Camper Holiday in the UK, where to go/stay, what to see ??

[JoeySully]

Hi All

We will be heading over to the UK at the start of August by ferry from Eire. Landing Holyhead in our MK5 Transit Camper with the Dog.

Our plan is to head south for Bath but we have 5/6 days to get there . So meandering our way through Wales is there anything that you would recommend we see/visit? Any good camping spots? We are pretty self sufficient not needed to plug in much so don't really need a campsite, but maybe every 2nd day. What are the rules in the UK regarding parking up on the side of the road or by a beach?

After a weekend in Bath we are not sure where to go.. Maybe head south but I think we will follow the weather. any suggestions welcome

Cheers
Joe

[Roger Pennington]

Maybe a daft question, but presumably you're here long enough to include Curborough on the itinerary?

[JoeySully]

Maybe a daft question, but presumably you're here long enough to include Curborough on the itinerary?

Ill be back home by that weekend, No chance of moving it either. Work holidays are set. Would feel bad if I didnt come in a Scimitar anyway

[ScimmyMike]

If you are meanding down through Wales 'gods own country' I believe, there are plentiful campsites, just make sure you book, if this weather holds out I'm pretty sure you'll struggle to get in, when we used to go camping we referered to ukcampsite.co.uk, just be wary of the dates of reviews, quite often people complain the site was noisy and heaving, look at the date and it will of course be a bank holiday weekend, erm of course it would be then wouldn't it.

[Ben Kenobe]

For me it depends what your interests are ... I'd do Caernarvon, the slate quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog and take in one of the 'little' trains of Wales down to Pothmadog and back, maybe even go down to Portmeirion where the TV series the prisoner was filmed, then I'd scoot across to Iron Bridge gorge in Coalbrookdale (home of the industrial revolution) followed by the Severn Valley Railway in Bewdley.

Should kill 6 days easy doing that ... but maybe those things don't interest.

Does the wife know you call her a dog ?

PS : They don't like you setting up home in layby's very much in Wales many have 'no overnight' signs, and even some that don't will get you a knock on the door at 2am ...

[imjackuk]

I seem to remember when I first bought our van we were told you can't park anywhere overnight when there isn't a strip of land between the layby and the road, and as Ben says, even then, certainly in Wales they don't like you just pulling up..... ukcampsite is a pretty good site, as long as you take the average approach to all the reviews, we stayed in one where every review said how noisy it was (Horton in Ribblesdale) and it was actually pretty quiet when we were there...

Conwy is quite a nice place to spend a day

[greeny]

Whilst on Anglesey visit to Beaumaris to the red boat ice cream shop (have been going to Anglesey for 30 years and been go to this shop every time we go sometimes more than 4 times per holiday).

As far as I know pitching up on the side of the road is a big no no.
Dependant upon when you land I can wholeheartedly recomend tidyn isaf (excuse spelling) caravan park in Dulas on Anglesey and the pilot boat pub for tea! Again in dulas.

[JoeySully]

Wow Lots of suggestsions thanks guys thats exactly what im looking for

We know very little about where we are going, iv only ever driven "rapidly" through wales . She likes to just drive around and stop off if we see something nice but I prefer to have at least some sort of plan!

The camping website is great! easy to find the perfect site and there are lots of them as you say. They are few and far between over here, and most are just a field out in the country with no facilities and hard to find them online.

Blaenau Ffestiniog looks interesting, nice traditional looking town and a train ride would be great! Especially them old stye trains. Never seen the prisoner though.
Iron Bridge gorge in Coalbrookdale - might not be her cup of tea but sure if its on the way we might stop there.
I think the main interest will be going for walks mountain/coastal a mix of both. I think there is a walking trail all the way down the welsh coast.

Severn Valley Railway might be a good stop. I like old trains but not sure if I'll get a away with visiting too many things that involve "Engines"

Beaumaris looks like a good first stop maybe

Ill have to mark all these suggestions on the map and see how they fit together.

p.s. are there any places we should AVOID ! an NO! she would kill me if she know I called her that

[AJL Electronics]

Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust? There is a caravan site nearby. Sort of on your way to Bath on the A38.

[ScimmyMike]

Joey, doesn't matter really whether you've seen The Prisoner or not, Port Merion is a wonderful place to go and see anyway, if it's like it is now you could easily be in a Mediterranean country, great architecture and some great walks around the place.
There are plenty of walks in the areas mentioned, see here and here for the Welsh Coastal path details and downloadable maps, all 870 miles of it

[windy]

Port Merion unfortunately now has a "no dogs" policy, which might be a deciding factor, as its impossible to leave them in vehicles in this weather. Guess why we didn't go there when we were nearby last week?
South stack lighthouse at Holyhead is worth a few or more hours & Beaumaris is well worth a days stop whilst you are nearby.

[DarrylWebb]

Hi Joe,

We were across to the mainland recently and went the Holyhead route.

Beaumaris is a nice spot and it's a nice drive to it along the shore of the Menai Strait. The campsite is a bit far out of the town for my liking.
For a first-night stop-over we used a site called Treborth which is about a mile from the crossing over from Anglesey to the mainland. It's a basic site, but well placed if you want to come out for a short stroll to view the bridges, or dander back across the bridge into Menai Bridge town. There's a pub with a nice view over the bridge on the mainland side, just a few hundred yds from the site

Llandudno and Conwy on the North coast are nice places to visit, or you can take the roads up into Snowdonia, bits of it are very alpine.
Electric Mountain at Llanberis is real Big Boys' Toys stuff - hydro electric power station carved into a mountain. The tour is about 40 minutes, though the dog will have the stay in the van!

Llanberis is where you get the train ride up to Snowdow IIRC.

Betys-y-coed is a nice spot in the forest, lots of visitors, nice for a dander around, coffee stop and loads of shops for clothing for hikers, cyclists, etc.

I can't recall much else of a visit through Mid-Wales a few years ago, but when you're heading more towards Bath, Tewkesbury has a nice campsite right in the town. It's the Club site they always show on the news when Tewkesbury floods. You're looking across to the Abbey from the site, and there are walks to the rivers.

Bath is nice. We stayed at a beautiful campsite about 4 miles away and walked in along the tow-path. Can't recall the name of it right now.

[toomanysabres]

Beware pubs in Newcastle Emlyn. Went in one with my hill walking mates. The locals were talking in English till we went to the bar and ordered drinks whereupon they all reverted to Welsh. Not friendly we were frozen out.

[swoakes]

I still remember the "Gower Peninsula" in South Wales from my childhood days (and that's a long time!) Mumbles beach in particular was wonderful. Not been for a long time though. Have a great time

[CNHSS1]

depending on the day you are in Anglesey, there may be something on at Ty Croes race circuit. weekdays often see car/bike trackdays and weekends race meetings. On a nice day its possibly the nicest circuit to spectate it in the UK



however if weathers poor its known as the 'Angle-in-the-sea' circuit....