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

jay0109

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

I don't think so, but would probably depend on the size of the roofbox? Were you not asked to declare the size of the vehicle at booking? Also, just for my own curiosity, does it make any difference? I've often been in the bottom (passat with bikes on the roof) but never had any delay in getting out

No difference to me except I don't want to drive on and whack the roof box off the roof of 1 of the upper decks!
Haven't bought the box yet but it'll be a standard Halfords job.
Will measure all out closer to the time

FrontDoor

Any thoughts on eastern France? Mountains, etc. Not necessarily a campsite.

June time, kids < 10.

Stone Deaf 4evr

jay0109 wrote: »

No difference to me except I don't want to drive on and whack the roof box off the roof of 1 of the upper decks!
Haven't bought the box yet but it'll be a standard Halfords job.
Will measure all out closer to the time

Don't stress too much, the ladies in the boarding pass booths are fairly eagle eyes when it comes to that.

average_runner

jay0109 wrote: »

No difference to me except I don't want to drive on and whack the roof box off the roof of 1 of the upper decks!
Haven't bought the box yet but it'll be a standard Halfords job.
Will measure all out closer to the time

Lads ye are worrying over nothing, the staff on the boat know there job, it will all be ok.

We parked on the ramp one year, best place to get if you have kids as loads of space to get stuff out of the car.

My main advice is have your over night bag for the boat real handy, have dvd players in the car for the kids. Have water bottles for the kids in the car and a goody bag also. Get a sat nav also, they are great for when out touring about.

talla

jay0109 wrote: »

No difference to me except I don't want to drive on and whack the roof box off the roof of 1 of the upper decks!
Haven't bought the box yet but it'll be a standard Halfords job.
Will measure all out closer to the time

Was on Brittany ferries last year with an x5 fitted with standard halfords roofbox and was placed on lower deck. Think the santefe is roughly same height give or take a couple of cm's so would expect the same.
As mentioned, last on but first off.
While entrance to camps sites are fine, one thing to watch for is underground carparks(in a lot of French towns) and in Ireland toll booths (specifically using tags).
Underground carparks typically 1.9m limit so not possible with a roofbox, stick to toll booths that trucks use on motor ways.

webpal

Juggler101 wrote: »

Does anybody know when the groupschemes Eurocamp code expires?

For anyone who's interested:

Terms and Conditions

The discounts apply per night to the accommodation base price and supplements based on the total holiday duration within the relevant date bands. The offer is subject to availability and a minimum duration of 3 nights with a maximum duration of 21 nights. The offer is only applicable to new 2017 bookings and cannot be applied retrospectively to an existing reservation. The offer is subject to the booking terms and conditions as stated in the 2017 Eurocamp brochure and cannot be combined with any other Eurocamp offer or discount. The offer is subject to availability.

The offer applies to Classic and Safari Tents, Classic, Esprit, Espace and Vista mobile homes only. All other accommodation types are excluded.

All parcs are included except: CD011, CD012, CD013, CD019, HL012, IA022, IL019, IS018, RV015, VN011, VS011, WM017, WM020, WM032. Other parcs maybe excluded at any time.

The 2017 offer is only valid for bookings made between 7th December 2016 and 29th March 2017. The offer cannot be redeemed through travel agents.

Juggler101

webpal wrote: »

For anyone who's interested:

Terms and Conditions

All parcs are included except: CD011, CD012, CD013, CD019, HL012, IA022, IL019, IS018, RV015, VN011, VS011, WM017, WM020, WM032. Other parcs maybe excluded at any time.
.

Thanks webpal, that explains why I didn't get much of a discount when I had a week of Clarys plage included in my trip! I went for a site that makes full use of the discount in the end

BlazingSaddler

Hi all. Has anybody booked car hire yet? This is the first time not taking my own car so looking for some recommendations. The best price I can get for 12 days in Nice is approx. €400 (Megane or similar) all in inc infant seat, booster, insurance. This is with autoeurope. Is it usual practice that if I book it now I have to pay all up front?
Thanks!

Stone Deaf 4evr

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Hi all. Has anybody booked car hire yet? This is the first time not taking my own car so looking for some recommendations. The best price I can get for 12 days in Nice is approx. €400 (Megane or similar) all in inc infant seat, booster, insurance. This is with autoeurope. Is it usual practice that if I book it now I have to pay all up front?
Thanks!

what dates?

i've used rentalcars.com and never had a problem, its essentially a comparison website for all the rental car companies in an area. theres also an option to book now/ pay later on some of them - but keep an eye on the fuel policy, generally i try to go for a 'take a full tank / return a full tank' but recently I've seen a trend towards prepaying for a full tank of fuel (at an inflated rate) , then drop it back after and you'll be credited whatever is in the tank.

also, keep in mind that if you opt out of the insurance, you'll have a 1200 euro hold put on your credit card for the duration of the rent.

BlazingSaddler

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

what dates?

i've used rentalcars.com and never had a problem, its essentially a comparison website for all the rental car companies in an area. theres also an option to book now/ pay later on some of them - but keep an eye on the fuel policy, generally i try to go for a 'take a full tank / return a full tank' but recently I've seen a trend towards prepaying for a full tank of fuel (at an inflated rate) , then drop it back after and you'll be credited whatever is in the tank.

also, keep in mind that if you opt out of the insurance, you'll have a 1200 euro hold put on your credit card for the duration of the rent.

July 9th - 20th from Nice airport. I did try rentalcars.com and holidayautos.com as well but seemed to get the best price from autoeurope (although I could be wrong). Autoeurope have the best website IMO, easier to see all different options. Funny how the cars are classified, since when has a Megane / Focus etc been a 'compact' car!

Stone Deaf 4evr

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

July 9th - 20th from Nice airport. I did try rentalcars.com and holidayautos.com as well but seemed to get the best price from autoeurope (although I could be wrong). Autoeurope have the best website IMO, easier to see all different options. Funny how the cars are classified, since when has a Megane / Focus etc been a 'compact' car!

I think thats an american thing, they used to classify a toyota camry as midsized, when it was one of the biggest cars on the road over here.

Stone Deaf 4evr

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

July 9th - 20th from Nice airport. I did try rentalcars.com and holidayautos.com as well but seemed to get the best price from autoeurope (although I could be wrong). Autoeurope have the best website IMO, easier to see all different options. Funny how the cars are classified, since when has a Megane / Focus etc been a 'compact' car!

just on the car seats thing, you seem to have gotten a good deal there, when I was booking earlier this year, they wanted €30 a day for the seats!

BlazingSaddler

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

just on the car seats thing, you seem to have gotten a good deal there, when I was booking earlier this year, they wanted €30 a day for the seats!

Yes they seem to vary dramatically I've found from company to company. Some seem to have a rate per day, Eg. €7 but a max charge of €35, others can be much more expensive with no max charge. The breakdown of the quote I have is as follows. (Through Inter Rent on autoeurope.ie) Car Hire inc refundable excess with super cover €341.70. Booster seat €35, Infant seat €35. Total €446.7 (This has actually gone up since last Friday when I got the €400 quote). Pick up full, return. Limited Kms per day (I need to investigate this!)

You should just bring a booster seat with you, we bought cheap ones for 5euro last year, no charge to put them in the hold with ryanair. Then just left them behind us when we came home

webpal

bubblypop wrote: »

You should just bring a booster seat with you, we bought cheap ones for 5euro last year, no charge to put them in the hold with ryanair. Then just left them behind us when we came home

I came across some in Mr Price recently for 6 or 7 euros I think, they were light as a feather, just made from aeroboard with a cover.

Baybay

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

... recently I've seen a trend towards prepaying for a full tank of fuel (at an inflated rate) , then drop it back after and you'll be credited whatever is in the tank...

The most recent development I've seen was earlier this month in Carcassonne where we were asked to bring the car back full but with a receipt from a garage in Carcassonne / close to the airport.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Baybay wrote: »

The most recent development I've seen was earlier this month in Carcassonne where we were asked to bring the car back full but with a receipt from a garage in Carcassonne / close to the airport.

Lol, did they think you'd fill it with water or something ?

legohouse

Just a heads up for those who haven't booked their campsites for France yet.
I have managed to book 7 Nights in Sol a Gogo for £172.50 and a weekend in Des Ormes for £82.50.
So all in... 10 nights accommodation in France from 7th July for just over £250

The Sun newspaper run a Holidays for £9.50 promo mainly for UK campsites but it also includes lots of European Campsites incl lots of popular ones like Des Ormes, Clerys Plage, etc
They have 3 options:
3 Nights - Fri-Sun @ £15.00pp
4 Nights - Mon-Thu @ £15.00pp
7 Nights - Mon-Sun @ £30.00pp
Min Numbers are 4 and Max for European sites is 6

You have to collect 10 different tokens from the newspaper but the codes are available here -
https://www.holidaypirates.com/holidaypackages/sun-holiday-codes-950-holidays-collect-your-holiday-tokens_15076
Once you have the codes, Book here - https://ukholidaysinthesun.co.uk/2017/

The European Campsites are effectively all the Eurocamp ones.
However the promotion only gives you a Basic Mobile (Eurocamp - Classic), limited dates available and there are no amendments possible once booked.
Dates are also available at easter (I got 7 nights at campsite in Costa Dorade for the same £120 price)

Closing date is 17th Feb but i 'd be quick dates are going very fast

Saved a few quid on the ferry too but that's for another post

ifElseThen

We met an English couple who paid a fraction of what we were paying to Eurocamp using the Sun scheme. That's a serious amount of savings!

legohouse

ifElseThen wrote: »

We met an English couple who paid a fraction of what we were paying to Eurocamp using the Sun scheme. That's a serious amount of savings!

For the week i booked in July, the Eurocamp direct price in the same accommodation type is currently €995. With the Sun it has cost me just me €202!
Along with savings for the extra 3 nights I have effectively saved the cost of the ferry to get me there

jay0109

legohouse wrote: »

Just a heads up for those who haven't booked their campsites for France yet.
I have managed to book 7 Nights in Sol a Gogo for £172.50 and a weekend in Des Ormes for £82.50.
So all in... 10 nights accommodation in France from 7th July for just over £250

How did you manage that with Sol a GoGo? Contacted them directly?
They were charging me nearly double what I paid in 2015 when I tried to book Summer 17 with them last October

lexi-lexi

Hi we are looking to do a fly/drive to the Roussillion/languedoc area ,looking at 5 eurocamp sites there ( les Bois De val Marie ,le brasilla, les sablons, domaine De la yole and domaine De masseraue)

The euro camp website is recommending beziers or perpignan airports but I'm pulling my hair out here .I can't find anyone that flies to beziers from Ireland and air lingus website is telling me no dates for perpignan I've tried all combination of dates and no results so frustrating 😠

We are looking july/August time any tips hugely appreciated

Edited to add we are 2 adults ,a teen and 2 kids

webpal

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Hi we are looking to do a fly/drive to the Roussillion/languedoc area ,looking at 5 eurocamp sites there ( les Bois De val Marie ,le brasilla, les sablons, domaine De la yole and domaine De masseraue)

The euro camp website is recommending beziers or perpignan airports but I'm pulling my hair out here .I can't find anyone that flies to beziers from Ireland and air lingus website is telling me no dates for perpignan I've tried all combination of dates and no results so frustrating 😠

We are looking july/August time any tips hugely appreciated

Edited to add we are 2 adults ,a teen and 2 kids

I just did a quick check on aer lingus and flights are available to Perpignan 4 days a week from Dublin. I did some research a while back and you could fly from Dublin to Manchester and on to Bezier at almost half the cost of a direct flight in July, luggage will add a bit to it though. Ryanair also fly direct to Carcassone and Rodez. Have you used skyscanner.ie?

Baybay

lexi-lexi wrote: »

The euro camp website is recommending beziers or perpignan airports but I'm pulling my hair out here .I can't find anyone that flies to beziers from Ireland and air lingus website is telling me no dates for perpignan I've tried all combination of dates and no results so frustrating.

There is no direct flight to Beziers from Ireland.
There is a Ryanair flight from Bristol to Beziers or Flybe (I think) from Southampton but obviously that's two flights you'd have to be prepared to take. There is also a Ryanair Beziers / Stanstead flight due to start in July.

Aer Lingus fly Dublin / Perpignan but it's seasonal so maybe dates aren't available yet. Perpignan is about an hours drive, just over maybe, from Beziers.

Ryanair fly Dublin / Carcassonne year round & that's under an hours drive from Beziers.
Aer Lingus fly Dublin / Montpellier which is also seasonal, or was last year anyway & so maybe dates aren't up for that yet either. It's also under an hour from Beziers.

Ryanair are seasonal into Rodez & handy to see the Millau bridge. Not a preferred route for me but still an option albeit a bit further than the others I've mentioned.
We used to use Ryanair into Girona but haven't in a while so maybe have a look there too. It'd be a couple of hours drive & wasn't seasonal but that may all have changed.

Stone Deaf 4evr

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Hi we are looking to do a fly/drive to the Roussillion/languedoc area ,looking at 5 eurocamp sites there ( les Bois De val Marie ,le brasilla, les sablons, domaine De la yole and domaine De masseraue)

The euro camp website is recommending beziers or perpignan airports but I'm pulling my hair out here .I can't find anyone that flies to beziers from Ireland and air lingus website is telling me no dates for perpignan I've tried all combination of dates and no results so frustrating 😠

We are looking july/August time any tips hugely appreciated

Edited to add we are 2 adults ,a teen and 2 kids

Hi, we're heading to this area this year, and opted to fly to barcelona from cork with aer lingus - is about a 2 hour drive then to the region. Ryanair do flights to girona, which is closer again.

The reason we're doing this is we decided it would be nice to spend a few days in barcelona at the end of our holiday, and hopefully avoid any temperamental french air traffic control strikes!

lexi-lexi

Wow thanks everyone for the very detailed replies all very much appreciated ! I suffer from anxiety and booking things myself sends the levels sky high so I apologise for sounding so clueless .I typed in random dates on the air lingus website for perpignan and nothing came up I was trying to find info in the site as to what days they actually fly there and again now joy.Also checked the Ryanair website for flights to carcassonne and again no flights would come up I was just incredibly bewildered by it all !!

campo

Anyone been to La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite in Paris that could provide some feedback, looking to go at end of may 2 Adults, 1 teenager (16) a 12 year old and 5 year old

Would this campsite be suitable and have stuff for all ages

lexi-lexi

webpal wrote: »

I just did a quick check on aer lingus and flights are available to Perpignan 4 days a week from Dublin. I did some research a while back and you could fly from Dublin to Manchester and on to Bezier at almost half the cost of a direct flight in July, luggage will add a bit to it though. Ryanair also fly direct to Carcassone and Rodez. Have you used skyscanner.ie?

Holy god thank you for mentioning Skyscanner what a dream that is to use makes everything so much easier can't believe I've never used it before

j_mo

campo wrote:

Anyone been to La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite in Paris that could provide some feedback, looking to go at end of may 2 Adults, 1 teenager (16) a 12 year old and 5 year old

campo wrote:

Would this campsite be suitable and have stuff for all ages

We were there the last two years and found it really good. They've got there own shop onsite which is ok and there's an intermache shop only a couple minutes away. Plenty of things to do onsite also, ranging from football to bowling to basketball. There's entertainment on in the evening time also. It's a decent base also if you are planning on going to Parc asterix or disneyland.

lexi-lexi

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Hi, we're heading to this area this year, and opted to fly to barcelona from cork with aer lingus - is about a 2 hour drive then to the region. Ryanair do flights to girona, which is closer again.

The reason we're doing this is we decided it would be nice to spend a few days in barcelona at the end of our holiday, and hopefully avoid any temperamental french air traffic control strikes!

Great idea I had family do this last year and they really enjoyed it ! Have you decided on /booked a campsite yet?