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.

Camping tends to allow more freedom than traditional package holidays, there are none of the typical reps bothering you and it is unlikely someone will try to sell you a day trip to the local glass-blowing factory. A traditional package holiday usually includes the hassle of being persuaded to do things that you wouldn’t normally want to do but there is none of that when it comes to Camping holidays! Of course, campsites are usually set right in the heart of tourist areas and local attractions tend to be close at hand if you do choose to take advantage of them.

Most campsites include a surprising amount of on-site distractions, especially those that are designed to cater for children. Most family sites will have fully equipped areas for children to play and generally a bar for parents to wind down in. Many will have outdoor and/or indoor pools, breaking away from the stereotypical image of pitching up a tent in the middle of nowhere. Larger holiday parks have nightclubs and amusement arcades.

For the fun loving family on a budget, holiday parks can be a great solution. For the more adventurous there is the other end of the scale; sites where there are very basic facilities. These sites tend to be for the more hardened campers, and are focused on providing a base from you can go and explore the local environment. They also offer the perfect opportunity to get away from it all and tend to be quieter with peace and quiet in the evenings. Camping in a large static caravan like those used at a holiday park, will allow all the comforts of home: cooker, heaters and hot showers.

Forget ‘Carry on Camping’; this won’t be a torturous experience! Going for the tougher option will bring challenges and will undoubtedly be cheaper.  Like all travel experiences – there are some amazing campsites, and some horrible ones. Remember to keep moving on and try something new if you don’t like where you are. The joy of camping is that you can generally up and off it you are not happy but with the premium quality of most campsites in Europe, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be disappointed.

Top tips for an enjoyable camping trip:

• Lose the preconceptions – they are almost certainly wrong

 • Space will be at a minimum give the kids one container/bag each for their toys

 • Remember you will be in very close proximity – stay patient and considerate of the people around you

• Don’t rush out and buy all the expensive kit – borrow from friends if possible

 • Ask someone who has done it before – they will have some relevant pointers

Discover 24 hour technical helpline and campsite assist

At Discover, we are committed to helping you make the most of your holiday time.  However, we realise that occasionally things do go wrong.  As modern caravans and motorhomes can be complex, you might be unfamiliar with the exact operation.  Therefore, we’d like to help limit any disruption.

That’s why we have introduced a dedicated 24 hour technical helpline to offer advice and solutions to situations that could arise while away.

We have dedicated technicians from our workshops at the end of a phone to give you help and advice whenever you need it, within the first 12 months of your ownership.

If we are unable to sort out the problem on the phone with you, we will discuss alternatives that may be available, such as repairs at a local repairer, delivery of replacement parts to the site you’re staying at, or arranging an early workshop appointment at your supplying branch. 

To find out more about joining scheme, the annual subscription costs and further information, please call 0845 1200 173.

If you are looking for a store near you take a look at the handy store locator on our website..

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

For more infomration: www.explorer-group.co.uk

The Explorer Group Limited
Explorer House
Delves Lane
Consett
Co Durham
DH8 7PE

You can telephone The Explorer Group on 01207 699 000

Coachman is keen to support local businesses and it is company policy that all building work will be carried out by local contractors.

Jim Hibbs, Managing Director of Coachman explains the reasons behind the project; “We had our most successful year to date in 2007, with sales up 11% on the previous year. We also outsold most of our competitors at the NEC Caravan and Motorhome Show in October, by retailing £6 million in six days. We hope 2008 will be an even better year for us, but for this to happen, we need more space. We are going to dedicate some of the space to new CAD and design offices and we plan to use the rest for storage.”

He continues…

“At Coachman, we are committed to being at the forefront of the caravan market and keeping up to date with consumer trends. To this end, we introduced three brand new models and updated layouts last year, increasing our overall range to 20 different models. We now feel we have the perfect caravan for anyone looking for a high quality product, whatever their requirements and preferences may be. However, having such a large range has made it necessary to have more space to store not only the completed caravans, but the components too.”

Coachman Caravans was established in 1986 and continues to operate as one of the leading caravan manufacturers in the industry. The company employs 144 members of staff. Coachman strives to produce caravans of the highest quality and provides superior after sales service. Their range includes the Amara, Pastiche, VIP and Laser.

For more information visit: www.coachman.co.uk

Or telephone: 01482 839737

Coachman Caravan Company Limited
Amsterdam Road, Sutton Fields Industrial Estate, Hull HU7 0XF