Camping La Sirène with kids: six weeks, new pools and a huge terrace

Six weeks at Camping La Sirène in Argelès-sur-Mer, from early May to mid June. The water park was expanded and finally heated this year, the terrace at the lodge is the same size as the lodge itself, and we properly left the site twice in six weeks. That last bit says most of it.

We have been here before. First at Le Bois Fleuri, then at La Sirène, and by now we simply book the second one again. This time we stayed six weeks, from early May to mid June.

In that whole period we properly left the site twice. Two outings in six weeks, and we were never bored for a moment. That is probably the most honest thing you can say about this campsite: you do not have to leave it to feel like you are on holiday.
 

The drive: 1,360 kilometres, and not via Paris

Google Maps likes to send you around Paris, but we would rather go via Dijon and Lyon. The Route du Soleil, in other words, and it is much nicer driving. On the way down we slept near Lyon, on the way back we drove it home in one go.

Count on 13.5 hours from Utrecht. That is not a quick hop, and it is exactly why we stayed six weeks instead of two. If you drive that far, you want to arrive and then stay a while.
 

The lodge: compact inside, twice the size outside

We had a Lodge 3 Prestige. Inside that is 40 m², and honestly it feels smaller than other 40 m² places we have stayed in. Three bedrooms, six beds, and that is it.
But inside is not where you live here. The terrace is the same size as the lodge, and on it there is a summer kitchen with a gas plancha, a sink and a worktop, plus a table with six chairs and a lounge corner. Suddenly you have 80 m² of living space instead of 40.

We cooked outside, ate outside and sat outside for six weeks, and not once did we think the lodge was too small. Breakfast took as long as it took, and in the evenings we stayed out until it got too cool. That is the difference with a cottage further north: at Landal Hochwald in November the six of us edged past each other indoors, here inside is only for sleeping.

The lodge sits in a pedestrian zone, so no cars come in. The children could play in the lane without you watching every second, and after a day or two that makes an enormous difference. Only the e-scooters go faster than you would like sometimes.

Worth knowing, though: that car-free zone ends. To get to the playground they walk down our lane, out of the pedestrian zone, and then along a stretch of road where cars do drive. People drive carefully on a campsite, but the route is not car-free all the way.
 

What it cost

We paid around 134 euros a night on average for the lodge. That average does hide the spread: early May is below it, and around Whitsun and later in June you are well above it. Their own site starts at 115 euros a night for this type.

We chose a six-person lodge because two more people were going to join us, which in the end did not work out. With the four-person version of the same Lodge 3 Prestige we would have been a thousand euros better off for our dates.

Also worth knowing: the supermarket on site is not cheap, and the charging points on the campsite are three times the price of the ones at the McDonald's in Argelès. So we did our shopping in town, which turned out to be a nice outing in itself.
 

The water park, and what was added in 2026

This is the biggest change since last time, and it solved exactly the complaint we had written down ourselves.

In 2025 we still wrote that it was a shame the outdoor pool was unheated in May. That is over now. A completely new section has been built with three pools and a new lawn: a semi-olympic heated pool, a heated family lagoon and a covered pool for children and teenagers. On balance we could swim happily for all six weeks, and that was genuinely different last year.
In early May those heated pools are the difference between swimming and not swimming. From late May, when it was heading for 30 degrees every day, the cooler covered pool was the nicest one. The lagoon is a fraction cooler than the semi-olympic pool, but you really only notice that stepping from one into the other.

The rules differ per pool, which is handy to know before you turn up with a bag full of inflatables. In the heated pools inflatables are not allowed; in the big unheated pool they are. In the family lagoon you cannot throw balls around, in the semi-olympic pool you can.

There are three covered pools, and that new children's and teenagers' one is among them. One of the three is adults only. Handy when it rains, although a dome like that echoes enormously and it is full in early May, so we were rarely in there. Now that the outdoor pools are heated you do not need to be.

Something else we noticed: thanks to the extension, the crowding in the water was far less noticeable than we were used to. Even on the full days we found a spot.
 

The days: plenty on, nothing you have to join

Something happens here every day, and you never have to take part. There is a playground, a mini golf course, sports pitches, music or a show every day, sports competitions and balloon modelling. The circus workshop was small scale but so much fun that we did it several times. The closer high season gets, the more there is, but even in May there is more than enough.

You arrange everything through the app. There is a paper activity programme too, but the app has all of it and lets you sign up straight away.

The kids' club is the only part that did not work for us, and honestly that says more about our children than about the club. It runs in three age groups (3 to 5, 6 to 9 and 10 to 12) and lasts 2.5 hours. They do genuinely lovely things, but you cannot leave halfway, and our daughter came back in tears once because she wanted to go outside half an hour before the end. We prefer campsites where you can wander in for a bit of crafting. The children around us seemed perfectly happy with it. Worth knowing: for the youngest group it is mornings only and never on Sundays, and mornings are busy while afternoons are a lot quieter.
 

Shows and evenings, and this is where the difference is

This campsite produces so many good shows. Or rather, the campsite: it is the theatre company called Syppox, the same name as the kids' club. We still do not know whether that theatre is theirs or hired in, but it seems to belong together. These are genuine professionals.

They do music shows, of which ABBA and Icones were our favourites, and musicals. Simba, their version of The Lion King, we saw three times in six weeks, and the third time was as good as the first. Back to the Future and Aladdin were excellent too. We had seen The Little Mermaid the year before and it did not fit our dates this time, so we missed that one.
They also bring in outside musicians, and the magic shows were our children's favourites. Robert watches far too many videos of magicians at home and saw through the acts quickly, while the children hung on every word. Our youngest did find it frightening now and then, with people supposedly chopped in half and an enormous fake dragon as a set piece, but he also scares easily and the rest of the room loved it.

There is also the Miss Who show, which is hugely popular but not really our thing. A man dressed as an old lady works the tables and puts plenty of people on the spot, in a funny way. The first half is a show, the second half is bingo. Our children wanted to watch, but hid under the table so they would not be picked.

We were there during the football World Cup and every match went up on a big screen in the bar. Great fun, except there was sometimes live music at the same time and you could not hear the commentary. Not ideal for the fans, and honestly not for the band either, playing to a packed bar where everyone was looking at a screen.

For some of the shows you can book a dinner show: the magic shows, some music shows and all the musicals. You get a set menu with a starter, a main and a dessert, and the children get their own. We did it twice, both times for Simba, and the menu was different each time and genuinely good.
One tip: ask for a table in advance. You can end up far at the back or off to one side, where you see a lot less, or you can sit in full sun under the dome for three hours. The staff put up parasols where they can. The second time we asked for a specific table and because it was not busy that was no trouble at all.
 

Eating on site: ice cream, beignets and chicken tenders

There is a lot of catering here, and it is good as well.

The ice cream parlour comes first. Scooped ice cream, soft serve, waffles and crêpes. We have told the madame chantilly story before, and this year was no different: when she puts the whipped cream on, you get your money's worth. After six weeks they recognised us on site, and our youngest even got a hug from madame chantilly, who thought he and his white-blond hair were wonderful. Genuinely lovely people.

There is also a restaurant called Josette et Claude for pizza and pasta, a beach bar where you can have a good lunch and a drink, and a takeaway with chips, pizza, sandwiches, salads, fresh dishes and even Dutch snacks like frikandellen. The chicken tenders there are a recommendation, but honestly everything was good. And then there is a little bakery with baguettes, croissants, mini beignets and all sorts of pastries.

There is a supermarket on site too, with a decent range, only it is not cheap.

Opening hours in low season. The supermarket and the bakery close between 1 and 4, and are otherwise open from 8 to 1 and from 4 to 8. The takeaway was open from 12 to 10, although they served no pizzas in the afternoon and sometimes no burgers either, because there would be one person on the till and in the kitchen at the same time. The ice cream, crêpe and waffle stand was open every day from 1 to 11. Generous hours, then, even outside high season. In high season the supermarket and bakery stay open over lunch, and busy public holidays count as high season for them too.
 

How busy is it?

In May, outside the public holidays, it is genuinely quiet and relaxed here. There is room everywhere, you never have to rush for anything and the site feels spacious. That is our main reason for going outside the summer.

Around Ascension and Whitsun it is a different place. The site fills up with French families and you notice it everywhere: on popular show nights you need to arrive early for a spot at a table, dinner shows book out quickly, the queues at the food outlets are longer and for the morning kids' clubs you have to be quick. Only in the water was it barely noticeable, thanks to the extension.

In June it gets gradually busier, but it stays manageable. There is also more and more entertainment in those weeks, so you get something in return.

One thing that is good in every week: security on site is tight. You do not get in without a wristband, and you have to show it at the entrance. With children walking to the playground on their own, that helps a lot.
 

Off site: shopping and two day trips

There is a big Intermarché in Argelès itself, and we also like a calm trip to the Lidl, also in Argelès. The Lidl has a smaller but cheaper range; at the hypermarket you find everything. Near the Intermarché there is a McDonald's with cheap charging points, handy for our electric car.

So we made two proper outings. We went to Castelnou, which we would recommend, and to the market in Argelès. Beyond that we went to the beach a few times and to our favourite beach bar, which is genuinely fantastic. We usually went to Argelès-Plage, 4.1 kilometres away. Pebbles rather than sand, and the water is very clear but gets deep quickly. In May and June it was 19 to 20 degrees: the children did not think twice about it, we needed a moment.
There is plenty to do in the area, with mountains, beaches, markets and lovely little towns close by. What we did in earlier years is in Argelès-sur-Mer with kids: the coast road to Collioure and Banyuls, the walled Villefranche-de-Conflent with the caves, and a full day in Carcassonne.

The fact that we only left twice in six weeks says nothing about the area. It says something about how much there is to do on site, and about what happens when you stay somewhere for a long time. Our other French campsites were a lot smaller in scale: Les Brunelles in the Vendée and the one near Vidauban among the vineyards. Both lovely, but really something else than this.
 

Frequently asked questions about Camping La Sirène

 

Does Camping La Sirène work for families?

Yes, to the point where we simply keep going back. In six weeks there was not a single day we were unhappy. It is officially a five-star campsite, but it feels like a resort, and that difference decides whether it suits you.
  Six weeks on one campsite sounds like a long time. It never felt that way, and that had a lot to do with that terrace.

We are already looking at next year. Probably not six weeks this time, more like a fortnight, but here again.
   

See also

Destinations Center Parcs Les Trois Forêts in January with kids: lots of forest, one night of snow, expensive groceries Destinations Disneyland Paris with kids: what worked for us (and what didn’t) Destinations Three days at Disneyland Paris in December with kids

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