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

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Ok I am completely new to this.

Just back from Inch and it was perfect but would have loved some actual sun so this is really the option we are thinking about but no idea where to start.

Just wondering where is best place to start looking for accommodation for a new starter? Just to get idea's.

We will be traveling with a 2 kids, they will be 3 & 1 next year.

Potentially some of our other family could travel(2 adults & 4 kids[1, 3, 5, 7])

I know it is vague but where do I start is probably my question:P

what are you interested in? sun? eating out? cycling? seaside? just as an idea to help you start narrowing it down.

how long a drive do you fancy once you get off the boat?

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Well Sun really is a must to be honest. Also would like beach for the kids as they will enjoy it then.

That is main requirements. If we eat in/eat out not a huge concern. I guess most places are self catering with a restaurant onsite if required? maybe I am wrong

We all cycle as well but just for spinning around to get air

The drive is not major, I am not looking to drive 8 hours now but if talking about 5 hours it should be ok....5 hours after getting off boat. But again not sure what is the normal time, so if there is somewhere absolutely brill and it is 8 hours from the ferry I am sure we could push through.....

Cool,

for the last 3 years we've been to a place called St Jean De Monts, and have stayed with a company called siblu. they have 2 parks in the area, just a little outside the main town. Another very popular park with the Irish is 'Le Clarys plage'

In terms of weather, we've had a mixed bag, St Jean de monts (SJDM) is touted as having a microclimate that makes it a bit warmer than other nearby areas, in reality, I've found this to be somewhat of a mixed bag. We usually travel the first 2 weeks of august or the last 2 weeks of July and the record is as follows.

2013 - a melter, 28 to 30 degree heat for two weeks, it was great
2014 - heavy rainshowers a few times a day, a disaster, spent a fortune entertaining the kids - a then 3 year old and 1 year old.
2015 - generally sunny, temps about low 20's it rained on two days.

the drive is about 4.5 hours from the ferry docking in roscoff.

its a big tourist town so there is no shortage of places to eat and the cycle routes there are almost neverending. La Rochelle is about 1.5 hours further south.


For next year, i want guaranteed fine weather, so I'm heading to Camping la sirine near perpignan - its a 12 hour drive so we're breaking it up with an overnight in la rochelle.

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Well Sun really is a must to be honest. Also would like beach for the kids as they will enjoy it then but thinking about it a sand pit would keep them happy as well....my little girl loves the water so a swimming pool would be just as good :-)

That is main requirements. If we eat in/eat out not a huge concern. I guess most places are self catering with a restaurant onsite if required? maybe I am wrong

We all cycle as well but just for spinning around to get air

The drive is not major, I am not looking to drive 8 hours now but if talking about 5 hours it should be ok....5 hours after getting off boat. But again not sure what is the normal time, so if there is somewhere absolutely brill and it is 8 hours from the ferry I am sure we could push through.....

Have to echo SD4E's comments above. If starting again I'd be very happy to use SJDM as our base. It's a very easy location to get to from Roscoff/Cherbourg and there is plenty to do including lot's of cycle lanes and no end of good beaches.

I too have stayed in the Siblu camps there for the last three years (and had the pleasure of bumping into SD4E for a few minutes this year as our holidays overlapped by a few days) and they are a wonderful company to deal with.

With younger kids however there may be a benefit to being able to walk to the beach rather than cycle or have to hop in a car as you would in the Siblu sites in SJDM. There is a site called Sol A Go Go whish is small but right on the beach and gets good reviews. http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g1080873-d1889139-Reviews-Sol_a_Gogo-Saint_Hilaire_de_Riez_Vendee_Pays_de_la_Loire.html It's just outside SKDM but has it's own direct access to the beach and also has a pool etc. It could be ideal for younger kids who wouldn't benefit and might even be a bit intimidated by a busier site with lot's of older kids whizzing around. Eurocamp should be able to help you - http://www.eurocamp.ie/campsites/vendee/vn016-sol-a-gogo/ataglance.html I've never dealt with them myself but lot's of others have had good experiences with them.

My kids are 14 and 10 now but 6 years ago we used to go to another Siblu site further south in La Palmyre called Bonne Anse Plage and the back entrance of the site was right on a dedicated cycle path which ran along the coast. Perfect for getting them out in a safe environment and we could cycle 10km either way to beaches and towns without encountering any cars.

Now they are older we don't need that level of comfort but at the time we valued the peace of mind a lot.

Next year just for a change of scenery and we're heading to La Reserve which will be about a 9 hour journey (including 2 pit stops for food) from Cherbourg http://www.siblu.ie/france/aquitaine/la_reserve.php.

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Perpignan a bit far for first trip but St Jean de Monts looks perfect....

I guess it is ok to post links? Is this the company you booked via: http://www.siblu.com/

yup, thats the one.

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Ok I am completely new to this.

Just back from Inch and it was perfect but would have loved some actual sun so this is really the option we are thinking about but no idea where to start.

Just wondering where is best place to start looking for accommodation for a new starter? Just to get idea's.

We will be traveling with a 2 kids, they will be 3 & 1 next year.

Potentially some of our other family could travel(2 adults & 4 kids[1, 3, 5, 7])

I know it is vague but where do I start is probably my question:P

Hi. We're a fortnight back from Domaine Des Ormes in Brittany. The main reason we chose this place this year was that we had a young baby (4 months) with us as well as a 6 & 9 year old so we wanted to keep the drive short. It was about 2 hours 15 mins which was ideal. We stayed with Eurocamp but you have many options such as booking direct, looking for private owners who rent out as well as Eurocamp, Canvas, Kelair (Campotel), Lifestyle holidays and more so play them off against each other on price. In my experience Lifestyle generally cheaper but no kids clubs. If you want to send the kids to kids clubs Eurocamp and Canvas are superb.
Domaine des Ormes was a super site with lots of activities, Pony/horse riding, climbing walls, treetop adventure, archery, zipwire to name but a few, as well as a great outdoor pool with slides, indoor pool with slides and other outdoor slides and also a wave pool! As your kids are quite young though it may be one for a few years time. Also as it's so close the weather can be iffy, we were there for 9 days in August, the first and last days were bad but every other day was fine (quite cloudy) or roasting but even the cloudy days were warm enough to go in the outdoor pools.
The previous 2 years we went to La Croix Du Vieux Pont, a longer drive of about 5 hours although the second year took us almost 7 as we got hopelessly lost in Rouen! It's quite Northerly but only an hour and a half outside Paris so great for Disneyland, we drove there for 2 days from the site on both of our visits. The site wouldn't have as much as Domaine Des Ormes but great pools and kids clubs. If you need anymore info let me know!

Redgirl82 wrote: »

Thanks, that actually looks perfect. Must get dates sorted in head now

Our little one is only 2 so at the moment she sits on the back of the bike with my husband and our little boy is only 8 weeks so he hasn't gone too far :P

My husbands plan was to get a 2 seater bike trailer for kids so if cycling far would put them into that....might sound madness but he came up with it:D

you can hire those trailers pretty handily in most of the camps, so dont be worried on that front,

with the kids camps, we've found in the past that the ones for kids under 5 insist on you being present while the activities are going on . 5 years and older, you drop them off and collect them after.

La Sirene is an amazing campsite Stone, stayed there when I was younger and loved it, my favourite campsite still to this day!

Hi Redgirl

I'm new to using the Tesco clubcard points too but As far as I know from reading on boards and the advice of others you can use the tesco boost vouchers to pay towards the price of your ferry - you need to phone and tell them you plan to use the tesco vouchers - pay your deposit however you want and they add €20 admin fee each way and then you can send in your boost vouchers as you have them and then pay what ever balance is left before the final payment date ? You can send in the vouchers as you have them or so I've been told ?

I'm saving my clubcard points too hoping to pay for some of the ferry, we also applied for the tesco credit card which gives you points while shopping in other stores to try and get more points.

Still waiting for IF to release 2016 prices so we can use tesco vouchers to book them to go over and then use Stena 25% off from ploughing championships for return journey as I guess we should make best savings this way ??

If I'm incorrect with regards to the boost vouchers please let us know

IF released the new prices & dates on Sept 11 last year so hopefully we won't have to wait long

BailMeOut wrote: »

Are there ever any deals or discounts with BF from Cork to Roscoff?

In 5 years of travelling with them, I've never seen any offers, and the boat is always plenty full so maybe they dont have to?

Only reason we've gone so often with them rather than IF is because Cork's much handier for us for the Irish driving leg. Boat is bigger and better (subjective I guess), but tbh, we tend to get the heads down early so we can be ready to hit the road fresh the next day, so that side of things is a bit irrelevant for us. We generally have a big family feed before we board. Food onboard is a rip, especially for larger families.

For all the talk about the holiday beginning once you get onboard - yeah; nah. That's what they want you to buy into, because that's when you start spending. I'd sooner wait until we've hit France thanks very much.

Each to their own. Some genuinely prefer to kick back and stand down the 24 hour security guard on their wallets as soon as they board. Whatever has you smiling.

BF have an end of season sale on at the moment, not much use if you'v already been.:(

webpal wrote: »

You can get up to 40% off 2016 hols before 3 December with Eurocamp using this code - 16GSIE01

There is another code 16IAM01 mentioned here:
http://www.eurocamp.co.uk/offers-and-news/special-offers/iam-offer

Just a question on Eurocamp & Aircon. On the website it says for example 2 Bed 2 Bath Vista + Deck + AC and gives a price. Then if you click on the accommodation description it says that there may be an additional charge for AC. So does the price shown include the aircon or is the an extra charge at the campsite ?