Camping du Pylone

Camping du Pylone, Antibes

There’s a bunch of my friends off to Camping du Pylone, Antibes in the South of France, I’m not jealous at all, not at all, well maybe a bit, perhaps a lot – oh OK – I’M JEALOUS!  The weather down in The South of France at the moment is just superb, half way though September and they are nudging the thermometer at round 30C, but unlike the super baking hot summer, it does cool off a little at night so you can get a good nights sleep in your motorhome.

Here’s a couple of reviews from Camping du Pylone:

“What a fantastic campsite! Great people, very friendly with a real community spirit. Clean and well kept. Great pool area. Great bar area with the choice of eating in the restaurant which was excellent or there is a varied takeaway food menu which was very good and great value. There is a pizza hut which serves freshly cooked pizza, the best we had ever tasted! Reasonably priced supermarket and not to forget their own little bakery shop which was just superb! Great location for the bus and train which is cheap and takes you up and down the french riviera. Mary looked after us when we were there and was extremely helpful. We loved it!”

and

“We have stayed at Camp du Pylone five times over the past three years. We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves every time and are quite unable to resist returning.

It is a very friendly, family run site suitable for all ages. Our son (aged 5) absolutely loves it. The main pool is large and well cared for. There is also a very shallow baby pool. You do have to pay to use the pool in July & August, but it is free the rest of the time. Men, please note that French regulations mean that swimming shorts are not allowed in public pools!

Eurocamp this is not, but unlike most Eurocamp sites it is ideally placed to explore the South of France with the bus stop, train station and beach five minutes walk from the camp entrance. You will not need a car to get about which means everyone can take advantage of the cheap but delicious wine! This time we used the bus a lot and it is great as you can travel almost anywhere for 1 Euro!

Jo and Christian, who run the bar and restaurant, are really, really lovely, friendly people. The food in the restaurant is great and very reasonably priced. Also, the pizzas are delicious!! The nightly entertainment is excellent and there is something for everyone. Friday bingo is a particular favourite with large prizes (one of which we won this time!).

Unfortunately, we are unable to return to Camp du Pylone this year, but I do not doubt that we will be back again in 2012!!”

So how does that sound? Not too shabby I hope – this is a pretty full on campsite, so some of you may prefer to go somewhere a bit quieter, and if you do, there are tons about.

Bruges Christmas Market

With winter approaching it is the ideal time to think about perhaps using up the last of your annual leave or getting the last holiday of the year out of your motorhome by visiting some of Europe’s Christmas markets.

Although Germany is famous for its own Christmas markets, much closer to home is the Bruges Christmas Market in Belgium. Bruges is a beautiful medieval town to visit at any time of year and the winter is no exception. Only an hour or so from the French channel port of Dunkirk, Bruges has a beautiful Christmas Market in the main square close to the Belfry clock tower, at 83 metres high; it dominates this beautiful old square.

During November and December, this square hands itself over to dozens of little chalets selling savoury snacks, hot drinks, Christmas decorations and seasonal gifts. The other fun feature of the Markt Christmas market in Bruges is the ice rink open throughout the market.

Only a few minutes’ walk away, in another smaller square called Simon Stevin Plein, lies another Christmas market, not quite so big this time but picturesque and quaint surrounded by little shops.

With its beautiful buildings, warm, cosy bars and restaurants a visit to Bruges is a welcome distraction from the cold winter weather!

So how about getting a quote for motorhome hire visiting the Bruges Christmas Market? Call 0800 612 8719 today, we are waiting for your call.

Motorhome Hire

Motorhome hire is most popular in the summer as you would expect, but there are plenty of reasons why you might like to hire a motorhome in the off peak season too.  One of the main reasons is that the cost of rental is much less in the non peak times, if you want to check how much it will cost either call 0800 612 8719 or get an online motorhome hire quote right here.  Autumn is a popular time for buying vehicles and motorhomes are no exception, so maybe you would like to hire one for a few days and see if the motorhoming lifestyle is for you? Similarly you might like to try a particular model to see if it lives up to your expectations. With over 500 vehicles dotted around the British Isles you can be pretty sure that we have most vehicles covered.

Motorhome hire is available for weekends from Friday morning until Monday afternoon, so maybe you would just like to get away for the weekend or go and see some friends? Remember, motorhome holidays are not just for families, there are plenty of 2 berth campers available too, which are ideal for couples or single people wanting to go exploring.

So why not give motorhoming a try? Now is a good time to get away in the UK or Europe if you fancy your holiday a little more laid back and peaceful, oh and cheaper of course!

Single Parent Holiday Ideas

It seems that the appeal of a motorhome hire holiday is not just for couples and families, but is now popular with single parents.  The fact is that more people are choosing to stay at home for their holidays, and in no demographic is this more evident than with single parents and their children. There are many reasons why this has one of the more popular single parent holiday ideas.

One reason seems to be that motorhome hire is inexpensive compared with most package holiday deals and these savings are the main reason behind the rise in popularity of such a holiday.  A survey  taken by Monarch Airlines revealed that 11 per cent of Brits don’t go on holiday at all.

  Particularly with the consequences of job insecurity, financial fears and worries concerning the future, more and more families this year left their holiday plans to the last minute hoping to get a bargain. It seems that this year people just want to head to the coast in the UK.

The new craze of ‘glamping’ , or luxury camping, can include hiring a motorhome for a week,  which means it has never been easier to enjoy a perfect holiday in the UK. Many of the beaches on Britain’s coastline are equal to anywhere in the world, and can be enjoyed for a mere fraction of the price.

Motorhome hire holidays are suitable for everyone as the main attractions of holidaying in a motorhome cross all ages, genders and backgrounds.  

The key to the appeal and enjoyment of a caravan holiday is the freedom; specifically, the freedom for people to do as they wish and to do so exactly when they would like.

Motorhoming is the perfect base from which to adopt your own holiday pace, the traditional constraints of normal life, such as when to eat, when to sleep and when to go out, all disappear out the motorhome window when on holiday. The appeal of the motorhome holiday is the pure sense of enjoyment and adventure garnered from being in the great outdoors.

So does a motorhome hire holiday appeal as a suggestion for single parent holiday ideas? We hope so, if it does, get in touch.

Motorhoming and bikes

If you are heading off in a motorhome for a few days, whether you have hired it or its your own, always think about taking your bikes with you (if you own any) whenever possible. We hadn’t used our bikes for years until we bought our motorhome and went away on holiday in it, but before our trip we got the bikes out – had them serviced and took them on a short ride before we needed to use them for any distance.  That was it, we realised that motorhoming and bikes really do go together.

Many motorhomes are fitted with cycle racks for a minimum of 2 bikes and can usually be increased to hold 4 bikes with a little extra outlay, so it’s always worth asking about. Cycle racks are not too expensive and was well worth any expense incurred in our case.

So often when you arrive at a campsite after a long drive you simply want to park up, get the heating on at this time of year and have a little rest and a cup of coffee, in my case. Once that’s done we find we quite often want to explore the area or nearest town to the campsite but really don’t want to move the van again, and we don’t necessarily know how far it is to walk. Our answer is bikes, it give us a cheap reliable option to explore the area, visit places without the constraints, if that’s the right word, of taking our motorhome out again and more importantly – it gives us an opportunity for some exercise after that long drive, a chance to cycle along beaches, country lanes, do a little shopping, and dare I say it, have a glass of wine with lunch before returning back to the campsite.

If you don’t own bikes at the moment, some campsites do hire them out, so that may be another opportunity to explore before you travel. If you think motorhoming and bikes sounds like fun, mention this when booking your motorhome hire, we can make sure that the vehicle is fitted with a suitable bike rack.

Benicassim Festival 2012

I know it seems like a long, long way off, but Benicassim Festival 2012 tickets are now on sale.  Benicassim is on the Costa del Azahar in Spain. For me, this is one of my favourite places in Spain. Because it was midway between Valencia and Barcelona airports it never really got the package holiday trade back in the 70s and 80s like Benidorm, Marbella and Torremolinos did.  This means it remains pretty much unspoilt and very beautiful.

The festival is right in the center of Benicassim, so you have loads of nightclubs to go to as well as all the bands at the festival itself. All the action tends to take place at night and going on until 5am.  There aren’t many details at the moment about the line up, but if it is anything like last year it’s going to be a top quality festival that you will never ever forget.

The actual date of the festival is 12th July to the 15th July, but the ticket actually includes camping for 8 days from the 9th July until the 16th July.  So why not hire a motorhome and make a real holiday out of the Benicassim Festival 2012?