Like most people , i'm looking to book next year in france again.
We did the river holiday this year, but my boys have decided they prefer a lake and decent swimming pools instead. My wife likes it hot, the Ardeche was great for that.
Had a quick look and have seen a couple of sites that look ok.
I cant find many reviews on these site, has anybody been there. What is there to do in the local areas. My oldest son does a lot or road biking, good routes safe roads.
We like night entertainment onsite/ with in walking distance of site.
I dont mind a 10 hr/600mile journey from calais.
Anybody have any other recomendations for lake based sites.
Thanks
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Sites the last few years
Les Alicourts-Loire
La Rive - Biscarrosse
L'Ardéchois - Southern Ardèche
Camping la Forêt-St Jean Plage
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We had friends staying at the Chalain site last year. We visited them one day and I have to say it wouldn't be for us. The camping area seemed very cramped with units virtually touching each other.
We stayed at La Pergola which is also on the same lake and felt that the camping area was far superior. Toilets were better too. There is evening entertainment on La Pergola but maybe not as much as Lac Du Chalain.
------------- The Chinster.
Some people are just all show. I don’t mind that if the show is worth watching but ….
We stayed at Lac Chalain. Amazing lake, terrible pitches. Absolutely minute - we struggled to get our caravan/awning on, the car was half on the road.
La Pergola on the opposite end of the lake is a much nicer site in my opinion and in a better location.
Not a great deal to do in the area, unless you want to drive a long way each day. Great cycling around the lake & the area in general.
Weather may not be as hot as you like though, we had some warm days and some very thundery/rainy days (August).
Pools at Lac Chalain are BITTERLY cold.
------------- Claire x
Jan 2013 - Skiing, Kühtai, Austria
May - Swiss Farm
Fforest Ffields
Aug - Saumur, France
Oct - Somewhere...
Jan '14 - Skiing, Les Houches
We stayed at La Pergola many years ago. The kids really enjoyed the lake-based activities. The outstanding places to visit in the surrounding area are the Cascades du Herisson (Hedgehog Waterfalls), which have a visitor centre and treasure hunt, and the amazing caves at Baumes les Messieurs. We had hot weather during the day but the nights and early mornings were cool. If you're a cheese fan, the local cheese, Comte, is to die for!
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We stayed at Le Fayolan a few years ago, it was in one of the pre-erected tents so can't tell you much about the pitches.
The lake beach is nice, it had a gritty sand put down on the shore and swimming area, which made it nice for paddling and swimming in. Loads of families were down there with inflatables. I remember the canoe rental being very reasonably priced at the site. They didn't do life jackets for tiny kids, luckily we had our own for the 4 year old.
Pools were good, the kids loved it. The indoor pool was useful for cooler days, my youngest gets cold very quickly.
We didn't really go to the entertainment but it seemed popular enough. It was lively but didn't go on until silly o'clock. There was a bar and restaurant around the entertainment area. They also had a bouncy castle up, that was free to use.
Toilet and wash up block was fine, nothing special but clean and well maintained. It just wasn't ultra modern.
Not huge amounts to do around the local area, it's not overly touristy. We went into the national park which was beautiful, we went to some waterfalls and had a nice walk up, we had some pretty drives. It's a walker and cyclists paradise. It's a lovely area, just not the kind of place you'd pick up 50 leaflets to child friendly attractions near by IYSWIM?
The site is near a town that's nice enough for a potter. There's enough of a choice of supermarkets around the place.
Oh and I remember the staff all being helpful. My kids don't like Kids Clubs but we saw them around and they all looked happy. Sometimes the entertainment staff would come down to the lake beach and get participants for beach volley ball etc. To us it seemed like a lively enough park, without being too in your face.
The outstanding places to visit in the surrounding area are the Cascades du Herisson (Hedgehog Waterfalls), which have a visitor centre and treasure hunt,
We went there...but they hadn't had a lot of rain and there was barely a trickle never mind a cascade! Very disappointing. I must say, out of all the areas we have been to in France (South, Vendee, Brittany, Loire) this is one area we would not return to in the summer months - just not enough to do in the area for our liking. We really fancied the Ardeche this summer but DLP won out this year!
------------- Claire x
Jan 2013 - Skiing, Kühtai, Austria
May - Swiss Farm
Fforest Ffields
Aug - Saumur, France
Oct - Somewhere...
Jan '14 - Skiing, Les Houches
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Why don't you look at the area around Biscarrose Atlantic coast 2 great big lakes with loads of campsites around them big and small. We have stayed at La Rive which has private lake beach, good pools indoor and out lots of entertainment in high season and the area is very good for cyclists you also have the bonus of being about 15mins from the coast for some good surfing beaches, weather is generally good we were there for 3 weeks this summer and although we had a couple of spectacular thunderstorms they were at night and we only had one rainy day the rest of the time the temps were late 20s early 30s and one weekend it got into the 40s. If that site looks too big for you there are plenty of other smaller ones dotted around the lake.
Quote: Originally posted by CaddyClan on 28/9/2011
Quote: Originally posted by iwalani on 28/9/2011
The outstanding places to visit in the surrounding area are the Cascades du Herisson (Hedgehog Waterfalls), which have a visitor centre and treasure hunt,
We went there...but they hadn't had a lot of rain and there was barely a trickle never mind a cascade! Very disappointing. I must say, out of all the areas we have been to in France (South, Vendee, Brittany, Loire) this is one area we would not return to in the summer months - just not enough to do in the area for our liking. We really fancied the Ardeche this summer but DLP won out this year!
I guess this is why it's so difficult to give advice - one man's meat is another man's poison! The Jura is one of the regions high on our list to return to, but maybe our tastes are not very mainstream.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Anybody else been there, or this area. The pitches seem small, used to 100sq meter pitches,
Any other suggestions for this area would be great.
thank you.
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Sites the last few years
Les Alicourts-Loire
La Rive - Biscarrosse
L'Ardéchois - Southern Ardèche
Camping la Forêt-St Jean Plage
We stayed at La Pergola campsite on Lac de Chalain and loved it. The site has direct access to the beach on the lake and the water is lovely and clean. The Chalain site at the other end of the lake did not look as nice. There was entertainment on every night at La Pergola. We enjoyed it so much we went there August 2009 & again in 2010.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Domaine de Chalain or CampingLe Fayolan
