Camping la Grande Tortue – 5 Star Camping, Loire Valley
This gem of a campsite, set in the enchanting Loire Valley, has got our tick of approval, after our week spent, enjoying a very fun, memorable family camping holiday. The 5-star site offers a whole heap of exciting child-friendly facilities, sure to keep little ones entertained for hours like it did ours and some really gorgeous days out nearby, suitable for the whole family to enjoy.
Campsite Location
Camping la Grande Tortue is located near Blois, between the cities of Tours and Orléans and offers a charming location, set a few minute’s drive from the impressive Loire River, surrounded by countryside. The area is lovely and peaceful, yet has plenty to do nearby, from visiting local towns (Amboise was our favourite), to discovering beautiful châteaux, exciting theme parks, adventure parks and even getting on the Loire river to do water sports. There is a good mix of hiking and riding trails, which we also particularly liked.
Campsite Grounds
The campsite is in an old oak forest setting, so the pitches are shady, which is great for those hotter days, really helping to keep tents cool. This site is fairly compact, with everything in easy reach, with the main entertainment facilities being in the centre, and pitches spanning out from there. For us, this was a blessing, as we had the pleasure of camping with the grandparents, but unfortunately two weeks prior to going, my father ruptured his Achilles tendon, so a smaller size meant less walking and more resting. They’ve given thought to the aesthetics of the site, with colourful flower beds and washing up/toilet blocks that are wooden and in keeping with the forest setting. We felt comfortable with the kids riding their bikes around the site, near to our tent, as there was little traffic and the site wasn’t big enough for them to get lost.
We were on pitch 132, which was one of the furthest away from the central entertainment area, and although at night until 10:30-11:00 pm, we could hear some noise coming from the stage area, this didn’t stop us from sleeping at all as it was pretty quiet. If however, you were staying on a pitch close to the entertainment, this would be considerably louder, and for us personally, would be an inconvenience. For an additional fee you can choose your preferred pitch, so we’d recommend getting in early and picking one to suit. We would say that on most mornings, the site was pretty quiet until 9:00 am, so any parents worried about their kids going to bed later with the entertainment, may get a lie-in to compensate.
Accommodation On Offer
There are 169 pitches in total ranging from 100m², which is the one we chose, to 200m² premium pitches, with private sanitary facilities, including a shower, toilet, sink and fridge plus Wi-fi. If providing your own tent isn’t your scene, they have wooden chalets, 2 or 3-bedroom mobile homes and bivouac tents on stilts to hire.
Our pitch was smaller in size compared to other sites we’ve stayed at in France at 100m², however, we still managed to fit our 10-man tent, gazebo, car and trailer. We had access to a water tap and electricity point and there were hedges on 3 sides of the pitch giving privacy. The ground was meant to be grassy, however, this was a little sparse due to wear and tear.
Campsite Facilities and Services
Pool Complex
There are 2 main pool areas right next to each other, one being outside and the other inside. The outside area has a shallow splash park with a baby slide and lots of colourful fountains, a slightly deeper section adjacent, with jacuzzi sprays and a separate row of 4 toboggan slides, which the kids loved! We particularly liked the slide design, which allowed the kids to go down them and stand up at the end, as opposed to splashing into a pool, meaning we didn’t need to wait at the bottom for Luca, who isn’t a strong swimmer yet. The inside pool was heated, but in fairness, the outside pools weren’t too cold to swim in. The sun loungers around the pool were never fully booked up and we always managed to find a place to park our towels and bags, however, the loungers weren’t the most comfortable, being made of hard plastic with no padding, something the site could definitely look to improve for better comfort.
Play Area
The play area, right next to the swimming pool, was handy in location and we loved how compact it all was, with so much equipment in a relatively small area, meaning the children weren’t running off to discover new things. They had a great fenced-in play area, with a climbing frame, slide, swings, and pedal roundabout. There was also a huge bouncy castle, netted trampolines, an enormous spider web frame, a zip-line, an assault course, a high ropes course and a multi-sports pitch.
Eating & Drinking
We didn’t eat at the La Grande Tortue on-site restaurant but did get food on two occasions from their takeaway, which we sadly felt could do with improving. The food was rather pricey and took an eternity to serve, sometimes arriving 1.5 hours after being ordered. They offered an order process, which we initially thought would work well, where you place your order and can get the food delivered within 30 minutes, straight to your pitch, for an extra €1. On both occasions, however, the long wait meant we had to walk back to the restaurant to enquire where our food was. Vegetarian options were limited to a veggie burger and chips, but we did love the ice cream and waffles for dessert.
Their outdoor seating area, attached to the restaurant, we felt was a little small, something which we noticed when we wanted to watch the evening entertainment. If we didn’t get there early enough, we had to stand up, which was a pain. During the day, there were always seats free and it was a relaxing place to sit.
Another area we felt lacked a bit was the site shop, which sold a very small range of basics and a few selections of wines, but could definitely do with being extended, especially after comparing it to other campsite shops we’ve stayed at. We did love the fresh pastries each morning, which seems to be a staple French campsite tradition, however you had to place your order the day before, to guarantee you could buy some.
Sanitary block
The sanitary facilities at La Grande Tortue appeared new, as they were spotlessly clean and in tip-top condition. The outdoor toilets, set under a large wooden canopy, were cleaned regularly and believe it or not had no insects in sight! We particularly liked the antibacterial pumps inside each cubicle, which you could clean the toilet seats with, before using them, and the separate hatch at the back of the toilet cubicle, to put sanitary waste products, meant that the cubicle inside was kept clean. The washing up block attached, had ample sinks, with boiling hot water available throughout our stay. The shower blocks were equally great, with individual shower cubicles with both a shower, sink and mirror inside and large family cubicles with 2 shower heads inside, being a high adult one and smaller children’s one, which could be used at the same time.
Wi-Fi areas
Wi-Fi worked pretty well all over the site and we were charged €3 per day per device. There was also good service to be able to use our mobile data.
Activities Available
Kids’ Club
We didn’t actually try out the kids club, due to our week being jam-packed with the water park, play area, bike rides and exploring the local area, so unfortunately we can’t comment on it.
Bike hire
We all hired bikes and made the most of the fabulous cycle tracks in the area. If you enquire at the site reception, they will be able to inform you of all the tracks in the area. There is one we particularly liked, which follows the river, which was 7 km round distance. It had a lovely picnic spot halfway along, before we headed back, with a good play area for the kids to burn off some steam, and a cafe selling food and drinks.
Enquire about booking a stay at Camping la Grande Tortuehere.
