Exploring the beach at Le Brasilia. Copyright Steph Curtis
This is a guest post by Steph Curtis, who blogs at Steph’s Two Girls. Steph writes about family life with an autistic child – her younger daughter has Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome (PDA). During the May half term Steph, her husband and their daughters (aged 12 and 10 years old) spent a week in the South of France with Eurocamp.
Le Brasilia accommodation
We stayed at Le Brasilia campsite in the South of France, which is located on the beach, near Perpignan. The whole campsite was very clean and tidy, and we’d definitely recommend it to others looking for both pools and a beach and lots of activities.
We were welcomed by a Eurocamp rep on arrival and shown to our mobile home. We stayed in a three-bedroom Espace unit which had air conditioning inside and a large deck outside. The living area in this mobile home was very spacious with a large sofa and good size dining table, and the kitchen had all the usual equipment, including a large fridge/freezer and a microwave (there’s never a toaster on holiday though, is that an English thing I wonder?!).
Le Brasilia mobile home kitchen. Copyright Steph Curtis
The bedrooms were a little on the small side but are only needed for sleep anyway, so were perfectly adequate. The wardrobes had hangers in when we arrived and there was plenty of cupboard space too. The bathroom was a decent size with a good shower and there was a separate toilet room. Outside on the deck there was a table with six plastic chairs, two separate sun loungers and a barbecue.
Everywhere was clean and tidy when we arrived and the welcome pack (which you can order separately via the Eurocamp website) had a good selection of products in it, from the usual teabags, coffee and sugar to wine and water. We had ordered the beach towel packs and I was pleasantly surprised with how large and soft the beach towels were. We’d also ordered the linen packs, and in each one of those packs was a white bath towel. These came in very handy as our drying towels in the home.
Our unit was in a good position on the campsite, close to the main shopping area and pools. Some noise from the disco in the evenings could be heard in our home but, as usually happens on holiday, the children were so tired from all of the fresh air and activity that they slept through it.
Le Brasilia mobile home. Copyright Steph Curtis
Le Brasilia facilities
Le Brasilia is a big site with plenty of pitches and mobile homes, but it felt spacious and not at all crowded when we were there. It was also very clean and planted with beautiful flowers. There’s no need to go off-site for food and drink as the main square has a good size restaurant with a decent menu, two bars, a take-away pizzeria, a bakery, a greengrocers, a butcher, a wine shop and an ice cream parlour. The on-site supermarket stocks a good range of products, but there is a large supermarket within a short drive if you prefer to buy in bulk. There are also a couple of gift shops and a newsagent, selling everything from the obligatory postcards to swim goggles, clothes and toys, and a launderette and hairdresser too. Worth noting though, is that all of the shops close for an extended lunch from 12-4pm.
At the site entrance is the reception office where you can go with any queries. This is also the place to buy wifi access if you feel you need it. We paid 25 euros for the password for a week, which we could then use on two devices (but only one device at any one time). There is free wifi for up to an hour per day at the bar in the central area if you can limit yourselves though!
Le Brasilia pool area. Copyright Steph Curtis
The highlight of the campsite is the pool area, which is open from 10am-7pm. A pretty looking rocky area with a deep pool behind and slides at the front was a huge hit with our group. There were also two decent sized toddler and baby pool areas, with small slides and spray features. Then there was a larger rectangular pool heated to a pleasant temperature, and a lane swimming pool alongside that, also heated. Last but not least, there was an adults-only area with a large jacuzzi pool with jets and with sunlounger type beds in the water.
Le Brasilia adults-only pool area. Copyright Steph Curtis
The outside jacuzzi and slides area closed between 12-2pm every day, presumably so that the lifeguards could go off and have some lunch. The other pools stayed open during this time though, and there was also a small cafe serving lunch within the pool complex so you could happily stay in this area all day. There were plenty of sunbeds all around the pool area so we could always find somewhere to sit, whatever the time of day. Next to the pools there’s also a separate spa which has a jacuzzi and steam room and offers a variety of treatments.
There’s direct access from the site onto a huge long sandy beach, via a gate which is locked at night. That, and the fact that there is only one way in and out of the pool area, made it feel like a safe place for young families. There are so many activities to choose from: there’s a boules area, a football pitch, beach volleyball, tennis nets and even an archery area. There are also a couple of playgrounds for younger children, along with an indoor arcade-style games room.
There was a full programme of organised daytime events during our time there, from Aqua Bike to Beach Volleyball, Pilates, dancing, football, table tennis and even Pictionary! There’s a mini club for children, and every evening entertainment began with a mini show, followed by a variety of shows, bingo, karaoke and disco.
Le Brasilia local area
We enjoyed our time using the site facilities and digging on the beach so much that we had little time left over to explore! The Eurocamp office situated near the main entrance had many brochures and ideas of local activities and places to visit though; everything from high ropes to a wide range of watersports and caves to visit.
The closest town to Le Brasilia is Canet Plage, which is a busy seaside resort with many seafood restaurants and beach front cafes, and a large sandy beach. It can be reached either by a short ferry trip across the harbour or by a road train. We made one trip further afield, over the border into Spain, to the Aqua Brava water park. As we were there on the second day after it opened for the season, I think we were lucky to escape any crowds, and all of our group had an amazing day trying out all of the exciting slides and the big wave pool.
Getting there
We flew to Perpignan, which is only a 20 minute drive away from Le Brasilia; other airport options include Beziers, Montpellier, Carcassone and Toulouse. We hired a car through Ryanair (their provider is Thrifty) and had a good experience with that.
Verdict
The whole family loved Le Brasilia and would definitely visit again. The facilities are great and the pool area is amazing, and the easy access to the beach gave us another option for daytimes. We chose this campsite for those reasons, and also for its proximity to the airport as we wanted to cut down our travelling time. Our accommodation was clean with a spacious living area, and well positioned on the campsite, and everything lived up to expectations. There was an issue with the water supply to our accommodation on one day, but we were impressed that workers came to fix it very quickly – in the meantime we were able to use the large and clean toilet and shower blocks provided for campers. I’d definitely recommend this site to others.
Disclosure: Eurocamp provided Steph’s accommodation at Le Brasilia for the purposes of this review. All words, images and opinions are Steph’s own.
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