did you use Siblu ? If so, are their Arrival/Departure Dates flexible ?

manshay

Charliebull wrote: »

La Sequoia Parc- anyone been and how did ye find it

possible flight to La Rochelle and travel from there

We returned from Sequoia Parc on Sunday, with our 12,14 yr old girls and 9 yr old boy.
Pros
It’s a Super site, it’s the best planned site I’ve been on. The roads are not busy with traffic, the emplacements are large. The pool complex is large, the skimpy swimming shorts are not required here though those longer than 40cm are banned- not enforced.
It’s not near anywhere so the only security is the outside gates, no wristbands as on every other campsite. Roads on one side are quiet, great for a jog or competent cycler.
The shop is sufficiently large and not too expensive so you could avoid a big shop.
2 large soccer fields and a hard court soccer/basketball court.
Bicycle hire onsite.
Cons
It’s not near anywhere, you must drive almost everywhere.
The pool slides are not much fun for older kids, not enough adrenaline!
We enjoyed the site but won’t go back as there was little my kids were interested in on site apart from the pool, which they bored of quickly.

average_runner

SusanC10 wrote: »

Had a quick look. Did you use Siblu ? If so, are their Arrival/Departure Dates flexible ?

Hi,

We went with Siblu for the first two years and then with Aine (https://holidayinsouthwestfrance.com/) for the last year.

Back then it was cheaper going private not sure what its like now.

Tip: If Private: Check the fun passes cost, see if you can get two thrown in for free from Aine. You might also need your own bed linen.

We currently go to La Carabasse now, 2 years private but next year siblu made us an offer we couldn't say no.

gnf_ireland

We are just back from Le Serignan Plage and the girls (7 & 5) absolutely loved it. First camping experience and was delighted with it overall. Great beach, great pool complex (splash pool, slides etc). Exceptionally clean with no litter at all. Great onsite bakery, with good butcher & fishmonger (even if a little expensive) and a massive Carrefore up the road.

The only real negative was the entertainment - starting at 9:30 each night and had a disco run until 1am most nights, so there was a level of noise that was unavoidable in the evenings.

So looking to book next year, is there any other sites people would suggest we consider in the same region, with direct beach access and a great pool complex (both musts!!), that might have entertainment on a little earlier and stop at maybe 11:30 ?

Thanks in advance

SusanC10

Seems to be Saturday only Arrivals and Departures which doesn't suit us.
Back to the drawing board !

54and56

SusanC10 wrote: »

Seems to be Saturday only Arrivals and Departures which doesn't suit us.
Back to the drawing board !

That's only the case if you're renting direct from Siblu. If you go private you may be able to agree start and end dates that suit you.

gnf_ireland

kildarecommuter wrote: »

Carcassone is a horrible airport and I’d have a preference for Montpellier but understand if you can fly from Cork rather than Dublin.

Why do you say Carcassone is a horrible airport ? Yes it is tiny and only appears to have around 5 flights a day, and not somewhere I would like to be stuck in for hours, but I found it absolutely fine.

I much prefer smaller airports than larger ones. Its also pretty easy to get out of, get a hire car and be at the coast in around an hour.

I fully accept it has no shopping and relatively no food options (one place landside) and only a few vending machines airside, but we sailed in and out with no delays or inconveniences whatsoever.

To me, a horrible airport is one where there is massive amounts of walking to gates, crowded facilities, no where to sit to wait for the flight, crap overpriced food and terrible coffee and dirty toilets, with long queues at immigration and waiting for ages to get my bags on arrival.

Maybe its just me, but I prefer to spend the least amount of time as possible at the airport, and the least amount of fuss ! Each to their own though !

gnf_ireland

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Anyone been to Le Serignan Plage, not far from Beziers / about an hour from Carcassone? Looks promising, and flights available from Cork which is always a plus for me. My Kids will be 10 and 7 at time of travel. -

Yes, just back from here. What do you want to know about the place? We found it very good for 2 girls aged 7 & 5. Definitely considering going back next year.

Any questions please feel free to PM me on it !

mr_edge_to_you

We're sailing home tomorrow after another fantastic 2 weeks in the Vendee.

Don't think this was mentioned in the thread yet but the word here is that Eurocamp (well its parent) have actually bought out the Clarys Plage campsite. I think they also own some smaller firms but it seems that non-Eurocamp group companies won't have any access to the site after this season and they're all trying to relocate their mobile homes. It will have a major impact on the area, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

webpal

I heard that in Solagogo too, Hello France may not be there next year

webpal

Groupschemes Eurocamp latest discount code for 2020 is 20RISC01

Plenty of t&cs but worth a shot

SusanC10

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Don't think this was mentioned in the thread yet but the word here is that Eurocamp (well its parent) have actually bought out the Clarys Plage campsite. I think they also own some smaller firms but it seems that non-Eurocamp group companies won't have any access to the site after this season and they're all trying to relocate their mobile homes. It will have a major impact on the area, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

This has happened on St. Avit Loisirs. Parent Group Homair plus Al Fresco, Eurocamp and Roan only there now.

10-10-20

I agree. It's a bad arrangement where up to 50% of the campsite is leaving on any given Saturday. The queues which this practice create locally as well as within the region are just phenomenal. Every junction is crammed and the motorways slow from their normal speeds of ~130kmph to ~90kmph due to the volume alone. It took us 2hrs to travel just 50km to the motorway at Saintes last year on Sat at 11am... Lucky we were not trying to catch a boat.

SusanC10

10-10-20 wrote: »

I agree. It's a bad arrangement where up to 50% of the campsite is leaving on any given Saturday. The queues which this practice create locally as well as within the region are just phenomenal. Every junction is crammed and the motorways slow from their normal speeds of ~130kmph to ~90kmph due to the volume alone. It took us 2hrs to travel just 50km to the motorway at Saintes last year on Sat at 11am... Lucky we were not trying to catch a boat.

We want to arrive on a Sunday and leave on a Tuesday.

jay0109

webpal wrote: »

I heard that in Solagogo too, Hello France may not be there next year

Hello France have a big presence in SolaGoGo...even the head of that company has a mobile there where he stays for the summer.
I'd be surprised if it happens there

Odyssey 2005

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Why do you say Carcassone is a horrible airport ? Yes it is tiny and only appears to have around 5 flights a day, and not somewhere I would like to be stuck in for hours, but I found it absolutely fine.

I much prefer smaller airports than larger ones. Its also pretty easy to get out of, get a hire car and be at the coast in around an hour.

I fully accept it has no shopping and relatively no food options (one place landside) and only a few vending machines airside, but we sailed in and out with no delays or inconveniences whatsoever.

To me, a horrible airport is one where there is massive amounts of walking to gates, crowded facilities, no where to sit to wait for the flight, crap overpriced food and terrible coffee and dirty toilets, with long queues at immigration and waiting for ages to get my bags on arrival.

Maybe its just me, but I prefer to spend the least amount of time as possible at the airport, and the least amount of fuss ! Each to their own though !

100%agree. Carcassonne is a grand airport. I'd much prefer it to Dublin airport, now theres a horrible place !

shamrock55

Anyone used wi fí in le clarys plage, we there now and I got it for the wk, works fine on the phone but I got it to use with chrome cast to cast netflix but it doesn't seem to work, or it doesn't connect to PlayStation either, it's no big deal really, it's just for the kids for a bit in evening or before bed but it's just annoying after paying for it

ShamoBuc

Wi-fi generally on campsites is only good for a bit surfing. Casting and Netflix need a bit more speed and will probably break up or not work.

webpal

jay0109 wrote: »

Hello France have a big presence in SolaGoGo...even the head of that company has a mobile there where he stays for the summer.
I'd be surprised if it happens there

Me too, the reps don’t know what’s happening and they are not taking bookings for next year, only expressions of interest. Alfresco were saying they got some bookings as a result from Hello France repeat customers

average_runner

SusanC10 wrote: »

Seems to be Saturday only Arrivals and Departures which doesn't suit us.
Back to the drawing board !

Sometimes Siblu will help you, depending on the time of year! And going by last year demand, they might jump to help you

average_runner

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Why do you say Carcassone is a horrible airport ? Yes it is tiny and only appears to have around 5 flights a day, and not somewhere I would like to be stuck in for hours, but I found it absolutely fine.

I much prefer smaller airports than larger ones. Its also pretty easy to get out of, get a hire car and be at the coast in around an hour.

I fully accept it has no shopping and relatively no food options (one place landside) and only a few vending machines airside, but we sailed in and out with no delays or inconveniences whatsoever.

To me, a horrible airport is one where there is massive amounts of walking to gates, crowded facilities, no where to sit to wait for the flight, crap overpriced food and terrible coffee and dirty toilets, with long queues at immigration and waiting for ages to get my bags on arrival.

Maybe its just me, but I prefer to spend the least amount of time as possible at the airport, and the least amount of fuss ! Each to their own though !

Carcassone are Ryanair, which is risky with their yearly strikes.
If looking for a different airport, Toulouse is the best one, straight on to a motorway to the coast.

Stone Deaf 4evr

you'll get loads of campsite info in this thread

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=111050377#post111050377

gnf_ireland

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

you'll get loads of campsite info in this thread

Yes been monitoring that specific thread for a while, but the question was not really answered - so I thought I would ask explicitly :-) Thanks for pointing me in that direction though

gnf_ireland

average_runner wrote: »

Carcassone are Ryanair, which is risky with their yearly strikes.
If looking for a different airport, Toulouse is the best one, straight on to a motorway to the coast.

The risk does exist but it is small and one I am willing to take most of the time.

Thankfully I have never been impacted by a Ryanair strike or cancellation, but I have been directly impacted by the Aer Lingus lock-out of their pilots back in May/June 2002 !!

But yes, Toulouse or Perpignan are also options for the area !

Stone Deaf 4evr

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Yes been monitoring that specific thread for a while, but the question was not really answered - so I thought I would ask explicitly :-) Thanks for pointing me in that direction though

just for my own 2 cents, we've been to La Sirene in Argeles sur mer, great campsite, but also a bit too lively for our tastes, we're actually looking at its sister site across the road (l'hippocampe) - the campsite there is much more laid back, but you still have full access to all the facilities in la sirene - also, the pool complex is fantastic in la sirene, with its own dedicated splash parc and heated indoor areas.

Baybay

La Carabasse in Vias Plage might be comparable but it’s a while now since we’ve been. It’s certainly close to the beach!

Baybay

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Toulouse or Perpignan are also options for the area !

As is Montpellier. Direct flights from Dublin with Aer Lingus during the summer months.
Ryanair fly, or used to, directly from Dublin into Rodez. Bit of a drive to the motorway but you do get to cross the Millau Bridge.
Beziers-Vias is a dinky little airport but no flights directly between there & Dublin. Yet!

average_runner

Baybay wrote: »

As is Montpellier. Direct flights from Dublin with Aer Lingus during the summer months.
Ryanair fly, or used to, directly from Dublin into Rodez. Bit of a drive to the motorway but you do get to cross the Millau Bridge.
Beziers-Vias is a dinky little airport but no flights directly between there & Dublin. Yet!

Hope it stays that way. I love it down there but dont what a load of irish there.