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

Deeman83

Roll call for France? Its hitting 30deg in Vendee already. Time to start thinking about packing, bikes, suncream, boat bags, travel plugs, insect bites and Super Us.

Where is everyone heading this year?

Baybay

Bit further south for us! Already in situ, Montpellier/Beziers direction. Gloriously showery today already, good news for drought stricken Herault with more forecast for the afternoon & through the night. Weather warnings in place for hail, heavy rain & localised flooding. Otherwise, late 20s rising a few days to 30 so far.

loyatemu

Flying to the south this year but for the first time ever not staying in a campsite, I should probably unsubscribe from the thread.

Jack0125

Heading for Pin Parasol for first week of July and then Domaine des Ormes for second week. Looking forward to it.

Seth Brundle

Heading down to a campsite near Sarlat in the Dordogne - should be nice and scorchio there (22° as I type)!

Staying overnight in a hotel in Loches on the way down and Saumur on the way back

BullBauld

Heading to Le Littoral tomorrow 4 weeks. Haven't been before.

Hopefully not too melty!

talla

Heading out from Dublin on Irish Ferries Monday 2 weeks, not too far to travel - Domain Des Ormes.

Drumpot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120693882#Comment_120693882

I will prob be there when you are.

Quite often there is a nice breeze from the coast (you can certainly feel it at the top of the water slide!).

There was one year my car temp said 35oc when I got into it. As I drove towards Talmont St Hilaire, just a bit inland, the temperature went up. It got to 40o by the time I got to the town.

drilbit

We are heading tomorrow for 3 wks. First wk in Ile de Re then to la litterol for 2 wks. We were there last year as well great spot for kids

Munsterbhoy

Heading to Millau Thurs week for 12 days. Staying at Les Rivages with Yelloh. Lots of thunderstorms recently but nice n warm. Flying into Rodez Airport that has 2 gates. Good aul Ryanair..

gaillimh

Ile de Re in a house with private pool for 5 nights. Then a week in Pin Parasol in the Vendee.

My car may be in bother though - some issue with emissions. Will know more tomorrow. Going next week so the timing could not be worse.

BullBauld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120694244#Comment_120694244

I struggled through a few days of 40° last year... tough going.

Any suggestions for around?

Drumpot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120695226#Comment_120695226

Depends on ages of your children and what you like to do.

We spend a lot of time in the campsite , can go days lazing about but usually leave to goto Lidl or super U in Talmont St Hilaire. I like the cake section in super U but there’s also a nice cake shop in the town just down and across from chateau de Talmont.

Ive been up in chatea de Talmont twice and enjoyed it both times. Kind of like a historical castle of old. There’s some events on at different times but we’ve never been there when it’s on.

https://chateaudetalmont.com/en/homepage/

La Copollina resteraunt was nice I think , we only got pizza there (as alternative to pizza in the campsite).

the hippodrome racecourse up the road is also something to consider. I haven’t gone there myself but did drive in one random day and just drove around the arena.

Theres also the aquarium centre that’s within walk of the campsite. They sometimes have pony or donkey rides (can’t remember whcuh ones) just at the front of the entrance.

Then there’s a few different nice walkways or places to jog. There has been some subsidence of land in some parts of the coast , even to the point that a few areas I ran in before were closed off so be careful.

Theres a nice little town closer than Talmont just south, you can walk or cycle a few kms to it or drive in couple of mins. Nice to explore and I think a small cake shop there aswell.

If you keep going south past that town there is eventually a sort of kids place with crazy golf and some big slides and things to do. I checked on Google maps but not sure it’s still there, it was on the right hand side of the road as you were driving towards plage du veillon beach.

Then past that there’s a beach (make sure you have sandles, sand gets warm) but it also has some savage currents in spots so just be careful. There’s a resteraunt at the beach but if can be savage busy. I think it has a lot of flies or wasps or something because we have only gone to that beach a handful of times.

That’s not even going into the main town of La sable d’olonne that’s got plenty of stuff to explore. I like to jog north from the campsite towards this town as it’s a lovely run, some beautiful scenery, particularly off the coast and at a certain point you can see the town in the distance. There’s at least one spot you can go off road into a sort of Forrest that pushes out into the sea.

Theres other stuff I’m sure but we’ve been going here for 6 years I think and it’s got everything we want. Weather is usually just right for me and I enjoy exploring local spots just by wandering a bit. And of course the campsite is usually buzzing , so let’s not forget that!!!

Heroditas

Heading on the ferry to Cherbourg on the 30th and then spending a fortnight in Des Menhirs in Carnac

fits

Going in July. 4 nights huttopia in Loire valley. 7 nights small campsite near Bergerac 3 nights near mont st michel.

bringing ev and first summer holiday abroad for my 6yo twins.

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120695792#Comment_120695792

First time bringing the EV for us as well. Excited but also slightly apprehensive although my Chargemap card arrived today

Baybay

And it was first EV time for us also!

idontknowdoyou

We are heading to Les Brunelles which is near Talmont Saint Hilaire in 2 weeks time. We booked through MS Vacanes. Hoping there will be english speaking families for the kids to make friends as it seems to be mainly a French site.

We stayed pin parasol last year and it was lovely.

I over packed last year so won't be doing that this year, some of the tips on other forums would be recommending you pack the kitchen sink. So this year I plan to leave more room for wine on return.

Our last night we are going to Utah beach and will stay in a guest house there.

talla

EV virgin also.

10-10-20

Any EV drivers - post your experience on charging in France and beyond in this thread!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058291245/who-s-bringing-the-horse-no-ev-to-france

paddylonglegs

Just arrived back from Les Ecureiuls near St Jean de monts in the vendee. Very happy with how it turned out for us and three kids 9,7, and 4.

not a huge site or pool area but it was a lot easier to keep an eye on everyone and the pool area packed a punch even though it was compact. And being close to the beach was great for some walks and beach picnics . The on site restaurant was really decent and well cooked, even though it was the usual pizza, burgers, and salads.

flew into Nantes with aer lingus, and an hour drive we were there. We got 20% off as we had booked through keycamp before October 31st last year, so worth looking out for that. This was our first time in 6 years that we had done something like this so not much to compare to, but talking to other experienced families, it seemed to be a very good location in general.

maybe because it was off season, but it was very difficult to find somewhere to have a coffee at lunch time!

Bez Bing

Heading to Bonne Anse Plage near Palmyre in July.

Anyone been or going this summer? Suggestions on how/where to break up the drive from Cherbourg welcome!

loriexxx

Anyone been to Sandaya Domaine De La Dragonniere near Bezier. First camp holiday really looking forward to it.

gttc16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707617#Comment_120707617

Been and going again. We normally travel via Roscoff where the ferry gets in at 7am, and travel beyond Nantes on the ring road and past the toll before we stop at Station Autoroutière Dyneff - Aire des Brouzils, A83, Les Brouzils, France. It was handy as everyone slept in the car as it was so early and you could push on a bit further.

This year coming into Cherbourg later in the morning planning on stopping here, Shell, Route des Estuaires Aut A821, D137, 44119 Treillières, France, before we get to Nantes. It's about half ways and looks big enough to have a run/kick around in.

Coming back we generally go around Nantes ring again which is the only place ou will generally get stuck and stop here, Station Autoroutière Dyneff - Aire des Brouzils, A83, Les Brouzils, France, again plenty of space up to the right of the petrol station.

Bonne Anse Plage and the area around is lovely.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707617#Comment_120707617

Nantes and visit the https://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120707617#Comment_120707617

The sub tour was very good,

https://www.saint-nazaire-tourisme.uk/attractions-and-tours/attractions/submarine-espadon/

kindalen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120711614#Comment_120711614

What tickets tickets did you buy? Elephant ride looks cool! How long would you say to spend there? Thanks for mentioning it.

suilegorma

Similar, can anyone suggesr a pit stopbetween Cherbourg and Clary's plage. I'd prefer a nice village where we can have a lunch/picnic rather than a service station, though i appreciate they are amazing I'd like a walk around too. Any good suggestions?

The Ging and I

I came over on Irish Ferries to Dublin from Cherbourg. Boat was fine and staff great.

The Premium internet service is a disaster. I paid for 1 hour and it worked for about 20 minutes. Do not buy i

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120712814#Comment_120712814

You can buy access tickets at the entrance, except for the elephant which must be pre-booked. I think they only release tickets 2 weeks in advance.

I spent a good 4 or 5 hours there with my 11 year old, parking in the multistory "Parking Les Machines de Nantes - EFFIA" which was across the road (clearance in the multistory is 2.15m, so it took the car with roof-box and bikes, no issue.) 😆

The highlight was the way that the elephant sprays the kids. Enjoy!