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

I would say first step is decide on dates and book the ferry and cabin first.

You can decide how much driving and what type of accommodation you want in due course but the ferry with cabins is the first to fill and then you have the option of travelling on it with no cabins and thats a long 11 hour journey before starting a holiday.

As you're looking at early-June you should think about how far you want to drive. The further south you drive, the better your chances of good weather. But obviously you need to weigh this against how long your kids will tolerate in the car.

Work out how many hours you're willing to drive (not forgetting that you'll need to do the same journey back again two weeks later, so don't over-stretch yourself!) and see where that takes you in France. And look at campsites in that area. Many recommendations in this forum.

One tip is to consider ferry arrival times. You have options from Dublin, Rosslare and Cork. Most ferries arrive into France in late-morning, which can be frustrating if you have a 5+ hour drive with young children as it feels you're already on the backfoot before getting to your car. Brittany Ferries from Cork arrives in at 7am, so lots of time to spread the driving out over the day, and lots of time to get yourself further south in France.

There's no real pressure on booking anything yet. Many campsites won't have opened their 2025 bookings yet, and as you're travelling off peak you're under no pressure for ferry places (not that they sold out this year, if anything the later you left it the cheaper the price you'd get!).

You will be fine the ferry is great… We went last year and have to say it was lovely, had a three year old and 5 year old. Went to moreFrench campsites and they were a little off putting as they were so quite but this year we have booked with Siblu and if their customer service is anything to go by they should be great..

Keep an eye on the ferry to get the best price, it is great if you are not stuck to dates.. Book the ferry and then go site searching.June you should be grand all will be open in campsites (one thing to watch out for if going out of season is that restaurants, shops are not open even pools).

Domaine des Ormes!, you won’t go far wrong. 2 and a half hour drive from Cherbourg and a campsite with something for everyone. Only problem may be the weather if you’re unlucky. If you are flying then you might consider further south to almost guarantee the weather.

Irish ferries are usually out in October.

The only thing with Siblu sites is they'll be (in most cases) full of French people. That's not a bad thing but it means the kid clubs will have French speaking staff and the majority of kids will be French speakers so it might be difficult for Irish kids. If you go with Eurocamp though, their staff are usually English or Irish and the kid clubs deliberately cater for English-speaking kids.

We're curently in a Siblu camp and it's far and away the best one we've stayed in and far superior to any of the Eurocamp ones. There's three families in our group so we haven't had to send the kids to kids club because they entertain themselves but if you're looking to unwnd and offload the kids to a club a few hours every day, careful consideration is required as to which campsite to stay in (in my opinion anyway).

Yes, and very do-able too. Routing to Paris for two nights or so isn't difficult as in many ways 'all roads lead to Paris' and it's not excessively off the track when planning the return journey. Many people stay in campsites near enough to DLP and there might be local bus services directly to the entrance. The only trick is to avoid Paris by car (due to the "Crit'Air" restrictions).

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

Similar enough to it. I traveled to DLP, stayed two days in a Disney hotel and then moved to a house in La Tranche-sur-Mer for a week and a bit. Frankly I would have preferred to have done Paris last so to keep something in the pipeline.

What concerns have you?

Yes we did it 2 years ago. We did 7 nights in Des Ormes and then 3 in Paris. Stayed in a hotel 2 train stops from DLP. Very easy access to the park and then the city only 35 minutes away by RER.

Oh thats whay you want though. To be honest my worst thing would be go to an international place where everything bar the weather was the same as Ireland.. I mean that nicely but you go to France to be in France not to be in Ireland..

Hsve done Disney a few times. Both driving to Disney hotels and Davy Crockett's ranch. By far the best experience with you get kids was Davy Crockett. Car park pass for the park and tickets, 5 minutes drive to the park. Very handy to have a mobile self/catering with younger kids too.

Very doable from 5/6 hours drive away.

any idea of the name or the train stop?

We made a vow to always holiday below les sables d'olonne or La Rochelle.

Cannot deal with poor weather in Brittany

Just for anyone looking up their first french holidays