Independent Campsite Reviews

We stayed at Bois du Valmarie for two weeks with Eurosites rather than take our own van. The site has a tariff for pitches but to be honest we couldn't see where they would put you. It was full of Mobile Homes from all of the main operators. However they may have pitches we didn't see or may have more free next year.

The 180 pitch site is very nice, immaculately clean and with the most extravagant toilet block I have ever seen - complete with lily pond, koi carp, murals and mosaic columns. The pitches are adequate in size though you need to take care on the winding narrow roads through the site.

Most pitches had one or two "cork oak" trees and all had a degree of shade.

The pool facility is excellent especially for children having three linked pools with water slides and flumes. It is on a high point within the site and has splendid views. Twice weekly it opens late with changing multi coloured pool lighting though they tended to close it 15 minutes earlier than scheduled.

The on-site shop, bakery, bar, restaurant and take away were all excellent and not overpriced. The laundry facility was modern and worked well. The staff were universally friendly and helpful and most spoke more than one language. Other holidaymakers were mainly families with a mix of all European nationalities.

The nearest beach is at Le Racou itself. Its about 400 yards away and has car parking, showers and life guards who seemed vigilant and a Blue Flag. The snorkelling was excellent and there is a launch channel for boats and windsurfers.

Half a mile away is Port Argeles - a new marina complex with restaurants, bars and shops. This offered a weekly free concert at one end of the marina and a free disco at the other. Our family enjoyed both.

If you want a real "resort" atmosphere try Argeles Sur Mer Plage - about 2 miles away and walkable. The resort runs a tourist road-train that links to all of the main sites and facilities.

The site is nearly 800 miles from Calais using the Autoroute (£48.00 in tolls). We split the journey in half stopping overnight at Dijon and at Beaune in Formule1 hotels, £15.00 for a room for three - clean and very good value.

Would we go back? - emphatically yes. Would we take our own caravan? - possibly, but only if we pre-booked and allowed at least 48 hours for each leg of the journey. Adding up the additional transport costs together with the ferry/tunnel charges there may not be a great saving over hiring a locally owned mobile home although the main operators packages are more expensive.

Excellent Campsite. THE best in the area.

We know the area very well and have been to a few sites. Le Bois de Valmarie is relatively expensive and only has its own mobile homes, which can only be booked through the main operators, to whom the mobile homes are allocated (we booked through Canvas Holidays). So, taking your own caravan is out of the question.

Suffice it to say we are returning there this year!

Pictures can be seen at the camping website:

http://www.camping-lasirene.fr/lang/en/valmarie/index.php

This site is ace, peace, calm, tranquillity yes in an excellent position. Right on the beach, gorgeous. I worked on La Sirène, one of the sister sites which you have access to, in 2003, and I also worked on Le Bois du Valmarie on occasions. It’s ace, I love it. Jaap and Corine in the restaurant are fantastic and the site owners whose names have escaped me, are friendly and efficient. I've worked on a lot of campsites and this is one of the best. I'd stay here on holiday. In fact that's a really good idea, perhaps I'll go and book one now. Local singing duo 'Bellyfull' are excellent entertainment, they sing in French and English, as one of them is each nationality, and they're ace. Never had a bad bellyfull night. You must visit Collioure, it’s beautiful. You can walk there or take the train. When you visit La Sirène, take in the excellent entertainment and join in with the 'Syppox' entertainment team. They even have their own song. I'm still singing along to it 3 years later, its catchy!! There's a 3rd sister site, Hippocampe, opposite La Sirène, also stunning, very small and quiet but access to La Sirène and Val Marie. Just do it, go there, you'll love it.

This is our second visit. The first time we went early June, this time the first week of July. It was very busy both times. We have been to quite a few sites in France, and although the facilities are top quality, we do feel that the owners have crammed as many mobile homes in as they can. The roads around the site are quite narrow, and parking your car on your pitch makes the outdoor area allocated to your mobile quite small. The pool area is outstanding, our favourite of all the sites we have been to. It isn't big, but is well laid out. The bar meals by the pool are outstanding value. Chicken, chips and salad on a huge plate for about 7 Euros. The ice-creams and drinks are reasonable too. When you arrive at the site you are issued with a wristband, which is checked by the security guard on the front gate in the evenings. Using the wristband gives you access to the facilities of two sister sites in Argeles, and one of them, Sirene, has entertainment most evenings. The petit train runs all around Argeles and stops at most of the campsites, including Bois de Valmarie and Sirene, so if you are planning to go to Sirene, use the train and enjoy a drink or two (same applies if you go into Argeles town). The trains run until midnight. We walked from the site to the Marina where there are loads of restaurants. You can also hire boats or go on boat trips from here. The beach just over the road is nice for evening swimming, although the locals go then and there tend to be lots of dogs running up and down the beach. This is a busy site, but it is well run and has good, clean facilities.

Having been to this site many times over the last few years, I can recommend it to anyone: the site is clean, well looked after, and the pool is superb.

The restaurant is excellent (run by Jaap & Corine) and the live entertainment is fantastic (try and get to a " Bellyfull " night).

I will be going back again this year, for a great holiday.

Amazing campsite...best food in Europe in the restaurant...me and my mate spent a lot of time there in 2002 as we were living in France and playing music...bellyfull rock and I am currently trying to get hold of Trevor to send him and his family and Didier an invite to my wedding!...Love the people here and love the place...working in the restaurant as an inexperienced chef was great fun and I can only assume that this is Ken’s last year!!...if you read this Jaap and Corrine, much love to you and drop me a line at this new email address: martandju@ntlworld.com

Martin...xxxx

We are a German family, which is returning this year for the fifth time to Bois du Valmarie. For us, with our three children (16, 15 and 11) it is just the best campsite. It is quiet, the swimming pool is a dream, and if you want cheaper goods, go to the supermarket at La Sirène. There is a programme every evening, which is as good as an expensive production. On the campsite you can find everything you need, and it’s tidy and safe, so you can let the children out safely. There are no tents or touring caravans here, which is good for us, as it means you only have families, and no groups of youths. This is much better if you have small children, and it means you can go and have a glass of wine in the beautiful restaurant, without worrying about leaving the youngsters in the mobile home.

Our 3rd Stay At Bois De Valmarie and the best yet.

Great food down at the bar, fantastic pool area, a really relaxing enjoyable holiday.

Already booked for May next year !

Would definitely recommend.

I recently got back for les bois de valmarie. I would just like to advise people not to go it was like a prison camp. I went with a group of 14 (3 families) the campsite took the words 'self catering' to a real extreme. The staff were very rude especially the lifeguards. Our children all got kicked out of the pool on the first day because two of the kids went down one of the slides together and then the lifeguard come over to us and told us to get out. Being English we said we where staying put. If you weren't German Dutch or French basically the lifeguards did not like you. One of the female lifeguards hit three of the children and cut the wristband off one of the children.

We went to the bar and restaurant nearly every night and it was fantastic and the bar staff were really nice and friendly. The chef was super and and the food was brill!

The children did not enjoy the holiday at all. They thought that it was really boring because there was nothing to do. Also the weather was crap whilst we where there, it was raining for the first three days and then a few times during the week it was overcast. There were a few thunderstorms as well.

We had to provide our own entertainment and bearing in mind that there were 6 adults and 8 kids it was very hard. We tried to play lots of games to keep the kids satisfied. You had to be quiet by 11, which I thought was ridiculous because even in hotels it’s later than that. This holiday is supposenly aimed at families but it was rubbish. There was nothing for families, nothing at all.

If you go, you are at your own risk, you have been warned!!!!