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Campervan holidays in the French Alps with 3 kids: Our Bonfire Vans adventure
I've wanted a campervan for years.
And I don't mean I've occasionally thought it might be quite nice to have one. I mean it's been firmly on my five-year, ten-year, possibly fifteen-year life plan for as long as I can remember.
There's just something about the idea of being able to throw a few things in the back, bundle the kids in and head off into the mountains without having to book accommodation, stick to a fixed itinerary or spend hours packing and unpacking.
And living in La Plagne, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the French Alps, it feels like the perfect way to explore everything we have on our doorstep.
So when Bonfire Vans, a local campervan rental company, offered us the chance to take two of their vans out on separate adventures, I was ridiculously excited.
The plan was simple: take the kids, explore some of our favourite places around Annecy and La Plagne, and see what campervan life was actually like for a mum travelling with three children.
Because while campervans look fantastic on Instagram, I was particularly interested in the reality of living, sleeping, cooking and travelling in one with three kids.
Would there be enough space? Would everyone sleep? Would cooking be a nightmare? And would I still want my own campervan afterwards?
Spoiler alert: yes. Very much yes.
Disclosure: Bonfire Vans provided the campervans for our trips in exchange for content. All experiences and opinions shared here are my own.
Our first family campervan adventure
We were lucky enough to try two different vans from Bonfire Vans: a VW California Coast and a Baxter van with a rooftop tent.
Both offer quite different ways of travelling, which was particularly interesting because I've always imagined campervan life as one very specific thing.
In reality, the type of van you choose can make a big difference to how your holiday works, especially when you're travelling with children.
The California is more of an all-in-one campervan, with its kitchen, fridge, seating and sleeping arrangements integrated into the vehicle.
The Baxter rooftop-tent setup has a different, more outdoorsy feel, with the sleeping space above the vehicle.
Rather than simply taking the vans out for a quick drive, we wanted to use them properly: sleeping, cooking, packing up, heading out for adventures and doing the everyday things that make up a campervan holiday.
And that's exactly what we did.
Campervanning with three kids: is it actually practical?
This was probably my biggest question before the trip.
I'm used to travelling with the children, and we spend a huge amount of time outdoors, hiking, exploring and generally getting out into the mountains.
But travelling in a campervan is different from staying in an apartment or hotel.
You have to think about where everyone's going to sleep, where the clothes and shoes are going, how you're going to prepare meals, and what happens when four people all want something from the same tiny space at once.
The biggest thing I learned is that organisation makes a massive difference.
When everything has a place, campervan life feels surprisingly straightforward. When bags, coats, shoes and random children's possessions start spreading everywhere, things can get chaotic quite quickly.
But one of the things I really liked was how little we actually needed.
We weren't trying to recreate our house inside a van. We had somewhere comfortable to sleep, a way to prepare food, and everything we needed for a few days exploring.
And that was enough.
Sleeping in a campervan with children
One of the most exciting parts of the campervan adventure for the kids was definitely the sleeping arrangements. There's something about sleeping up in the roof of a van that makes the whole experience feel like a proper adventure!
We actually had two quite different sleeping setups across our trips, which was really useful for figuring out what works best when you're travelling with three children of different ages.
Sleeping in the VW California Coast
In the California Coast, the two boys, aged nine and eight, slept together in the pop-top roof bed. They were brilliant ages for this and absolutely loved having their own little sleeping space upstairs.
My two-year-old daughter slept downstairs with me on the bed that converts from the seating area.
At her age, I wouldn't have been comfortable having her sleep upstairs with the boys. She's still too young, and I would have worried about her falling or trying to climb down during the night.
This arrangement worked really well for us. The boys had their own space, and I could keep the youngest close to me.
Sleeping in the Baxter rooftop tent van
The Baxter was a slightly different experience because the sleeping area is in a rooftop tent rather than an integrated pop-top.
This time, my eldest, Odin, who's nine, slept upstairs in the rooftop tent, while my eight-year-old and two-year-old both slept downstairs with me.
My middle child can have quite disturbed nights of sleep, so I felt more comfortable having him downstairs with me. And again, my youngest was simply too little to sleep up in the tent without an adult.
It did mean the three of us were sharing the downstairs bed, which was a little cosy, but it worked for our trip.
If I'd been travelling with my husband as well, I think we'd have arranged things differently. One of us could have slept upstairs in the rooftop tent with the two boys, while the other stayed downstairs with our two-year-old.
Which sleeping setup worked best for us?
For me, travelling solo with three children, the California Coast was probably the more straightforward sleeping arrangement.
Having the boys together upstairs and my daughter downstairs with me worked nicely, and I liked having everything integrated into the van.
But the Baxter rooftop tent was a proper adventure too, particularly for Odin, who loved having his own space up there.
I think the biggest lesson is that when you're choosing a campervan for a family trip, it's worth thinking about more than simply how many people the van can technically sleep.
The ages of your children, how well they sleep, and whether you're travelling with one or two adults can make a big difference to which setup will work best.
And that's something I hadn't really appreciated until we'd tried both vans ourselves.
Cooking and eating in the campervan
I was really interested to see how practical the cooking arrangements would be.
The VW California Coast has an integrated kitchen with a fridge, two gas hobs and a sink with running water, as well as cooking equipment and crockery.
Which means you can make actual meals rather than relying on sandwiches or eating out for every meal.
And travelling with three children, that is a massive advantage.
Anyone who's been on holiday with kids knows how quickly food costs add up, particularly in popular destinations like Annecy.
Being able to stop somewhere beautiful, get the food out and make lunch or dinner without needing to find a restaurant makes the whole day feel more flexible.
It also means you're not constantly planning your activities around mealtimes.
You can have breakfast before setting off, pack a picnic for the day and cook something simple in the evening.
I'm not suggesting you'll be producing elaborate three-course meals from a campervan kitchen, but that's not really the point.
For me, the appeal is being able to spend more time enjoying where you are and less time worrying about where everyone is going to eat.
Where did we go on our campervan adventures?
One of the things I loved most about having the campervans was the freedom to explore some of our favourite places around the French Alps without having to rush home at the end of the day.
We headed to Lake Annecy, where the kids enjoyed fishing, swimming and a beach day at Saint-Jorioz. We also drove up to Col de la Forclaz to enjoy the incredible mountain views and watch the paragliders.
Closer to home, we spent several nights exploring the mountains around La Plagne, including an overnight stop near a fromagerie surrounded by cows and another adventure above Aime 2000.
We also managed a lovely trip with my mum and the kids to Lac du Bourget, spending an evening up in the mountains at Le Sire before heading down to the lake for a beach day.
And without the children, my mum and I even took one of the vans over the Petit Saint-Bernard Pass into Italy for a spa day at Pré-Saint-Didier.
What I loved was how different every adventure could be. Sometimes it was a busy family trip with three children, bags, food and fishing rods. Other times it was a peaceful evening in the mountains or a relaxing trip with my mum.
And that's what really sold campervan travel to me. We could make each trip exactly what we wanted it to be.
Want to know where we went, where we parked and which overnight stops we'd recommend?
I've put together a separate guide to our five favourite French Alps campervan road trips, including Lake Annecy, La Plagne, Lac du Bourget and the Italian border, with practical parking and motorhome aire information.
What surprised me most about campervan life
I think the thing that surprised me most was just how much I enjoyed the simplicity of it.
I'm someone who loves getting outside and exploring, but travelling with three children can involve a surprising amount of organisation.
There's always something to pack, somewhere to be or something somebody needs.
Having a campervan didn't magically remove all of that. But it did make certain things easier. We had our own little base travelling around with us and we could stop somewhere for a picnic without having to find somewhere to eat.
We could spend longer in a place if everyone was having a good time and we weren't tied to the usual routine of checking in and out of accommodation.
I also loved how it made relatively ordinary things feel special.
- Cooking dinner with the mountains in the background.
- Getting everyone ready for bed in a tiny space.
- Waking up and opening the door to the fresh Alpine air.
There's something really lovely about being able to enjoy those simple moments together.
And I think that's what made the whole experience feel like such an adventure.
What would I do differently next time?
As much as we loved it, I definitely came away with a few ideas for making our next campervan adventure even better.
1. Pack less
Space is limited, especially when you're travelling as a family.
The more you bring, the more you have to organise and move around.
I'd be even more ruthless with packing next time and focus on clothes and equipment we genuinely need.
2. Keep meals simple
Having cooking facilities is brilliant, but I wouldn't want to spend hours preparing meals.
Easy breakfasts, picnics and straightforward dinners are the way to go.
3. Don't try to do too much
It's tempting to plan a different destination or activity every day.
But one of the nicest things about having a campervan is being able to slow down.
I'd make sure we had plenty of time for swimming, exploring, sitting outside and just enjoying where we were.
4. Plan overnight stops in advance
I love the idea of spontaneous campervan adventures, but travelling with children means it's worth having at least a rough idea of where you're going to sleep.
Particularly around popular destinations like Annecy, where campsites and authorised overnight parking can be busy or subject to local restrictions.
5. Allow more time for the mountains
There are so many beautiful places around Annecy and the Tarentaise that it's easy to wish you'd stayed longer.
Col de la Forclaz was a perfect example.
Next time, I'd love to build in more time for hiking and exploring rather than just stopping to admire the view.
Is a campervan holiday in the French Alps a good idea with kids?
I would absolutely recommend trying it.
But I think it helps to go into it with realistic expectations.
Campervan travel isn't the same as staying in a hotel or a spacious holiday apartment.
You're living in a small space, you need to be organised, and you'll probably spend a fair amount of time moving things around.
But for families who enjoy the outdoors, I think the benefits can easily outweigh the inconveniences.
You get to spend more time together, explore different places and enjoy a style of travel that feels like an adventure in itself.
And in the French Alps, where so much of the appeal is the scenery and the outdoor activities, that makes a lot of sense.
It's also a brilliant way to explore destinations like Annecy, La Plagne and the Tarentaise without feeling tied to one accommodation base.
Would I do it again?
Without hesitation.
In fact, the biggest problem with borrowing a campervan for a few days was having to give it back.
I've wanted one for years, and this experience definitely hasn't helped me get over that obsession.
Quite the opposite.
I can already imagine spending longer exploring the Alps, heading off for spontaneous weekends and discovering places we've never visited before.
There's something about being able to pack up and head off with your little home on wheels that really appeals to me.
And while I'm not quite at the stage of buying my own campervan, I'm already thinking about the possibility of taking one away for a longer trip next year.
So yes, the campervan dream is very much alive.
Possibly more than ever.
Where to hire a campervan in the French Alps
For our adventures, we borrowed campervans from Bonfire Vans, a local campervan hire company based in the French Alps.
They have different campervan options depending on how you want to travel, including the VW California Coast that we used with the kids.
If you're thinking about a campervan holiday around Annecy, La Plagne or the wider French Alps, they're a great place to start looking.
You can explore their campervan options, check what's included and find out more about planning your own trip on their website.
Explore campervan hire with Bonfire Vans
And if you're planning a trip to La Plagne, have a look around That's La Plagne for more local guides, family activities, hiking ideas and places to explore while you're here.
Because one thing's for sure: there's an awful lot more to this part of the Alps than skiing.
And after our campervan adventures, I'm more convinced than ever that getting out and exploring it is one of the best things you can do.
