Camping Le Mas des Chênes

This south of France setting is 10 minutes' drive – or about half an hour by bike – from the famed old pottery town of Anduze, home too to the Cévenol market on Thursdays and a night market on Tuesday evenings. The Bambouseraie de Prafrance bamboo garden is just outside town. Two musts around Anduze are the Cévennes steam train, leaving from here on its handsome run along to Saint-Jean-du-Gard (via the bamboo garden if you'd like to alight there), and the vastly spectacular Trabuc cave, the biggest in the Cévennes. More caverns are at La Cocalière, 50 minutes' drive away. Closer to your riverside base, kids should be fur-ly pleased with a look at the Musée des Poupées et Nounours (Doll and Teddy Bear Museum) at Lézan, and the huge outdoor amusement park with adventure pool and farm animals at Saint-Chaptes, 25 minutes away. Mediterranean beaches at Le Grau-du-Roi are within an hour and 15 minutes.