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

The Stena Vision is finally online for booking AND for those with pets, they also have pet cabins where you can keep them rather than in kennels like on other ships.

Theres also family "4 berth" cabins with a double and 3x singles so for a larger family (with more than 4 people) spot on.

Theres no telly unless you go for the superior cabin @300 Euro + per sailing

Great to have yet another option for France. And I'm from Cork 🤣

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We had a nice week in Yelloh Labenne last year with the tent. But we stayed a full week so we were able to book one of their pitches with a private kitchen and bathroom. If staying less than 7 days its a basic pitch.

Hi there, we have never flown to France but this will be our 8th year going by Ferry, 2 adults and 3 kids.

We also haven't stayed near Nice so this info might not be of much use to you.

From all the campsites we've visited in Brittany & Vendee the best all rounder for activities & entertainment is a Sandaya Campsite near Talmont St Hillaire, it's also close to Puy Did Fou which is an absolutely spectacular reenactment theme park which your kids will love.

My next recommendation would be Yelloh campsite Les Mouettes in Carantec which is only 20 minutes from Roscoff which is ideal for anyone not too keen on driving too much in France, it's a really beautiful site with great facilities, the only thing that let's it down for me is it's location as there aren't many surrounding towns to visit, but we took a break for 2 years and we're returning this summer.

If nearby towns and sights are the most important thing then you won't do any better than Domaine Des Ormes in Dol De Bretange, it's surrounded by spectacular locations like Mont St Michel, St Malo, Dinan, Dinard etc. It's also a huge campsite with loads of different providers and a really jam packed schedule, the only thing that let's Les Ormes down in my opinion is the size of the bar in comparison to the size of the campsite, if there's a band or bingo or a quiz you literally have to be there 2 hours before it starts to get a table.

We normally try a new campsite every year along with two of our favourites, last year's new one was Yelloh l'ocean De Breton, it was a great site with the best pool complex that we've ever experienced, what let it down was the amount of English speakers on the animation team which meant we sat there clueless a few nights evening on the welcome drinks night not one word of English was spoken and this meant the kids weren't included as much in kids camp, it made no sense as between Irish, Dutch and English we greatly outnumbered the french speakers.

The New site the year previous year was Yelloh Port De Plaisance in Benodet, Benodet is a stunning location and you can get the ferry across to Port De Sainte Marine, it's my wife's favourite town as we've stayed in La Point St Gilles on previous occasions, this campsite was also really good as most Yelloh villages are but we noticed that they took live bands and other shows indoors to the bar area which isn't ideal for kids, even though they had a massive outdoor stage and covered seating, it made no sense to me. This might not be an issue with you though as your kids are older so might sit down for a while performance.

And last but not least is Siblus Domaine De Kerlann near Pont Aven, Siblu are a notoriously French campsite and have less independent operators on site but we've been booking a private mobile home with a contact we know for the last few years which brings the price down, the language barrier doesn't exist as they have English entertainers working there every summer, and I would also refer to it as a party campsite with the earliest bar opening times, happy hour, late discos and foam parties, there's stunning beaches nearby and great towns like Quimper, Pont Aven, Nevez etc.

I hope some of this information helps you or someone else reading and I hope you have a great holiday whatever you decide to do.

We did Escale St Gilles last year with a 3 and 7 year old with Sandaya. Pool was great, with all slides into shallow water. Great entertainment every night, mostly orientated towards kids and accommodating English.

Right beside Benodet which has nice restaurants, and Quimper is nearby and lovely too.

La Baume in Frejus is very nice. Big buck nice. Frejus in itself is a lovely area with waterparks and Luna Park local. We go to Nice every year and always stay in Frejus.

Anyone ever been to Bonne Anse Plage? it’s a Siblu campsite in Royan. Our kids are 3 and 8.

We went to La Pin Parsol last year and had a great time but looking for somewhere a little closer to a town and the beach.

Was there last year, it would not be within walking distances of the town or the beach with a 3 year old. The town is about a 20 minute walk on the cycle path and the beach is further in the other direction. The campsite is not on a beach that you would sit on and swimming would be a definite no. If you have bikes it’s easily doable.

The site itself is lovely and the cycle paths are great for running or cycling. The pool and slides are great, the mini golf and games area are a bit run down. Entertainment is done by the siblu team and centres around a stage. The bar and restaurant are right opposite with mostly outdoor sheltered seating. There is a small wall then where the masses sit outside of for the entertainment. Bar not great for TV, no GAA and Wi-Fi not great. Someone did say you could watch GAA in les charmettes close by but again not walkable but an easy cycle.

Once a week when we were there, there was a market in place of entertainment so be prepared to be fleeced by the kids!

Try plugsurfing too - that gives you access to loads of different charging networks. Looks like Miio does the exact same thing but no harm having both apps in case one is cheaper, or one of the apps is offline etc.

What car are you traveling with? Model S uses CCS or Type 2 chargers, which are most common across Europe. Though, if you dont have a Tesla, you wont be able to use the Supercharger network.

Don't let any of this put you off, I can assure you it's not a difficult process. You just need to do 5 minutes planning before you go and I can help if needed. Highly recommend you plan your route with Plugshare app or "A better route planner". They also have really good websites and will suggest where you can stop for your route: https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

We prepared ourself for an 8 hour drive. We stopped for twice roughly an hour each time and then went to a supermarket about 20 mins before. Roads are fine. We drove to bayeau the day before on return as boat from Cherbourg was leaving around 3. Definitely doable though if getting the late boat from roscoff. Get a spare phone and sim and let kids tether off that. Once they had YouTube there wasn’t a sound out of them the whole day.

Yeah it was the return I was concerned about. We’ll be on the Cherbourg boat. Might look for somewhere around the Normandy beaches to stop on way back.

Thanks again for the advice.