Caravan Holidays in France

Prior to having children I wouldn’t have set foot in a caravan park and to be honest, I couldn’t think of anything worse; spending my holiday with loads of screaming kids and their egg and chip eating parents, I’m such a snob!  One day I will have to tell you more about my new best friend ‘Bev’ from Barnsley who liked to nick Stella glasses, she was a right laugh and lovely woman.

When our daughter was first born we did attempt to carry on travelling as we always had, we even took her to a B and B in a pub when she was 10 days old, with cord still attached, to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, not  one of my better ideas.  What we find, when trying to carry on as we did pre-kids, she really doesn’t enjoy herself and as you know if the kids aren’t having fun neither are the parents.

So this year, when we were offered an opportunity to stay in a Caravan Park in Brittany, France, we decided to give it a go and for the most part it worked out.

We used the caravan park as a base and spent the days exploring the nearby historic villages and stunning beaches.  Brittany is beautiful; we were staying just outside of Pont-Aven.   Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t brilliant, a mix of sun and rain, but we made the most of it.

Our top 5 places to Visit near Pont-Aven (with kids)

Anse de Rospico a lovely sheltered beach, with a picturesque stream flowing into sea. It’s  less than 5 miles away from the campsite, turn right when leaving the site.  It’s a bit difficult to find but worth the effort.

 

Concarneau Medieval Walled Town, it may not look impressive from the outside but once you’re inside you can explore the narrow streets lined with shops and restaurants.  There are also some great views of the harbour.

 

Bénodet is about a 30km drive away.  One of Brittany’s most fashionable Seaside resorts with stunning beaches.  The highlight for us was having Fruit de Mere on the Seafront at a place called Le Transat.  Winkles were a hit!

 

Pont-Aven is an attractive village, full of galleries and shops with some lovely riverside walks.  It’s a great place to spend a rainy day as you can dart in and out of all the shops, including the Chocolate Shop!

 

Trevignon Start with crepes on the promenade followed by a stroll along the sea wall, perfect.  If you carry on past the historic house there are some fabulous rocks to climb on and a chance for some rock pooling.

 

Kid’s Highlight!

However, our daughters favourite bit of the day was coming back to the caravan site. The caravan in itself was a real novelty for her.  Plus, there were several play areas, indoor swimming pool with waterslide and kids clubs.  Most evenings they have children’s entertainment in the form of the Pirate Club, an experience not to be missed, which all the children love and the parents can sit on the Veranda enjoying a drink or two from the Ocean Bar.

If I’m honest, I’m still not convinced Caravan holidays are for us, but this may have to do with the weather and the fact we went outside of school holidays so it was really quiet.  However, our daughter would disagree as she loved it and as you know it’s not about us anymore!

Disclosure:  Our holiday stay and ferry crossing were compliments of Siblu Holidays and Brittany Ferries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: mediocremum

A slightly older mum of one, who drinks far too much red wine and has an unhealthy obsession with her slow cooker. During the day she's an ICT Trainer, Social Media/Online Marketing consultant and does a bit of public speaking. Full Profile on Google+

4 thoughts on “Caravan Holidays in France”

  1. With four kids in the family when I was growing up, caravan parks were all we could afford. Now that I have four kids of my own I think it’s going to be tents all the way!

    1. I was recently speaking to a mum of four and she said exactly the same thing. However, I absolutely adore camping and spent most of my school holidays, when I was a kid, doing just that!

  2. Our baby is only 16 months old so we haven’t attempted a caravan holiday yet but we have taken her to Brittany and she loved it! The beaches are magical and Pont Aven is beautiful. This time we flew to Brittany to save time but having travelled previously by ourselves on Brittany Ferries we think our daughter will really enjoy it when we next holiday there.

  3. We visited Brittany three years running and spent a lot of time in Benodet, Concarneau, Pont Aven and Quimper – it is such a lovely part of France. We went with our two children we stayed in gites, however the caravan sites in Benodet and Fouesnant looked really good. A couple of years ago we thought we’d try a caravan holiday in the south of France (because of the better weather). I spent most of my childhood holidays on caravan parks in the Bournemouth area so I sort of knew what to expect. We have had three fabulous holidays at camping Mar Estang which is near Perpignan. Five pools on site, entertainment, on site shop and bakery (fresh croissants every day, mmmmm) and the fantastic beach across the road. We went at the end of August so it was fairly busy around the pools but it never got crowded on the beach. The children had a whale of a time.

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