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February 22nd, 2010 Ashley
Planning a group holiday offers its own particular challenge to coordinators of all kinds and levels of experience. Travelling with your own built in group of friends and acquaintances can be a truly enjoyable experience, but the logistics of managing food, entertainment, and lodgings for so many people can be mind boggling, especially for amateurs. If you are planning a group holiday, or merely part of one, then you need to begin by choosing a destination site. For group trips, which are as much about the company as the location, a campsite or holiday park in Devon may be the answer.
The Benefits:
- A campground or holiday park is often the most cost effective method of accommodating a large group. Hotels offer group rates, but the costs of the hospitality industry as well as food and travel for the group may simply prove to be too much. It is much easier to share costs and labour in a camp setting.
- Campsites are almost endlessly expandable. No matter the size of your group, you will not run into caps on room capacity or worse, a booked hotel. In a campground, the more people you bring, the merrier your vacation.
- Feeding your group mates and planning activities for them is also easier in an outdoor setting. One good outdoor barbeque, for example, will keep you entertained for hours. You won’t find that your group is too big for the restaurant and you can make as much noise as you want. Not to mention that you get to plan the menu.
In the end, campsites in Devon are simply more fun for group travel. The lack of rules and structures coupled with the people you enjoy most and the opportunity to get away from it all means that you get to have the vacation you want rather than the one that the hotel personnel dictate to you.
Have it Your Way
Your trip is ultimately supposed to be something you want. With a little research you can find a campsite that is not only available for your entire group when you want it, but one that offers access to all the facilities and activities you want. When you choose the right campground, there is no need to forgo your pool access or your group hike, let alone the after party. A campground will have rules and regulations that you need to obey while staying there, but ultimately you will be free to have your own fun, your own way.
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February 20th, 2010 Ashley
When you plan a family holiday or a trip away from home, the first consideration that you must take into account is where you will be staying. Every trip needs a base of operations, a place you can come back to and recharge at between adventures, as well as a staging ground for new experiences. Though there are many different types of places and ways to fit this particular need for shelter and habitation, most boil down to a rough division between two categories. There’s camping and there are hotels. Each option offers a very different type of experience, but which one is best when you are travelling with the whole family? For example campsites in Woolacombe, North Devon would be very different to a hotel in the middle of London.
Campgrounds: Where Wild Children Run Free and Free Children Run Wild
The advantages that a campground offers for any traveller are based upon its lack of structure. Depending on your level of commitment and experience, you can find sites with a range of infrastructures from the campsite with running water, toilets, and entertainment facilities for the family to the campsite you make yourself. It all depends on what you and your family want. This makes camping ideal for all types of families and age ranges. If you pick your site carefully, you can feel free to make all the noise and fun that you want without ever disturbing anyone else. Furthermore, camping allows you and your kids to get a little closer to the beauties of nature, offering a slight touch of the profound to your vacation experience.
Hotels: Where Comfort Reigns and Rules Hold Sway
Like campgrounds, hotels come in all shapes and sizes, offering a range of accommodation experiences, but unlike campgrounds, most hotels offer a certain base level of infrastructure. There will always be a bed, a bathroom, and electricity. This means that you can always expect to have neighbours who will demand their own consideration and that your accommodations will take on a certain level of expense. The structure that defines the hotel experience can be comforting, but it may infringe on your ability to determine the structure of your vacation. You will be forced to consider costs, check in and check out times, and how to deal with children who may rebel at being cooped up together at night.
Hotels V.S. Camping: Who Wins?
In the end, where you stay depends on what you want and need for your holiday, but when you travel with children and families, campsites offer a much more flexible experience. Camping and Caravan Holidays in Devon and other UK destinations provide will provide great memories for you and your family.
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November 16th, 2009 Alex
The summer just gone, some friends and I made plans to take a three day trip walking along the north coast of Devon. We’d stop off over night at campsites, or any holiday parks that allowed tents, and carry everything we needed on our backs.
I was probably the keenest member of our party, researching routes, places we could stop and rest for lunch and sleep, getting together some of the essential equipment, scrounging tents of various people. Having written that, I realise that I wasn’t just the keenest, but probably the only person with organisational skills.
Anyway, we had alcohol, food, tents, friends, everything for a great holiday. As long as nobody got drunk and stumbled off a cliff then it’d be plain sailing. We were even going to stop by the sea a few times and make a mini UK beach holiday out of it.
Unfortunately, due to schedule conflicts, the trip never took place. Either people were going back to their universities to perform with bands, or going to the largest open air heavy metal festival in the world. Somebody was busy making a film as well.
Oh well. There’s always next summer.
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September 21st, 2009 Alex
The UK has some awesome beaches up and down the coast. West coast, East coast, South coast, Scottish coast, Welsh coast, Northern Irish coast, all of them offer swimming and more.
I’ve gathered a decent collection of stories from the UK beach holidays of my childhood, most of them ending with me being either sandy, soaked, sun burnt, or any combination of those.
I don’t think I’m anywhere near being alone in this (the amount of other families we’d run into on these cheap family holidays backs me up in this), but at some point during most summers, the big six-man tent would be loaded into the boot of the car, and we’d be driven from London to some campsite by the sea. Mostly it was Devon or Cornwall, but sometimes we’d go to Wales or somewhere along the south coast.
Anyway, once the tent had been set up, and we’d done some basic shopping, it’d be down to the beach nearly every day we were there. Whilst on the beach, there were a number of different things that could happen.
The most common occurrence is that I’d have a great day and not want to leave. What this normally resulted in was me running down the beach towards the sea once my parents decided it was time to leave. Normally, my dad would be in hot pursuit. Having just convinced me to change and get ready for the ride home, there was no way he’d let me remember how great the sea was.
More frequently than I would care to admit, I’d make it to the sea, run in and turn around to smirk at my dad, then wonder why he was stood at the edge of the water staring at something behind me. I’d look over my shoulder just in time to be knocked from my feet by some enormous wave, and get tumbled by it right up to wherever he was standing (I still don’t know how he managed to position himself this well).
After I’d been fished out of the water, I’d be led to the car where I would sit in my wet clothes, quietly and sullenly reflecting on where my hubris had led me, and slowly dripping a puddle of sea water on to the floor.
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September 16th, 2009 Alex
Only this year, though.
The multi-award winning Bestival, one of the Isle of Wight’s many annual music festivals, has been going for five years now. You’ve missed it this year, but given its success there’s no reason that you couldn’t take the opportunity to visit next year.
The volume of festivals and carnivals are an excellent reason to consider Isle of Wight holidays, but with Bestival winding up last Sunday, let’s review that to see exactly what you were missing.
Headliners this year were Massive Attack, Kraftwerk and Elbow, each of which gave a spectacular performance to those near the stage, but sound problems on the Friday and Sunday meant that for those further back, Massive Attack and Elbow were lost amongst the sound drifting over from the other tents. Kraftwerk, on Saturday, avoided these problems, and gave a spectacular performance.
In addition to the mix of headliners, performances from Lily Alan, Florence and the Machine, the Fleet Foxes and Seasick Steve, as well as DJs Zane Lowe, Annie Mac and Rob da Bank, meant that the variety of music available at Bestival was truly eclectic; something that the festival aspires to.
Every year there is also a theme, and punters are encouraged to dress up to match it. This year’s was space, and even the bands took part, with Elbow’s Guy Garvey telling the crowd they wouldn’t get an encore unless they hummed the Star Trek theme tune.
Although camping space is available, and the festival organisers provide a selection of gypsy caravans, yurts, squrts, cloudhouses, podpads and bellepads for visitors, there’re plenty of other options for Isle of Wight accommodation available. Hotels or Bed and Breakfasts guarantee you a degree more comfort and the opportunity to shower each day. It also means avoiding the festival toilets, at least some of the time.
Remember that Bestival isn’t the only music festival on the Isle of Wight either, and if you want something different you’ll probably be able to find it. If, on the other hand, it does sound like your type of thing, then I’m glad to have been of service.
Posted in Festivals, camping, isle of wight | 2 Comments »
August 19th, 2009 admin
We all know that holiday parks and camp sites are popular in the UK, but what about the rest of the world. Does everyone love this great versatile form of accommodation that is fun for all the family. In this blog I will look at some Holiday parks and campsites from around the world and see if we all do love the same great Holiday park breaks.
Koningshof, Rijnsburg Holland
This great family run park is around half an hour away from Rotterdam and Amsterdam and is a great base for a sightseeing holiday. The park offers everything you would expect from a UK holiday park like swimming pools, children’s play areas, restaurants, shops and even a lake for fishing. One of the main advantage points of this holiday park is its location as you can combine a traditional camping family holiday with a more city break style sight seeing trip. There are plenty of cycle tracks around making it a good base for active holiday makers.
More information
Le Belledonne, Bourg d’Oisans, The Alps
Stunning views from this park’s beautiful setting awaits visitors to the park. Clean mountain air and the ability to explore the Alps are the main reasons visitors chose this park for their stay. But as with most holiday parks, Le Belledonne caters for the needs of everyone with facilities such as swimming pool, gym, sauna, volleyball and boules.
The nearest town is Bourg d’Oisans that has many shops and restaurants for days out from the park.
More information
Ljubljana Resort, Slovenia
This holiday park resort is perfect for families who want to explore Slovenia and sits alongside the River Sava. Facilities include a pool and leisure complex which comprises of three heated pools, whirlpools, Jacuzzis and pool bars.
Children will love staying at the park as on of the largest water parks, Atlantis is 15 mins away from the park.
Hiring a car is recommended if you haven’t brought your own as there is so much to do in the area, including the stunning lake Bled and castle.
More information
Grand Canyon/Williams
Obviously holiday parks and campsites are great bases to explore America and the Grand Canyon/Williams campsite is no exception. Staying here will allow you to visit the Grand Canyon and Sedona Oak Creek Canyon. There is a great selection of outdoor activities and ways to travel round the area including jeeps, rafting, helicopters and trains. When you have tired yourself out seeing the stunning sights, you can come back to your pine shaded tranquil campsite.
More information
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May 28th, 2009 admin
Planning a camping holiday? If you are, there are many different things that you need to know. First, where you’re camping and what the weather is like during that time of year is vital to being safe and having a good time. You’ll have to pay close attention to these things in order to be prepared for any event. You don’t want to camp out in winter if all you have is a lightweight sleeping bag and a lightweight tent. You need heavier gear during that time of year - but you’ll want that lighter gear, too, if you’re going to spend time camping when it’s warmer outside. Tents and sleeping bags aren’t the only things that you need, though, because there’s a lot more to camping than that. There are backpacks and cook tops and water purifying devices and all sorts of other things, and how much of that you’ll need depends on where and how you camp. To some people, camping means alone in the woods, relying only on themselves for survival. To other people, camping means a campsite where there is an electrical outlet and clean, running water. It can also be somewhere in between those things.
No matter which option you choose you’ll be camping, but how much you have to rely on your own prowess and gear is something you’ll need to consider. Naturally, you don’t want to buy all kinds of things for your holiday that you won’t really need. It’s just a waste of money. Still, though, you want to have what you need and be prepared, so don’t buy just the bare minimum, cheapest things that you can. It’s not usually a very safe way to handle things, especially if you’re camping in a more remote location where there aren’t a lot of other people who could come to your aid if you suddenly encountered a problem. The more alone and the farther away from society you are, the more that you’ll need in order to ensure that you’re as safe as possible and can enjoy your camping holiday. It’s better to be safe than to be sorry.
If you are looking to try camping and want to try Camping in Wales or Camping in Devon then why not try the www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk.
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May 18th, 2009 admin
Relive your Childhood
Many of us remember when we were younger spending our summer holidays in a tent, whether it was on holiday or even in your own back garden, by going on a camping weekend again as an adult you can relive those fond childhood memories all over again. For a few days out of your busy year why not feel like a child again and feel the excitement of sleeping under the stars.
Value for money
Camping is a much cheaper alternative then the traditional hotel based holidays. Buying a tent plus a range of accessories and essentials for a camping trip will either cost the same or even a little less than the average hotel. While this might not seem so cost affective on your first trip remember that next time you will not need to buy all your equipment again so you could well end up saving a lot of money in the long term.
Freedom
A camping holiday will provide much more freedom than a normal holiday. On a camping holiday you don’t have the rules and regulations that hotels and guest houses impose, you can get up when you want, eat when you want, eat what you want, wear what you want and stay up as late as you wish.
Pet Friendly
Many of the countries camping sites allow pets on site, so if you cant bear to be parted from the family pet or simply can’t afford the kennel fees you can bring them along with you.
Family Friendly
If your children love the great outdoors then camping might be the greatest option for them as there is nothing like camping for getting close to nature. Camping is also great for taking part in family activities suck as walking, visiting nearby attractions, numerous camping activities and eating and cooking together as a family.
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April 7th, 2009 admin
A camping experience is something that can be enjoyed by anyone and Europe has a vast amount of places to venture off to. Scotland, Cornwall, Devon and France all offer something different yet all allow you to really get to grips with the fundamentals of what camping is all about.
With so much on offer at the various destinations through out Europe you and your family will be hard pushed to pick just one of these popular destinations. Some people opt to move between campsites, and who could blame them with something so do in each one as well as the freedom to move around and really explore the countryside.
This blog post will highlight some of the best places to go camping in the UK and help you narrow the search for the perfect holiday destination right here in the UK.
First on the list is Culzean Castle in Ayrshire Scotland. This stunning club site is located with in the grounds of a castle. The site offers fantastic views across the ocean looking out towards that Isle of Arran. The castle is situated in the edge of the cliff faces the sea and is a fine example of Robert Adams architecture, and is well worth the trip alone.
Choice number two is Barnard Castle, based in County Durham in the North of England. This popular destination is well known for being a good base for exploring Teesdale and the Yorkshire Dales. This location is a must for walkers and cyclists that are looking for somewhere different to explore. Known as ‘Barney’ by the locals this is a place that will be a talking point for weeks after your holiday.
Our third option is Cannock Chase in Staffordshire and is part of Central England. Surrounded by stunning hills and forests and a range of wildlife this is a treat for those who really enjoy the great outdoors. Situated on the edge of what some consider being one of the Midlands’ greatest beauty spots, this is an ideal location for walkers who are looking to explore somewhere new.
Location four is Hertford in Hertfordshire in the South East of England. Close enough to catch the train into London yet a million miles away from the everyday stress of work and the daily grind. Based on the outskirts of the country town this is an ideal place for a little adventure not to far away.
Dartmouth in Devon provides site number five. Located in the popular South west of England, this site looks out over the breathtaking South Hams coast. This Dartmouth site is a five minute drive away from the Dartmouth town that is full of local shops and stunning views. The award winning Blackpool Sands is a near by beach that offers a great day out for all the family.
So there we have just five, out of many hundreds of popular locations situated in the UK alone. Camping in Europe offers many more popular destinations ideal for the camper. If the UK isn’t your ideal destination then what not try an Abroad Camping Holiday for a wider choice of destinations?
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March 16th, 2009 admin
Camping can be great holiday for all of those who decide to experience what the outside world has to offer. It can also be a cheap alternative to hotels and B and Bs, however there are a few things that you will need to think about before setting out to your camp site destination.
Keeping the cost down is an important part of the experience if you are on a budget and if you are travelling with a group of friends or in large numbers then cooperation from those who are going is an important part. It might be worth while considering setting up a cooking rota if you choose to stay onsite and eat cooked food for evening meals or breakfasts; you don’t want to be branded as the cook for the entire duration of the trip. It there is going to be a communal eating arrangement, it might be worth while getting everyone to throw in a few pounds towards food before you turn up on site. This will allow you to get some food from a supermarket on the way to the camp site and ensure you stock up on all of the essentials. There maybe some goods that you might find will be unnecessary to buy as you won’t use a lot of some things, like: salt, pepper, sugar, cooking oil and margarine are probably best if you manage to get some from home before you leave.
Another worth while idea might be issuing people with certain task and distributing some of the responsibility. Get them to bring their own plates and cutlery and get them to provide food for their own lunches. Set out set dinner times for breakfast and evening meals so people know what time to be back and ready for food.
Each person should be responsible for their own sleeping equipment; this will free you of any burden from that ‘mother’ role. Obviously this wont work if your are a family and have with you small children.
It might be advisable to book a ‘group site’ or if that is not achievable try and obtain several camping spaces together. This way you be able to ensure that your party is not distributed through out the site. It will also be worth while checking with the campsite how many vehicles will be allowed to park near your designated camping area.
The evenings will provide a great time to relax and unwind with your friends. Around the campfire will be a great time for sharing scary stories and ‘the most embarrassing moment’ stories.
Camping is really a great way to socialise with your friends and family in a beautifully natural environment and really relax at the pace that you deserve.
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