Hi there, we are looking to venture to Europe this year for our family camping holiday (2 adults, one 7 yr old and a 1 yr old) and are just starting to sus things out.
All the Euro/ Canvas/ Key camp web sites dont appear to cater for pitch only camping so it makes it difficult to get a realistic price as we will be taking the car with our own equipment.
We would be driving from Scotland via Newcastle/ Amsterdam and would like to be semi organised to make sure the children are catered for, a must for our 7 year old is a swimming pool!
As ususal there is an overwhelming amount of information on the web so any advice or recomendations would be most welcome!
It would be nice to maybe split our 2 weeks in half to see a bit more of the country.
Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!
Lynne
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
As this is your first time try either Select Sites ( now part of euro camp group) or join one of the camping clubs and get their brochures or ook at what they offer on line.
Hi, I'm a wee bit confused about your post. Do you mean you are taking your own tent and camping gear? If so, is there a reason you want to stick to Euro/Canvas/Key Camp type sites? If it is for the facilities and entertainment there are many camp sites abroad that will give you these. Also, which country are you heading for and in which area?
Have a look at Castels, Vacansoleil, select sites (expensive if I'm reading their pricing right) websites and most importantly, the reviews on this website for the area you're thinking of. Also Camping and Caravan Club / Caravan Club continental sites brochures, even if your'e not a member I think I'm right in saying you can browse the brochures online for site ideas and pricing. Booking can work out cheaper through the clubs if you're a member. Most sites with their own websites have the facility to check their prices and book online or email them for more information. Have fun, there's some lovely places to go to.
------------- Kate
Trailer tent, caravan and too many tents!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
If you use Eurocamp etc as a guide, a lot of the campsites featured have their own websites, where you can book direct with the campsite. They will have pitch prices on the website so it will give you an idea of the cost. If you google the campsite name you should be able to get the information you need.
Also the campsite search on here has links to websites, so if you click on to the particular country you are thinking of going to, you can get details of sites there.
or try www.eurocampindependent.co.uk which has the same kids clubs etc as eurocamp if you want that for the kids. Not the cheapest way to do it i know but easy if you want to do ferries etc at the same time.
I've found from experience that if you just 'Google' for (say) 'Camping France' then you do get a lot of the tour operators at the top of the page, all offering their own accommodation, but as said, these campsites will also offer their own website, which then gives you prices for pitches, etc. If you want a particular site offered by Eurocamp then just get the correct site name, and search on Google for that - hopefully you will get a link directly to the campsite's own website. I think lots of first-timers get this result, and it can be very off-putting if you don't know where to go next.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Thanks everyone for your help, think we might go for Holland to start with to cut the driving down,also have a cousin in Denmark so think will get in touch with him for some ideas too!
You might want to take a look at the Camping Cheques website - they offer quite a lot of sites in Holland, and several of the sites accept Camping Cheques during the British school holidays, meaning a pitch for two adults, car and caravan (or tent or other equipment), awning, and electricity will cost just £13.95 per night - then the supplement for the children paid on top, directly to the site. This may save a considerable amount on the 'normal' site tarrif for the site. See www.campingcheque.co.uk for details. You can look at the country, then select individual sites, for an information page about each one, then on that page there will be a link to the campsite website (where you can check tariffs and see how much you might be saving if you paid with a Camping Cheque).
Get the names of the sites from Eurocamp and google for the site's own website. Alternatively browse the site reviews on here.
I've not camped in Holland but I did live there for a while. Two big highly rated sites are the Beekse Bergen and Duinrell. If you're looking for something more laid back and a bit special you could head for one of the Dutch Islands (e.g. Ameland) where there are sandy beaches for proper bucket and spade holidays. There's a lot of Nature/ wildlife, but not too much else.
have just booked a week at Koningshof and am still looking for a site for the second week (although we have narrowed this down to a few)
Thanks for all your advice, after lots of consideration we settled on Holland for our first trip abroad. Its a relativley short drive to Newcastle for us, our kids will love the overnight cruise and everything seems to be within easy reach of Amsterdam.
We did consider France but didnt want to spend all our time (and money) driving! OK the ferry is more expensive from Newcastle but in ballance the cost of the holiday will still be much cheaper and we wont spend two days of our time just trying to get to a site.
All we need to do now is keep our fingers crossed for some sunshine, but being from the west of Scotland any day without rain is a bonus!
Well done, Koningshof is a lovely site, we've been there three times now (at Easter and Whitsun). The portions from the takeaway are HUGE, the staff are lovely and make sure you take the kids to the beach at Katwijk. If you get a gloomy day get the staff to give you directions to Bubbel Jungle, it's a HUGE indoor soft play centre in Leiden, about 15 minutes from the site.