Quote: Originally posted by lyanabint on 25/7/2011
Chateau des Marais in Chambord, almost in the grounds of the Chateau. This is lovely campsite, and ideal for toddlers. It has plenty of shade and is also fairly flat, so ideal for cycling.
I would agree, we stayed there on our first trip to france 4 years ago the ages of our children then were 15, 10, 4 and 18 months all loved it, a beautifully maintained site, lovely pitches and as Lyanbint said excellent for cycling.
The Chateaux de Chambourd (10 mins drive) was stunning and I love the center of Blois(30 or so mins drive).
Hope you have a great time wherever you end up.
------------- Life is short, so live yours to the fullest....
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I've stayed at Chateau des marais & agree a nice site, plenty on the site when i had a young family. I have also stayed at Le Château de la Grenouillèree. I thought the first was better.
Last year however we stayed at the municipal at Bracieux for a few nights. Just turned up, didnt book. Didnt want to pay 50 euro or so a night!
Big site for a municipal. Clean. Free to use the municipal outdoor pool (on site). Far less expensive than somewhere which the tour operators use. And the cycling was wonderful. Fantastic car free routes. The best of course about 5 miles, well marked through forest to Chambord. Have a look at a web site called Loire a velo for cycle routes. If you have never been to the Loire it is THE chateau to go to. The woodland is free to access and the chateau is realatively inexpensive should you fancy a look inside. As you can tell I love it!!!
Quote: Originally posted by joelewes on 26/7/2011 Do NOT go to the site on the island in the Loire opposite Saumer. It cost us €31.50 for one night in a mobile home. The site was grubby, grit got everywhere and some of the toilets were not worthy of a third world slum. Horrible place!
Which site is this? You can't mean Ile d'Offard - my sons were there last year, and thought it was lovely. They're experienced campers, and have stayed on lots of other sites, but recommended this one to me if we went back to the Loire area.
We stayed there a few years ago and met some friends there. We all thought the site could be better and weren't impressed with the toiletblock either. Not impressed with the pitches either, hedges were overgrown etc.
This year we stayed at Gien, and really enjoyed that site, it seemed to have improved since a few years ago. Nice big pitches, views of the Loire, good toiletblocks, short walk into town, cycle routes, and a good fruit/veg shop more or less opposite the site.
Lot's of good ideas offered. Lots of sensible priced ones too.
I realise the problem of moving a tent +equipment, but I'd be bored with a fortnight at any one place on the Loire. I'd want to see other towns, other markets, other gardens, and other vineyards, and two weeks at any one of these nice places would be just too much.
Know what you mean Berriow but sometimes its easier to leave the moving and siteseeing until you are on your own without young children in tow and so two weeks in one place just pottering around the local area is fine
When our sons were younger we tended to stay in one place - because they made friends, we could relax, and we always chose areas where there were plenty of things to do and see.
Now we're older and on our own, we like to move on a bit more - and how often depends on mood, the weather, the things to do around the site, and just the ambiance on the site itself! We've been known to wake up one morning, and just decide 'Today is the day' and quickly packed away (it takes no time at all these days) and moved elsewhere. Sometimes we may move only an hour or so away - sometimes much further. Equally, sometimes, we've stayed for the whole two weeks on one site - when everything just suited us and when we felt totally relaxed.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Thought I'd finally post back to say we ended up staying for two weeks in the municipal campsite at Le Sabot at Azay Le Rideau - probably because I ate my body weight in pastries and was unable to move on anywhere else! ;o) IT WAS FABULOUS!! Thanks so much to all your help - it made the whole going to France for the first time less scary adn we will definitely be doing it again next summer but will travel around a bit more. We did loads of cycling and i couldn't believe how LOVELY french/continental drivers are towards cyclists! Thanks to tesco vouchers for the eurotunnel, it cost about the same as our annual jaunt to Devon but MUCH better weather!
Hi Linda, Azay Le Rideau is lovely, we were sad to leave. Would definitely go again if there weren't so many other places to visit!
Really glad you had a fab time (can you recall some of the tunes from the Chateau son et lumiere? I can still hear the blacksmith tune and the hippophone or whatever it was called)
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Azay le Rideau. We are thinking of going there next year. We usually go to France May/June and never book but next year it will be mid/end of August until mid September and we are concerned how busy Le Sabot will be. Did you reserve or just turn up, how busy was it and what was the cost per night for pitch +2 and EHU.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We thought it was fab. I think you can book on the phone 0247454272 but there is really no need. The site always seemed to have lots of spaces, and if you just turn up all you do is go to the gate house then drive in and find your spot! I was a bit nervous doing this, but no trouble at all. Not sure how much extra it would be for EHU. We were there with 2 of us + 1 child. I've just checked the receipt at it was 12 euros a night. Hope that helps!
Thanks Linda B, sounds just right for us. My husband is a keen fisherman and we try and find somewhere that has fishing on site or nearby. This means we can go exploring during the day then come back late afternoon/early evening and he can relax fishing and I can read a book with a glass of wine,( providing the fishing is good and I get some peace & quiet) Perfect holiday !!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Campsite recommendation in the Loire?!
