Author: themotorhomefamily

Today we visited Leisure World Group at Catterick for their Motorhome event to have a little look around some different layouts.

We were pleased to see a lot more vans with rear lounges. We think this is just what we need. Our 3 year old was really excited to get back into a Motorhome which was great to see!

It was a great opportunity to get back in the Motorhome mindset. Let’s see what 2019 brings.

If anyone goes motor-homing with young kids, what do you own and how do you find it? Any advice is gratefully received!!

Our latest trip was to Burrs Country Park Caravan and Motorhome Club site in Bury, Lancashire.

The site is located alongside the East Lancashire railway and has diesel and steam trains running to Bury and Ramsbottom on it daily. If you are a fan of trains, what better than to have them chugging right past your door all day long!

The site has a helpful information shed with details on local activities and all the train timetables. You can even get a discount on train travel with your Caravan and Motorhome Club card.

We got a super pitch which has electricity, water and has a grey water pipe which is useful.

The facilities were excellent with a separate baby bathroom decorated in Thomas the Tank Engine stickers. And big thumbs up for taps in the adult showers! 👍🏻

One thing that is missing from the site is a play area for kids so you do need to bring things to entertain the smalls or go offsite.

However, all is not lost as right next to the site is Burrs Country Park, a large open grassland, perfect for dog walkers. There is a really good balance beam walkway with lots of obstacles suitable for all ages. Our toddler showed us just how fearless she is!

Just outside the site gates is a pub, the Brown Cow, and a cafe called the Lamppost.

The weekend we were there just so happened to have a special Thomas the Tank Engine day which our toddler loved. We spent all day going up and down on the line on the various trains.

It was quite expensive at £51 for 2 adults and 1 child. The club discount doesn’t apply on special weekends.

Big thumbs up for this site! Well worth a visit!

I have to remember this wasn’t the site’s fault but being kept awake until 11pm by rowdy teenagers when you have a 2 year old and 4 month old in the motorhome makes for a less than pleasant stay.

That being said the site at Blackpool South was actually very good.

A relatively small site with very level pitches and about 2 miles out of the centre of Blackpool, it had a great children’s play area for our toddler. It is unusual for sites to have a play area to have equipment that suits toddlers so that was great for us!

The facilities were a little dated but very clean. It had the usual baby and toddler room with small bath, toilet and change table. It also had a hair dryer in there which was useful. The adult facilities were also very good. The main plus point, and I always go on about it, is taps instead of push buttons in the showers. Heaven!

The site had a well equipped shop and a really helpful information shed packed with leaflets, files, maps and bus timetables.

To get into Blackpool at weekends is either a £10 taxi ride or a 20 minute walk and 10 minute bus journey. We paid £4.40 for 2 adult single tickets. We were also offered day rover tickets for £11 each.

There is plenty to do in Blackpool. From the Tower and Tower Ballroom to Madam Tussaud’s, Sea Life Centre and Pleasure Beach.

There are tons of restaurants, souvenir shops and ice cream vendors. If you are looking for a traditional British lunch of fish and chips we went to Yorkshire Fisheries which was rated number 2 on Trip Advisor and was really excellent. There are steps to get in but they were really attentive with the kids and the pushchair. They have a kids menu with kids portions. They also do king size and half chip portions to cater for different appetites. It was really delicious!

All in all Blackpool South was a very good site marred by the actions of a small group of teenagers. If you do visit this site maybe ask for a pitch away from the playground.

Does anyone else use Amazon Prime Photos? I love how it shows you images from this day in previous years. It’s great with kids to see how far they’ve come and what you were doing exactly a year ago!

This time three years ago I was pregnant with baby number 1, we didn’t have a motorhome, instead we were touring France in a Porsche 911. We started at Lake Annecy in a chalet.

Two years ago our first daughter was 5 months old and we stayed in a gite in the Dordogne.

This time last year our first was 1 year old and I was pregnant with baby number 2. We had the motorhome and we were in Strasbourg on a tour around France, Luxemberg and Belgium.

Goodness me, that was a tiring trip. Being pregnant and looking after a 1 year old. That’s why this year we decided to keep it simple and just go to one main destination with a couple of stops on the way.

Back to Strasbourg though. We have been twice now and we really like it. I can very much recommend Camping Indigo! It’s close to the town centre with easy bus routes a short walk away. The facilities are great and it has a pool for kids to wind down at the end of a busy day.

We enjoyed the town centre with plenty of historical buildings and good food. But if you are there with kids you really must go to the science museum Le Vaisseau. We took the motorhome as it is a little out of town. If it isn’t busy there is plenty of space to park.

It is great for kids of all ages with different zones from water, to construction, to the human body. There is something to stimulate minds of all ages. You could easily spend a whole day there. We certainly did, and we are self proclaimed speed tourists!

So the main part of our holiday was spent on the Sandaya site Les Peneyrals near Sarlat in the Dordogne region.

What a fantastic site. We booked it because it looked great for kids and we weren’t wrong, the facilities are fab.

It has 4 pools and 1 wet area for kids. The pools are different temperatures so you can pick your pool depending on the outside temperature. There is a warm and covered indoor pool which is ideal in the rain.

Sadly the week we were there the weather was unseasonably wet so we did spend a lot of time in the indoor pool.

When the weather was nice though the outdoor kids pool has lots to keep little ones entertained from slides to water jets and even a big tipping bucket for those brave enough to stand underneath!

There is a great kids play area with equipment for toddlers right up to teens with even an adult exercise area.

Petang can be played as well as badminton / volleyball and the crazy golf course is superb.

There is a kids club with activities every day, however kids have to be 5+ so our little one was too young.

We did find the site surprisingly quiet at the start of June but this meant we could have the pick of the sun loungers. But it did mean the evenings were very quiet in the bar.

The bath facilities are reasonable with a baby bath with a shower over and large counter in the main toilet block. And, rejoice, a plug!!

One thing to be wary of is the steep incline of the site which isn’t clear on the site map. The pitches near the facilities and bar are fine but those further away would take some skill to get a Caravan or motorhome on.

Another negative for us was the cost of the washing machine facilities. At €8.40 for one wash and 30 minute tumble dry we felt this was a bit steep. Especially as the washing machines only took a small load. With 2 small children we would have struggled if we hadn’t brought lots of clothes!

There is a small shop and snack bar serving breads, sandwiches, pastries and ice creams and the bar serves a good selection of food and pizzas that are reasonably priced.

The children’s menu is a bit limited. What was nice was the mocktail menu. A vast selection of virgin cocktails which was ideal for a breastfeeding mother.

All in all I was very impressed with the facilities on this site. The staff were very helpful and friendly. I would certainly recommend it for a family trip!

Our second stop was a rather plush 5 star site called les Alicourts set in acres of woodland on the longest straightest roman road I have ever seen. The cornfields with their vibrant poppies and cornflowers on the approach were beautiful. But nothing could prepare me for the perfection of this site.

This really is glamping at its finest. Incredible pool facilities, spa, loads of play areas this place earns its 5 stars. But it comes with a 5 star price tag. €39 for an overnight is a bit steep especially as we didn’t really get chance to enjoy the facilities. However, we were so impressed with this site we decided to stay for 3 nights on the way home instead of just 1. We would also be tempted to return next year for a longer stay.

Things to do

The aqua park is fab for kids and adults alike with 3 separate pools, a wave machine some tame slides and 2 brilliant adult slides!

The kids pool was also incredible with a huge model of a pirate ship surrounded by cannons, sharks and a treasure chest spraying water, as well as 3 slides all in about a foot of water. Our toddler really didn’t want to leave.

There are lots of great kids play areas …

… A skate park, and a tennis court.

You can hire buggies and bikes to explore the site. But again this is quite expensive. My husband rented a 4 person buggy and it was €20 for an hour!

There is a sensory / soft play room for toddlers and a kids club for older ones.

There is a lovely fishing / swimming lake with real sand for the kids to play on.

If you can find someone to watch the kids there is a spa with various treatments. It is €14 to use the spa and treatments start from €35. I managed to get a couple of hours to enjoy the hydrotherapy pools, sauna and steam room – very relaxing!

Facilities

The toilet block and facilities we were pitched next to were immaculate. In the ladies there are 3 hairdryers for you to use and plenty of toilets, showers and sink cubicles. Outside is a large washing up area complete with herb garden.

The baby facilities are also really impressive with a separate block dedicated to babies and toddlers. The only thing I would say is the basins are set quite far back and are quite deep to bend over and bath a newborn. They also have the same problem I have banged on about before, no plug, and what baby do you know that likes showers? Take a plug or cloth to stop the water and use a plastic cup!

The laundrette facilities are again super expensive. At €6 for a 45 min wash and €2 for a 12 min dry I don’t know why it is so expensive?! Also the machines are so tiny so if you think you can just shove it all into one machine, at 6kg max you will definitely struggle.

Eating and drinking

Food wise there are 2 restaurants and a takeaway which serve the usual pasta, pizza, salads and chips. There is a well stocked shop which sells fresh breads and croissants in the morning.

There is a well stocked bar by the pools and a small snack shack which opens in the height of summer.

It really is a site you should stay for longer than one night but if you are just stopping over for one night, why not do it in style!