Camping des Gorges — Hotel in Privas

We have been coming here to this campsite since 1992, but it's been a while since we last here.  We loved  it simply for it's location as much as anything, as it's right on the River Ardeche at the bottom of the river in Sauze close to the lovely vibrant village of At Martin d`Ardeche. It also holds a lot of nostalgia for us.

The campsite is a mix of touring pitches with some  bungalows and it is spread out across a wide area, some of the pitches  are on  terraces. It's  nicely set out and the pitches are spacious,  quite private with a decent amount of shade - necessary in the heat of the sun and green (it was May).  There is a small grocery, restaurant, childrens play area , ping pong tables and a multi sports area & a lovely  swimming pool on site.  So in terms of the actual camping it's a really lovely site.

However it's the facilities that let it down now.

There are three toilet blocks..  The top (main) facilities are unisex, and are a mix of showers, WC and basins.  We used the main block as it was closest and to be honest it could really do with an update.  We haven't been in here in a long time (possibly over 10 years) and it still looks the same.   There are no toilet seats on the toilets, there is only 1 soap and that is located outside but there is toilet paper which is a bonus.     The water takes  ages to get hot in the shower but  the water pressure was good, although it did spray every where because the shower heads are so old and it's on a push which you have to do on a very regular basis which is annoying.  There is only 1 hook in the shower  so it's  not great for hanging clothes to change into. The facilities are cleaned every day. For dishwashing I did have a problem getting warm water let alone hot water which isn't good for a supposedly 4 star campsite.

The bottom facility block consists of 2 unisex  WCs and 2 private basins and 2 communal basins  &  dishwashing.  This is a newer block  and is tiled   and actually looks nice and modern.  The 3rd block wasn't open but looking through the window it looks similar to the top block.

There is a restaurant on site which was very nice we ate there one evening and enjoyed a steak and an Ardechoise ice cream.    There are also a few restaurants in Sauze, St Martin D'ardeche and Aigueze too.

If you want to cycle, hike, canoe or just be by the river this is a great campsite to be at.  You can hire canoes in Sauze and get the bus up in the morning to start your descent.  There are lovely hikes up the river - but this can be  tricky in places or you can just relax by the river.  There are also some amazing Grottes to visit around and the cycle through the gorge is a must (or drive) the views are spectacular.   It's a beautiful location but we gave it 3 just because of the main toilet facilities which is...

Usually visit the Alps, however wanted a change this year and went back to tent camping with another family.||Arrived at the site Saturday evening after a long drive through France to be greeted by friendly staff.||We were shown to a large pitch which was surrounded by hedges and trees, staff pointed out the relevant amenities and left us to set up.||Lovely pitch (could fit our family tent and event shelter next to each other with room for the 4x4 and canoe out front).||Amenities were spotless, one of the best we've seen. Lovely, large pool. Snack bar which had quality beer and pizza's / chips etc - excellent after a long day.||Amazing quality restaurant, serving quality French food - only used it a couple of times but the portions were enormous!||Fab access to the Ardeche river, this was usually preferred to the pool as it was so warm and slow flowing - it was usually busy with canoeists as well, but there were never any issues.||Activity wise: the river was ace, lovely local walks to ancient villages, the Gorge is stunning and best seen by driving up it or a canoe trip (fantastic, but a long day out) down it.||Loads of caves, but the Chauvet cave museum is excellent and has the oldest known cave paintings in the world.||Fantastic cycling - Mt Ventoux is 45mins away. Plus the tour de France passed by whilst we were there!||Nimes is an hour away with its Roman amphitheatre - brilliant!||various other Roman sites around the area that we didn't have time to see.||The weather is great, a bit too hot for me - 35-39 degrees whilst we were there.||Plus the site has great facilities for the kids - ours were never off the football pitch.||All in all an amazing area, if you can put up with the heat it's great.||Fantastic campsite which we heartily recommend, probably the best we've stayed at in Europe.||We'll be back (possibly in cooler weather).||Rob & Sarah,...

Our first outing in Europe with our motorhome......... what a fantastic choice. Utterly brilliant location, quiet site right at the end of the ardeche kayak route. This site has a perfect sunny position just outside the village. It's about 15 minutes walk from town along the river.|Site has very clean toilet blocks plenty of hot water all facilities are close to hand.|The owners were very friendly and helpful, we helped them out with a tree that fell in the rain and later that evening we were bought drinks in the site bar. Do not believe the nonsense you might read in some of the other reviews.|The site has an ideal location, plenty of decent restaurants around and easily walkable.|DO NOT MISS OUT ON THE SITES OWN RESTAURANT........ IT IS FANTASTIC!!!!!||We were the only brits on the site ...... and fully recommend the site...