WHAT do children want when they’re on holiday?

Well, if mine are any guide, they prefer, in no particular order…

•swimming pool and water slides,

•playing outside,

•staying up late,

•experiencing different food, drink and culture,

•lots to see and do,

•good weather, and …

•erm, that’s about it.

As for parents, they will almost certainly have a great time as long as the young ones are happy.

So when we turned up at a sun-drenched Eurocamp at Chateau des Ormes in northern France,we were delighted to see several swimming pools.

Then we noticed the sizeable outdoor play area (with summer soccer school), crazy golf, pitch-and-putt, tennis court, horse-riding facilities, paddle boats on the lake... even a cricket pitch on the chateau lawns.

My 15-year-old golf-mad son was especially impressed with the 18-hole course and well-equipped clubhouse.

And our mobile home – a short walk from the familyrun parc’s restaurants, bars and shops – was plenty big enough for a family of five, with a deck for alfresco dining and lots of space around it to fire up the barbecue and chuck a ball about.

Many of our neighbours were Irish (over 80 per cent of parc visitors come from the UK and Ireland) and had taken the car ferry from Cork to Roscoff.

We caught the high-speed Poole-Cherbourg crossing, and the drive down to Brittany took just two hours (alternatively, you could sail from Portsmouth to Saint Malo, a mere 20 miles away).

We did most of the shopping for our self-catering stay at Dol-de-Bretagne, a wellpreserved medieval town with a huge 12th century cathedral, many traditional half-timbered shops in the high street and what’s reputed to be the oldest stone-built house in the whole of France.

On the outskirts is a giant Neolithic menhir, 30ft high and weighing nearly 150 tons, straight out of an Asterix comic; while, heading towards the Bay of Mont St Michel, we passed Mont Dol, an ancient Druid ritual site now popular with picnickers.

The awe-inspiring Mont St Michel, right on the border with Normandy, is just 20 miles away, and Combourg (impressive chateau and lake) and the fishing town of Cancale are even closer.

Picturesque Dinan and the fashionable seaside town of Dinard are well under an hour’s drive from the parc, while golfers will be delighted to learn that the superb St-Malo Golf and Country Club is just 15 minutes away at Le Tronchet.

St Malo’s Grand Aquarium was our first resort on the one day it rained, and it’s also where day-trippers catch boats to the Channel Islands.

And if it’s beaches you’re after, then Brittany’s got the lot, from wide expanses and quiet coves to rugged rockstrewn shores.

Apart from that one hiccup with the weather, our stay coincided with a mini-heatwave, we tucked into lashings of moules and frites and no one missed the telly once, so it’s fair to say it ticked all the right boxes for the kids… and grown-ups too.

Factfile

•Eurocamp is the UK’s leading European camping holiday operator, with 160 parcs in 16 countries and islands. Book a Eurocamp holiday before October 31 and save up to 25 per cent with an early booking discount.

A seven-night break at Chateau des Ormes, Dol-de-Bretagne, northern Brittany, staying in a two-bedroom Comfort mobile home (sleeps seven maximum) costs £515 for the whole family, accommodation only. Ferry crossings, flydrive packages or rail travel can be arranged through Eurocamp at a supplement. Call 0844 406 0552 or visit eurocamp.co.uk

•Brittany Ferries offers regular sailings from Poole to Cherbourg and Portsmouth to Saint Malo, fares from £114 return for car plus two – call 0871 244 1400 or visit brittanyferries.com.

•To find out more about St Malo Golf and Country Club, Le Tronchet, go to saintmalogolf.com

•For more information on France, visit the tourist office website at france-guide.com