If you have been put off a camping holiday in the past because of the cost of equipment, now is the time to put that behind you. The economic downturn has resulted in many bargains: tent manufacturers, eager for new sales, currently have some excellent bargains and you can get just about everything you need at really  low prices. Alternatively, you might just be thinking of upgrading your old equipment. What could be better than arriving at that camp site for your holiday in France with a brand new shiny tent?

So, you have updated your equipment, now you need to decide where you are going. In many ways France is the ideal location for a self catering holiday under canvas. Camping is like a national sport for the French, it seems as if they all do it. As a consequence the campsites tend to be well run places, and the locals are normally very friendly, especially if you make an effort to speak a little French. So don’t forget your phrase book. The facilities in French Holiday campsites are largely of very high quality. Some French campsites, especially those in major locations, offer excellent facilities with great piscines (swimming pools), toilet blocks, barbeques, bars and restaurants, tennis courts and other sporting facilities. On the other hand, if you intend to visit some of the more rural locations that France offers, you might find that the toilet block is, to say the least, a little archaic so if you are a little sensitive to such things you are advised to check them out first.

One of the great things about camping in France is the variety of locations on offer. Although you are camping you can choose just about any sort of holiday you wish. You might prefer a beach holiday and there are many campsites, particularly in the Southwest, that are literally a stone’s throw from excellent beaches with warm seas and golden sands. Alternatively you might be attracted to the historic Loire valley with its extensive chateaux and beautiful scenery. You will even be able to find campsites within the grounds of historic chateaux. Perhaps you might move further South to the rich wineries of Bordeaux, or to the Mediterranean. Again you will find no difficulty in locating excellent campsites.

An interesting alternative is the mountainous regions of the Pyrenees with beautiful landscapes but here you must be careful with your timing. At certain times of the year visibility is limited by low cloud and fog, and the region can be subject to quite stormy weather. On the other hand there is no necessity to travel so far South. There are excellent campsites in the more northern regions such as Normandy, or you might prefer a city. There are excellent campsites in and around Paris, literally within fifteen minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower and with just Disneyland a few miles away. Whatever your preference, France is an ideal country for a camping holiday.

Looking for a large family tent, and one from a UK tent manufacturer to boot?

Well take a look at the Mercury 9 which sleeps up to 9 people.

The Wynnster Mercury 9 is a large family tent that sleeps up to 9 people.

The recommended time to erect the tent is 35 minutes which although may seem like a long time for such a large family tent is not bad.

The tent has three doors and four windows.

Three bedrooms are idea where mum and dad want one room, the boys want their own room and the girls especially demand their own room !

Made from fire retardant polyester with a durable sewn in ground sheet and pole made from superflex fibreglass with a colour coded system that makes the tent easier to erect.

The Mercury 9 is erected by setting the fly sheet first by laying the fly sheet on the ground then inserting the superflex poles using the colour coding system then adding the inner tent.

The Mercury 9 has an optional footprint groundsheet and also an optional tent carpet!

The seams on the tent are fully taped for maximum waterproofing.

The Mercury 9 is 770cm (just over 7.5 meters) long and 540cm (just about 5.5 meters) wide. With a height of 230cm (bit over 7 foot in English) there is plenty of room to stand up.

The tent comes in Dark Green and Mint Green (mixed colour on each tent).

A comparable recommend price for the Mercury 9 is £350 (pounds sterling). Not exactly a "cheap" tent but for its size and quality build certainly a comparable price to other tents of a similar size by other tent manufacturers.

The combined tent and pole wight is just over 27 kg. For those that still stuggle with imagining things in metric this is equivalent to 27 normal size back of sugar. Again not light but managable for the size of tent.

Wynnster Outdoor Leisure is one of the biggest and most established outdoor brands in the UK.

Wynnster pride ourselves on producing quality, functional products that meet the needs in the great outdoors. From humble beginnings in1934, the Wynnster range has now grown extensively to include quality touring and family tents, camping accessories and outdoor clothing.

In 2006 Eurotech Leisure took ownership of the Wynnster brand, and since that time Wynnster has benefited from the expertise of the Eurotech Leisure team, with an increase in the product range and innovations in product design, whilst still retaining Wynnster’s core values of products made to the highest quality at affordable prices.

The Wynnster products are available to buy from selected outdoor retailers throughout the UK. To find your nearest stockist, please click here.

I am writing with a brief update to keep you up to date on our developments.

We are in the second phase of launching our new supplementary dedicated website on

www.CampsitesInScotland.co.uk

This is part of our portfolio of United Kingdom camping websites.

If you are interested in a featured listing on Campsites in Scotland please get in touch as a matter of urgency as the 2008 Season is now underway. This only applies to Scottish campsites.

Premium listings on www.CampsiteDirectory.co.uk will receive a featured listing in Campsites in England FREE but please still get in touch so we can verify the information to go on Campsites in Scotland.

Premium listings Banner Adverts, which we have given free for the 2007 and 2008 Season are doing extremely well and distributed to the new website as well as other sites in our websites portfolio. Most of our "featured sites" banner advertisements have already received in excess of 20,000 views so for £36 plus VAT it is beyond doubt that being a premium listing with us is fantastic value for money.

Sample featured sites banner advert:

If your site is in England, Wales, or Ireland we will be launching dedicated sites on

www.CampsitesInEngland.co.uk

www.CampsitesInWales.co.uk

and

www.CampsitesInIreland.co.uk

These dedicated websites are also now in development as of May 2008 - Get your list listed.

www.CampingNews.co.uk

We also recently launched our dedicated Camping News website at the beginning of May 08 which will become a central location for the distribution of all Camping News. Featured news is automatically distributed to our growing portfolio of Camping Websites but is also available for distribution via RSS Feeds to any website on the worldwide web that subscribes to the Camping News RSS News Feed.

If your campsite is open all year as later this year we will be launching www.WinterCampsites.co.uk which speaks for itself.

If you are a Scottish Campsite interested in a listing on Campsites in Scotland and Campsite Directory or interested in any other advertising on our portfolio of camping websites please call our marketing department on 020 8144 9299. Or register with us via the Campsite Directory registration page - Click Here

Regards,

John Cotter

Director

CampsiteDirectory.co.uk