Car club camping site in France
Gouarec Campsite – the perfect place for club meetings in France
Please see also our new site for Gouarec campsite
Having been a member of many clubs; cycling, classic cars, sailing, we know that group trips are often the high point of the club year. We're also aware that organising such trips is a huge amount of work even more so when they come to France. When we took over the running of Gouarec campsite in 2016, one the things that attracted us is that it is perfect for Club weekends/weeks and not only would it be good business but we'd enjoy every minute of it... For any details just contact us by email or phone.
Why Gouarec Campsite?
Space - Location - Access - Accommodation - Costs - Organisation - Activities - Contact
Space.
The campsite is large at nearly 4 Hectares, but is limited to 100 emplacements. So that space is simply not an issue. It is flat and grassy and divided into four sections. This means that for larger clubs we can close off a complete section for the exclusive use of that club. If, for example, a car club comes with many vehicles, campervans and a large marquee it's simply not an issue. Valuable vehicles or cycles can be left safely (we have covered storeage for bikes) or parked right next to your tent/caravan/campervan if you wish.
Location.
Set in the centre of Brittany (click to see maps and details) in West France, Gouarec is perfect to explore this most friendly part of France. For cycle clubs Gouarec is uniquely set on the crossroads of the V6 cyclepath, VeloOdyssey and the Nantes-Brest canal towpath. In addition there are beautiful rides through the surrounding countryside to visit unspoilt villages and market towns.
For car clubs the roads around here are simply fabulous – 'better than Stelvio' as one member of the Lotus club said. The best car museum in France at Loheac is an hour away and of course every point of the compass will take you through gorgeous and very quiet French countryside to the most beautiful coast in an hour or so.
For fishing clubs the campsite is actually set on an island – the canal on one side teems with course fish, the stream on the other side full of trout. The canal extends for 172 miles and there are free fishing lakes all around the area. It has to be said though that you can have a very good week fishing without ever doing more than walking a few hundred metres from the campsite.
The village of Gouarec has all you might need – 3 restaurants, bars, a supermarket, baker, banks etc – it's a gorgeous little place. What more could you ask?
Access
Gouarec is just 1 km from the main N164 running down the spine of Brittany so access is excellent. We are also under 2 hours from the ferryports at Roscoff and St Malo or the Airports of Brest, Rennes and Dinard.
Ferries - We are agent for Brittany ferries and so can organise any transport you wish. In this case club members will book and pay direct to us rather than having to bother the organiser... Likewise we can organise taxis and coach hire.
Accommodation
For the majority of people coming with clubs we expect you to come with your own tents, caravans etc – however we do also have accommodation available on-site – all appropriate to the 'retro' feel of the campsite.
Canvas 'Sibly' tents – These are 5m diameter traditional canvas tents and are huge inside. They can easily sleep 4 (our teenage son slept 18 in one) and come equipped with beds, chairs, table etc These are 40 Euro a night.
Classic caravans – These are in two varieties. The first are two small caravans from the 1960's that we have stripped all the kitchen etc from to leave more room for sleeping and sitting. As with the Sibly tent you have full access to the campsite kitchen so you don't have to cook or wash-up in the caravan. The two-berth caravan is just 30 Euro a night, the four-berth 40 Euro.
The other caravans are rather different... These are beautiful classic caravans from the '60's like our 'Notin' pictured below. A real 'Rolls-Royce' of the caravan world there have exquisite woodwork, are kitted out in 1960's theme and and are a really lovely place to spend a week – just imagine your classic car parked next to her;-) These are suited to couples and are 60 Euro a night but worth every penny...
Costs and how can we help organise your club meeting?
Making it easy for the organiser...
We've organised club runs ourselves and know that usually someone has to take on the thankless task of organising the entire week, booking everything, collecting money and generally getting stressed whilst trying to 'herd cats'... It is our aim to take as much of the burden as possible from the organiser. Obviously 'Clubs' can range from half a dozen people to several hundred so obviously what we can offer very much depends on what you want. For cyclists I have a well equipped workshop and most basic spares and for car clubs I can liase with our local garage to give breakdown cover and/or repairs.
The first thing is money. For the basic camping the cost for anyone coming on a group trip is 6 Euro a head (3 Euro for under 18's). That's it – no extra for pitches, number/type of vehicle etc. Just as importantly we do not require this, or any deposit in advance so that the organiser does not have to spend their time chasing money. Anyone who wants to rent accommodation on-site will deal directly with us so again the organiser has this burden lifted from them. In effect the organiser is left to publicise and collect details of those coming, pass on to us what they'd like to see and do and little else.
Food. Again it's our aim to make this as simple as we can for the organiser. If your group is relatively small then we can book restaurants for you – Gouarec has three and so evening meals are easy to sort out. Also for cycle and car clubs we can organise restaurants for a midday stop – all this we can organise/price in advance for the club, but payment will be direct to the restaurants and again no deposit is required so easy for the organiser. The campsite sports large BBQ's which are available for groups along with fire pits and as long as the local butcher is pre-warned we can make sure he has all you need (or we can organise and cook the BBQ for you).
For larger groups – up to 200 – we can organise things at a much larger level, with a marquee 'hall', beer tents and evenings such as a traditional pig-roast, paella evenings and the like. Obviously these need to be organised in advance, but again we don't need any deposit and the club members will merely 'pay-as-they-go' – nothing could be more simple. As an example we can organise a large BBQ for around 15 Euro including salads and simple dessert.
Activities. There is a huge amount to see in the immediate area, The Abbey at Bon Repos, Narrow Gauge railway, the museum at Forges des Salles, a Buddhist temple, the beach at Lac de Guerledan, the Wolf sanctuary, Rostrenen market and much more are all within a very gentle day's cycleride. Car clubs will want to visit the coast (which is hugely varied) Chateaux, Loheac Museum, markets, towns etc – there is enough to keep you occupied for months...
For car and cycle clubs we supply detailed routes in Brittany (both written and in GPS format)
and can even put special routes together in consultation with the club. For other clubs (fishing/walking/canoing etc) we can even put you in touch with local groups. This is all free – you may even find one of us tagging along:-)
On-site there is both Cycle (including tandems and electric bikes) and Canoe hire. There's a Boules court and of course lots of grassy space to relax in. The campsite has plenty of covered areas, table, chairs and free wi-fi.
For example in 2014 (we organised the trip but weren't in charge of the campsite itself at that time) we had the UK tandem Club here who brought over 100 tandems (and riders), we supplied a large marquee, music every night*, food and a whole range of cycle-routes that spread tandems all over Brittany. They had a ball;-)
*The one limitation is that all 'festivities' have to be over by 10.30 and the campsite returned to relative calm...