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Camping without the canvas

What makes a great family holiday? For Tracey Williams it's cool activities and new friends for the kids with a bit of 'R n R' thrown in

Holidays under canvas, once loved, are for my family now virtually a thing of the past, having an asthmatic five-year-old (unless dry, hot weather is guaranteed). We decided, instead to investigate life in a caravan, and headed to south-west France on a Eurocamp holiday.

Instead of one of the luxury tents on offer we opted for a mobile home, which turned out to be a very spacious three-bedroom version, with fully-equipped kitchen and quite adequate shower room (hurrah for no night-time trips to the loo block in wellies).

After an endless journey beset by tedious problems (industrial action at the ferry port and getting lost to name two), four very tired and irritable people arrived at the sleepy campsite, St Avit Loisirs, near Le Bugue in the depths of the beautiful Dordogne region. We were cheerfully greeted by our Eurocamp rep, Mick, who showed us around what was to be our home for the week.

The very pretty, shady campsite consisted of a mixture of tents, mobile homes and cabins, and you can also turn up with your own caravan/camper van/tent and use the outstanding facilities.

Action stations

Eurocamp have sites all over Europe (with some new sites in Florida), but we chose St Avit Loisirs because of the PGL station. My nine-year-old son loved this facility, and throughout the week tried abseiling, climbing, zip wire, archery and a terrifying (to me anyway) activity called 'Leap of Faith' in which you climb to a platform and leap across to a trapeze.

Children must be at least seven to participate in PGL activities, but younger campers are well catered for: my five-year-old had a great time at the Fun Station. There are sessions morning and afternoon, and the friendly, chatty kids' club leaders had the children happily engaged in crafts, sports and games. You'll find Fun Stations at most Eurocamp sites, and they offer free activities for kids from toddlers to teenagers. For any budding Beckhams out there, enquire too about Soccer Stations, which run in high season on selected parcs.

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