5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Glamping Stay at Blackdown Yurts

I have already written about our (press trip) long weekend at Blackdown Yurts but it turns out I always have too much to say and I always take too many photos so I wanted to do a second post with my top tips for making the most of your family stay.  We have glamped many time before and lots of these apply to any glamping trip but these are some of the things that made our stay smoother and easier as well as more fun for everyone!

1) Embrace the wildlife. 

The beauty of glamping or camping is that you are surrounded by nature. The sounds, sights and smells and Cora especially loved discovering the wildlife around her.  In the fields in front of us were sheep that we could walk through to see the ponies.  The nearby farmer's cat loved to come and join us as we sat around the campfire and we crept down to the barn at night to see the owl that lives above it.  We found a little frog in the showers and the chickens roamed free.  For young wildlife lovers it was a fantastic place to get close to them naturally.  Katie offers guided bat walks in the evenings too which we didn't manage to fit in - maybe next time!

2) Do a shop on the way

Blackdown Yurts is around a 15 minute drive from the nearest shop so the best thing to do is either bring food with you or do a big shop on the way.  Each yurt has its own fridge in the barn as well as storage space in the camp kitchens so we could stock up on everything we needed for a bbq, different meals and all the breakfast milks (we drink three different milk varieties between us!).  It was so easy to be able to keep everything fresh and cool and to avoid the shops for a few days once we were settled in.

3) Bring some good games

We were sent Shake Off from Smyths before we left and it was a perfect campsite game.  Each player has a counter attached either to their wrist, ankle or waistband and they earn more points the more they move.  It was great for getting out any lingering energy before putting them to bed and didn't require any fiddly parts (do remember to put batteries in the timer before you leave though!).  This is definitely a game we will be taking on all family trips.  We also played lots of card games both with the kids and once they were in bed.

4) Watch the Stars

Being so far from the street lights and cities means on a clear night you can see everything.  Part of the joy of glamping is to get away from every day stress and nothing is more relaxing or humbling that spreading a blanket on the ground, grabbing a warm blanket and watching the sky.  We saw thousands of stars including a couple of shooting stars and the kids were all amazed at how clear the night sky was.  It is one of those activities that just completely relaxes you and I would recommend doing it whenever you can.

5) Check out Katie and Mark's recommendations.

I made a big list before we arrived full of local attractions and ideas based purely on the list of recommendations and we loved every places we explored.  Katie and Mark know the area well and they have reviewed lots of local places on the Blackdown Yurts website.  They were also more than happy to offer any more recommendations whilst at the site.  I will be writing up everything we did so come back to see a post on Haldon Forest, The Bear Trail and Canonteign Falls!  If you have already booked a stay then check out the website for local restaurants, attractions and landmarks.  

Some of the Yurts are open until October and you can grab a discount with the code MUMMY10

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Camping at Bedgebury Campsite

After months at home, we have been desperate for a change of scenery and decided to book a campsite in Bedgebury, Kent for a weekend alongside some friends.  The site came highly recommended and camping in its essence is outdoors and usually away from other people.  The site at Bedgebury was even bigger than we expected and we were allocated a wonderful field called 'Plum' with so much space to set up camp far from other families. 

The check in process was easy and we stayed in the car throughout whilst the staff in masks took our details and gave us directions.  The field we were assigned was surrounded by forest and had so much space we set up our camp far from other groups.  We were camping with some friends who also had children the same age as my older boys and it was nice to leave my little ones at home with Daddy and spend time with just the big ones.  

The site has many different areas but our field seemed to consist only of families.  There were several compost toilets which were kept clean, well stocked with sawdust and had sinks with anti bacterial soap.  There were washing up stations and showers too in each field.  It was a 5 minute walk to get to reception where there was a shop selling essentials and there was also a coffee truck there.  On the Saturday night there was both a pizza truck and a fish and chip van and you ordered food between 4 and 5 for collection that evening.  Unfortunately after queuing for 20 minutes we were told the only slots for Pizza were at 9pm so I would advise getting in the queue early (we got there at 4.03). It probably didn't help that it was raining and so campfire cooking was less appealing.

Our stay was wonderful and wild.  It rained from the early hours of Saturday morning into the early hours of Sunday without a single break but the children were unphased by it and continued to run free and barefoot, finding sticks, playing on the tyre swings that hung from many of the trees and tending the campfire.  The grounds are so well maintained and clean and the forest surrounding our field was perfect for little explorers.  

We cooked on the campfire the first night and toasted marshmallows both nights, trying to make the perfect smores.  The children forgot about everything and enjoyed just being there, we all did.  The feel of grass under foot, the smell of the air, the sound of light rain on the tent roof as you fall asleep, the exhaustion from spending all day outdoors (coming into the tent reluctantly to eat as it was raining being the only exception) and spending time with good friends.  It was exactly what we all needed and reminded me how we don't need our big travels all the time to get away from real life for a bit and relax.

There were some great sounding local places to explore but as we only had two nights booked, we were keen to slow down the pace and just enjoy spending time on the campsite.  It is definitely somewhere we plan to return to though and next time we hope to check out Bedgebury Pinetum and Scotney Castle.  At Bedgebury campsite you really feel miles from anywhere, immersed in the countryside and it is a brilliant place for families.  

Perfecting my Smores

The toilets were clean and well maintained 

The fields were all spacious and easy to camp away from others

We did eat in the tent due to the rain

I look a little frizzy after being rained on all day

The entrance to Plum field

The showers

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A Wild Night Out

Over the month of June we were trying hard to do something outdoors everyday around the school days as part of 30 days wild and this ended last weekend with us planning a wild night out.  Millets are encouraging people to spend more time outside and to help with our garden camping plans they sent us one of their Eurohike air tents, and some camping essentials so we could spend a night under the stars.

We usually try and pitch our tent with four wild children running around but I managed to put up the Eurohike Air 600 in around 20 minutes alone.  There are no poles, you just use a manual pump to inflate the three big beams and then peg it into the ground as usual! The tent has two bedrooms which we popped our air beds into and Millets had sent us some sleeping bags too and a tent carpet for our living area. The children were so excited and got into the spirit pretty quickly.

Camping means eating outdoors and we still had the BBQ out from Cora's party so we cooked up the leftovers and afterwards skewered some giant marshmallows to roast. The children struggled to eat their dinner knowing marshmallows were coming and were far too impatient to let them melt properly before wolfing them down!

Getting settled in a tent is never easy with four excitable children but the wonders of the weekend are that it doesn't matter if they stay up late and run around outdoors until they are totally exhausted.  When we visit campsites we try and stay near a playground for this reason and when they are tired enough, they come in for a snuggle and a book by the light of the lantern.  Once we get them in bed Ed and I can chill out with a drink and watch the stars.

Last summer we pitched the tent in the garden for a few days and the boys had their friends round to sleepover in it and we will definitely be doing the same things during the summer holidays as they absolutely love sleeping outdoors and when they wake up in the morning they stay out there playing.  The Eurohike air tent is so much easier to put up and take down, it took less than 10 minutes to get it from upright to back in the bag and only about one minute to deflate it completely which is what we need with lots of little children running around! 

The additional 'footprint' made pitching even easier.

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Five Reasons We Love Camping as a Family

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The way we travel has changed since we had children and now camping is one of our favourite ways to get away.  We have stayed in tents, caravans, mobile homes and everything in between and there are so many reasons why this makes seeing the world as a family more fun.  These are the top 5 reasons why we love camping as a family

1) Camping is usually the cheapest accommodation which means that we have more money to spend on treats whilst we are away (and we can justify more trips!).  Pitching our own tent is the cheapest, but staying in a mobile home usually costs a fraction of the amount of a hotel and we mix it up between these two.

2) All the campsites we have stayed at have great outdoor spaces and the children love throwing on some clothes and being outside straight away.  They love exploring the area, swimming in the pools and playing in the playgrounds.  I love the fresh air, the detox we naturally get from screen time and how exhausted the children are from it all every evening!

3) Everything we need is in one place.  Most campsites tend to have a shop, a restaurant, a swimming pool and some entertainment which means everything is accessible and we never have far to go.  It meant we could stop taking a stroller much earlier as the children can manage everything on foot.

4) Having four children means we can never fit in a single hotel room and we don't always want to be split up.  Camping is perfect for bigger families as we can arrange a bigger tent or caravan to accommodate all of us and we can put the children to bed in their rooms and still have some adult space to stay up late if we want to.

5) When we are planning our holidays, top of the children's list of priorities is the chance to make friends.  They are such sociable beings and they want the opportunity to meet other children to play with, either in kids clubs, at the playground or just running around and we always find campsites to be really sociable for both adults and children. 

We have been looking at Yelloh Village for a camping holiday as they have 84 luxury campsites across France, Spain and Portugal including some that are perfect for winter ski holidays!  Their sites have something for every type of camper and great facilities and I love the term 'open air hotels'. These photos from some of our camping adventures last year are making me really desperate to go again!

Are you tempted by camping or already converted?

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A Weekend with Ready Camp

My favourite thing about camping is watching the children run free.  They leave the screens at home, they leave their toys and familiarities and they embrace nature in the way I remember doing as a child.  Sticks and stones become their entertainment, trees are there for climbing and they have all this space to run and explore.   We have found that it doesn't really matter how far we go, they are too young to really understand that bit, it is that we are together and that they have this freedom.

We recently spent a weekend at a Ready Camp site in Canterbury.  It only took us about half an hour to get there and we all know Canterbury quite well, but for the purpose of this weekend it was our holiday destination and we could have been in another country for all the children cared.  Without the long travel it made the journey so much less stressful and despite the fact we could really have popped home at any point, it felt like we had escaped.

The site is situated within walking distance of the town centre (although walking back is all up hill) but on the campsite we felt far away.  The Ready Camp tents are already set up and have a living area with a small sofa, dining table and chairs and small kitchen area (work surface, kettle, toaster, microwave and hob).  There are two bedrooms, one with a double bed and the other with a bunk bed (double bed on the bottom) which has a pull out mattress underneath too.  The tents are situated close to a playground area and a short distance from the toilet and shower block.  We loved being in near proximity to the playground as it meant we could sit on our front decking and watch the children as they explored the area.  In the evening we could turn on the lights at the front and watch the sunset as the children snoozed, and every tent had enough camping chairs for the whole family to use.

Just behind the tents was a small woodland area with paths running through it and the children loved exploring it.  They collected sticks and twigs and made up stories about the different areas.  The campsite was busy with caravans and tents, but the playground was always pretty quiet, although the boys did make some friends who they enjoyed playing with.

We love the convenience of glamping as with four small ones we find pitching the tent challenging and I love having a bed and some home comforts but still falling asleep listening to the wind and waking up to the birds.  We had such a lovely time reconnecting as a family and we spent a wonderful day at a local park with a river feeding the ducks and exploring further.  I think these photos tell the story better than I can, the onesies that we popped over their pjs so they could stay out until bedtime and run around as soon as they woke up.  The dirty faces, the dirty feet and a simple home for the weekend that had everything we needed.

We have definitely realised that you don't have to travel far to escape and we loved our weekend away with Ready Camp

 We were offered accommodation in exchange for a review but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

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