The summer of 2018. The kids were 9 and 14 — in my humble opinion, the perfect age for this kind of trip. Old enough to throw themselves into all the activities, but still young enough to want to hang with us. Truth be told, me and the hubby were in our sweet spot too… young parents still in our prime, wanting a bit of down time, a chance to let our hair down, maybe even sneak in a drink at a bar. This campsite gave us all of that and more.
La Sirène. A five-star campsite with all the meat and trimmings. Based in Argelès-sur-Mer, a seaside town in the historical region of Roussillon, right down in the south of France and a stone’s throw from the Spanish border. Perfect for a cheeky day trip to Barcelona (which of course, we did… but more on that later 😉).
From TUI Packages to Campsite Freedom
Before La Sirène, we were your classic package-holiday family. Think TUI, all-inclusive: big hotels, hundreds of rooms, maybe a waterslide or two if you paid extra, buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and if you shelled out a little more, you might even get snacks, ice creams, and watered-down cocktails included.
Which is fine and dandy… until you’re dragging yourself out of bed at 6am to reserve a sunbed, staring down a buffet that’s more beige than appetising, and realising you’ve paid so much for “all-inclusive” that you daren’t leave the resort. Lol, don’t lie to me — we’ve all been there… and listen, if you’ve just forked out £4k plus for a week at a 4 or 5-star in Greece or Spain, you’re gonna eat that buffet till your belly can’t take no more 🤣.
But here’s the thing: those holidays started to feel less like travel and more like a container. A place for Brits to escape the UK for a week, eat, drink, sunbathe, repeat. Nothing wrong with that.. but me, Zo? I want more. I don’t just want to visit a place. I want to dive into its spirit. Leave no stone unturned in the time I’ve got…and La Sirène showed me exactly how to do that. After this trip, I knew: if we’re doing Europe, we’re doing it campsite-style.
Food, Wine, and Fresh Baguettes
Now when I say five stars with all the meat and trimmings, don’t think sticky tables and Butlins vibes. La Sirène was much more classy, elegant, but still family-friendly. Never once did I see a table covered in spilt beer or melted ice cream.
You had takeaway options (pizza, grilled meats, crêpes), sit-down restaurants (including an Italian and a Thai at their sister site L’Hippocampe, which we had full access to), and even a supermarket where you could grab all your essentials. Oh — and gelato in every flavour. My kids were in heaven.
But the bakery? That was the star of the show. We queued more than once for hot, fresh bread straight from the oven. Breakfast baguette, lunch baguette, dinner baguette… no shame in our game. Honestly, who doesn’t love a warm baguette in the South of France?
The best bit was the freedom to mix it up. Some nights we treated ourselves at a restaurant, some nights we grabbed a takeaway, and other nights we went budget and fired up the BBQ with meat from the on-site shop. Those BBQ nights? Probably my favourite! Us cooking together, eating outside, actually having proper family time that real life at home rarely allows.
Kids’ Paradise (And Ours Too)
When I say no family holiday has ever matched La Sirène for kids’ facilities on site. I mean it. Not Bali, not Zanzibar, not Dubai. Yes, those were obviously more luxurious, but in terms of entertainment? La Sirène blew them out of the water.
A full-on waterpark, a big pool, smaller pools, and a quiet pool where adults chilled. The whole area was secure with lifeguards everywhere. And here’s the twist: no sun loungers. Yep. At first I was like, what the hell? But instead, they’d laid out huge areas of artificial grass where families spread towels, sunbathed, played, and just did their thing. And guess what? It worked. No 6am dash, no “towel wars,” no one fighting over beds. Anytime you rocked up, there was a spot for you, hun.
Beyond the pools, there was an outdoor trampoline park, play areas, football pitches, sports courts, and the kind of evening entertainment that gave the West End a run for its money (even if half of it wasn’t in English). Football tournaments, cookery classes, arts and crafts, teen hangouts… and all of it free.
And the grown-ups? We weren’t forgotten. La Sirène had a proper bar. Not a “keep an eye on the kids while you sip” bar — a full-on night-out type bar. Drinks flowing, good tunes, and yes, we still had our dancing shoes on back then. With the kids old enough to run off and make mates but not too old to ditch us completely, it was perfect. They had their fun, we had ours.
(Quick disclaimer: you know your kids. La Sirène is safe, but it’s a big site. If yours aren’t ready to roam solo yet, use your judgement. Please. Parental beg, lol.)
Home for the Week
Accommodation-wise, you can pitch a tent, bring your own caravan, or book a mobile home through companies like Al Fresco (similar to Eurocamp). We went mid-range: a three-bed mobile home with everything we needed — fridge-freezer, cooker, utensils, shower, even a microwave. We paid extra for bedding (worth it — who wants to lug duvets on a plane?).
Each unit had some private outdoor space — a veranda or garden — perfect for sitting out and watching the sun go down. No TV, but honestly, who needs one in the South of France?
The only downside? Wi-Fi. Campsites love to charge extra, and it’s not cheap. My daughter, 14 at the time, had a full teen strop about it… but with so much to do, even she got over it eventually. (In moments 😉).
Why This Holiday Mattered
Looking back, La Sirène wasn’t just a holiday. It was a shift. It showed me we could travel differently. That Europe’s “dream destinations” weren’t just for other people. That we could eat baguettes fresh from the bakery, watch our kids laugh themselves silly in the pool, sneak off for a dance and a drink and do it all without maxing out a credit card.
This trip set the tone for every Europe holiday we’ve had since. Once we’d tasted campsite life abroad, there was no going back to package-holiday buffets and 6am sunbed wars. And if you’re reading this thinking, “campsite holidays abroad aren’t for families like mine”… let me tell you: they are.
This was just the start. Roussillon had three chapters of its own, before we took this way of travelling on to Tuscany… and eventually the French Riviera. Same style of holiday. Very different stories.
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