Family caravan site in France - Good, reliable Wifi
Discussion
I work in IT and can pretty much work from anywhere that I have a laptop and internet connection.
WFH over the pandemic has been great, and one of my colleagues even went on a working holiday trekking in Nepal, doing work in the morning from his hotel, all absolutely fine. My wife also works in a school, so gets six weeks off every summer, but I have to work a lot of that.
As a result my boss has very kindly suggested that next summer I could take a month in France with our caravan, do a couple of weeks 'light working from van' ( a few hours each morning) and a couple of weeks proper holiday.
What I'm after is a nice site somewhere interesting in France, with lots to entertain an 8yo kid (pools, slides, ideally an English-speaking kids club) with really good wifi, so I can get online every day and do a few hours work. Any recommendations?
Failing that, a colleague has a pay monthly mobile EE 4G dongle that he uses in the UK regularly to work from his campervan. Is there a French PAYG equivalent, and if so where should I be looking.
WFH over the pandemic has been great, and one of my colleagues even went on a working holiday trekking in Nepal, doing work in the morning from his hotel, all absolutely fine. My wife also works in a school, so gets six weeks off every summer, but I have to work a lot of that.
As a result my boss has very kindly suggested that next summer I could take a month in France with our caravan, do a couple of weeks 'light working from van' ( a few hours each morning) and a couple of weeks proper holiday.
What I'm after is a nice site somewhere interesting in France, with lots to entertain an 8yo kid (pools, slides, ideally an English-speaking kids club) with really good wifi, so I can get online every day and do a few hours work. Any recommendations?
Failing that, a colleague has a pay monthly mobile EE 4G dongle that he uses in the UK regularly to work from his campervan. Is there a French PAYG equivalent, and if so where should I be looking.
Edited by PurpleTurtle on Monday 12th September 12:41
We had 2.5 weeks in France this August staying in a couple of places that were good but not good enough to recommend to pitchbup for a month! Also in a touring caravan.
I would have really struggled to work with 2 adults and 3 kids in the van just with general distractions.....it was also 35+ degrees for the first ten days or so. If you're van has Aircon then not so much of an issue.
WiFi in both places was patchy at best, you couldn't rely on it for work.
It sounds like it could work...ish and it'd be interesting to see how you got on doing it. I'm also married to a teacher and it'd be nice to get away in the summer for more than a couple of weeks.
I would have really struggled to work with 2 adults and 3 kids in the van just with general distractions.....it was also 35+ degrees for the first ten days or so. If you're van has Aircon then not so much of an issue.
WiFi in both places was patchy at best, you couldn't rely on it for work.
It sounds like it could work...ish and it'd be interesting to see how you got on doing it. I'm also married to a teacher and it'd be nice to get away in the summer for more than a couple of weeks.
I can vouch for this being in a brilliant location for a holiday like this, loads and loads of things to do in and around the town for nippers like yours, brilliant beaches and lots and lots of bars/restaurants of all sorts. Reliably warm weather in the summer without it ever being "too" hot, particularly if you're working. Really lends itself to cycling amongst the pine forests and sand dunes, and the terrain is pretty flat. Endless dedicated cycle paths abound. Most tourists there aren't from the UK either so you really get the feeling of being properly abroad. Massive Super U a couple of Ks away for those bottles of cheap plonk!
https://www.camping-lessirenes.fr/en/
Can't say how good their wifi is, maybe worth enquiring directly if it reaches to their "pitches".
https://www.camping-lessirenes.fr/en/
Can't say how good their wifi is, maybe worth enquiring directly if it reaches to their "pitches".
We've got a French SIM from "Free" I there's a 1 off fee of €20 for the sim in addition to the monthly fee but 210Gb for €20 per month, just cancel after you're done. I bought a domestic plug in 4G router was it has better signal quality both 4G and Wifi for in a house but you may find a MiFi router or old phone would do you. There are signal checkers online to check where your proposed site is.
The French SIM is a good tip.
We stayed here for our second week.
https://www.yellohvillage.co.uk/camping/mane_guern...
The facilities for kids there are really good. 4 pools (one indoor), slides, lazy river etc. Bouncy castles, football pitch etc. But not as near to a beach/coastal area or within walking distance of interesting "stuff" like the place posted above seems to be, hence a reluctant to recommend it for an entire month.
We stayed here for our second week.
https://www.yellohvillage.co.uk/camping/mane_guern...
The facilities for kids there are really good. 4 pools (one indoor), slides, lazy river etc. Bouncy castles, football pitch etc. But not as near to a beach/coastal area or within walking distance of interesting "stuff" like the place posted above seems to be, hence a reluctant to recommend it for an entire month.
In my experience on site Wi-Fi is usually confined to club house restaurant areas not around the site. Not the best places for peace and quiet.
Prixtel have flexible connections monthly contracts etc but need a French bank account.
Some UK networks are not charging for roaming but they all seem to quote for 2022, 2023 may be a different scenario.
Have you thought of renting a property?
Prixtel have flexible connections monthly contracts etc but need a French bank account.
Some UK networks are not charging for roaming but they all seem to quote for 2022, 2023 may be a different scenario.
Have you thought of renting a property?
leyorkie said:
In my experience on site Wi-Fi is usually confined to club house restaurant areas not around the site. Not the best places for peace and quiet.
Prixtel have flexible connections monthly contracts etc but need a French bank account.
Some UK networks are not charging for roaming but they all seem to quote for 2022, 2023 may be a different scenario.
Have you thought of renting a property?
Need to be careful as some don't charge - but do cap roaming..Prixtel have flexible connections monthly contracts etc but need a French bank account.
Some UK networks are not charging for roaming but they all seem to quote for 2022, 2023 may be a different scenario.
Have you thought of renting a property?
https://www.campinglecapeyrou.com/
One of my favourite campsites. I was recommended it from here a few years ago. Right next to the river with hot air balloons taking off each evening in the field next door, dunking the basket in the Dordogne and away on their journey. Camping is almost underneath the château which looks like something that could replace Hogwarts. It’s got a decent pool and playground and lovely walks from the site. I worked from there for a couple of months with no issue using the WiFi.
One of my favourite campsites. I was recommended it from here a few years ago. Right next to the river with hot air balloons taking off each evening in the field next door, dunking the basket in the Dordogne and away on their journey. Camping is almost underneath the château which looks like something that could replace Hogwarts. It’s got a decent pool and playground and lovely walks from the site. I worked from there for a couple of months with no issue using the WiFi.
Can't help with campsites I'm afraid as we rarely use them. However, wifi shouldn't be too much of an issue if you install a decent router and antenna on the van. We're currently on our 32nd day of a trip, mostly off grid, through France, Andorra (briefly!), Spain, and have just moved into SW France today. I haven't had a connection issue once, and we've been in some pretty remote spots. We use a spare EE card in the router, and it has switched seamlessly at each border (although we had to 'reset' after Andorra, but easy enough). Speeds are good enough for most things. Not superfast, but good enough.
Motorhome Wifi do a decent complete package if you can't be arsed to diy.
Worth a look anyway.
Oh, just to add, we did have a hiccup very early on with a Smarty card. Nothing with the EE one which has been in the router since day 2).
Motorhome Wifi do a decent complete package if you can't be arsed to diy.
Worth a look anyway.
Oh, just to add, we did have a hiccup very early on with a Smarty card. Nothing with the EE one which has been in the router since day 2).
Edited by Steve Kimberley on Sunday 23 October 22:19
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