Excellent stay!

4 August 2016 at 04:47:13
This campisite is beautifully located, in a large bend of the river Ardèche.
It is very near Vallon Pont d'Arc and Ruoms, two very lovely towns (markets, restaurants, kanoeing, supermarkets...). In general, this area is ideal for exploring, hiking, biking and just enjoying the south-of-France-lifestyle.
Sampzon... itself is not really worth mentioning, although there's a small supermarket at 100m (Casino) but with limited products.
The ladies at the office are very friendly and welcoming. They seem to have everything under control. You can book canoeing trips and rent bikes there.
The bar and restaurant are nice too, the staff is friendly. Not so moderate prices at the bar though... The restaurant was actually a nice surprise: lovely fresh dishes and woodoven made pizza's. Nice portions, too.
There's a little shop with baguettes and croissants, freshly made, and some essentials like toothpaste, toiletpaper or cold rosé wine and icecream.
The swimmingpool itself is not so big, but it's a nice shape, with clean water (checked daily) and clean surrounding area with nice chairs. Have seen a young girl attending the pool, but she's not a lifeguard (wearing regular clothes). Just there to tell (some) boys/men you can only go in the pool with speedo's, NOT swimshorts. Ofcourse, the guys who flirted wit this lolita and the men who were too big/old/handsome to be told off, could keep wearing their swimshorts... I was very annoyed with this: the rule she/the camping handled should be obeyed by everyone or you should just ditch the rule! It's very easy to boss around young boys.
We had booked the most expensive (although relative, the prices here are quite reasonable) and had a lovely view over the river. On the map it seemed it was closer, but the river and the beach is actually several meters down. Excellent location though, with the view. The nearby road wasn't as noisy as I thought it would be, so don't let that put you off. We stayed in a tent, so I can't comment on the bungalows, but they seemed nice and clean, with a lot of extra's like chairs, clothesdryers, etc.
The facilities like the showers, toilets and sinks are well kept and cleaned multiple times a day. You can wash, dry (Miele Professional) and iron your clothes for 6,5 euros in a seperate linen room.
There is some animation provided, but if you're not into that, you won't be harrassed by it. Usually, music or shows, end by 11pm. There was more noise from the surrounding campings like Sun Camping or Aloha Plage. I would not liked to have stayed there..
All in all, a lovely camping: we thoroughly enjoyed staying there and would certainly reconsider if we were to come back to the Ardeche.
Find out more