Eurocamp, camping for softies (Eurocamp)

Member Name: awizzbang

Product:	Eurocamp
Date:	09/06/01 (635 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of different sites all across Europe

Disadvantages: Going to the toilet in the middle of the night

Eurocamp has been around for nearly 20 years now and it has transformed the idea of a camping holiday into what you would expect from a hotel holiday.

You can take a Eurocamp holiday in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland or Denmark. You can even do four different countries, one year we camped in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany all in the same holiday.

The holidays tend to be self-drive although we have met people who have flown to their destination and then hired a car. The cost of a basic Dover Calais ferry is included in the price, however if you are willing to pay a small supplement you can use other ferry routes including Eurotunnel.

As well as tents there are usually mobile homes available, however since all our holidays (10+) have been spent in tents I will mainly confine my comments to living under canvas.

The tents are designed to take a maximum of 6 persons although once you get over 4 it starts getting a bit crowded. However there is the possibility of having an extra smaller tent for kids (probably best for 10yrs+) at certain of the sites.

All of the beds have a proper mattress; all you need to provide is a sleeping bag. In addition there is a 4 gas burner and grill together with a fridge for keeping the wine and beer cool.

As well as the above all cooking and eating utensils are provided so in terms of camping equipment you don’t need to take anything, although bits of string, pegs etc are always useful.

The basic holiday is for 14 nights and you can lengthen or shorten this with a corresponding change in the price. You can stay for the whole time on one campsite or if you are like us you can visit 3-4 different ones. If you only stay one night you do have to pay a small supplement.

The sites are many and varied, some are small and in the country others are large and on the coast, the variety is immense, however they are all described in great detail in the b
rochure. Similarly some are best for families with small children others for those with lively teenagers.

The facilities vary between sites but most have a swimming pool, a small shop, hot showers and children’s playgrounds as a minimum. Some are like a small holiday town in itself with restaurants, discos etc. Once again you pays your money you takes your choice.

Every site has a number of couriers on it who in our experience have always been generally helpful, occasionally you come across some useless ones but you can usually get most of the info you want from the camp reception. After each site you have a card to fill in rating the couriers, which you send by freepost, so if you do come across bad service let Eurocamp know.

A vital part for us has been the children’s couriers, they are not available at every site but the brochure tells you which ones have them. They will do activities with the children for two hours every morning and two hours in the afternoon. Again they can be varied but in our experience are usually good and it gives you a bit free time and allows them to meet other children.

Not all the people who go on Eurocamp holidays are English there are likely to be as many Dutch and Germans as English so you do get to meet lots of different types of people.

If you can go outside the mid-July, mid August period then it is a lot cheaper and less crowded, however it is never too bad.

Spend a long time looking at the brochure and decide what type of site you want. If you do decide to visit more than one site then make sure the distance between sites is not too great. And book early!!!. The most popular sites are often fully booked up six months in advance.

One drawback you still have to walk to the toilets in the middle of the night (not true for mobile homes) however it serves you right for drinking so much.

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