Our son and daughter-in-law and 3 year old daughter have decided they would like to venture into France for the first time since becoming "grown-ups". Their idea is for them to join us on our way across to France, for us to have a few days together while they acclimatise and then once they have become braver, for us to go off on our travels and for them to head to Disneyland Paris before returning home by themselves. We have already booked the Portsmouth to Caen ferry with our caravan so it needs to be that route, but they will be travelling solo and looking to stay in a mobile-home or similar. Does anyone have recommendations for
1) an overnight stay in/near Ouistreham (the ferry gets in about 9.30pm) in a budget hotel or short mobile-home let
2) a family friendly campsite in Normandy with rentals, pool, good playground/activities for a 3 year old, but not too "full-on" for us old folks who just like a quiet life!
3) the most straightforward route from Disneyland Paris back to Ouistreham for a solo car.
We're going out to France on June 23rd so this is out of the school holidays.
All help gratefully received.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Le Brevedent, extensively reviewed on here, have their own mobiles for hire, and if you let them know about your ferry time they will accomodate your late arrival. We've done it loads of times.
Got to be the site which meets your specs.
AJ
Why does it need to be the Caen ferry? If they're travelling with just the car and only going to Normandy they could easily take the much cheaper Calais ferry and meet you within a few hours.
I really enjoyed staying at L'etang des haizes a few years ago, a lovely site.
Ayjay - are the prices quoted on their website for real??
I had not heard of this campsite before so I had a look at their web site: pitch including electricity-
2 June for 14 days = €102.20 ie €7.30 per night 1 July for 14 days = €180.60 ie €12.90 per night
I find it hard to believe that the cost is less than €13 per night in peak season in what looks like a very nice 4-star site.
Del
Hi Del
You're not the first to fall for that one, we've met folks on site who have had a nasty shock. It is the booking system. You check your dates re type of pitch, make sure the type of pitch is set to what you want ie campsite, or de luxe, or mobil home, and if available, you select/book, but that only takes you to the next page where you input the number of people, and if you want electric then you click calculate, and it will update the price to include people etc. Normally a tent/caravan plus 2 with electric is around € 25 in June and €30 ish in high season.
But, if you are going in June, upto the 30th with ACSI card, it is €16 per night for pitch plus 2 with electric which ain't bad. and that includes May half term.
Take a cross section of reviews, they are all genuine in their own way, even the "bad" ones, you have to decide what sort of person you are. Le B is a bit one on it's own, and on average, I would say 80 % love it, and 20% don't get the message, but I do admit to being somewhat biased. It's ideal for families with young children, and old codgers like me when the kids are back at school.
AJ
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Hi Bofs, I''ll only answer question 1, which is easy.
Arriving with your caravan at Ouistreham at 2130 hours you will, I suggest, go straight into Camping les Pommiers for the night,and the younger generation will go straight into the Ibis hotel.
Arrival at that time causes no raised eyebrows to an Ibis - we've rolled into one of their Bangkok ones at 0100, bleary eyed off a plane.
Quote: Originally posted by kate w on 18/3/2014
Why does it need to be the Caen ferry? If they're travelling with just the car and only going to Normandy they could easily take the much cheaper Calais ferry and meet you within a few hours.
You're quite right, but the issue is that they want to travel with us for reassurance as it's their first time driving to France, and we're already booked on the Caen ferry.
Thanks Berriow - we will indeed be stopping at the Camping des Pommiers, and the Ibis sounds ideal for the younger generation.
Thanks for the correction, Ayjay. Didn't realise everything including the grass was extra. Just recalculated for peak season with 2 people and it comes to €35 per night, so I won't be adding it to my list.
Quote: Originally posted by Delboya on 18/3/2014
Didn't realise everything including the grass was extra.
I'm sure that some campsite owner will cotton onto that before long. Probably not in France as we find the pricing very reasonable, even for big sites and they don't seem to charge extra willy-nilly, but certainly in the UK we find that we seem to pay extra if you breathe too much air, or use the loo more than your allocated number of times!
------------- Amanda
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Ayjay - are the prices quoted on their website for real??
I had not heard of this campsite before so I had a look at their web site: pitch including electricity-
2 June for 14 days = €102.20 ie €7.30 per night 1 July for 14 days = €180.60 ie €12.90 per night
I find it hard to believe that the cost is less than €13 per night in peak season in what looks like a very nice 4-star site.
Del
Hi Del
You're not the first to fall for that one, we've met folks on site who have had a nasty shock. It is the booking system. You check your dates re type of pitch, make sure the type of pitch is set to what you want ie campsite, or de luxe, or mobil home, and if available, you select/book, but that only takes you to the next page where you input the number of people, and if you want electric then you click calculate, and it will update the price to include people etc. Normally a tent/caravan plus 2 with electric is around € 25 in June and €30 ish in high season.
But, if you are going in June, upto the 30th with ACSI card, it is €16 per night for pitch plus 2 with electric which ain't bad. and that includes May half term.
Take a cross section of reviews, they are all genuine in their own way, even the "bad" ones, you have to decide what sort of person you are. Le B is a bit one on it's own, and on average, I would say 80 % love it, and 20% don't get the message, but I do admit to being somewhat biased. It's ideal for families with young children, and old codgers like me when the kids are back at school.
AJ
As Ajay says, you can use an ACSI Card at Le Brevedent between the following dates 01/05 to 30/06 and again from 01/09 - 15/09 and pay just 16 euros per night (£13.40 at today's exchange rate) and that's a pitch, two adults, car and caravan, awning, and electricity.
I don't think French site owners will start charging for every extra - at least not the majority of them as there are just too many campsites - and people would just vote with their feet and go elsewhere as you don't have to book outside peak season. Here in Britain we have two few campsites and that's why you always have to book well in advance, as well as the reason why we have to pay for every little extra - we have little choice!
£13.40 all in for site with pool, bar, restaurant, kids club, and music (albeit a bit French) thrown in, ain't bad. It's a CL price in UK. and that includes half term/bank hols etc.
Even £29 in highseason is on a par with CC or C&CC where there is a pool etc. and for the record, to them as might be interested, with a Carte Privelege from Castels you can clock up loyalty points for each stay, and points equate to Euros. off your next stay at any Castels site.
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: Joined by the family!
