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

jay0109

Hi Olivia

I first went to France on the ferry when we had 3 kids (now 4) and they were aged 5,3 and 1. We stayed in Sol A Gogo in StJdM which I think ticks a lot of your boxes....small, on a great beach, nice but small pool area (indoor and out), playground, small cafe on site doing pizza/chips and a good sized bar with entertainment at night for the kids. There's a couple of restaurants across the road but not a lot. Though a quick drive brings you to more options.
There's a water park up the road and we haven't been but I would assume it would have height restrictions. SolAGoGo doesn't have many slides and I've seen all ages on them....so it's relaxed there which is a good/bad thing depending on your perspective.
We would have bbq'd most nights. Eaten out every so often and also used the cafe to grab a pizza a few times. We tend not to eat a lot in the heat!
There's no air con that I've seen in the mobiles and we usually go late June for 2 weeks. But we've had no problem sleeping as the kids are usually wrecked after a long day. We've had some very hot days there but because your so close to the sea, there's usually a nice breeze in the evening. But most of the time, temps have been like a really good summer here.
We book direct with the site usually as it's better value but one year Eurocamp had a great deal on and we went with them - that got us access to the kids camps though they were very basic. If it wasn't for the fact that the boys in the camp got to play football every day for a while, my eldest 2 wouldn't have gone along after day one.

We've been to other sites but went back to SolaGoGo again pre CV19 as we all liked it so much more. We'll be going back next year again as we have a large credit note in hand since our 2020 cancellation. Our eldest will be nearly 12 then but I still think he'll love it as much as the other years. We may just have to do more day trips to places like the water park to keep the older ones ticking over.

If you've any other questions, just ask!

Olivia Pope

Jay, thanks so much for your reply. Answers alot of my questions. Sol a gogo looks like what we are looking for. I will ring eurocamp and get my specific questions answered, like will we be guaranteed a covered terrace if we request it.

I spoke to a lady working for Siblu yesterday, she said if we asked for a covered terrace we would get it, but you can only book saturday to saturday with siblu.

My inital thoughts are to go for 17 nights in total, as follows:

Cork to Roscoff Ferry, leave on a wednesday, arrive in France the thursday morning. Drive to St. Jean de Mont (or that general area), stopping for lunch and to stretch the legs. We would then have the option of staying in the one campsite for 14 or 15 nights before we go back to Roscoff for the ferry.

I am not sure what people do for the day of the ferry. How many hours before the ferry leaves can you get on it, start queueing etc?

Unfortunately our ferry coming back leaves Roscoff at 10.15 pm. So should we come up to Roscoff the previous day, stay somewhere local or should we leave St. Jean de Mont the morning of the day we are sailing? I fee that if we leave the campsite the day of the ferry, that it will be too much for our children (they will have just turned six).
For anyone who does the drive (campsite to ferry area) the day before the ferry, do you do it in the evening. Thinking we could spend the day before at the campsite and maybe have our dinner around 5pm and head off then to Roscoff or near enough to it. Then we could just spend the day at a local beach/pool.



Hopefully someone can help me with these queries. Thanks again Jay.

First Up

Olivia Pope wrote:

Unfortunately our ferry coming back leaves Roscoff at 10.15 pm. So should we come up to Roscoff the previous day, stay somewhere local or should we leave St. Jean de Mont the morning of the day we are sailing? I fee that if we leave the campsite the day of the ferry, that it will be too much for our children (they will have just turned six). For anyone who does the drive (campsite to ferry area) the day before the ferry, do you do it in the evening. Thinking we could spend the day before at the campsite and maybe have our dinner around 5pm and head off then to Roscoff or near enough to it. Then we could just spend the day at a local beach/pool.

I would do the whole trip the same day. Roscoff is pretty but not a lot to entertain 6 year olds for a full day. With a 10 pm ferry you can leave St Jean after lunch and still have time to take a few breaks on the way. You would have to check out of a hotel near Roscoff by lunchtime anyway.

54and56

Olivia Pope wrote: »

Unfortunately our ferry coming back leaves Roscoff at 10.15 pm. So should we come up to Roscoff the previous day, stay somewhere local or should we leave St. Jean de Mont the morning of the day we are sailing? I fee that if we leave the campsite the day of the ferry, that it will be too much for our children (they will have just turned six).
For anyone who does the drive (campsite to ferry area) the day before the ferry, do you do it in the evening. Thinking we could spend the day before at the campsite and maybe have our dinner around 5pm and head off then to Roscoff or near enough to it. Then we could just spend the day at a local beach/pool.



Hopefully someone can help me with these queries. Thanks again Jay.

You can most likely board from around 7:15pm so if I was in your situation (and was many years ago) I'd do something like the following:-

Day of sailing:-

- Breakfast etc at usual time.
- Send kids to morning activity club.
- Pack up whilst kids are at activity club.
- Quick lunch in the onsite restaurant once the kids club is finished then hit the road around 12:30/13:00.
- 15:00 stop half way (McDonalds are great functional easy to access options) for a coffee / ice cream comfort break. This McDonalds is just North of Rennes.
- 18:00 grab a bite to eat in Roscoff down by the harbour (it's actually a very nice town to stroll around) and/or get some freshly made up baguettes to take onto the ferry.
- 19:30 board and get the kids settled in.

54and56

Interesting article which claims several hundred people have been fined by Gardai at airports and ports for travelling without an essential reason - https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dublin-airport-garda-checkpoints-see-20801081

I wonder how true that claim is as I haven't heard of anyone who has been fined and usually the 6 degrees of separation theory works so well in a small country like this that we'd all know someone who "actually" knows someone who was actually fined by now but I've heard diddly squat bar the above article which unusually for a such a human interest story doesn't contain any quotes from travellers about how unfair it is that despite being fully vaccinated they were fined (up to €2,000!!) for travelling to their holiday home in rural Algarve/Alicante/Charente which they haven't seen in 18 months etc etc etc

FWIW the article lists the following as the "essential" reasons you can travel abroad:-

• To go to college or school if you have to be there in person.
  
• To go with a child or a vulnerable adult to school if they have to be there in person
  
• To work or travel related to your business.
  
• To go to a medical or dental appointment, or to go to an appointment with someone you live with, or a vulnerable person.
  
• To seek essential medical, health or dental services, or to accompany someone you live with, or a vulnerable person who needs essential treatment.
  
• To care for a family member or for other vital family reasons.
  
• To go to a funeral.
  
• To meet a legal obligation - to appear in court, for example.
  
• To give access to a child to the other parent of the child, or to access a child that you have a right of access to.
  
• To leave Ireland if you are not resident in Ireland.

First Up

54and56 wrote:

15:00 stop half way (McDonalds are great functional easy to access options) for a coffee / ice cream comfort break.
just North of Rennes.

As I recall, that McDonalds is on the peripherique around Rennes so very convenient. And it has a good play area to stretch the kids' legs.

54and56

First Up wrote: »

As I recall, that McDonalds is on the peripherique around Rennes so very convenient. And it has a good play area to stretch the kids' legs.

Spot on. USed it several times to take a break and let the kids loose in a safe controlled environment for a few minutes.

freida

54and56 wrote: »

Interesting article which claims several hundred people have been fined by Gardai at airports and ports for travelling without an essential reason - https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dublin-airport-garda-checkpoints-see-20801081

I wonder how true that claim is as I haven't heard of anyone who has been fined and usually the 6 degrees of separation theory works so well in a small country like this that we'd all know someone who "actually" knows someone who was actually fined by now but I've heard diddly squat bar the above article which unusually for a such a human interest story doesn't contain any quotes from travellers about how unfair it is that despite being fully vaccinated they were fined (up to €2,000!!) for travelling to their holiday home in rural Algarve/Alicante/Charente which they haven't seen in 18 months etc etc etc

FWIW the article lists the following as the "essential" reasons you can travel abroad:-

• To go to college or school if you have to be there in person.
  
• To go with a child or a vulnerable adult to school if they have to be there in person
  
• To work or travel related to your business.
  
• To go to a medical or dental appointment, or to go to an appointment with someone you live with, or a vulnerable person.
  
• To seek essential medical, health or dental services, or to accompany someone you live with, or a vulnerable person who needs essential treatment.
  
• To care for a family member or for other vital family reasons.
  
• To go to a funeral.
  
• To meet a legal obligation - to appear in court, for example.
  
• To give access to a child to the other parent of the child, or to access a child that you have a right of access to.
  
• To leave Ireland if you are not resident in Ireland.

According to blut2 on page 84 (on touchsite) of the fly me to the moon thread, only 6 fines were issued between 1st -10th of June. Of 15000 trips thru Dublin airport. He has referenced a page from the guards own figures that I'm unable to paste over here.

ShamoBuc

54and56 wrote: »

Spot on. USed it several times to take a break and let the kids loose in a safe controlled environment for a few minutes.

Reckon we've all been there

McSween

I tried to book france today on irish ferries.

I entered a tesco code giving me 120 off and then attempted to pay the balance with card and it said error with card, both cards. I also tried the app.
Irish ferries said they have said it to IT department.

Has anybody else had this problem? I bet if i tried to book without tesco code it would go through

yiddo59

54and56 wrote: »

You can most likely board from around 7:15pm so if I was in your situation (and was many years ago) I'd do something like the following:-

Day of sailing:-

- Breakfast etc at usual time.
- Send kids to morning activity club.
- Pack up whilst kids are at activity club.
- Quick lunch in the onsite restaurant once the kids club is finished then hit the road around 12:30/13:00.
- 15:00 stop half way (McDonalds are great functional easy to access options) for a coffee / ice cream comfort break. This McDonalds is just North of Rennes.
- 18:00 grab a bite to eat in Roscoff down by the harbour (it's actually a very nice town to stroll around) and/or get some freshly made up baguettes to take onto the ferry.
- 19:30 board and get the kids settled in.

Yeah based on previous experience of staying in Royan area the above sounds very much like what we've done in the past. Dont see any need to or benefit in traveling up the night before,

manshay

yiddo59 wrote: »

Yeah based on previous experience of staying in Royan area the above sounds very much like what we've done in the past. Dont see any need to or benefit in traveling up the night before,

There is an amazing aquarium in Brest, called Oceanopolis, probably the best
one I been to. We stopped there once on one of our returning trips.

St Jean de Monts-Roscoff via Nantes, Rennes 390km
St Jean de Monts-Roscoff via Oceanopolis, 400km (with the advantage of avoiding the periperiques of Nantes and Rennes, which frequently have huge queues)

A word of warning, depending on your travel days, traffic can also be bad and/or slow in the Vendee area south of Nantes. Its full of bloody tourists.:D

Its almost complete dual carriageway from Pontchateau north of Saint Nazaire to just South of Roscoff(via Brest).

On your arrival day you usually cannot access your accommodation until 3pm.

If you 6 yo's are interested there is a submarine museum in Saint Nazaire.

Bakery Demais Patrick, 8 Place de la Libération, 29660 Carantec offers the usual amazing French breakfast pastry's on arrival, just 15 mins or so from Roscoff. There is a beach nearby to stretch the legs or if you don't want crumbs in the car.

westgolf

54and56 wrote: »

You can most likely board from around 7:15pm so if I was in your situation (and was many years ago) I'd do something like the following:-

Day of sailing:-

- Breakfast etc at usual time.
- Send kids to morning activity club.
- Pack up whilst kids are at activity club.
- Quick lunch in the onsite restaurant once the kids club is finished then hit the road around 12:30/13:00.
- 15:00 stop half way (McDonalds are great functional easy to access options) for a coffee / ice cream comfort break. This McDonalds is just North of Rennes.
- 18:00 grab a bite to eat in Roscoff down by the harbour (it's actually a very nice town to stroll around) and/or get some freshly made up baguettes to take onto the ferry.
- 19:30 board and get the kids settled in.

+ 1 for this option. Did similar from Les Gennets in st jean Des mont to roscoff three years ago.

54and56

manshay wrote: »

There is an amazing aquarium in Brest, called Oceanopolis, probably the best
one I been to.

I'm into my fish so that's great to know.

Also a great aquarium in La Rochelle - https://www.aquarium-larochelle.com/en/home/

My only tip re same is to book tickets when you arrive in France or even beforehand (https://aquarium-larochelle.tickeasy.com/fr-FR/accueil) so that on the wet day during your holiday when you want to do something different you won't be stuck in the 2 hour queue for the ticket office but can stroll past and show your pre-booked tickets.

Best aquarium I've been to.

boege

Newonhere wrote: »

I finally bit the bullet and booked the ferry today for 25th August returning on 19th October so the Digital green certificate should be well bedded in by then (hopefully). I don’t normally book campsites (I travel with a caravan and use an ACSI card) but things feel so different right now, I’ve no idea wether the campsites will be quieter than normal or busier than normal because of pent up demand after so long in lockdowns so I’ve also booked my main campsite in Sommieres for a month and my first campsite in the Loire valley for the first 10 nights. Here’s hoping that it all works out, if disaster does strike then I’ve got flexi tickets for the ferry and my campsite bookings are covered by cancellation insurance. I must say that I feel considerably better having things sorted….

I was in Curraghchase campsite on Sunday and I never saw it more full in my 30 years living in the mid west. I holidayed for many years in France via Ferry but when kids got older we flew. I then did a lot of house exchanges with French families. We cancelled two exchanges in the past two year's and in both cases we both decided to holiday at home in our respective countries.

I have already heard anecdotes that campsites in Ireland are busier than normal and that you cannot hire a camper van for love nor money. Curraghchase was the first evidence I saw of this and both the camping area and the camper van bays were full.

My advice is prebook, as I suspect in August camp sites in France will be very busy this year as I suspect, many families in France have written off holidaying outside France this year. Traditionally the holiday season in Europe goes off a cliff at the end of August and the retired market takes off. Covid may change all that but school reopening times have a big bearing on the situation.

Olivia Pope

First up, 54 & 56, Yiddo 59 and Westgolf - thanks for the tips and advice.

54 & 56 thanks for that detailed breakdown of how to spend our last day.

Jay, I got onto eurocamp re sol a gogo. They don't have mobiles on that site that have a covered terrace. it would be a a parasol. We want a covered terrace. So I was very disappointed about that as I had researched sol a gogo and the area a lot yesterday.

Then last night I came across Kelair and it seems they have mobiles with covered terraces in sol a gogo. Has anyone gone with both eurocamp and Kelair? Any difference?

I will ring Kelair this morning and see what the story is with their mobiles on that site.

Someone mentioned booking with airbnb in the site that you want and that it's cheaper and that other than a kids camp you get the same access to the pools, shuttle buses, evening entertainment. Is this true. I am not sure if my two will go to a kids club. I see with Kelair it's for 2.5 hours in the morning, which is ideal (if they go).

TIA

westgolf

Olivia Pope wrote: »

First up, 54 & 56, Yiddo 59 and Westgolf - thanks for the tips and advice.

54 & 56 thanks for that detailed breakdown of how to spend our last day.

Jay, I got onto eurocamp re sol a gogo. They don't have mobiles on that site that have a covered terrace. it would be a a parasol. We want a covered terrace. So I was very disappointed about that as I had researched sol a gogo and the area a lot yesterday.

Then last night I came across Kelair and it seems they have mobiles with covered terraces in sol a gogo. Has anyone gone with both eurocamp and Kelair? Any difference?

I will ring Kelair this morning and see what the story is with their mobiles on that site.

Someone mentioned booking with airbnb in the site that you want and that it's cheaper and that other than a kids camp you get the same access to the pools, shuttle buses, evening entertainment. Is this true. I am not sure if my two will go to a kids club. I see with Kelair it's for 2.5 hours in the morning, which is ideal (if they go).

TIA

We have travelled with Kelair for about four years, almost all units had covered deck/terrace areas. Nicest part of the day is a leisurely breakfast outside with fresh croissants and nice coffee.

monkeybutter

boege wrote: »

I was in Curraghchase campsite on Sunday and I never saw it more full in my 30 years living in the mid west. I holidayed for many years in France via Ferry but when kids got older we flew. I then did a lot of house exchanges with French families. We cancelled two exchanges in the past two year's and in both cases we both decided to holiday at home in our respective countries.

I have already heard anecdotes that campsites in Ireland are busier than normal and that you cannot hire a camper van for love nor money. Curraghchase was the first evidence I saw of this and both the camping area and the camper van bays were full.

My advice is prebook, as I suspect in August camp sites in France will be very busy this year as I suspect, many families in France have written off holidaying outside France this year. Traditionally the holiday season in Europe goes off a cliff at the end of August and the retired market takes off. Covid may change all that but school reopening times have a big bearing on the situation.

i'm sure it is full though for most of the peak summer months, most places are


Was in a campsite myself and half full at the weekend and near empty during the week, maybe a 5th full, all the mobile homes empty, same as any year up till july

Peckham

Just paid our ferry balance for trip in first two weeks of August. Bring it on!

Olivia Pope

Ok I spoke to Kelair, can someone help me with mobile home choice. Westgolf perhaps you can or anyone else who is familiar with their mobile homes (hoping to go to sol a gogo).

We would probably prefer to have a three bedroom, so our choices are the cordelia or the apollo. The only difference appears to be that the apollo is slightly bigger, it has a second shower room and it has aircon. The apollo is an extra €426 for a 12 night stay. I'm not really bothered about any of the extras on their own other than the air con, but collectively they would improve the holiday, while not being essential.

Has anyone stayed in either mobile home or both. Any advice for me. TIA

Baybay

Olivia Pope wrote: »

We would probably prefer to have a three bedroom, so our choices are the cordelia or the apollo. The only difference appears to be that the apollo is slightly bigger, it has a second shower room and it has aircon.

Not familiar with Kelair but in my opinion, a bigger mobile in itself isn’t that useful as most of your time will probably be spent enjoying time on the deck or the beach etc.
Having said that, mobiles can get very hot which can make sleeping difficult. Of course, keeping curtains closed during the day with the judicious use of open windows etc can help but if you’re out all day, a cool mobile might be nice in the evening. Some do find it tempting though to stay indoors while the rest chat, play cards etc on the deck in the evening or worse, IMO, during the day!
For me, I’d find the second shower more useful.

westgolf

Haven't stayed in the Apollo model, did stay in the Cordelia and found it grand. Had a Cordelia with Aircon two years ago on an east coast of France site (not Kelair) but only used it a bit over the twelve days. As others noted, a second shower would be more useful in my opinion

What you have to remember is that the units are built on specific sized frames or chassis. They come in about 6 sizes so sometimes the less cluttered or equipped model is more spacious and comfortable.

manshay

Olivia Pope wrote: »

Then last night I came across Kelair and it seems they have mobiles with covered terraces in sol a gogo. Has anyone gone with both eurocamp and Kelair? Any difference?

TIA

Kelair are an Irish company based in Ballinsaloe, I travelled with my parents to some of their French sites in the late 80's. They usually have an older couple as their main people on site and have often have young teachers as their kids club leaders. They clean the mobiles extremely well (that you had just cleaned!) They have a relatively fixed pricing scheme, its usually good value but rarely cheap.

Eurocamp are a huge international company. Their prices vary from country to country, so I have booked via their German, Polish and UK websites, which are invariably cheaper than the Irish site. Also there show different availability between their different websites. I have saved €1,500 on a holiday by using the german website.
They employ mostly early 20 year olds who are game for a laugh but don't have a great attitude. Their mobiles are not as clean as Kelair. I think they are so busy that mobiles aren't cleaned if the previous occupants have done a good/reasonable job. (I have seen a family move into our recently vacated mobile within 1 hour, no cleaning)

If everything was equal I would go with Kelair, but €€€'s in your pocket can make a huge difference.
If you fluke really hot weather (36C+) in the Vendee you will wish you had air con. I won't travel without it again!

ShatterProof

I don't think i seen in the thread, but has anybody looked into getting the PCR tests done over there? More than likely will be needed on the way back for the non vaccinated kids.

I know at the moment there are walk in centers for French residents.

Peckham

ShatterProof wrote: »

I don't think i seen in the thread, but has anybody looked into getting the PCR tests done over there? More than likely will be needed on the way back for the non vaccinated kids.

I know at the moment there are walk in centers for French residents.

Coincidentally I looked into this earlier today. It seems unclear what provision will be made for tourists. I read elsewhere that prices for non-French citizens would be around €50-€70.

There are a lot of testing locations, and I'm guessing the ones in touristy parts of France will be set up to deal with tourists going home. French health ministry lists all the locations - https://www.sante.fr/cf/centres-depistage-covid.html

54and56

Peckham wrote: »

Coincidentally I looked into this earlier today. It seems unclear what provision will be made for tourists. I read elsewhere that prices for non-French citizens would be around €50-€70.

There are a lot of testing locations, and I'm guessing the ones in touristy parts of France will be set up to deal with tourists going home. French health ministry lists all the locations - https://www.sante.fr/cf/centres-depistage-covid.html

This article suggests tourists will get free PCR tests in order to encourage them to holiday in France.

Peckham

54and56 wrote: »

This article suggests tourists will get free PCR tests in order to encourage them to holiday in France.

Their system seems to be set up in a way that it's all free of charge anyway, so probably hassle to change the system to start taking money from tourists.

Either way, for those only needing one or two family members tested it's not going to break the bank.

We're lucky. Two parents vaccinated and all of our kids are aged under 11. This will mean we won't need testing to go to France, and will only need the 2 older kids tested to come home.

gabbo is coming

Phoned Irish Ferries. Cancelled trip on the 25th June. Have to use 100 euro by end of the year, other 50 within 12 months. Gangsters.

Drumpot

Is everybody putting off their ferry holiday until at least 19th July ?

I presume the €2000 fine is also relevant and done on the ferry to France ?

Was hoping maybe the rules would of changed by now but it looks like if you are just looking to go on holiday they will fine you for the pleasure ?

ellee

Olivia Pope wrote: »

First up, 54 & 56, Yiddo 59 and Westgolf - thanks for the tips and advice.

54 & 56 thanks for that detailed breakdown of how to spend our last day.

Jay, I got onto eurocamp re sol a gogo. They don't have mobiles on that site that have a covered terrace. it would be a a parasol. We want a covered terrace. So I was very disappointed about that as I had researched sol a gogo and the area a lot yesterday.

Then last night I came across Kelair and it seems they have mobiles with covered terraces in sol a gogo. Has anyone gone with both eurocamp and Kelair? Any difference?

I will ring Kelair this morning and see what the story is with their mobiles on that site.

Someone mentioned booking with airbnb in the site that you want and that it's cheaper and that other than a kids camp you get the same access to the pools, shuttle buses, evening entertainment. Is this true. I am not sure if my two will go to a kids club. I see with Kelair it's for 2.5 hours in the morning, which is ideal (if they go).

TIA

I travelled with kelair to Benodet. Campsite was lovely, mobile very average. Exactly as I remembered mobiles from the 80s in fact!



You know you can google these sites and book direct? We mostly do this and the standard of mobile is much higher and much better stocked (not that I plan on making stew on holiday!) They often even tell you the age of the mobile and charge less for older mobiles...