Our Eurocamp Holiday to France Part Two is all about the main campsite we visited in France this year which was
Saint Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne. If you'd like to read Part One it covers our overnight stay at Camping International just outside of Paris.
Our drive down to the Dordogne from Paris was fairly straightforward with the usual type of holiday traffic you find on the roads during the summer months in France. We bought a Sanef Toll Tag prior to going on holiday which saves you having to stop to pay at the toll booths on the Autoroute which saved us a lot of time and effort during the journey.
Saint Avit Loisirs was one campsite we'd been looking to visit for sometime. The kids love swimming pools and slides and boy does Saint Avit Loisirs tick the boxes on that front. Although we'd seen the slides and swimming pools online, nothing could prepare us for the sight that awaited us when we arrived!
As we drew closer to the campsite we eventually left the main road and headed off onto some country roads. As the kids counted down the number of kilometers on the sat nav we finally came to an opening in the trees. Suddenly i heard a shout of delight and i looked out of my window to see what the kids were shouting at. They had caught their first glimpse of the campsite we were due to stay at.
What a wonderful sight, we stopped for a few seconds so the kids could have a quick look at all that they would come to love over the coming week. As you can see from the photograph, the pool complex is fantastic. There's a variety of different slides, a splash area and a number of brilliant swimming pools for all ages.
After a few moments we continued onto the campsite reception where we booked in for our weeks holiday.
Saint Avit Loisirs Campsite
I have to admit that although we've stayed at a massive variety of French campsites over the years, i've never experienced one quite like Saint Avit Loisirs. On booking into reception, we were provided with the usual wrist bands but were also informed about a rather clever way of paying whilst on site.
The campsite offers a type of charge card which allows you to carry a credit type card with you which you can use to pay for items in the shop, the bar, restaurant and for any other activities on site. This was a godsend to us as we never take too much cash with us, but rely on visiting cash machines throughout the holiday. The handy charge card allowed us to put all of our expenses onto it such as our evening drinks, ice creams and shopping to save us making a number of trips.
Each time you use your card, the receipt shows how much youve spent on that transaction along with the total balance. When you leave at the end of the holiday you simply pay off the balance with a credit or debit card!
e found the campsite is extremely well laid out with the main reception, bar, restaurant, shop, play area and swimming pools all located in the same area. The children’s clubs are located towards the edge of the campsite where there is plenty of space for different activities. The accommodation is laid out amongst the trees with pitches nearer the facilities being for tents and caravans and the mobile homes being spread further out around the campsite.
The benefits we found with this is that whilst the children are playing for example in the playground area, parents can relax near the bar and still keep an eye on them whilst they play.
We stayed at Saint Avit Loisirs in a
Eurocamp Esprit, 3 bedroom mobile home which had air conditioning. Now we haven’t ever bothered with air conditioning before but it was well worth it at Saint Avit Loisirs as we had a couple of really warm days.
The
Eurocamp reps were really helpful and always on hand. They were also really good in that after the first day they popped round to see if any of our children fancied attending the childrens clubs. Although we never do, it was nice for them to know our childrens ages prior to attending and it was also nice to see that they came prepared with details of the clubs each of them could have taken part in.
As soon as we’d settled in we went straight to the swimming pool complex. There are no restrictions on swimwear for males in the pool! The pool complex is both good in size and also extremely well laid out. You enter the pool complex through a gate and into a foot bath. On the higher level there is a selection of swimming pools with ample seating and one pool also has a slide.
As soon as you get past these pools you can look down the hill to the rest of the pools. On the hill itself there are three slides and at the bottom there are a variety of deckchairs, a splash park with water jets for younger children and a further large pool.
The slides consist of one very quick bendy slide with a run off to slow you down at the end and the other two can only be used with an inflatable of some sort. Both of the inflatable slides end up in a shallow plunge pool.
We have been lucky enough to go on other holidays previously and have plenty of inflatables which we took with us. If you are planning to go to Saint Avit Loisirs, you can buy either a ring, tyre or inflatable animal in the campsite shop or in the local supermarket. I would however suggest if you have the space and time to look for one, but it before you travel as the ones in the shop can range from €7 upwards whereas in Amazon you can pick a tyre up for just over £2.
The pool is where we spent a lot of our time whilst we were on site however there are other things to do both on site and also nearby.
Whilst at Saint Avit Loisirs we used the mini golf course a couple of times. It’s not a bad little course although some of the holes are virtually impossible and a bit of cheating had to take place by all three of our children!
The lake is also quite pleasant and there are a couple of trampolines and tennis courts as well as a football pitch and lots of open space where our kids played badminton, frisbee and football.
The restaurant at Saint Avit Loisirs provide a whole range of different foods. There’s lots of seating both inside and outside so there’s plenty of it to go around. You’ll also find that the same kitchens do the take away so you’re guaranteed to get the same good quality of food whichever option you choose. We used both the restaurant and takeaway during our stay and the food was great.
The shop is great for all those things you either forget to buy at the local supermarche or that you want to buy fresh each day. One of the best things we found were the croissants, pain au chocolate and the French bread. All were freshly available each day and they never seemed to run out in the mornings which we’ve found happens on other campsites occasionally.
If you like having a drink at the bar during the afternoon or evening, you won’t be disappointed. There’s an inside bar and also an outside bar which is great during the evenings when people are watching the evening entertainment.
If you’re like us and usually head off to the local supermarket to stock up on food and drink for the week then you’ll be please to know that there’s a great Intermarche in Le Bugue which is only around 10-15 minutes away. Whatever you do, please avoid heading there on market day though, as you’ll find traffic is a nightmare and it will take you upwards of an hour to reach your destination!
Places to Visit near Saint Avit Loisirs
Attractions nearby come in all shapes and forms. Le Aquarium Perigord Noir is located in Le Bugue which is just under 10km away. Gouffre de Proumeyssac is a beautiful cave system which is around 14km to the southwest of the campsite and La Roque St Christophe lies just 30km to the west and is a set of caves which were occupied by prehistoric men and later fortified from the Middle Ages right up to the Renaissance.
There’s also the beautiful La Roque Gageac, Chateau de Beynac and
Chateau du Castelnaud located just over 30km to the southwest. Two of the wonderful places we visited during our stay were La Roque de Gageac and Chateau du Castelnaud, both of which we’ll cover in their own articles.
If you’re a family who loved a campsite with a fantastic pool then Saint Avit Loisirs should definitely be one on your list of places to visit! One thing you need to think about is how popular this fantastic campsite is.
Those of you who plan to head off to Saint Avit Loisirs for your holiday will need to book early. Places book up extremely quickly and so our recommendation is to book as soon as possible to guarantee your place.
To book a holiday at Saint Avit Loisirs of to find out more simply click on the button below.
