Saint Avit Loisirs
Saint Avit Loisirs in the Dordogne was the first major campsite we decided to visit on our summer holiday in 2016. The Dordogne is certainly one of our favourite regions of France and this is down to it’s wonderful rivers, scenery, history and of course the weather.
We chose Saint Avit Loisirs for one reason and that is due to it’s wonderful swimming pool complex. Although the campsite is located approximately 8 hours to the southwest of Calais, we decided to break up the journey with an overnight stay near to Paris at Camping International.
You can read more about our overnight stay in the Camping International Paris article.
Our journey to the Dordogne was fairly uneventful with only a few small traffic hold ups at some of the major junctions. Before setting off on holiday we took the opportunity to buy an Autoroute Tag from Sanef. This made our journey so much easier, allowing us to pass through the Autoroute tolls without having to spend time looking for money, getting a ticket or paying with a credit card.
Saint Avit Loisirs is located near to a small village called Saint Avit de Vialard which is only around 10-15 minutes from the town of Le Bugue.
Our drive to the campsite took us along a few country roads where we drove past the pool complex. On seeing the pool from the road, our children were immediately excited and couldn’t wait to get in and enjoy the slides and water jet park which they could see.
On arrival we checked in to the main reception where our details were confirmed and we were introduced to the Saint Avit Loisirs charge card!
We won’t go into it in too much detail here but the charge card is basically a brilliant way of paying for anything on the campsite without having to pay in cash or using your own card. You can simply pay it all off at the end of your stay.
You can read all about the card it in our Saint Avit Loisirs charge card article.
Saint Avit Loisirs Campsite
We found the campsite is extremely well laid out with the main reception, bar, restaurant, shop, play area and swimming pools all located in the same area. The children’s clubs are located towards the edge of the campsite where there is plenty of space for different activities. The accommodation is laid out amongst the trees with pitches nearer the facilities being for tents and caravans and the mobile homes being spread further out around the campsite.
The benefits we found with this is that whilst the children are playing for example in the playground area, parents can relax near the bar and still keep an eye on them whilst they play.
We stayed at Saint Avit Loisirs in a Eurocamp Esprit, 3 bedroom mobile home which had air conditioning. Now we haven’t ever bothered with air conditioning before but it was well worth it at Saint Avit Loisirs as we had a couple of really warm days.
The Eurocamp reps were really helpful and always on hand. They were also really good in that after the first day they popped round to see if any of our children fancied attending the childrens clubs. Although we never do, it was nice for them to know our childrens ages prior to attending and it was also nice to see that they came prepared with details of the clubs each of them could have taken part in.
As soon as we’d settled in we went straight to the swimming pool complex. There are no restrictions on swimwear for males in the pool! The pool complex is both good in size and also extremely well laid out. You enter the pool complex through a gate and into a foot bath. On the higher level there is a selection of swimming pools with ample seating and one pool also has a slide.
When you get past these pools you can look down the hill to the rest of the pools. On the hill itself there are three slides and at the bottom there are a variety of deckchairs, a splash park with water jets for younger children and a further large pool.
The slides consist of one very quick bendy slide with a run off to slow you down at the end and the other two can only be used with an inflatable of some sort. Both of the inflatable slides end up in a shallow plunge pool.
We have been lucky enough to go on other holidays previously and have plenty of inflatables which we took with us. If you are planning to go to Saint Avit Loisirs, you can buy either a ring, tyre or inflatable animal in the campsite shop or in the local supermarket. I would however suggest if you have the space and time to look for one, but it before you travel as the ones in the shop can range from €7 upwards whereas in Amazon you can pick a tyre up for just over £2.
The pool is where we spent a lot of our time whilst we were on site however there are other things to do both on site and also nearby.
Whilst at Saint Avit Loisirs we used the mini golf course a couple of times. It’s not a bad little course although some of the holes are virtually impossible and a bit of cheating had to take place by all three of our children!
The lake is also quite pleasant and there are a couple of trampolines and tennis courts as well as a football pitch and lots of open space where our kids played badminton, frisbee and football.
If you’re looking to eat on-site then you’ll be quite happy with the restaurant at Saint Avit Loisirs which provides a whole range of different foods. There’s lots of seating both inside and outside so there’s plenty of it to go around. You’ll also find that the same kitchens do the take away so you’re guaranteed to get the same good quality of food whichever option you choose. We used both the restaurant and takeaway during our stay and the food was great.
The shop is great for all those things you either forget to buy at the local supermarche or that you want to buy fresh each day. One of the best things we found were the croissants, pain au chocolate and the French bread. All were freshly available each day and they never seemed to run out in the mornings which we’ve found happens on other campsites occasionally.
If you’re like us and usually head off to the local supermarket to stock up on food and drink for the week then you’ll be please to know that there’s a great Intermarche in Le Bugue which is only around 10-15 minutes away. Whatever you do, please avoid heading there on market day though, as you’ll find traffic is a nightmare and it will take you upwards of an hour to reach your destination!
Places to Visit near Saint Avit Loisirs
Attractions nearby come in all shapes and forms. Le Aquarium Perigord Noir is located in Le Bugue which is just under 10km away. Gouffre de Proumeyssac is a beautiful cave system which is around 14km to the southwest of the campsite and La Roque St Christophe lies just 30km to the west and is a set of caves which were occupied by prehistoric men and later fortified from the Middle Ages right up to the Renaissance.
There’s also the beautiful La Roque Gageac, Chateau de Beynac and Chateau du Castelnaud located just over 30km to the southwest. Two of the wonderful places we visited during our stay were La Roque de Gageac and Chateau du Castelnaud, both of which we’ll cover in their own articles.
If you’re a family who loved a campsite with a fantastic pool then Saint Avit Loisirs should definitely be one on your list of places to visit! One thing you need to think about is how popular this fantastic campsite is.
Those of you who plan to head off to Saint Avit Loisirs for your holiday will need to book early. Places book up extremely quickly and so our recommendation is to book as soon as possible to guarantee your place.
To book a holiday at Saint Avit Loisirs of to find out more simply click on the button below.
Saint Avit Loisirs