Spain/Portugal with a 4 year old - where is a good site

[Cerbera]

Having made the decision to take the van via Plymouth - Santander next summer, where is good to stay? Fancy a site with fully serviced facilities if possible, swimming pool, bar and not a million miles from civilisation and a beach. There will be three of us, SWMBO, myself and (by then) four and a half year old son. All suggestions and any tips gratefully received.

If it's relevent, we have a Bailey Senator TA and Range Rover so a total of 41' nose to stern.

 

[KeithJ]

Hi Cerbera

My advice would be to drive across to the Med coast, south of Tarragona. La Torre del Sol, and Playa Montroig are excellent sites offering all you could wish for - lovely swimming pools, own stretch of beach, bars restaurants, entertainments, very well kept and clean toilets and wash rooms. They are next to each other just a few miles south of Cambrils and there are other, smaller towns close by. Port Aventura is also nearby, and is an excellent theme park. Both sites are in Alan Rogers guide (the reports on Cambrils park are excellent too, but I have not been there).

We have driven across twice from Bilbao - it is over 300 miles but all motorway and can be achieved in a day with an 8.30 start when the P&O ferry gets in (not sure when Santander ferry arrives). ......and the weather is generally better on the med coast, so well worth the effort. We stayed at La Torre del Sol on the way beack from the South using camping cheques this year - superb value, but no good if you are going in the peak season.

Anyway, hope this helps

Regards

Keith

 

[anotherDavid]

I took mine (kids that is) to Las Dunas near Rosas 30 years ago it was fine then and it can only have improved since in terms of facilities. You probably cant go wrong with any of very large sites on the Costa Brava and unless you are travelling in July August there wont be any need to book.

Dave

 

[ValA.]

We've been to Cambrils Park (near Tarragona) several times. It's a really high quality site (one of the highest categories in Spain), with excellent pitches, good shade, lovely pools - including one just for children with squirty elephant fountains and a dragon slide. The toilet blocks are excellent - each has a 'resident' cleaner and the site facilities are superb. There's a restaurant, take-away, bread, pastries and coffee shop, supermarket, beach goods shop, bar, games room, and facilities for many types of sports on site. It's a really lovely site for children - we met my sister and her small children there - and they loved it. Additionally it's near to the beach at Cambrils, and Port Aventura is on the doorstep. If you are going outside July/August (possible with a four year old, I would have thought) then you can use Camping Cheques, and the site will only cost

 

[Cerbera]

Thanks all. Looks like Cambrils then! Didn't know about Camping Cheques either, so looks like I can book the whole thing through their site.

 

[ValA.]

You may find that it's cheaper to book the ferry yourself - or if you're a member of the Caravan Club to book through them. The Caravan Club also supply Camping Cheques (no extra charge - in fact you save the 'admin' fee) and we've found them very competitive on ferry pricing, but not sure if this applies to the longer routes such as Plymouth/Santander. Make sure Cambrils Park take Camping Cheques for the dates you wish to spend there (www.campingcheque.co.uk) - otherwise have a great holiday. I'm sure you'll enjoy the site.

We've always used Dover/Calais and spent our time happily travelling through France, staying at sites taking Camping Cheques or ACSI (http://www.campingcard.com/) or municipal sites along the way, and found some lovely places to stay It saves a fortune over the cost of the Santander crossing and doesn't really take any longer.

 

[Cerbera]

Going Plymouth - Santander for the simple reason we live 40 miles from the port!!

Looks like we will now go in June so can use the Camping cheques and will probably book them through the CC - especially if it saves a bob or two!

 

[ValA.]

Hi again - just checked the Camping Cheque website, and Cambrils Park take CCs only up until the 20th June (this is an earlier cut off date than a lot of French sites, which generally accept them up to the end of June). After this date you'd have to pay the normal site rate of 31 euros for two people, pitch, and one child! (Even more in July and August). There no problem about doing this if you can't go earlier, but I'd try to make sure you're getting maximum benefit from paying the equivalent of 14 euros with a Camping Cheque! Early June will be quite hot enough - we've actually been there twice at Easter, when it was lovely weather! We found the pitches to the right side as you enter the park then to the right just after the 'children's' pool (but not the adjacent rows) to be the best - in terms of access to everything, but not being affected by noise.

Do hope you like it!

 

[Cerbera]

Okay, so finally getting round to doing this. How do I book the site? Do I have to book it via Camping cheques website? On the Cambrills site there is no facility for booking with CC. Obviously I don't just want to turn up in Spain with no booking and a fist full of CC's!

 

[ValA.]

I know it's against British convention, but there should be no need to book - the whole point of the Camping Cheque scheme is that it's designed to fill up empty pitches in 'low season'- and as each site specifies its own dates, you can be sure that they aren't going to include dates when they're likely to be full anyway (otherwise they could let the pitch at the full price).

However, as you're so worried (and it is a long way to go just on 'Trust') I would email the site - to let them know your dates, and that you'll be paying with Camping Cheques, and wait for their reply. The reception staff speak very good English so there should be no problem. Once you've had a reply then you can order your Camping Cheques from the Camping Cheque website.

 

[MissRuby]

Hi Cerbera

We stayed at La Torre del Sol in 2006 we have 2 children they were 7 and 5 they loved it we had a pitch on the beach. Great for little ones. We are going again this year.