Last Updated on 6 June 2026 by Colette
After missing out last year thanks to Ben’s GCSES, we were super excited for “Le Retour” this year – a return to our annual family holiday in France with bonus Custard! Having not taken the kids on holiday last year we decided to eek out our May half term by setting off a daily earlier than usual and coming home a day later giving us nine nights at Camping Les Marsouins in Argelès-sur-Mer in the South of France (plus a 20ish hr drive on either side of that!)
Camping Les Marousins is a Ciela Village site and we booked with them direct. You can book with Eurocamp for this site but not during May half term. Camping Les Marsouins is open from April to October.
Note – this Camping Les Marsouins review will have less photos than usual because I wasn’t really planning on writing it and spent a lot of time laid by the pool instead of taking pictures for you – sorry!
Check in at Camping Les Marsouins
Check in at Camping Les Marsouins was very straight forward – we actually arrived on site a little before check in but luckily our holiday home was already ready so we were able to get the keys and head straight there. Kirst and Chris had arrived a bit before us and, as their holiday home wasn’t ready, they had made themselves comfortable at the bar! The member of staff who checked us in spoke English which I must admit was a relief as my usually passable French was definitely not free flowing after our long journey down!
At check in we were given a key to our mobile home and wristbands to wear throughout our stay – these were typically checked around the pool and when we arrived back on site after an evening out.
The barrier to the campsite was usually open for you to drive in and out freely however there is a member of secrity staff in a small office keeping an eye on things and if you arrived back later at night someone would check for your wristbands or the campsite badge in your car window. (It’s worth noting that the barrier is locked between 11pm at 7am.)
Camping Les Marsouins Campsite
Les Marsouins campsite is a 5* in Argelès-sur-Mer with around 376 mobile homes and lodges alongside 211 touring or “bare” pitches – because of the location of our own mobile home which was a hop, skip and a jump from the swimming pool and not much further to the bar, campsite shop and main entrance, we didn’t actually explore the site as a whole. When the kids were younger we used to take their bikes on holiday so they’d have been all over the campsite but these days the main focus is the pool!
The Camping Les Marsouins touring pitches or “bare pitches” we saw look spacious and I really liked the way they were separated by hedges giving a sense of privacy. From what we saw, the standard Comfort mobile homes felt like they were a bit on top of each other and the roads through the park whereas the Privilege mobile homes were laid out in such a way that there was more space between them and they also weren’t really facing each other so you didn’t feel on display sat on your deck area. In that sense, if you can afford the upgrade to Privilege I’d go for it!
The site itself is really well maintained, with regular garden maintenance taking place across the week we were there – not intrusively so, just making sure the grass was cut and the shrubs neatly trimmed. The shower and toilet block next to the pool is spacious, modern and clean – but do bear in mind it is unisex with a set of urinals right in the middle of it!
I used the laundry room once but was fairly shocked at being charged 7 Euros to do a wash – the machine are big so you can fit plenty in and this includes your detergent but it seemed quite expensive to me! (And, as a side note, I had actually taken my own laundry products and would have preferred to have been able to use those!). If you wanted to use one of the driers, it was a further 5 Euros. I’d have definitely done more washing if it was cheaper but at the price I’d have been better off buying extra underwear to take with me!
There is a small play area and free-to-use trampolines which our three were having a lot of fun on until they got told off for being too big!
It’s worth mentioning that dogs are allowed at this campsite – though I don’t think our Poppy would especially appreciate a visit!
We didn’t speak to any other English guests on the site and actually only heard a handful of English voices all week – other holiday makers were mostly French and German I think – we often find this to be the case when a) we travel so far South and b) we don’t book with Eurocamp.
A quick note on mobile data and WiFi – we were given four codes for the WiFi on arrival but Chris and Kirst weren’t given any – I used one for my laptop as I needed to do some work, Chris used one to stream the rugby but other than that we all managed on our data (we’d sorted ESims for the kids) and as far as I’m aware nobody had any issues with connectivity.
Accomodation Options at Camping Les Marsouins
So as I’ve already mentioned, there are several options for Ciela Village accomodtion at Les Marsouins – bare pitches for you to rock up and set up your own family tent or caravan and then Comfort, Privilege and Prestige (some of which come with a hot tub!). We booked the Privilege – the price difference wasn’t massive, maybe a couple of hundred euros but having “levelled up” our accomodation on our last trip to France, I don’t think we’d choose to drop back!
The Prividge homes come with an assigned parking spot on the edge of the section of Privildge homes rather than right outside the door. The Priviledge mobile homes each feature a shaded wooden deck with comfortable patio furniture (vital for those alfresco breakfasts) and a couple of sunbeds. Although the website says you get a “fully equiped kitchen” it’s worth noting this means a fridge, freezer, dishwasher and hob but no oven. You do have a mega Cadac gas grill outside though which Dave and Chris really rated.
Our lodge, to sleep six people, had a larger than average master bedroom with a really comfortable king sized bed (joy), a decent sized shower and toilet which weren’t so much ensuite as just behind the bed and out of sight. The other two bedrooms had a “jack and jill” bathroom. One bedroom had small bunk beds and the other two small singles – of course really these rooms are designed for children not practically adult sized teens but they seemed to manage fine!
Both Comfort and Prestige accommodations are equipped with air conditioning which we were super grateful for thanks to a random May heatwave!
Swimming at Camping Les Marsouins
The swimming pool is always going to be a key part of our family holiday in France and is one of the first things we look for when we are choosing a French campsite.
Open daily from from 10am to 7pm, the water park at Camping Les Marousins features a small paddling pool area with a tiny slide for the little ones, a 530m2 heated outdoor pool with a lazy river (which Kirst and I spent a lot of time walking laps of), an a large jacuzzi (I didn’t go in there but Kirst said she had expected it to be warmer when it was just the same as the swimming pool). There’s also five slides which are great for kids thanks to the run out lanes rather than a plunge pool at the end – you will still get a right face full of water though! The slides are open all day and we never really saw much of a queue build up – though I guess that could be because there were quite a few much older guests when we were there rather than lots of families.
The pools were all spotlessly clean although, much like when we stayed at Camping Les Tropiques a few years ago, all three children end up with sore toes from some texture on the tiles at the bottom of the pool and Amy’s swimming costumes ended up wrecked – I would suggest it’s perhaps worth wearing swimming socks if your children are going to be in the pool often. The paving around the pool area also gets super hot.
It’s also worth mentioning that they didn’t seem bothered by the usual requirement for men to wear tight fitting trunks rather than loose swim-shorts – we have seen people be asked to leave the pool on other sites for wearing swimming shorts but nobody batted an eyelid here.
The kids were disappointed not to be allowed inflatables in the pool however they had expected it might be the case after our trip to Domaine Des Naiades a couple of years ago. That said, I do find it odd that they still sell them in the campsite shop! The lifeguards sometimes provided pool noodles for everyone to use though so they enjoyed messing about with those a bit.
You can’t take drinks or snacks poolside which I understand from the perspective of keeping everywhere nice and clean but I’d have liked to have been able to keep a drink my by bed for hydration purposes! There is a snack bar just outside the pool but this is only open during peak months – so not May half term and the bar is a few minutes walk away. We tended to leave the pool to go back to our holiday home for lunch but on one of the days we did this, someone moved all our things from the sunbeds!
The beds were sturdy and comfortable – we particularly liked that some of the beds were in pairs with a table and parasol in the middle but there weren’t many of these meaning they were sought after and we all agreed they could have done with more beds with shade! I would suggest that on busier days in high season, there’s nowhere near enough beds around the pool but isn’t that the case everywhere! We found that the pool was often quite quiet in the morning, getting busier around lunch time and peaking late afternoon. We didn’t struggle to grab six or seven beds together though at least a couple of us were usually at the pool for opening time!
Camping Les Marsouins Campsite Shop
The campsite shop is open daily selling all the essentials including freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat (yes, they are absolutely essential). Typically the only thing we really use the campsite shop for is pastries for breakfast each day though we did grab some beers on the first night and found them to be fairly priced. The girls also picked up some beaded bracelets to take home for their friends. I didn’t actually go in until the last day!
Camping Les Marsouins Restaurant and Bar
Dave and Chris tended to head down to the campsite bar for a couple of beers mid afternoon but otherwise we didn’t really make much use of it – this might have been a different story if they’d sold margaritas but the cocktail menu wasn’t really appealing to us and because the site wasn’t busy, there wasn’t much of a vibe. We were just as happy sat on the deck of our mobile home playing Cards Against Humanity!
We didn’t eat the campsite restaurant but we did use the takeaway service a couple of times and, though not cheap, the pizzas were great!
Onsite Entertainment
Typically campsite entertainment at May half term is fairly lacking – not just at Camping Les Marsouins but at all the campsites we’ve stayed at in France. This is because it’s not quite peak season and there’s not enough people to justify a packed entertainment programme – and to be honest I like it like that. I don’t go on holiday to be entertained, organised fun is not my thing! We did feel quite sorry for the guy on the stage at night when there wasn’t really anyone there. We stumbled across a quiz in the bar one afternoon but it was all in French so we didn’t try and join in!
Proximity to the beach
Camping Les Marsouins is about 800m from the beach – but we didn’t bother walking down as, much as I love to be by the sea, the kids are happier at the pool.
We’ve come to realise that it’s me that wants to be near the sea, not the kids – they much prefer the pool and the slides so next time we might look at something inland for a change.
We did drive down to Argeles Sur Mer quite a few times to go out for dinner (we recommend La Canne à Sucre) and I definitely appreciated seeing the sea then – particularly when we left the kids with takeaway pizza for tea and snuck off for a bougie grown ups’ evening at Nouvelle Vague Beach Club!
Camping Les Marsouins Location
In terms of location, Camping Les Marsouins is not that far from Perpignan but we had visited there last time we were in the South of France so we didn’t bother going this time. You’re only about 50km from the border of Spain so we took a drive to Girona for a day out and also popped up to Canet Plage to meet my friend Mel who happened to be on holiday just half an hour away from us!
Argelès-sur-Mer is a gorgeous beach location surrounded by mountains making for a lovely vista – we enjoyed heading down to the sea front for dinner and a wander (this is walkable from the campsite but we had a hire car so made use of that!). There’s plenty to do in the surrounding area including the Drop In water park but as we were visiting just out of season, lots of stuff was still closed.
Would we return to Camping Les Marsouins? Absolutely. We loved the site and the location – though adding margaritas the cocktail menu would be a win for us! And in terms of the Ciela Village brand? Dave is already reserching options for our next trip.
Top Tips for Staying at Les Marsouins
- Book early for peak season and do your research to find the best deals
- Check your accommodation thoroughly on arrival
- Pay extra for the more bougie accommodation, it’s worth it!
- Get to the pool for opening time for the best choice of sunbeds especially as there is limited shade around the pool
- Consider protective socks for the kids in the pool
- Pool side paving gets very hot
- Be aware that if you leave your bed for too long (apparently an hour is too long?) you’ll probably lose it!
- Take towel pegs to secure your towel onto your beds, it can get windy in the afternoons
- Bring essentials to avoid pricey on-site shop (and be sure to visit the local Intermarché!)
- Laundry is expensive (but does include detergent so don’t worry about packing that)
- Pack insect repellent (and a Bite Away pen for when you do get bitten!)
- Make sure to pack some cards or games for the evenings
- Be aware that the weekends can be quite noisy – Saturday night felt very lively across the site with loud music and groups of people enjoying the weekend. (Though in fairness it was a bank holiday in France!)
If there’s anything else you want to know about the campsite that you think I’ve missed, let me know in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer! It might be worth checking out my insta highlights too as I answered loads of questions there.
Have a read of these posts next:
Hiring a car to drive to the South of France
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