Yurts and shepherd’s huts – sleep under the stars on the South Downs

There are some parts of the UK that prove you don’t have to go halfway around the world to find the perfect holiday spot, and one of them recently became officially recognised as such. The South Downs National Park isn’t short of quirky and unusual places to stay.  Nestled in the peaceful counties of Hampshire and Sussex, and within easy reach of London, the South Downs became the newest of fifteen National Parks in England, Wales and Scotland when it opened in 2011, meaning it’s now a protected area of countryside for all to enjoy.

For a region which includes the best of rural and coastal beauty, towns and villages, historical sites of interest and outdoor activities a single day is far too short, and when it comes to accommodation, this beautiful part of the world deserves no less than seriously low-impact tourism. Though that doesn’t mean it can’t be great fun, or even luxurious…

At the centre of the new National Park lies Adhurst Wood, near Petersfield, in Hampshire. Generations of intrepid young explorers have played in this ancient woodland, now home to Alison Lubbock and family, and two yurts, named after the chestnut and birch trees which surround them.

At Chestnut Place, Alison has created the camp with sustainability in mind: there’s a green compost loo, the shower is solar powered, and so are the twinkling fairy lights. She can even bring you sustainable charcoal for the recycled oil drum barbecue. Take the kids (or a well-behaved dog) for woodland walks; discover the excellent, authentic pubs such as The Harrow Inn, a mile away; swim in the river – and try the zip wire, if you’re feeling courageous.

To the east, and still in the rural beauty of the South Downs National Park, lies The Shepherds Return, at The Hollow, in Sussex. Chintzy and charming, Lizzie’s shepherd’s hut sleeps two in cosy comfort: you burn ‘Eco logs’ wood fuel in the stove, and curl up in organic wool duvet and pillows. After a day of walking, you’ll enjoy a great night’s sleep here, and wake to a guilt-free hamper of Irish Soda bread, hot croissants, yoghurt, muesli, local preserves and organic fruit compote delivered to your doorstep. There are deer on your doorstep, too.

Just outside the National Park, you’ll still be perfectly poised to explore all it has to offer.

Families are very welcome at Withyfield Cottage, at Merrion Farm in Sussex. Designed and built by Ben Law and his team, who featured on Channel 4′s Grand Designs with his first straw bale house, this creation has been built with equally high environmental – and aesthetic – ideals in mind. Partly constructed by local craftsmen, there’s a real sense of community behind the house, and from the wooden veranda you can sit and see the wood where the trees to clad the house were felled, and replanted.

My thanks for this sponsored post to Canopy & Stars, provider of quirky and unusual glamping holidays in the UK and Europe

More outdoor living adventures

How to find the perfect campsite for your family?
A fairy tale of camping in mid-Wales
Camping in Sunshine and Showers on the Gower in Wales

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Caravan Holidays – An ancient form of travel

In this article from Park Resorts, we celebrate the joys of the open road and the fun and freedom of caravan holidays in England and throughout Europe.

The caravan is one of the oldest forms of transport.  Horse drawn caravans and wagons have been crossing continents via major trade routes for thousands of years, bringing silks, spice and other exotic commodities to Europe from the East.  As with most things, the caravan has developed considerably in the modern age, with technological advancement changing perhaps the face but not the heart of caravan travel.

Indeed, it is now possible to take caravan holidays without even travelling with a caravan, with operators like Park Resorts providing static caravan breaks across the U.K.  However, there is still nothing quite like the caravan holidays it is still possible to take where you hit the open road with no fixed itinerary or destination.

These meandering caravan holidays are a great way to explore many parts of Europe at your own pace.  Countries like France and Italy have amazing regional food and wine, and one of the best ways to sample this delightful culture can be through travelling in a caravan.  France in particular has excellent and affordable caravan park facilities throughout the country, making it easy to make relaxing pit stops when required.

When you find an area that you are particularly fond of, you have the option to simply stay put.  Equally, if the conditions don’t suit, you can up and leave with minimal hassle, chasing better weather, company or food as you desire.

Travelling in a caravan often affords the opportunity to meet a range of people that you simply won’t encounter on the traditional package holiday affair.  This is especially the case when you make stops outside of organised caravan parks, although the parks are often the venue for striking up a new friendship.

Caravan travel is still prized by many Gypsies and other travelling people as the only way to live the good life.  The allure of the flexibility and freedom of the open road is open to everyone to sample, and what’s more, caravan holidays can provide one of the most affordable ways to take a break.  Perhaps we’ll meet on the road some day…

My thanks for this sponsored post to Park Resorts for Caravan and Camping family holidays in the UK

Photo credits: Romany Caravan by D H Wright, Relaxing on the caravan park by Sue Hasker, Family holidays on the Caravan site by Sue Hasker

More on the joys of camping and caravaning

Podcast – Tiny Campsites and Eco-travel – interview with Dixe Wills
How to find the perfect campsite for your family?
A fairy tale of camping in mid-Wales
Camping in Sunshine and Showers – on the Gower in Wales

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Our autumn break at Berny-Rivière with Eurocamp – video

Last Autumn, I spent a 4 day half term break with my family with Eurocamp at the holiday parc of La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny-Rivière, in northern France quite close to Paris – read on for my account of our holiday and review of the parc.

As a child, our family summer holidays were spent camping in different European countries each year. Like many families of that generation, camping enabled my parents to have an affordable budget holiday while enjoying some sunshine and exploring Europe. We would squeeze our tent and everything else into the car, pack as few clothes as possible and cook all our own food on a single gas burner. Our big treat was to have an ice cream every day.

Move on 30 years and how things have changed! The family campsites that we stayed in as children have transformed themselves into holiday parcs, offering every entertainment under the sun. The average family now wants the tent put up for them or to walk into a mobile home where they can expect all the conveniences they enjoy at home. Companies like Eurocamp have set up bases in these parcs throughout Europe, with couriers on site to greet their guests, and now offer tents, mobile homes, chalets and even apartments in certain resorts. Now you can have the outdoor life and family fun without having to rough it in the slightest.

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When our children were younger we stayed on a number of these parcs either with our own tent, or renting chalets on site and had found them ideal as a base for a family holiday. Our children could roam freely around the parc without us worrying about them going too far astray and they would quickly make friends with other children of their own age. We would choose a parc in a region or close to a city we wanted to visit and then divide our time between seeing the sites and swimming and relaxing at the parc. We managed to see the sites of the Dordogne, Barcelona, Granada and Venice in this way, with manageable amounts of sightseeing and the promise of the pool or the beach in the afternoon.

This autumn we had the opportunity to try something a bit different from the summer holidays of the past; an Autumn break near Paris with our two teenagers at La Croix du Vieux Pont near Berny-Rivière in the Aisne region of France. Our 4 day break was to be in one of the Eurocamp Superior Mobile Homes, which were as nicely fitted out as any holiday apartment that I’d stayed in. The parc of La Croix du Vieux Pont is well established and our mobile home was neatly laid out next to others, along a road with dividing hedges, a parking space  and an area of lawn.

Inside we found a sitting area with cushions and an expandable table, with an adjoining kitchen which had everything that you might expect at home such as a proper oven, microwave and plenty of kitchen equipment. Outside was a deck with chairs and sun loungers, a BBQ and sun umbrella, although as it was the end of October, it would have been a bit keen to start firing up the barbie.

The master bedroom had a double bed with plenty of cupboard space, a desk and even a wired-in hair dryer. There were also 2 smaller cabin bedrooms suitable for children, one with 2 single beds and the other with a bunk bed, both with wardrobe space. The bathroom with sink, shower and toilet was next to the master bedroom and there was even a CD player with i-pod dock and a gas fire to keep the place cosy. The only concern we had was that at the end of October the nights were chilly and once the small gas fire was turned off turned off, the temperature dropped rapidly – some electric heating would have been welcome for low season visitors.

Our Eurocamp Mobile Home at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny Riviere

Our Eurocamp Mobile Home at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny Riviere

The parc at La Croix du Vieux Pont is well established and organised with a very wide range of amenities and entertainments on site. There is a shop with everything you might need, a bar with upstairs games room and internet area that was a popular haunt for older children, and a traditional French restaurant, as well as a take-away pizzeria. There was an indoor family pool with water slides that was open when we were there, as well as several other outdoor pools that are open in the summer season. The other great attraction of the parc is the large lake with fishing, canoes and pedalos to hire and a smaller lake with a sandy ‘beach’ surround with a cafe next to it. There are also plenty of sports facilities, cycle hire, a beauty spa and many different childrens’ activities organised by age group. While we were there at October half term, there were plenty of activities such as climbing and abseiling available to entice our teenagers.

Our Eurocamp Mobile Home at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny-Rivière

Our Eurocamp Mobile Home at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny Riviere

You could definitely have a great Eurocamp holiday without ever leaving the parc at La Croix du Vieux Pont, but being more adventurous travellers we used the parc as a base from which to explore the surrounding region of northern France and the attractions of Paris and Disneyland.  Here’s how we spent our 4 days at the parc;

On the first day, after driving down from Calais the day before, we just wanted to relax and explore the parc. We wandered around the lake and had a look around the village of Vic-sur-Aisne with it’s pretty Chateau and military cemetery. There were several small shops, a couple of boulangerie and a few bars and restaurants that we eyed up for a future visit.

On the second day, we drove to Disneyland Paris – there is also an organised coach trip from the parc but it was not going on the day we wanted to visit and we knew that there would be plenty of parking at Disneyland resort. The children were really excited as we had never been to Disneyland and we had a supercalifragilistic day trying out as many rides as we could fit in, exploring all the different Disney lands and watching the parade at the end of the day.

The next day, we drove north towards Arras and Cambrai, where my husband, who is a former tank commander, was keen to show us some of the battlefields of this area that was hard fought over during the First World War. We had a driving tour of the battle of Cambrai, visited the small but beautifully maintained graveyard near Arras where my husband’s great-uncle is buried after being killed in action in 1917, and took a tour of the Canadian war memorial at Vimy Ridge, with one of the student guides.

On the final day, we took advantage of the coach trip that is organised from La Croix du Vieux Pont to visit Paris, and were very pleased we hadn’t attempted to take the car. As the children hadn’t visited Paris before, our first stop was to climb the Eiffel tower and then we walked along the banks of the Seine and spent the afternoon at Musee d’Orsay enjoying the impressionist paintings.

We crossed over the river and walked through the Tuilerie gardens, catching some late afternoon sun on the deckchairs by the boating lake before returning to our coach, and a welcome nap on the drive back to the parc.

I’d highly recommend this kind of holiday with Eurocamp for families with children of all ages and thought that La Croix du Vieux Pont was particularly suitable for those with school age and teenage children, with plenty of activities to keep everyone happy. It’s also a great way to explore the sites of the region, while being based in beautiful rural surroundings, yet having plenty of amenities on your doorstep. In spring and autumn, these parcs are also great for those without children who enjoy the outdoor camping lifestyle, but can stay in the comfort of a mobile home. They also make a great stop off for a few days for those who like to tour around from region to region, as Eurocamp also offers the flexibility of short breaks.

Information and resources for visitors

We stayed at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny-Riviere as guests of Eurocamp, but a 5 night family break like ours, staying in October half term in a 3-bed Superior Mobile Home would typically cost around £450 including linen, towels, welcome pack and the Dover-Calais ferry crossing.

La Croix du Vieux Pont is around 250km from Calais, and takes approximately 3 hrs to drive.

The parc is around 1hr 30 mins drive  to Disneyland Paris and around 1hr 45 min drive to Paris, although you don’t have to drive as regular day trips by coach to both locations operate from the parc. Visits to the battlefields around Arras and Cambrai, such as the Canadian memorial at Vimy are around 1hr 45 mins drive from the parc but are an ideal stop on the route to or from Calais.

Holidays at La Croix du Vieux Pont may be booked through Eurocamp, where you can find more details of all the parc facilities and entertainments on offer.

Read about what we enjoyed on this holiday

Postcard from the military cemetary at Vic-sur-Aisne
Our supercalifragilistic day at the magical kingdom of Disneyland, Paris
The Eiffel tower – icon of Paris or tourist trap?
Visiting our great uncle’s grave at Arras – thoughts for Armistice day
Visiting the Canadian War memorial at Vimy Ridge

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ France – Eurocamp at Berny Riviere, La Crouix du Vieux Pont photoset

 

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

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