Keycamp Holiday's in France

Dub13

I am thinking about taken a Keycamp Holiday next year in France,It will be our first trip with the kids who will be 4,2 and a infant (wife pregnant now).Has anybody any advice..?So far what I have heard is try and pick a site that is no more than two hours drive from Cherbourg/Roscoff.We are also thinking about going in May so its not to hot for the kids.

I am basically looking for any advice you may have be it on how much it cost to sites with plenty to offer the kids and adults.I know its a bit early to be asking about May 07 but like everything else if you book early the price seems to be better.

Dr. Nick

Avoid Keycamp as your holiday will cost hundreds more going with them, book direct with the campsite.
South Brittany is your best bet, though the weather in May is far from guaranteed. Consider flying to Marseille with Ryanair or Aer Lingus and renting a car, that's what we did this year and it worked very well, and cheaper than the ferry, not to mention avoiding the drive. The region around Frejus/St. Raphael is popular, though we were further down the coast.
One other thing, in May, the entertainment etc. won't have started, but you should be ok on that front considering the kids are quite young.

Dub13

Good idea about cutting Keycamp out that never crossed my mind.How did you get in contact with the campsite direct...?South Brittany is the area I am looking at and most of the sites are only 100km from Roscoff which is not much of a drive.

Dr. Nick

http://www.lescastels.fr/index.php?lang=en is a good place to start (We stayed at L'Orangerie de Lanniron in Sth Brittany a couple of years ago, well-run, lovely setting, smaller than most, on the outskirts of Quimper, a good-sized town)
http://www.campingfrance.com/

If I think of anything else I'll let you know!

Dub13

Thanks for the links I will check them out.

Dr. Nick wrote:

If I think of anything else I'll let you know!

Again thanks,no rush as I will not be booking anything for a while just throwing around a few ideas at the moment.

parsi

You should not limit yourself to two hours from the port. We usually go to a place 3.5 hrs from Roscoff but have occasionally gone further however my colleagues regularly go 7-9 hours drive. A 2 hour drive in France is much easier than a 2 hour drive over here.

Get the Keycamp & Haven brochures and then google for the campsites you like to find independent offerings or people renting out their own mobiles on the site.

I'd recommend driving over next year - with an infant the carryspace will be useful - I'd also recommend the readymade milks you can buy in french supermarkets (like growing up milk here etc) but which also come with teats and everything you need for a hungry infant. (Eveil is the brand).

Dub13

Maybe I will not limit myself to two hours from the port,even if South Brittany looks so nice and ideal.I was under the impression that the Keycamp sites were owned and run by Keycamp,that is why I was going with them as they seem so ideal for kids etc etc.By the sound of it Keycamp just block book these camp sites so cutting them out seems to be the way to go.


Thanks for all the tips keep them coming they are very helpful,stuff like the baby milk I would never think of.

hargo

Stay away from Brittany its damp. Don't worry about driving in France, 6 hours would not be a big deal. The roads are great and very well signposted. If you are definitely going by boat then head at least as far as the Vendee though I would recommend flying to the Med Marseilles, Carcassone, or Toulouse are some of your options. There are plenty of suppliers of camping/mobile home accomadation, keycamp, eurocamp, canvas, and french life to name a few and as someone said get the brochure and google the sites. One thing they will be VERY quiet in May but they are a great holiday.

Dub13

hargo wrote:

Stay away from Brittany its damp. Don't worry about driving in France, 6 hours would not be a big deal.

I have no prob driving long distantness,I clock up a lot of miles a week.Its the kids,I don't want them in the car for two long.

Thanks for the advice,I have not settled on any area yet I am still doing a bit of homework.

parsi

hargo wrote:

Stay away from Brittany its damp.

I suppose YMMV but we have been going to Brittany since 2000 and it has been far from damp - initially it was September, then June, then May and for the past three years it has been August and the number of wet days could be counted on one hand. AFAIK last August we had 2 wet days.

skibum

We have used these guys before:http://www.yellohvillage.com/camping_village/portail/index.php3?langue=en (last year in brittany and this year near Biarritz) and will use them again next year. Very nice to deal with over the net / phone. Keycamp have their own mobiles in a lot of the Yelloh sites. By booking direct we saved over €1250

Dub13 wrote:

I have no prob driving long distantness,I clock up a lot of miles a week.Its the kids,I don't want them in the car for two long.

We brought a twin screen DVD player and a lot of their favourite toys etc, and took regular breaks at rest stops etc so they could get some fresh air.
This year I used satnav for the first time and didn't have a single "discussion" with my better half about her map reading skills and sense of direction. It really cut out a lot of stress when driving. If you can get your hands on one it will be one less thing you will have to cope with in a car full of young children.

Dub13

Good idea...I have been looking for a reason to "justify" getting a good satnav.

Dub13

Can anybody give me a ball park price on the ferry crossing to France in June/July...?The Irish ferry's booking system is down.

babaduck

We're off to Brittany with Brittany Ferries (Cork/Roscoff) in September. My parents, brother, g/f & 2 kids are all going at the end of August.

The parents ALWAYS stay in Point St. Gilles campside in Benodet & they love it. My bro & family are heading to the same place for their last week. They have stayed also stayed in Carnac but prefer Benodet.

I hate campsites (and anyway they close at the start of September) so we're staying in a Pierre et Vacances apartment in Douarnenez - it cost €1100 all in for 2 of us incl. ferry, 12 nights accom & motor insurance.

I'm not a massive Irish Ferries fan, but if you want to go to Normandy, it's the best option ex. Rosslare. I reckon the crossing alone incl. cabin will cost about €800.

Keller, Campotel, Keycamp, Brittany Ferries, Canvas & Irish Ferries all arrange packages, so shop around

parsi

Go Irish Ferries the first time and then travel peoperly with Brittany Ferries.

If you do get a satnav go to www.radarsfixes.com (actual page is http://www.alertegps.com/Download_index.asp?a=ar&s=&m=1&ms=1 ) for downloads of French speed cameras, red-light camera and mobile speed traps.

This past week soem guys at work have found itcheaper (by around 30%) to book through french versions of sites eg www.siblu.fr (siblu are a big campsite company and are sol in Ireland) rather than through the Irish/Uk site.

Hagar

You can save yourself a bundle of cash by travelling at odd times.
Everyone wants to go on/come back on Saturday.
If you can arrange to travel mid-week it's much cheaper.

okidoki987

If you can go when the kids are back at school, the prices nearly half :eek:

Dub13

okidoki987 wrote:

If you can go when the kids are back at school, the prices nearly half :eek:

This may be an option as our oldest will not be starting school on-till September 07.

Hagar

Don't leave it too late, the season over here is clearly defined. If you go too late you will find all the attractions have closed and many of the restaurants etc will be winding down.

Dub13

Hagar wrote:

Don't leave it too late, the season over here is clearly defined. If you go too late you will find all the attractions have closed and many of the restaurants etc will be winding down.

Whats the earliest & latest you would advise...?keeping in mind we are looking at South Brittany.

Hagar

The French themselves holiday for the forst two weeks in August when they go home things start winding down pretty fast. If it were me the third week in August would be as late as I would leave it. In the past I have taken a chance and gone by ferry without bookings for a campsite. I was never disappointed and it always worked out cheaper. If you have young kids you might be loathe to do this. If you had to you could always stay for a night in one of the budget hotel chains (Campanile-best, Formula 1-cheapest, Ibis, Kyriad )for a night while you got something sorted out. Max cost per family room €60 approx. Campanile do great food.

babaduck

Dub13 wrote:

Whats the earliest & latest you would advise...?keeping in mind we are looking at South Brittany.

Well we'll be there on September 16th for 2 weeks so I can tell you how it was when we get back!!!!

skibum

If you want to try out a sat nav system but don't want to pay big bucks for something you probably won't use again until next year, try these guys: http://www.satnavhire.ie/gps_hire.htm

Beta Bill

Folks, we're looking to go to France next year with the family. First time (planning to take car/ferry) - familar with the names Keycamp and Eurocamp but having read other threads it seems to be cheaper to book direct with campsites and ferries etc.

We're looking to sail Rosslare to Rosscoff and want to stay within a reasonable drive of there so south of France is not of interest to us this time around. We've two kids that will be 4 and almost 1 by the time we go. Can anyone recommend a good location and maybe let us know what pitfalls to avoid, equally the good points to look out for!

We hope to travel May/June '07. Any advice appreciated.

mullmick

two hours from Cherbourg there is a very popular campsite near the town of Dol de Bretegne called Camping Chateau des Ormes. It is a large, well run campsite with a golf course, large swimming areas, restaurants and has lots of stuff for kids to do.

Eurocamp, Keycamp, Eurosites and a number of other camping operators operate here. the plots are a pretty good size, and the site is very family orientated, so its not noisey at night time.

The town of Dol de bretagne is nice- St Malo is quite close by. As it is in northern brittany, it will not be too warm. I was there last around the end of June, start of april... a good day at that time, was just like a hotish summer day here- around 25-27 degrees.

I think they have a website if you wanted to check it.

Jocksereire

i spent 5 years in my teens on keycamp holidays in many of the campsites mentioned above. I must say i really enjoyed them!

skibum

Just got back from a booze cruise to Roscoff last weekend. In between shopping we had a quick look at this place : http://www.les-mouettes.com/gb.html

Was impressed with it. It's part of the Yelloh village group, our last 2 holidays have been booked directly with other sites in their group. We are going for three weeks next year and intend to spend the last week at this site. Very near the port of Roscoff and large town of Morlaix. If the weather is good it looks like a nice area.

Get the yelloh brochure, or look at their site :http://www.yellohvillage.com/camping_village/portail/index.php3?langue=en

Any time we rang to make enquiries we always got through to pleasant english speaking staff.

And no I don't work for these people, just a very happy customer

babaduck

Just back from Brittany today (body still rolling afer a very wobbly crossing last night - TBTG for seasickness tabs :eek: ). Weather in Week 1 was lovely - last week wasn't great but rain was mainly confined to the evenings.

Brittany Ferries were absolutely marvellous - the cabin (deluxe) was fab - size of a hotel room with a free minibar & continental brekkie delivered to the cabin both ways (on the o/b sailing it was dropped at 6am... not fun... & 8am this morning). Food on board was excellent - we ate in Le Flora restaurant on the way out - about €70 for dinner for 2. Last night we are in an italian restaurant in Roscoff as we didn't get on the ferry until about 9.30pm & it was a bit late for grub then.

There's very few supermarkets open on a Sunday morning (09.00-12.00) in France - Intermarche in Chateaulin saved us from starvation when we artrived as it was on the road to Douarnenez where we spent the holidays. I can highly recommend Pierre & Vacances there - this is the 2nd time we've stayed in one of their residences and it was great.

Douarnenez, or rather the suburb of Treboul where we stayed, isn't exactly buzzing mid-Sept but we didn't want a Santa Ponsa level of activity anyway. There was a great bar across the road called Le Mercure with a fab restaurant above - no meal was over €70 and I ate curry creme brulee one night... very interesting but I don't think I'll rush to recreate the recipe!!

When the weather was bad, we headed out in the car - Benodet is very very very pretty & seasidey - it's where my parents go every year & I see why they like it so much. Quimper is lovely as is Crozon, Pointe de Raz & loads of other places in South Finistere. The zoo at Pont Scorff near Lorient is well worth a day trip, as is the Oceanopolis in Brest

The Swordsman

Dub13

Have you considered fly drive?

We went twice both times to Dol de Bretagne and on to Disneyland.

The first time we travelled via the UK to France. We spent a night on the way over and on the way back in England in nice hotels and still saved a few hundred Euro than taking the direct sailing from Rosslare. Our kids were a bit older than yours (2, 8 and 14 at the time) so it wasn't too bad, but maybe your kids are a bit young.

Last year we flew to Rennes and hired a car. Probably cost of few hundred more than sailing and bringing our own car, but we were on the campsite around six hours after we had left home, even with the queues at the Airport. (I assume that your username, like mine, refers to where you live so it should be the same for you). So effectively we had two days extra on our holiday.

BTW, if you are going to go with Keycamp or the like, book through the .co.uk websites rather than .ie sites. You can save around 300 euro this way.

okidoki987

Go to Holiday Show in the RDS next January
(normally around end of the month).
A good number of campsites rent their mobiles there and then so you get the same mobiles as the tour operators at the same resort but way way cheaper.
Most have DVD's on showing their sites and everybody speaks very good English.

TIP
If you going to go with Irish Ferries, you get some discount if you are a shareholder. I think it's a 5 or 10% discount (it's a while since I did it, can't remember exact amount)
You don't need to buy a huge amount of shares to get the discount.
Check their website
www.irishferries.com
When you've booked on-line, ring them and tell them you are a shareholder and they will refund the discount or knock it off the bill.

black & white

Beta Bill wrote:

Folks, we're looking to go to France next year with the family. First time (planning to take car/ferry) - familar with the names Keycamp and Eurocamp but having read other threads it seems to be cheaper to book direct with campsites and ferries etc.

We're looking to sail Rosslare to Rosscoff and want to stay within a reasonable drive of there so south of France is not of interest to us this time around. We've two kids that will be 4 and almost 1 by the time we go. Can anyone recommend a good location and maybe let us know what pitfalls to avoid, equally the good points to look out for!

We hope to travel May/June '07. Any advice appreciated.

Try La Grande Metarie (sp ?) in Carnac. It's in the Keycamp brochure. I stayed there a few years ago and it was good then. It's been upgraded substantially since so it's even better. as far as I remember it's about 3 hours from roscoff.

Beta Bill

I'm Dublin based by the way. I've heard that if you drive to Cork and take the ferry from Ringaskiddy you can shave hours of travel on the ferry versus travelling out of Rosslare. Also then you are not dealing witht the Irish ferry operators and their hard pressed (foreign) staff. Anyone done that or reckon this is a false economy in terms of travel time on the ferry?

babaduck

Having sailed with Brittany Ferries for the first time ever this year, I'd drive to Cork again no bother at all. Irish Ferries is atrocious - the cost is the same but the standard of accommodation, facilities & catering on board is worlds apart. It is about 4 hours faster, so what you make up for in crossing, you spend on the drive... but I'd do it again

dingding

You will have a great holiday, just remember the further south you go the better the weather, can be wet in northern france, can be very hot in the spanish border. You could check out weather.com for the likely temp the time of year you are there. You should book from the site direct and look at flying.

Treborjo

To Dub 13 and Ozzie - what did you both decide on in terms of holiday plans for France - I am now in the same boat and have no prior experience to draw on. Would welcome your suggestions.:)

Dub13

Treborjo wrote:

To Dub 13 and Ozzie - what did you both decide on in terms of holiday plans for France - I am now in the same boat and have no prior experience to draw on. Would welcome your suggestions.:)

Due to MrsDub13 going on a massive spending spree and lashing out over 30k on some work to our house we will be holidaying in Ireland again this year,but I am determined we will be heading to France in 08.I also got the good news a few weeks ago that due to the fact that we have 3 kids all 4 or under I have to buy MrsDub13 a new MPV 7 seater car.

I will keep an eye on this thread for tips,so keep them coming.

Hagar

If anyone gets as far south as St.Tropez give me a shout.
We could have a mini Boards Beers.:D

Dub13

Hagar wrote:

If anyone gets a far south as St.Tropez give me a shout.
We could have a mini Boards Beers.:D

You big show off.....:D

Hagar

Le Ha Ha.

Pshan

Would you consider driving thro' England and getting one of the fast ferries to France - better choice of schedules?

As you're likely to have an infant you should try to limit the driving but the further South you go the better the weather.

Have you considered Fly/Drive?

ScouseMouse

I am in the same situation as you. I was looking at going to the general normandy area with my wife and 4 year oldbut the ferry alone was coming in at nearly 400 and if you go in June it goes up to 580. Those prices include a 2 bed cabin with the child in with one of us. However, Irish Ferries does give a free IRL - UK ferry return off peak for later in the year if you travel peak which is July August.

Please post how you get on as I am looking for something similar myself

Cheers