Camping/fixed Caravan holiday for non driver?

TimothyEBaldwin

One of my favourite places is Glenmore campsite in the Scottish highlands. It is situated in a forested valley a short walk from a beach, a watersports centre, waymarked forest walks and cross-country skiing routes. There are buses to/from Caringorm and Aviemore, and 2 direct trains a day from London to Aviemore.

As far as I know, there are know there are no British campsites with public transport access that do not cater mostly for motorists. However many campsites are accessable by public transport. Use www.transportdirect.info to find routes, however thoose near recrational sites are rarer, you may need a bicycle.

A remote place to stay in Scotland is Corrour Station House, which is 8 miles from the nearest public road and has a direct train to/from London 6 nights per week.

Shelldean

i think you'll find most campsites with statics wil be geared towards families, although one of the big companies does rate their sites as relaxing, or livley or something else can't recall the exact terms. Find one you like then work out if you can get there by bus/train/coach etc.

I'm also in London, and i know you can get to Camber sands by train then bus, and Dawlish/Teignmouth by train. The Dawlish train isn't cheap tho.

I advise you to find a couple of sites you like, note their postcodes then go into multimap, and put in the post code, it will tell you the nearest train station.

Would guess there are quite a few along the south coast that woudlnt' cost the earth to get to.

Patr100

That's why I hate thinking of trying to plan a holiday for myself with my limited funds, no car and being on my own..It's like a military operation and i just give up. No wonder I've not had a holiday away form home for so many years.

Shelldean

Patr100 wrote: »

That's why I hate thinking of trying to plan a holiday for myself with my limited funds, no car and being on my own..It's like a military operation and i just give up. No wonder I've not had a holiday away form home for so many years.

No don't give up, I have an OH who drives, but HATES holidays with a vengance. Lukcly this yr he's agrees to take me and leave me and the four kids, leave us then come back for us. He's doing this twice, once at easter on sun hol, then again in the summer when we go camping, cos there's no way i could camp and not go in a car, way too much stuff for me and four kids. BBut i do my research before i book and make sure the campsite isn't in the middle of nowhere, so we're not confined to camp if we don't want to be.

In the past tho I have taken myself and the four kids on holiday, alone and used public transport.!!! Thats how I know you can get to Camber, and Dawlish. In fact I also managed to get to Bracklesham Bay too, that one i shouldn't forget. LOL Twins were only 18 mths, DD was already at site with other rellies when I decided I needed a break!! Got train to chichester, then bus to bracklesham bay (And I had to fold buggy to get on the bus) Once off the bus the campsite was further than i thought so decided best option was a cab. So there's me stood in the phone box, calling cab when I turn round to discover the boys had both managed to stand up and cos teh buggy was weighed down with stuff, them standing up meant it went over. The cab operator thought I'd lost the plot as i screamed and dropped the phone LOL But we made it there and home again, and I'm sure you can get away too.

Any preferances? I'l hellp you look

Shelldean

for a start when? and how much is the max you'd want to pay?

VickyA_2

There's a poster on these forums called stefejb and she often goes camping on her own - she doesn't drive either. One of her latest trips was to Salisbury, I believe.

However, have you ever thought of the Lake District (bear with me on this one!)? The campsite that I'm thinking of is in Great Langdale and there is a scheduled bus that stops right outside the campsite entrance (from Ambleside). I've seen plenty of people doing it. They have separate fields for adults and families. You'd have to get a train up to Windermere and then hop on a (frequent) bus to Ambleside (also goes all the way up to Keswick).

Have a great time! :beer:

competitionscafe

Langdale and Glenmore are both lovely areas and easy to get to by public transport. Try megabus / national express or cheap train ticket offers to get as near as possible and then just use the local bus/ train from there. Or hitchhiking in rural areas, if you are comfortable with that.

In the Lake District there are buses to Langdale and Borrowdale; in the Highlands there is a Megabus service from Edinburgh to Inverness (via Aviemore for Cairngorms).

An alternative to camping is YHA / SYHA hostels - people are very friendly and most of them have public transport info on their info page. Cairngorm Lodge hostel; Glen Nevis; Borrowdale; are all open in the winter.

You can also stay in mountain bothys (huts) in Scotland if you don't mind walking to them. They are very basic, but free (first come first served).
And wild camping is free too.

I don't drive either and it's certainly more limiting and a bit frustrating at times but don't let that stop you - get out there and enjoy it theres loads of places you can get to without a car.