Caravan trip to UK

In the summer of 2015, we took a road trip with our caravan to Great Britain. We wanted to explore the South of England, Dorset and the New Forest NP and pre-booked a campsite near Wimborne. We had a fantastic holiday! What a beautiful country it is, with such friendly people.

Here is our itinerary ⬇️

From our accommodation address in Wimborne/the New Forest, we made some fun day trips, including:

✅ Corfe Castle

✅ Poole Beach

✅ Burley – Clycing through New Forest National Park

✅ Durdle Door - natural limestone arch

✅ Paultons park - Home of Peppa Pig world

✅ Canterbury

Our journey

The first morning, after our late arrival, we made camp (building awnings, outdoor kitchen, etc.) and explored the campsite. It looked very nice, had spacious lush pitches, a small swimming pool, a playground and a nice shop where they sold tasty sandwiches, pastries and cakes. We chose this campsite not only because of its good facilities, but also because of its good location close to fun excursions.

Corfe Castle Ruins

Our first excursion was Corfe Castle, which was built shortly after the Norman conquest of 1066. Since then, it has been home to kings, knights and a princess. At one time, there were two castles at Corfe. At the south-west side of Corfe Castle, there are the ruins of the second one, known as The Rings. This medieval fort was built by a besieging army during the civil war in the 12th century. Low mounds in a field are all that's left of the fort today, but they’re a reminder of a period of civil strife when law and order broke down.

We parked the car at the National Trust Visitors Center and walked along a play trail to the castle ruins and the Corfe Castel Village. In this village (a 1/20th scale model of Corfe Castle and the village) there was a tiny museum, some winding streets, cafes, and we saw the Purbeck Stone Cottages. There was plenty to do and see here and the children could play some old games. We explored the village and the heritage site, which was lovely. The ruins look like pointed landmarks that you can see from far and wide. Beautiful heritage site and an equally beautiful natural environment.

Poole beach/sandbanks beach

A few days later, when it was quite warm, we decided to go to the beach. We went to Sandbanks, a small peninsula crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour. It is one of the best beaches in the UK known for its soft golden sand, clear water, breath-taking views and commitment to the environment (Blue Flag beach). Also the movie ‘Dunkirk’ was filmed here. We spent the day here and with the high tide, small water rivers and lakes were created that divided this very extensive beach.

There is a ferry going from Sandbanks ferry to Shell Bay.

New Forest National Park – from Burley

There is nothing 'new' about the New Forest. This forest was proclaimed a royal forest, in about 1079, by William the Conqueror. It was used for royal hunts, mainly of deer. It was created at the expense of more than 20 small hamlets and isolated farmsteads; hence it was then 'new' as a single compact area. It contains of ancient woodlands, open heathlands, charming villages like Burley, Landford, Ashurst and Brockenhurst, rare flora and enchanting free-roaming animals along the way, including the famous New Forest Ponies; together it is called the National Park consisting of 566 km².

We went to Burley and rented bikes at a local bike rental shop. Burley is a cute village, full of old-world charm, shops and cafes, free-roaming ponies and donkeys and start point of a lot of forest walks and cycle tracks. Burley is a village that fits exactly with our thoughts about an English heritage settlement.

We chose a cycling route and set off. The cycle path is paved and we dismounted several times along the way to walk into the forest, cross a stream or bridge, and ate ice-cream. It was a beautiful cycle route; we all liked it.

Paultons park - Home of Peppa Pig world

Our next daytrip was Paultons Park is an amusement park in the New Forest National Park, near the village of Ower, with more than 70 attractions. The Peppa Pig World theme area is based on the children's animated series Peppa Pig. Our children were 4 and 5, and big fans of Peppa Pig, so we had to go there. We had a great time; it is a wonderful family park.

The Jurassic Coast & Durdle door

We had to explore The Jurassic Coast, a 95-mile stretch of geological history. Durdle Door is one of the Jurassic Coast's most iconic landscapes; it is a natural arch, formed from a layer of hard limestone standing almost vertically out of the sea. The name given to it, is probably more than a 1000 years old. Durdle Door stands at the foot of a steep path followed by a set of wooden steps.

We walked from the carpark in Lulworth Cove to Durdle door, which is about one mile walk (one-way). We approximately walked 1 hour and 30 minutes but we took an extra hour for all stops along the way, the amazing views and some relaxing at the beach. Truly an amazing trip.

The rest of our days in Dorset, we spend at the campsite, swimming, playing outside games, relaxing, reading, etc.

Our holiday in Dorset had almost come to an end, and we didn’t really had a close look in our direct surroundings such as Furzehill and Wimborne. So, we decided to go for a ride, explore a bit and have a lunch somewhere nice. We ended up having lunch at the Stocks Inn in Furzehill.

Canterbury

In Calais we said goodbye to our dear friends and drove to Groede in Zeeland (Netherlands), where we had booked another week's holiday by the sea with our family.