Because of some confusion when searching the Internet for camping holidays we have added this page for tent camping holidays to distinguish it from mobile home caravan and static caravan holidays which may appear instead. Make a search on the Net for camping holidays of any flavour and up will come loads and loads of mobile home sites, so camping holidays doesn't mean exactly what it purports to mean, but the term tent camping is unambiguous - you are having a holiday camping in a tent mate, whether you like it or not! Sounds daft I know but there you are.
Tent camping holidays come in two sorts: the first being that you lug your own camping gear all over Europe or wherever, and the second is where you call a company which specialises in providing tent camping, and where they provide all the facilities you require such as cooker, beds, fridge/freezer and utensils. With the second type all you need to do s pack the car, bundle the family in and set off for a glorious couple of weeks peacefully camping where the sun shines.
Camp sites abroad are registered and have to conform to certain very high standards, and in our experience the highest standards are in the Netherlands and France. Toilet/shower blocks are pristine clean and this is quite rightly looked upon as being normal - I could tell some tales about campsites here in the UK many years ago that would make your hair curl but I don't want to put you off and I must say that standards here are far, far better than they used to be when we were younger.
We seriously recommend the West coast of France where the weather is usually superb, the beaches are also excellent and the atmosphere just what you want from a holiday whether you are tent camping or staying in a mobile home. Getting there in one depends where you live in the UK. We are based in the Midlands and catch a Condor ferry from Poole which arrives in St Malo circa 7.30 pm - 7.45pm when you've got off the boat. From there it is a straighforward journey to the vendee coast and you should just make it to your chosen campsite before the barriers are locked for the night at 11pm.
Getting back to the subject of cost for a moment: a couple of years ago in June 2007 we were staying in a mobile home in the Vendee, Western France and we got talking to a family who were tent camping nearby on the same site and who had booked through a major tent camping company here in the UK. Our 2 weeks holiday cost more or less the same as theirs which surprised me no end and annoyed them more than a little because they thought until then that they had got a bargain. Oops, I should have kept my mouth shut, but I thought that the price we paid was fair while at the same time thinking that poor family had been ripped off, especially when you calculate the cost difference between a tent (however nice) and a mobile home.
