Ferry to France with own tent??

gcuan

2 adults and 4 kids (10,7,5,5)

After 14 successful nights in our own tent in the UK last year we're feeling brave and thinking of heading for France this year.

We only started camping 2 years ago but have taken to it well. We like to go to quieter sites near attractions rather than go to big, busy sites with all the bells and whistles.

I hear lots about people camping in cabins, mobile homes etc in France but does anyone bring their own tent and do it that way or would that make any sense?

When we went to the UK we had the first night or two booked and the last night or two and played it by ear in between which we thought was great flexibility. Would that be an option if traveling to France?

Also most people seem to go to Key Camps and the like, would we be mad to think of using our own tent at village type campsites?

Finally, if (A) bringing your own tent and (B) going to smaller campsites isn't lunacy how would you decide where to go? I would be aiming to strategically locate near, sea, waterpark, themepark, castles, markets, river trips, go ape type places anything of interest like that but have no idea where to find them in France.

Any advice and experience would be greatly appreciated. I could see us continuing to go to France for a good few years if it works out but I can also see us not getting organised due to lack of knowledge and heading back to the UK instead which would be fine too.


Many Thanks,
Gcuan

_Brian

The west coast is your first stop, starting up in Brittany where the climate and area is like Cork on a good summer (just less corkonians).
Right down to Bordeaux where its much more Mediterranean.

The Vendee region around Sables D'Olonne is particularly nice..

then you have inland regions like along the Loire Valley, maybe near Tours where Chateau's are everywhere and yet Paris is a mere 1.5 hour drive for a trip to Eurodisney.

PLenty of Irish families go with tents. After ten years of over and back we bough a caravan and brought that last year..

Other than eurodisney look up FutureScope and Puy de Fou which are both wonderful experiences.

We're already booked for year 12 holidaying in France !!

poochiem

Couple of links might be of use. My experience is different as a solo cyclist bikepacking but I found the ACSI app very useful. There are about 4,000 campsites in France and about half of those are municipal sites. For me they could be as low as 3euro, be more for a car and large tent.

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/france/ - that's the ACSI link, I'd recommend the android app from there

The municipal sites are here:http://www.camping-municipal.org/

And here's a travel article about using municipal sites:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/familyholidays/8480383/France-Holiday-highs-in-low-cost-municipal-campsites.html

gcuan

Thanks Brian,

Will certainly look up those places. Is it an option to factor in a couple of days in Eurodisney?
Camp 1.5hr from there and head up, does that work out well? 1.5hr would seem manageable to me especially if its mostly a fairly main road.
We stayed at a small site near Alton towers for 3 nights last year and did 2 days there and a day at the water park. That was right craic. Would be great to work something similar with Eurodisney if that's an option.

What kind of campsites did you pitch up on when you had the tent, were they the big main ones or smaller types?
Would it be safer to book ahead for all the nights do you think rather than leaving it to chance?

First thing - no you are not crazy to take the tent to France. Done it many times, and if you want to stay in more 'natural' campsites you'll need it.

I second the recommendations around the west coast. It's a long way to the Mediterranean, two days of driving at least which creates its own challenges like setting up camp for just one night etc (or using a hotel, the Formule 1 places are cheap). Brittany is lovely and has lots of interest, it is also the most popular summer destination for the French themselves apparently. Carry on to the vendee, the islands ile de re and oleron or all the way down to the spanish border.

Loads of interest inland, you pass the loire valley and then the dordogne and lot, all fantastic places to go camping with lots to see and do. The internet is your friend!

_Brian

gcuan wrote: »

Thanks Brian,

Will certainly look up those places. Is it an option to factor in a couple of days in Eurodisney?
Camp 1.5hr from there and head up, does that work out well? 1.5hr would seem manageable to me especially if its mostly a fairly main road.
We stayed at a small site near Alton towers for 3 nights last year and did 2 days there and a day at the water park. That was right craic. Would be great to work something similar with Eurodisney if that's an option.

What kind of campsites did you pitch up on when you had the tent, were they the big main ones or smaller types?
Would it be safer to book ahead for all the nights do you think rather than leaving it to chance?

Yea, We stayed at a campsite at Tours a few years ago, drove up to Disney - stayed in a hotel, second day in the park and back to the campsite that night.. Nearly all motorway and skirting outside Paris its easy going. Paris itself isn't that bad but a little slow, I drove through it two years ago at 4pm rush hour and when the traffic is slowed down you get a chance to look around.

We didn't have a tent, we stayed in static mobiles up to buying the caravan two years ago and it gives so much more freedom.. But You see plenty of Irish families with their tents in France. We got the caravan to have more weekends away here in Ireland along with the holiday in France, can't believe we didn't get it years ago !!

Regarding waterparks, if you price a day or two at a water park you'll find that going for a 5* campsite where they have excellent water facilities is just as affordable as paying for a cheaper campsite and a waterpark for a few days for a family. That way the kids get to go on the water slides or rings any day or evening after being out and about exploring.

Also if you have place to bring your bikes - do !! France has great cycling facilities suitable for all abilities.

Here are three wonderful campsites, my own personal favorites.

http://www.sequoiaparc.com/en/
http://www.campinglelittoral.com/en/
http://en.camping-la-garangeoire.com/

Our Kids 12 & 6 would rate Puy du Fou and FutureScope right up there with Eurodisney, as would I.

gcuan

poochiem

Never heard of municipal campsites but having read your article I think they're exactly what I was looking for.
Maybe I'm being too romantic (never been accused of that before) but I think we'd see more of France that way.
Thanks for the links.

Orinoco

Thanks for your recommendations. Camping for one night isn't a problem because as well as a big 8 man we have 2 small 4 man 5000hh tents that we use in poor conditions or for an overnight as they're quick to put up and take up very little space. So over a couple of weeks we could travel a fair bit although we might play it a bit safe for the first year!

I also second the municipal campsite option. You will see the 'real' France staying in these campsites and they are often in great locations on the edges of charming towns and villages. In most cases you can just drive up and stay, certainly if you are inland and over before mid-July (UK holidays start later than ours, you should take advantage of that). Also they don't normally have the rigid 'emplacement' that you get in the more touristy sites so you feel you have more space.

My personal taste isn't for theme parks and so on but one word of warning if you drive across to Paris for Eurodisney that IS a little boring and taking you away from where you want to go (assuming you are arriving in Cherbourg).

One other tip for you there's a great book "Wild Swimming France" which, if you are into cool places to swim in rivers, lakes, waterfalls and plunge pools etc will give you a lot of inspiration and ideas for where to go.

Tigerandahalf

Quick question for Brian.
What type of vehicle do you use to pull the caravan. I am thinking you would nearly want a jeep or at least a diesel car?

alias no.9

Did the bring our own tent last summer, spent 2 weeks in St Jean De Monts in the Vender. There's loads of campsites and most have touring pitches available with water and electricity. You should have no problem finding something to meet your needs.

gcuan

_Brian wrote: »

Regarding waterparks, if you price a day or two at a water park you'll find that going for a 5* campsite where they have excellent water facilities is just as affordable as paying for a cheaper campsite and a waterpark for a few days for a family. That way the kids get to go on the water slides or rings any day or evening after being out and about exploring.

Also if you have place to bring your bikes - do !! France has great cycling facilities suitable for all abilities.

Here are three wonderful campsites, my own personal favorites.

sequoiaparc.com/en/
campinglelittoral.com/en/
camping-la-garangeoire.com/


Our Kids 12 & 6 would rate Puy du Fou and FutureScope right up there with Eurodisney, as would I.

Thanks for the tip on the waterparks, plus it would be good to experience a big site for a couple of nights too I'm sure.

We wouldn't manage to bring our bikes but we'd hire them out at times alright.

Thanks for sharing your experience and your favourite campsites. Will check them out and start putting a plan together.

Deleted User wrote: »

I also second the municipal campsite option. You will see the 'real' France staying in these campsites and they are often in great locations on the edges of charming towns and villages. In most cases you can just drive up and stay, certainly if you are inland and over before mid-July (UK holidays start later than ours, you should take advantage of that). Also they don't normally have the rigid 'emplacement' that you get in the more touristy sites so you feel you have more space.

My personal taste isn't for theme parks and so on but one word of warning if you drive across to Paris for Eurodisney that IS a little boring and taking you away from where you want to go (assuming you are arriving in Cherbourg).

One other tip for you there's a great book "Wild Swimming France" which, if you are into cool places to swim in rivers, lakes, waterfalls and plunge pools etc will give you a lot of inspiration and ideas for where to go.

Thanks Orinoco,
Like the sound of that. We'll aim to go in Early June hopefully.
Re theme parks we went reluctantly last year for one day but the lads had such a good time (possibly us as well) we went back a second day so we wouldn't mind taking a day or two out of a couple of weeks. I think for the first year we might go with Brian's other suggestion of Puy du Fou and/or FutureScope and find our feet over there before chancing Paris.

gcuan

gcuan wrote: »

Thanks Orinoco,
Like the sound of that. We'll aim to go in Early June hopefully.
Re theme parks we went reluctantly last year for one day but the lads had such a good time (possibly us as well) we went back a second day so we wouldn't mind taking a day or two out of a couple of weeks. I think for the first year we might go with Brian's other suggestion of Puy du Fou and/or FutureScope and find our feet over there before chancing Paris.

I think FuturoScope is close enough to the west coast so would not be out of your way, I haven't been but sounds like a good idea.

Although I like the smaller campsites one other advantage the bigger ones have is that there's lots to do and explore, so you can let the kids off the leash and relax if that's what you're into.

Oh and if you are into the cycling do look at ile de re and ile d'oleron. great cycling on both of them and ile de re is small enough you can explore the island by bike. also good if you like oysters btw. there's a fantastic atlantic beach on ile d'oleron as well

_Brian

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Quick question for Brian.
What type of vehicle do you use to pull the caravan. I am thinking you would nearly want a jeep or at least a diesel car?

Our 4 berth is a bit on the heavy side compared to some 4 berth's out there, pulling it with a 2.2 diesel X-Trail, although I've had it out with the wife's 1.6D C4 grand Picasso and it managed no problems.
We're looking towards a 2.0L 140BHP Mondeo to replace the C4 and it would be more than capable of pulling the caravan.

gcuan

gcuan wrote: »

Thanks Orinoco,
Like the sound of that. We'll aim to go in Early June hopefully.

Early July I should have said
- make a slight difference...
...of about €600!

gcuan

Hi All,

3 Questions:

1. Should I be panicking about booking the ferry before the end of Jan?

2. I'll be near the RDS on Sunday, is it worth dropping into the holiday world show?

3. Are there any attractions that we should try to get to while in France like FutureScope and Puy de Fou that Brian mentioned - will go to one of those at least.

Thanks,
Gcuan

gcuan

Oops... not much point going to the show this weekend anyway, since it was on last weekend!!

BenEadir

gcuan wrote: »

Hi All,

3 Questions:

1. Should I be panicking about booking the ferry before the end of Jan?

2. I'll be near the RDS on Sunday, is it worth dropping into the holiday world show?

Definitely book ASAP. I booked Rosslare to Cherbourg return going out mid July back end of July with a 4x4 and a 4 berth outside cabin each way for 2 adults and 2 kids for €748 using the ploughing championship 25% discount back in September. That discount was only valid for a week but the Holiday World discount of 15% is currently available, see http://www.stenaline.ie/hwdublin. The pre discount cost of my trip back in Sept was €929, now the same trip pre discount is €1,035. Prices are going up because there is increased demand this year as a result of the "green shoots" in the economy and the fact there is one less ferry serving Ireland France i.e. the LD Lines route (using the Norman Atlantic which recently caught fire between Greece and Italy) won't be repeated this year.

gcuan wrote: »

Hi All,

Are there any attractions that we should try to get to while in France like FutureScope and Puy de Fou that Brian mentioned - will go to one of those at least.

I'm not into big attractions like that (love water parks and roller coasters etc just not Disney type parades etc) but we spent a day in the water park http://www.oceanile.com/ on Ile de Noirmoutier and then a few hours watching the tide reveal the passage de gois before driving across what that morning had been a water covered estuary on our way back to St Jean de Monts. If you get a chance to do it you won't regret it. It's amazing, see http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/09/passage-du-gois-tidal-causeway-in-france.html and http://www.vendee-guide.co.uk/passage-du-gois.htm

gcuan

Wow, that sounds and looks like a great plan. Thanks.

Had no idea about France but thanks to boards advice I've a plan coming together now so will go ahead and book the ferry.

I used to travel frequently to UK by ferry and always preferred stena and would have gone with them to France automatically but for the heads up on here. Will be missing out on my points but sure what good are points if you're miserable!

BenEadir

gcuan wrote: »

Wow, that sounds and looks like a great plan. Thanks.

Had no idea about France but thanks to boards advice I've a plan coming together now so will go ahead and book the ferry.

I used to travel frequently to UK by ferry and always preferred stena and would have gone with them to France automatically but for the heads up on here. Will be missing out on my points but sure what good are points if you're miserable!

Why would you be miserable travelling Stena to France? If your kids are very young then there is no doubt Irish Ferries Oscar Wilde will provide them with a lot more entertainment, soft play areas, games arcade, cinema and space to explore etc but if they are happy reading/watching movies on tablets, playing family card games etc the Stena ferry is absolutely fine and the cabins on the Stena are slightly better IMO.
If there's not much in it price wise and the kids are young then the Oscar Wilde is probably your best bet but if there is a few hundred Euro to be saved then personally I'd go Stena and use the money to treat the entire family to a couple of extra days in a water park or zip lining http://www.exploraparc.com etc

Nekarsulm

Hi gcuan, any campsite we stayed on, the French themselves seem to camp in their millions! It is definitely their most popular holiday method. So you will find yourself in good company.