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Can any of you helpful people recommend where to go camping in Europe this summer.  We're a family of 4, 2 boys aged 2 & 6 and fancy venturing abroad with our tent for the first time.

We live in Newcastle and although I'm happy to drive abroad I really don't want to slog it down to the south coast of England to catch a ferry, much rather go from Newcastle or Hull across to Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Germany or such.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jim.

Hi there Jim,

we felt the same about travelling down to Dover until we saw how much the Ferry companies were asking for Hull departures. And it seemed to me the prices of pitches were a bit dear in the Netherlands.

We are off to France this year, leaving 9 pm on the Sunday night giving us plenty of time to get to Dover for 8.15 sailing. We've just paid £50 return for our car with 2 adults and 2 kids, leaving on Mon 25th July, returning Monday 8th August at 2.15 pm.

Good Luck and Welcome to the site!!

Jackie

The long slog will certainly be repaid by heading south  'Hopping the Ditch'  ........ France will have everything you would wish for a happy camping holiday with children.

Now 45yrs later we still love it.

sunseeker_2

hi there

We also live in Newcastle and didnt fancy the drive down to Dover.  Last year was our first time camping in France, we booked tickets with Easyjet to Paris less than £100 for the 4 of us return and stayed in a Canvas Holidays tent near Disneyland Paris, we paid less than £600 for a week in a Canvas tent including flights and car hire.  Not bad eh!  If you book your flights as soon as they come out you can get them really cheap. 

Doing the same thing this year but flying to Barcelona and staying  just over the French border in Argeles, a bit more expensive but going in July this year.  Worth looking into.  Check out the Canvas holidays website, its really worth a look.

hi there,getting the ferry from newcastle can be be cheap if you book a month ahead or more.dont phone the ferry company direct. several times i have went to book by phone and they have said that the cheapest cabins are not available then later ive found them available the same day on there website,use there website its easy to book online.the travell time to holland is around 16hrs.dutch campsites tend to be more at the top end of the price range for europe and tend to get realy crowded fast in summer.ok the drive to france is long but its only 5-6 hrs from newcastle so at least your moving and not stuck on a ship with the kids for 16 hrs.france is a paradise for campers,usualy the plots for your car and tent are a good size,if you dont like one camp then its very easy to move to one that you feel you like.when you get to a camp,park outside and ALWAYS take five minutes to have a look around to see if its the one for you.if you dont like it then in france the next one will be just down the road!!!.always try to camp where there is some shade(tree) if you go in july or august.prices in france range from very cheap to modest and plots are usualy bordered with some kind of hedge.a good cheap way to get there is to buy a cheap day return through the tunnel for 15pound to france,dont use the return part of your ticket and take the ferry back to blighty for around 70pound,total 80-90 pound!!!.the cheapest tunnel prices are for outbound journeys after 3pm in afternoon.then when you get through the tunnel in late afternoon there are several camps in calais five mins from the terminal plus supermarkets stuffed with everything french and open late.

We've just booked for the Ferry from Hull to Zeburgge with Tesco vouchers - and yes, we do spend a  lot at Tesco!!!!!

Are you thinking of going July/August?  If so, then sites will be busier - and you may wish to book if you're planning on going during the last two weeks in July, first two in August  Outside these peak weeks you should be OK without booking.  There are some great ferry bargains to be had at present via Dover/Calais or Dover/Dunkerque.  See other postings for information about Norfolkline/Speedferries - you can get a return crossing for about £50.   If you can, have a look at the Camping Cheque website - gives you information about all the Campsites they use - you could pick Northern France as an area and look at the standard of some of the sites, without commiting yourself.  Buy an Allan Rogers guide, or look at their website, for more information and for an independent review of sites, or buy the Michelin French Campsite guide which lists all grades of site including the smaller municipals, providing they meet Michelin criteria.  French sites are great for kids, often with their own little miniclub.  There are sites around Calais - Chateau de Ganspette, or the one at Guines, which might be suitable - near the ferry, but also near to beaches, interesting sites, etc, for a first trip.  They both have pools and plenty going on, but without being over the top.  There are other sites in Picardy and Normandy which might be suitable.  If you want to venture further then the Loire Valley is within a day's drive of the ferry (after a suitable overnight stop).  The site at Gien (Bois de Bardelet) has a fantastic pool complex, an indoor play area for children, and indoor and outdoor pools for children and adults.  Plenty to do and see in the area.  Last year we watched Ospreys catching their lunch in the Loire, from the supermarket carpark at Gien - a fantastic site - you'd have to go to the Highlands of Scotland to see it here. 

We live in West Yorkshire and go to France twice a year - once there you'll want to go back many more times.  We nearly always use the short crossing, for two reasons - 1.  you save a lot of money, and 2. you don't tend to sleep well on a ferry anyway, so you might as well do the time driving.  If you're travelling with young children, then I would tend to go for an early morning start, a late(ish) afternoon ferry, and a site within an hour or two of the port - that way your first night is 'on site' and you wake up refreshed next morning.

Have a great holiday. 

Hi Redman

Just keep collecting them - they can be worth 4 times the face value - so if you have £50.00 worth - you can get £50.00 worth of groceries or £200.00 on one of their deals.  We have used them for hotel weekends and a few years ago, they paid for a ferry trip to Ireland. 

P.S. I have nothing to do with Tesco - just like shopping there!!!