Top 10 camping and caravanning
Spectacular views and wildlife on your doorstep
Spectacular views, excellent facilities and wildlife on your doorstep make a camping or caravanning holiday the perfect get-away-from-it-all break. Take you pick from small, quiet sites to fully serviced resorts with restaurants and evening entertainment.
1. Poston Mill Park, Herefordshire
Explore the lush Golden Valley while staying at this 35-acre caravan and camping park on the River Dore. Top-notch facilities include a children’s play area, 9-hole pitch and putt, games room and a bar and restaurant. Free print outs of suggested walks are available from reception, which can also organise rental bikes. Take a trip to the cathedral city of Hereford, renowned for the Mappa Mundi and the largest chained library in the world, or visit the Tudor villages of Eardisland and Pembridge with their handsome timbered houses.
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2. Callow Top, Peak District
With summer entertainment, a heated outdoor pool, fishing lake and a brewery you’d be forgiven for not leaving this campsite during your entire stay. The setting’s not bad either: situated on an elevated position near the market town of Ashbourne. The 13-mile Tissington Trail, a walking and cycling route along a disused railway line, is just on your doorstep and the beautiful Georgian spa town of Buxton is close by too. If you fancy some more white-knuckle adventures, Alton Towers is only 20 minutes drive away.
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3. Deers Glade, Hanworth, Norwich
You may spot red or roe deer when you stay at this quiet, family-run site in a woodland clearing. In the summer the owners organise hog roasts and BBQs and if you book a pitch at their neighbouring no-frills site, Muntjac Meadow (August only), you can enjoy a nightly campfire. Explore the pretty north Norfolk coast with its sandy beaches, nature reserves and gastro pubs, hire a boat on the Norfolk Broads or discover the city of Norwich with its half-timbered houses and Norman castle.
4. Castlerigg Hall, Keswick, Cumbria
It describes itself as the ‘park with the view’ for good reason; Castlerigg Hall offers fine panoramas of the glistening waters of Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, both backed by equally stunning fells. Tuck into traditional Cumbrian specialities while admiring the views in the on-site restaurant – there’s also a shop, campers’ kitchen and laundrette. Only 1.5 miles from picturesque Keswick. With excellent walking on the doorstep, this park is perfectly positioned to explore the best of the Lake District.
5. Seafield, Seahouses, Northumberland
Enjoy spectacular views of imposing Bamburgh Castle at this touring caravan site. Facilities include the Ocean Club with its indoor pool, sauna and steam room, a children’s play area and nature trail. Restaurants and bars are located in the fishing village of Seahouses. From here you can take a boat trip to see the grey seals and sea birds on the Farne Islands or visit some of Northumberland’s dramatic, weather-beaten castles, including Alnwick with its opulent staterooms and Capability Brown parkland.
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6. Trethem Mill Touring Park, near St Mawes, Cornwall
Set on the rural Roseland Peninsula, this 12-acre park is open to both touring caravans and traditional campers with a shop, an indoor dishwashing facility and children’s play area. Take a short stroll to the St-Just-in-the-Roseland church where sub-tropical shrubs and flowers tumble down to the water’s edge. Or walk two miles into St Mawes, home to a beautifully preserved castle commissioned by Henry VIII. Superb sandy beaches and idyllic public gardens are within easy reach.
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7. Lebberston Touring Park, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Friendly owners will tow your caravan to its pitch at this well-manicured, tranquil site overlooking the Yorkshire Wolds. An on-site shop sells local eggs and honey plus all the other basics. Visit the traditional seaside resort of Scarborough, walk along the dramatic coast on the Cleveland Way or take a steam train ride across the wild, heather-strewn North York Moors National Park.
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8. Park Cliffe Caravan Park, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria
Children love to fool around in the stream running through this 25-acre, well-equipped site with its bar and restaurant. When they tire of that there’s also an adventure play area to burn off some energy or a walk up Moor How for spectacular views of the Lake District. Kids will also enjoy the Beatrix Potter attraction at Bowness, home to a three-screen cinema and a shop selling 36 flavours of ice cream. Now that’s bliss.
9. Far Grange Park, Skipsea, East Yorkshire
Enjoy access to an 18-hole links golf course, leisure club with indoor pool and two fishing lakes. This 72-acre country park has direct access to a sandy beach plus a nature trail where you can go bird watching. In the evening enjoy talent shows, cabaret and fancy dress competitions. Nearby Bridlington is a traditional English seaside resort with mini golf and donkey rides.
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10. Long Hazel Park, Sparkford, Somerset
An ideal base for exploring the West Country, Long Hazel Park is an 'Adults Only' touring park set in mature landscaped grounds in South Somerset. Immaculately maintained, the site boasts excellent facilites for visitors with accessibility needs and can accommodate motorhomes, caravans and tents. Close by is Cadbury Castle, favoured by historians as the most likely site in Britain for King Arthur's Camelot, as well as the charming market towns, Sherborne and Castle Cary. It's also perfect for days out to Glastonbury Tor, Cheddar Gorge and Stonehenge.
