Top 10 Board Games and Card Games to Take on a Camping Holiday

A camping holiday is the ideal time to create some special memories and spend some family time or time with friends playing some of these excellent board games and card games. I am not going to mention Cluedo, Chess, Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit as you are probably familiar with them but instead am going to mention some slightly different games which we have enjoyed. If you can suggest others which we should try please add your comments - who knows they might overtake some of the ones we have put in our top 10 ! :

So here are the Best French Campsites Top 10 games :

1    Timeline was a new game to us but it is the simplest idea and can lead to a great game - it consists of some beautifully drawn cards featuring inventions and discoveries and your task is to place them in the order that they were invented.

You are given 5 cards and all you have to do is place them correctly ! A simple idea but you will find it is not quite as easy as you might think !  Probably best for age 10 up but is suitable also as a game for grown ups. And it can last approximately 15 minutes so great as an "after dinner" game :

2 Carcassonne

This is a great game and is set in France around the mediaeval walled city of Carcassonne ! You buy the basic game and you can also then buy expansions if you enjoy it.

3 Settlers of Catan

An award winning game. The board game The Settlers of Catan came out in Germany in 1995 and that same year it was awarded the prestigious title “Spiel des Jahres” (“Game of the Year“). In 1996, the game was published in the US, where it also was awarded the title “Game of the Year.” The Board Game is the classic game for everyone, The Rivals for Catan is an ideal game for two game enthusiasts, the Dice Game is entertaining and fun to play. You can continue your exploration on Catan with Catan Adventures, Seafarers, Histories, Geographies as well as Catan in Space
The Catan Card Game, published in 1996, is an exciting challenge for all those who like playing in pairs. In 1997, the Card Game was among the finalists for the prestigious German “Spiel des Jahres” award. The Dice Game “The Settlers of Catan” was published in 2007. It is ideal for travel.

         

4  Who What Where

This is great fun. A variation on Pictionary. You have to pick out three cards and draw the person, place and thing that you have chosen. It makes for hilarious drawings and gets everyone involved. Again its a simple idea and can be played by all the family. There is a version for aged 12+ and a Junior Version for age 7+. If you have an even younger member of your group then why not just create some cards for them separately so that they can join in ? They could maybe just draw one or two things to keep it a bit simpler for them :

 

5  Othello

An interesting strategy game where the aim is to turn your opponents counters over to your colour and claim the board in your colour.

Here are two travel versions of this classic game :

6 Ticket to Ride

If you have always had a desire to run a railway or you have some train spotters in the family then Ticket to Ride could be the game for you ! It was an International Gamer Award winner in 2005 in the category of General Strategy - Multiplayer. It was also nominated in 2005 Vienna Game Academy selection and was the 2006 Family Game of The Year in Norway. Its for 2-5 Players and takes about 30 to 60 minutes to play.

7 Romans

This game is very good if you have an interest in Romans or are studying them at school as you need to answer some questions about them in order to your empire ! But dont worry, even if you are not a history buff, you can still enjoy this game and most of the questions are of a multiple choice variety so you are still in with a chance of winning ! I see there is an Egyptian version too so I imagine it is much the same but we haven't played that yet :

 

8 Labyrinth

This game is one of our favourites on holiday. We have always borrowed it from the ones available to borrow from the Eurocamp caravan.

9  Last Night on Earth 

A board game which might get the teenagers and online gaming addicts joining in. You can either join the Heroes team or the Zombies team and it even comes with a soundtrack ! People will wonder what on earth is going on in your tent with this one !!

10 Cleudo - World of Harry Potter

I do love the original Cleudo with Miss Scarlet and Professor Plum ! However I can see how the game lends itself really well to being redesigned as Hogwarts Castle for Harry Potter, complete with Floo Powder to let you travel across the board instead of underground tunnels ! So this would be ideal if you have Harry Potter fans in the family !

Well that is our list of top 10. I have thought of many others as I was writing this list and found one called Dominion that I would like to try:

 

Another thing we really enjoyed doing one year was to create our own games. You will get all sorts of creativity going on and it kept the kids busy for ages ! So take some pencils and paper with you - always a good idea ! And now I'm in the mood for board games - I've just bought Taboo Junior from Amazon.fr so we can keep up the task of learning French ! Even if it is at a junior level ! And now I've just remembered another game thats great for young children - Shopping List in French "Les Courses a Faire" - a memory game - see who can fill their shopping trolley first ! And it features French products such as baguettes, fromage and croissants - so its a great way to learn French !
 

And just in case you still want to stick with the old classics then here are some links to them :


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Dont worry about missing this Summer of Sport while Camping in France !

If you are worried about missing the major televised International Sports Event this summer (25th July - 12th August) while you are on your French Camping holiday, then dont worry any more. The following campsites are just some of the ones which Keycamp and Eurocamp go to which will be catering for a summer of sport !

This is a selection of some of the campsites which Eurocamp and Keycamp go to and which will show the Event on Big Screen television :

Le Ranc Davaine (in Auvergne or Ardeche) ,
La Bugue (St Avit Loisirs) in the Dordogne,
Le Vieux Port in Gascony, Domaine de Chalain in the Jura , Club Farret, Domaine de Massereau and Les Sablons in Languedoc
Esterel on the Riviera
La Pointe St Gilles, Les Deux Fontaines and La Grande Métairie in Brittany

In addition, some of the children's clubs will offer a Mini Sports activities and some of the sites are even getting adults involved with the entertainments - so if sport is your thing you should have a fantastic summer !

Keycamp and Eurocamp are offering a two hour Fun Sports session per week as part of their Children's Clubs and these sesssions which will aim offer a combination of traditional events such as Javelin, Hammer, Discus, Shot, Long jump, Relay race and Short individual race as well as fun events as well such as bean bag races and obstacle courses.

For more details of all of this please check the Eurocamp and Keycamp websites :

          

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Win a Family Set of Tickets for the Caravan & Motorhome Show, Chepstow, Wales

We have a family set of 6 tickets to give away to the Caravan & Motorhome Show at Chepstow Racecourse, Wales

The show runs from Friday 20th April to Sunday 22nd April 2012 and is a great chance to have a look round the latest models of caravans and motorhomes. If you are thinking of buying a motorhome or caravan then nothing beats actually sitting in one to get an idea of the space and equipment they contain. Much more sensible than looking at a diagram !

Its also a chance to buy accessories and see all that is new in gadgets and gizmos, so its useful for tent campers too !

In addition there may be a chance to buy second hand motorhomes and caravans.
If you would like to enter then please add a comment to this blogpost. Good luck !

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Fun Tents - VW Camper Vans and Kennels !

Here are some really fun tents to take camping.
First we have the VW campervan tent !

Ideal for you to indulge that inner hippy on the festival circuit or else to attract loads of attention on the campsite !

And much cheaper than buying the real thing !

And if you are taking the family dog on holiday then why not get them their own kennel tent !

This is fun and gives the dog their own retreat but just watch out as tents do heat up in the sun and you don't want to overheat poor Rover/Fido/Buster/Tyson or whatever they are called ! (Why do boy dogs get all the good names ?) 

Last year when we took our dog camping, during the day when she wanted a snooze in the heat of the midday sun, we used a windbreak to give her shade and put the dog cage lying behind it so that our dog had some shade but also a breeze to keep them cool. And that was just in Cornwall ! This year we are trying the North of France so hope she enjoys that !

And to keep kids cool and out of direct sunlight on the beach, a beach tent shelter is a great idea. Here's a fun shark one. How many times will "Jaws" be mentioned if you take this on holiday !

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