Camping de la Vallée de l’Oise

Guise is a pretty town with plenty to see and do. Start your exploration at The Familistère Guise (20 minutes’ walk), built in the mid-19th century by industrialist Jean-Baptiste André Godin as housing for his workforce, and now a gigantic ‘living museum’. Don’t miss the ruined Castle of Guise (15 minutes), where you can have a forage around in underground tunnels and admire views over rooftops to the River Oise from the ramparts. For a moment of quiet contemplation in nature, head for the lovely riverside Jardin de la Presqu’île (25 minutes). To continue with the cultural theme, you may like to visit a couple of the fortified churches of Thiérache; the nearest are red-brick, 14th-century Église Saint-Nicolas in Englancourt (20 minutes’ drive) and Église Saint-Martin, topped by a black-tiled spire in Fontaine-lès-Vervins (25 minutes). If you’d rather do your exploring on foot, have a meander along the banks of the Oise from your pitch, or strike out on paths through woodland and fields in the Parc Naturel Régional de l’Avesnois (half an hour) – and if the kids are needing to run off surplus energy, take them kart racing at Labyrinthe Aventure (50 minutes).