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Last year we spent a week at La Croix du Vieux Pont in Berny Riviere which is one of Eurocamp’s closest sites to Paris.
14 of us travelled together. 2 families in a Lakeview 4 bedroom Lodge and the other family in a 3 bedroom caravan close by.
We spent quite a bit of time working out what we wanted to do when we stayed at La Croix du Vieux Pont, so whilst we didn’t do everything on this list – we thought we’d compile it to help you if you were going to stay there to.
Why not check out Ultimate Packing List for Eurocamp with Kids
Onsite Activities
1. Bike Riding
Table of Contents
Take your bikes with you if you can.
Biking is definitely the activity that the kids LOVED the most and that they still talk about when we talk about the site. The site is huge, it’s about a 2km circuit around the lakes, a perfect distance for 7-10 year olds to head off on their own. It’s a fab FREE activity.
Yes some people drive a bit too quick around the site, yes they should really slow down, but we gave the kids some really serious instructions about looking where they are going and it’s great safer road practice for them.
FREE
Can you hire a bike at La Croix du Viux Pont?
Yes you can and then current 2019 prices are :
Half Day (4hours) : 8€
1 Day : 16 €
1 Week : 60€
A deposit of 70€ per bike will be requested on booking. I wouldn’t rely on this in high season though as it’s really popular.
2. Tower Pursuits
Privately run outward bound type activities at the furthest end of the site. Climbing wall, Abseiling, Trapeze, Archery and Zip Wire sessions available. They get great write ups from most who use them, and we enjoyed our Trapeze session. You need to book in high season.
Personally we didn’t think the zip wire was very well organised and our group of kids waited for nearly two hours in the heat which could have been avoided with better organisation/splitting the sessions.
Prices 2019 : Climbing wall, Abseiling, Trapeze session :
1 Session : 11€ – 4 sessions : 36€ – 20 sessions : 110€
Zip Wire session : 3€ for one – 5€ for two
All session are 1 hour. Contact : towerpursuits@gmail.com
3. Pedalos & Canoes
Our kids spotted the pedalos as soon as they arrived and started debating which one they wanted to go on, for the girls in our group the pink flamingo won. After initially fighting over who was to drive, they gave up after a time and didn’t ask to go on again. A one off activity for us.
- Pedalo 2 pers 8 €
- Pedalo 3 pers10 €
- Pedalo 4 pers12 €
- Pedalo 5 pers14 €
- Canoe 1 pers > 10 years old8 €
- Canoe 1 pers12 €
- Canoe 3 pers14 €
4. Tennis
The tennis court is in really good condition and is on the other side of the road. You get to it by heading up past the kids club tents and walking though the underpass.
Rental : 7€ per hour ( they lend you the equipment if you haven’t taken your own and you make your booking at the reception desk).
5. Table Tennis
There are plenty of indoor Table Tennis tables, albeit we never actually found the outdoor ones. Good fun for sheltering from the rain or the sun.
FREE
6. Laser Tag
Inside in the complex near the swimming pool. Open everyday from 2.00 pm to 11.00 pm
Adult : 7.00 €
Children (until 12 years old) : 4.00 €
7. Bowling
We didn’t try this but again it’s based in the complex near the indoor swimming pool
Open everyday from 2.00 pm to 11.00 pm
Adult : 7.70 €
Children (until 12 years old) : 5.70 €
Shoes included
8. Games Room
Whatever the weather, enjoy the games room for children and adults.
Soft play area : 3.50€/hour for 1 child
9. Various Activities
Bumper Boats, trampoline, mini-golf, Kids go Kart, Bouncy Castle, Pikachu Ride, trampoline elastic, Ejector, 9D Cinema Virtuel.
Prices can be located here.
10. Mini-Golf
Prices 2019 :
Adult : 4€ and Children (-12years old) 2€
Open from 10.30am to 5.30pm
11. Fishing
You can also go fishing, a great way to relax by the lakes or river Aisne that runs along the side of the Park. Fishing permits available on site.
12. Indoor & Outdoor Swimming
The indoor pool is open from April until the end of October, with a retractable roof. It suggests its heated but I’d beg to differ, it was really quite cold in August. It could also do with a refurbishment. Avoid the changing areas and just get changed at home.
The outdoor pool has a lazy river, waterfalls and a small wooden bridge.
Off-site Activities
13. Horse Riding
The one opposite Chez Micheline (rather than the one opposite the site) gets good, if not great reviews. You need to pop in and book. There is a mention of the Pony Club on a sign next to a walk way by a house which is a hair dressers! It’s diagonally opposite the restaurant.
14. Dinner at Chez Micheline
Chez Micheline is a firm favourite of campsite visitors with great hospitality and lovely food at a reasonable price. The ambience is a lot better than you expect it to be from the outside so don’t be put off. Reputed to have been run by the same family since the 1920’s.
You get great service from Didier and his mother is the chef. The rest of the family work there too, a real family affair.
15. Golf
You can play 18 holes at Golf du château d’humières save 50% on the green fee for customer La Croix Du Vieux Pont
16 Soissonais Caves
A short walk from the campsite (say 20-30 minutes). Turn right at the pony club past the school and when the road bends round instead of following it go straight (past the house on the right) and follow the footpath to the gate – after the gate follow the footpath up the hill and where the paths cross go straight across and there is a a small footpath to the right that goes down – caves are enormous we only saw a small part of them; you will need trainers, some good torches and some insect repellent!
The history behind the caves mades them even more fascinating. In the first world war, the French army used stone quarries dug into the hills as barracks. These were extended and re-used during the second world war, however rumour has it that they did not serve the French as well second time round. There is a burnt out car just into the cave network and the story goes that the caves were taken by the Germans during the war and as a warning to the villagers not to resist the Germans, two members of the French resistance were tied into this car and burnt alive.
FREE
17. Disneyland Paris
We didn’t choose to head to Disneyland Paris this time as we had recently spent a long weekend at Puy Du Fou near Nantes (incidentally that’s amazing) but Disneyland Paris is accessible from La Croix du Vieux Pont in a number of ways.
How to get to Disneyland Paris from La Croix du Vieux Pont
It takes around 1hr to 1hr 30 to drive to Disneyland Paris from La Croix du Vieux Pont.
The campsite run a coach that departs at 7.50 am from the campsite, and leaves Disneyland Paris at 7.50 pm, tariff return adult 17€, child (2-11) 14€ and baby (0-2) 10€. It will take the coach around 1hr 30 minutes leaving you around 10 hours at Disneyland Paris. If you take the coach you will miss the fireworks at Disneyland Paris.
Here is how to do Disneyland Paris in a day.
18. Parc Asterix
Cheaper and less busy than Disneyland Paris. You can get to Parc Asterix in 1hr from La Croix Du Vieux Pont.
You can read this review of Parc Asterix here.
19. Paris
Getting to Paris from La Croix Du Vieux Pont can be done in a number of ways and will form the subject of a full blog post at some point, as will the Paris Metro itself. It is however possible in around 1hr 30 minutes and is well worth doing.
We spent a full day in Paris and during the morning we rook a tour with Tours by Locals. You can see our video of the day here.
20. Armistice Clearing in the Compiègne Forest
The Glade of the Armistice is a French national and war memorial in the Forest of Compiègne in Picardy, France, near the city of Compiègne and approximately 60 kilometres north of Paris. It was built at the location where the Germans signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended World War I.
Illustrating this event are a statue of Marshal Foch, commemorative monuments and a museum containing the railway carriage in which the Armistice was signed.
Very pretty area, educational for you and the kids, places for the kids to run around and only 20 minutes from site.
21. La Mer de Sable – Cowboy and Indian Theme Park
La Mer de Sable is an amusement park located in Ermenonville Forest around an hour from site. Tripadvisor reviews suggest that it’s a great amusement park, costs much less than Asterix Park or Euro Disney, and yet, has fun rides for ages 3 to 14. Worth checking out.
22. Château de Pierrefonds
Château de Pierrefonds is only a 20 minute drive from La Croix Du Vieux Pont and is a stunning Château in an equally stunning village.
We spent a lovely sunny afternoon there during our stay at La Croix Du Vieux Pont. We parked in the village and wandered up to the Château, where we spent a good couple of hours.
You can read a review of Château de Pierrefonds here.
23. Champagne Tour in Epernay
Mercier, Tattinger and Moet all get good reviews however if you’re travelling with kids Mercier gets the popular vote as you go on a train ride around the cellars.
Caves Mercier is around 1hr 30 from La Croix Du Vieux Pont
24. Saturday market at Soissons
To find Soissons market, put Soissons car park into sat nav and it takes you straight past the market and the cathedral to the car park. The Market takes place in the square in front of the Cathedral.
25. Parc Canopee
Parc Canopee is only a ten minute drive from La Croix Du Vieux Pont with loads of courses for children aged 7+. Similar to Go Ape here in the UK but significantly cheaper. Quotes on Trip Advisor have people saying things like
” About 2 or 3 hours of fun and loads of different tracks. All the tracks up to red were easily do-able for teenagers, red was challenging in one place, pink was our favourite – loads of zip lines :-)”
“Visited with 2 adults, 2 teenagers, a 7&5 year old. Had a great time. Staff very helpful. Lots of different courses for the +10yrs but limited for the 5yr old. Would recommend for all except for kids younger then 6. The facilities are limited so bring your own food & drinks and make a day of it.”
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Really great place. I’d like to be there. Thanks.
What is the evening entertainment like at night on site . ?
I’m afraid we didn’t really go to it as it was pretty busy – we were also away with friends so made our own fun
We are off to the campsite in the summer and want to go to paris for the day. I have a car but what travel would you recommend, would you drive to a metro point out of paris if so where?