I am wondering if some of you may be able to help as I am a complete newbie to camping abroad.
We dont want to take our own tent due to travelling with the car rammed full and erecting/taking down the tent enroute etc., so are looking at staying in a static or pre erected tents on site somewhere. I have been looking at Eurocamp and Canvas Holidays (simply because thats all I know)
We really fancy Switzerland and are looking at Eurotunnel/ferry and driving with a few stop offs enroute. We are used to long distance driving in this country so 6/7/8 hours driving in one day does not phase us too much.
It looks like Canvas Holidays etc only let you stay a minimum of 3 nights and we were hoping to only do 1 or 2 nights at one or 2 locations enroute there, Maybe 7 to 10 days in Switzerland then another 2 or 3 day stop off on the way home. I also quite fancy seeing some parts of Germany as well either on the way there or home.
I have started researching looking at Eurocamp etc but in reality we are not fussed about having lots of stuff and clubs for the kids (ours our teens)so don't neccessarily want to pay for this on a Eurocamp holiday. We would prefer to make our own entertainment and explore local areas more than spend lots of time onsite.
Can anyone recommend other sites that have statics/lodges/ or pre erected tents that we could use or even better give me some tips on how to find these sites via websites etc.
My Geography of France is appalling so any route suggestions would also be helpful.
Basically - any help or tips would be greatly appreciated as I am keen to get researching but feeling a bit flummoxed by it all right now
------------- I used to be emvid then a Little Lemon but now I am Emvid again!
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Are you talking for this summer........you will find availabitilty very limited now at this point in the year.
There two main tour operators that do Switzerland, these are Eurocamp and Canvas, both expensive compared to the dutch operators that i have used. However, if you are happy to stay in a tent then they both have tents at Manor Farm at Interlaken which comes recommended. I have used rentatent.nl and roan.nl both are dutch companies. Offer excellent accommodation and have sites in France, Spain Holland, ITaly and Croatia. I don't believe they have sites in Switzerland. Most of these companies don't offer less than 3 nights, but if you book with canvas they usually allow you stop off enroute at their tents along the way.
If you google Manor Farm Interlaken, there is a small company that has statics on there but i cant remember their name, but I doubt they would have availability for school holidays now.
Good luck
Many campsites have their own rental accommodation - lodges, tents, mobile homes, chalets and even yurts and tree-houses. The best thing is to decide on areas you definitely want to say and then use this website to search for sites on the campsite search - where the facilities available are listed. Then you can go directly to the campsite's own website.
However, in school holidays, many sites are reluctant to let accommodation for short stays - they have all the change-overs to do twice or three times as often, and prefer to let for full weeks, often from Saturday to Saturday in really high season. Have you thought about staying over in budget hotels en-route, and having a longer stay in one place, rather than trying to fit in everything? You can use booking.com to find the right combinations of rooms for your family and although it will cost more at least you don't have cleaning to do each time you leave in the morning.
I think many of us used to do ready-erected tents - we certainly did, for years, but we used overnight hotels en-route. This usually gives you the opportunity to eat out (or picnic in, which we did sometimes) and have breakfast provided in the morning, and it lets you get off to an early start towards your main 'holiday'.
I think trying to combine touring with ready-erected accommodation might not be as easy as you hope.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
You could consider municiple campsites - Very popular in France as they offer really good value. Unlike Canvas / Eurotent etc the often let mobile homes and PVC hard sided tents (referred to as bungalows) by the night so they offer a great opportunity to tour your way to and from your main destination.
The below website is not the easiest to navigate but if you select an area on the map and then a campsite icon - it often leads you to the town / marie website and you then have to find the link to the campsite from there but it is well worth the effort.
Thank you. Yes we are planning to get away this year - from 5 or 11 July. We are a bit stuffed at the moment because my husband was supposed to be away for the summer and now isnt - which is fab but means we are trying to plan something very last minute.
Hotel stop offs maybe the way to go because yes I am reslising the pre-erected tents for stop offs isnt going to be as easy as I had hoped.
I have found some availability in Switzerland with both Eurocamp and Canvas Holidays bit will check out that website and the dutch companies suggested.
I used to be on UKCS alot in the past but not been on for a very long time and didnt realise they had the French search facility. Mind you we have never properly considered abroad before.
Thanks for your input
------------- I used to be emvid then a Little Lemon but now I am Emvid again!
We had a pre erected tent holiday (paid for with Tesco Clubcard vouchers, so free!) some years ago, and simply stuffed a couple of small tents in with our luggage, and stopped off at small sites for a night here and there on the way there and back.
As you are going to be in a tent anyway, you may as well use your sleeping bags on the way, we also took some cheap lilos to sleep on, making do with no frills for a night was fun, and you can either eat out or buy bread, cheese, meat and fruit so no need for cooking facilities, oh, yes, almost forgot, wine as well
Smaller sites such as the municipal ones or the simpler, more basic sites often don't insist on minimum stays even in high season, and usually have space somewhere, even if it is a non electric pitch.
Hope this helps,
Jane.
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Vacansolei have some good offers in mobiles in switzerland,£200 for a week in August at camping simplonblick,might be worth a look.They also do stopovers for 1 night in mobiles.
If you ask nicely they will reduce there silly booking charge as well.
We have just returned from this type of holiday, we did 1 night Luxemburg, 4 nights Southern Germany, 2 nights Italy, 2 Switzerland and 1 in France on way back, first night was a safari tent, all the rest euro tents.
Just from my personal experience I would never bother taking my tent abroad after doing this holiday, it was so lovely after a long drive just having everything there for us ready erected and we went as two couples and shared a tent and a car so it was one of the cheapest hokidays I have ever had as well as being one of the best.
Can't really comment on the 2 x 1 nighter sites as they were purely stop overs so didn't see much, although we would love to go back to Luxemburg and explore a bit more.
Germany - Gitzenweiler Hof was ok of four nights but it was too busy for us and too cramed in so we wouldn't return even though we enjoyed it,
Lake Maggiore in Italy was idyllic, 3 hrs drive from Germany, individual pitches a lovely quiet little site in a beautiful area
Our favourite was manor farm, interlaken Switzerland, it just ticked all the boxes and the shower blocks were fantastic.
We looked up prices to take our own tent on these sites and it would have been similar to what we paid but how much time putting up and taking down equipment.
We will definitely use eurocamp again, but we did book back in January, I think availability may be a bit scarce now
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: Camping abroad in pre erected tents etc
