La Sirène had enough going on to keep us busy forever. Pools, BBQs, gelato, late-night shows. Honestly, we could have stayed put all week. But one of the things I loved most about this trip was the freedom to step outside the campsite whenever we felt like it. It gave us the chance to live and…well… holiday like locals.
Remember in the first post I said all-inclusive package holidays can feel like a container for Brits? Well, Eurocamp is the complete opposite. These sites are filled with French, Italians, Spanish, and other European neighbours who really know how to holiday. They’re not ones to just sit by a pool all day. They’re out exploring markets, sitting in cafés, picnicking on hidden beaches… properly getting stuck in.
And you know what? We followed suit. That shift is probably the biggest reason I travel the way I do now. I want to do more, see more, soak it up the way the locals would.
The best part is that when you stay on a campsite surrounded by gems, all of it is literally at your fingertips. A tram ride here, a drive there, and suddenly you’re in a whole new adventure.
A Day in Barcelona 🏙️
One of the biggest perks of Roussillon? You’re basically neighbours with Spain. Barcelona is just down the road. A cheeky little day trip that feels like hitting the holiday jackpot.
We couldn’t resist. And to make it even easier, La Sirène actually offered a Barcelona excursion right from the campsite. We just popped into the information centre, gave a few details, and we were booked. (I can’t remember the exact price, maybe around €150 for all four of us. Either way, it was worth every cent.)
We went by coach, picked up early in the morning. Now, confession time: the night before, I ate something dodgy and spent half the night running to the toilet 🙃. Tip to the readers — be careful at food markets, anywhere in the world. Man, that was rough.
But after some mint tea and a little nap on the two-hour ride, I survived. Just.
And then — Barcelona.
Still, and probably always, one of my favourite cities. It just has an energy, you know? Not just stunning to look at, but electric, quirky, a little grimy in the best kind of way. It’s alive. You can’t explain it properly until you’re in it — but it just gets you.
👉🏽 If you want a full piece on Barcelona — the best things to do, see, and eat… head over to my blog where I’ve written all about our 4-night stay there. This day trip was just the start.
This time, with less than 24 hours, it was the perfect little taster. The coach hit some of the big names: the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, Montjuïc Castle, a drive-by of Camp Nou, and of course, Sagrada Família. At each stop we had a bit of time to wander, snap a few photos, and soak it all in.
We finished with a few hours on La Rambla. Shopped, strolled, grabbed a bite. My youngest proudly picked up his football t-shirt (standard), and we just chilled, watching the world go by.
We didn’t go in with a checklist or try to cram in every sight. It was a taste, just enough to whet our appetite. And that’s the beauty of it: with a hotel package, we’d have been stuck in the resort, watching the same evening show again. But here? Barcelona was ours for the day.
Beach Days 🌊
Closer to home, the little campsite tram.. free of charge — was one of my absolute favourite things. You’d hop on, windows wide open, and drift into your own little world while watching the locals go about their day. I loved that tram. It came regularly throughout the day and in under 15 minutes dropped you in Argelès village, with its old town streets, churches, market square, and of course, the beaches.
We visited a couple, including Plage d’Argelès-sur-Mer. A proper traditional seaside beach that had everything you needed. Golden sand, blue sea, and stalls dotted along the front selling all the little bits and bobs — snacks, drinks, buckets, and spades galore.
The kids swam and built castles until the sun went down. We grabbed snacks, laughed, and soaked up that sweet feeling of just being together. Our little family, having the happiest of times.
These moments, man. They’ll stay with us forever. Nothing fancy — just simple, and perfect.
The Almond Croissant Awakening 🥐
So… let me tell you about the almond croissants. Because wowzas. Back home, you buy one and it’s basically just a sad croissant with a few almond flakes chucked on top. Dry. Forgettable. But in the South of France? Whole different story. Moist, sweet, stuffed with that thick marzipan-style filling that melts right into your soul 😂.
That first time we grabbed one from the bakery. If only I’d recorded our faces. Lool! From that moment on, every opportunity we got, we were back at that counter. It became — and still is — a full-on family obsession.
To this day, my kids still bring up “those almond croissants” like it was some kind of life-changing event. And they’re not wrong. No lies, when we came back to the UK we were on the hunt for them everywhere. We’d have happily paid silly money just to get that taste again.
Sadly, we never found them here. But when we go back to France? I guarantee you, almond croissants are top of the to-do list. 😂
A Taste of Nightlife 🍴
One evening we wandered out to a local night food market. The smells, the colours, the buzz — it was a proper vibe. Stalls lined the streets, sizzling and steaming, and we just dived in. Picking at food, eating with our hands, laughing our way through it.
One moment I’ll never forget: my son had just eaten a full course meal at a restaurant earlier that evening, but couldn’t resist the churros. The plan was to get one cone for the kids to share, but my boy… being my boy — insisted he could eat a whole one himself.
Let’s just say… his eyes were bigger than his belly. Boy was defeated. (I’ll drop the photo below so you can see the suffering on that poor child’s face, lol.)
Luckily for him, he had me to step in.. because honestly, who can resist a churro? 😉
It was a million miles away from the “same buffet, different night” routine of an all-inclusive. And we were absolutely here for it.
The Magic of Slowing Down ✨
But here’s the truth: as much as we loved Barcelona, the beach, and croissants that changed our lives, the real magic was in the “nothing days.”
The ones where we stayed on the campsite. Where the kids swam until their eyes could barely stay open, we fired up the BBQ, and we sat outside under the stars with wine. No rushing, no schedules, no stress. Just us.
Travel doesn’t always have to mean ticking off sights or having a new plan every day. Sometimes it’s the slow, ordinary-feeling moments that stick. The ones where you sit back, let the day drift by, and wonder what life would be like if it could always be this way.
This trip gave us plenty of those moments. And because of that, the South of France quickly became a firm entry on our “must-return” list.
So yes, we had Barcelona and beaches and almond croissants — but honestly, the biggest win was that it felt effortless. And when you see the cost compared to a TUI package, you’ll understand why we’ve never looked back. That’s Part 3 — the money talk.
Leave a Reply