In short…yes! This half term holiday we decided to book campsites for the full week, having a fantastic three centre holiday in Wales and the Welsh borders giving us a flavour of the mountains, lakes and sea in this beautiful part of the world. We did this trip in our campervan, but it could just as easily been done in a tent. The only other expense was a tank of fuel to cover the full duration of the trip. Once we arrived at the campsites, the van didn’t move. If we needed to move, it was by foot!
Brow Farm Camping- Rattlinghope, Shropshire.
£10 pppn. £40 for 2 nights- no EHU.
Hidden away in the back and beyond of the Shropshire hills, this gem of a campsite was recommended to us by Luke’s girlfriend Charlotte who had visited this site regularly with her family as a child.
It is so secluded and a bit of a pig to find, it is situated in what we would describe as a hidden valley. A short stream-side walk gets you to the pub and that is about it in terms of local amenities. There is no phone signal on the site, but it does have a reliable Wi-Fi for keeping in contact with the outside world. The shop is a sight to behold- more in the style of a bric and brac shop than a campsite shop- bring everything that you will need or you will face a long drive to the closest shop! The showers and loos are very clean, but you need 20p coins for the showers. There is a washing up area, although bizarrely there was no hot water taps to the sinks??? There are EHU points that you can use for £5 a night, but that does restrict you to fixed pitches, otherwise you can set up camp wherever you like in the field. Open fires are allowed, as long as they are raised off the ground. Fire pits are provided free of charge, with bags of logs available at £3.50. One of the campsite rules is that you can only burn their wood which we felt was very fair considering the reasonable price of logs.
We absolutely loved the solitude and simplicity that this site provided. It felt in some ways like going back in times to a much more traditional camping experience, which was a refreshing change to many more modern sites. It is definitely on our list of sites to revisit in the future as a base to explore the Shropshire hills.
Dolgam Campsite- Capel Curig, Snowdonia.
£9 pppn. £36 for 2 nights- no EHU.
Situated in the valley leading out of Betws-y-Coed towards Capel Curig, this legendary mountain campsite has been around for years. 30 years ago it used to be a glorified farmers field, with few facilities. Now it has wonderfully clean and modern facilities to cater for the demands of the modern camper- it even has bookable hard standing pitches with EHU! The shower and toilet block is spotless throughout the day, with a constant supply of hot water for both showers and washing up.
It is in a river side location that we are reliably informed is a good spot for wild swimming- if you are brave enough! It is a quite isolated site, with no shop on site or within walking distance. What it does have in abundance is walking and cycling routes direct from the site, ranging from riverside pootles to full on mountain scrambles up the impressive Moel Siabod.
We adore this site and always have done. It is our sort of site- isolated, mountains on the doorstep, and yet fully functional with great facilities for when you are cold, wet and muddy from long days in the hills.
Towyn Farm Campsite- Porth Towyn, North Wales.
£20 campervan/family tent. £60 for 3 nights- no EHU.
Situated in a prime location on the north coast of the Llyn peninsula, this farm campsite provides doorstep access to some of the most beautiful and quiet beaches in the UK. The farm also owns the beachside cafe that has an amazing collection of home made cakes and pastries as well as a wide range of locally produced ice cream.
The campsite is home to a number of seasonal pitched caravans, but also has a large camping field with EHU points available. The toilet and shower facilities are spotlessly clean and situated in the very cute old pig stye! You will need 50p for the showers, but they provide ample hot water at any time of the day.
They allow open campfires on the site and sell wood if you run short (£5 per bag), although you will need to bring your own fire pit. One of the unique things about this site is that it is very much on a working farm. When we were there, they were in the middle of dosing the sheep, which involved driving the herds through the farmyard and into the pens- hundreds of sheep are not quiet, but it was a lovely sight to behold.
Porth Towyn beach is only a short walk across the lane from the site. It is a wide sweeping bay of golden sand that is very safe for families, but if you fancy something a bit more secluded, there are three small but stunning coves to the right of the main beach.
The location of this site is reason enough to visit, but the welcome you receive from the owners just adds to that appeal. It is such a friendly site, with stunning beaches and coastline just a stones throw from your pitch. It does feel splendidly isolated, somewhat akin to the NW of Scotland, yet it is so much more accessible for the majority of the UK.
Other considerations to keep the budget on track.
Food shopping- we kept to our normal weekly budget as if we were staying at home. We meal planned as we would normally in a non-holiday week, taking into consideration the restrictions of cooking in the van. To keep costs down, we did not plan to eat out, preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner from the van.
Drinks- we took all of our drinks with us, enjoying beers on the beaches and the mountains tops rather than expensive nights in the pub.
Entertainment- all free. Walks in the mountains or by the sea. Lots of reading and streamed music via Spotify. Wild swimming if you are feeling brave enough! Taking in the amazing sunsets together.
So there you have it. A full week away on campsites in stunning locations on a very reasonable budget. In these times of increasing costs, it is reassuring to know that the great outdoors is still there and waiting for us when we need a break and it doesn't have to cost the earth.
It did not feel like we had to compromise on anything during the week, as we were just grateful to be in such beautiful surroundings. For those that worry about supporting the communities we visited, we reassured ourselves that we were putting money into the local economy via the campsites. If we choose to not use campsites and wildcamp, we would look to make a similar commitment to local pubs and cafes as an alternative investment.
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