Taking the kids away over the half term beak is a daunting task. The cost of holidays abroad rockets, and the British weather can be fickle. So, if you would like to get away, what are your options?

The simplest solution is to tour the loveliest parts of the UK in a hired motorhome, a motor home-from-home. The main advantages are obvious, driving in comfort while the family admire the scenery. Perhaps even taking their eyes off their mobile screens for long enough to actually photograph it. And being able to make spontaneous stops or detours really makes the whole holiday so much more fun.

There is always a feeling of adventure as the whole family clamber in and buckle up, this half term break will be an unforgettable holiday experience. And when you add up the cost of overnights in hotels and every meal eaten in a restaurant, you can see that motorhome hire is a very cost-effective option.

I always plan an itinerary, a suggested route, a planned destination. This adds to the fun as we sit around discussing what to see and where to go in the days before we pick up our hired motorhome from the depot in Hove, East Sussex.

This year we decided on a heritage theme, not carved in stone, just an idea and a direction. Here is what we have planned:

 

Jurassic Coast

With total family approval the first stop of our half-term holiday break was to be fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast, spanning Dorset and Devon this is the most spectacular stretch of beach. It was even made a world heritage site in 2001. We head to Charmouth beach, with its plentiful source of fossils hours can be spent scanning the rocks. But this can very frustrating for the youngest members of the family who lack the skill of fossil spotting. For them I have devised an ingenious hunt called ‘find the sea sapphires’ those scraps of green glass that have been tumbled by the tide for so long that they have become smooth. We find pockets full of them and they are carried back with as much pride as the luckiest fossil finder. Note, this is not a swimming beach!! The undercurrents are fierce.

Picnic tea around our rather luxurious camper van, it already like ours, not a hired motorhome at all. We may return to the Jurassic coast on our journey home, depending on the weather, but now onto Bath in Somerset where we have booked a nights stay at Bath Marina, there is a canal side tow path that takes you right into Bath, a two mile walk, and the site has a good playground and friendly staff. https://bathcaravanpark.com/

[Picture courtesy of Matthew Anderson, https://www.flickr.com/photos/montagecomms/ ]

 

Dylan Thomas Birthday Walk

Much as I love Cornwall the narrow lanes and gridlocks have made me look further north, into South Wales, and this year I have a purpose, on the 27 October is Dylan Thomas’s birthday, and what better date to see the walks he took when he wrote. Poem in October. The walk is well signposted and there are numerous benches with lines of his poems on them. The views are amazing and the culture will hopefully sink into the little darlings hearts. The walk is short, just two miles, but hilly.  You can find details here: https://www.dylanthomasbirthdaywalk.co.uk/ and we have booked the night at http://www.carusleep.co.uk/reservation.html on Heol Down Farm.

And now the choices open up, at this time of year the motorhome sites are not full, it is usually possible to book your nights stay on the same day, so is it up to the Angidy heritage Trail in Monmouthshire? Or return to England and tour the Cotswolds, perhaps stopping at Bradford on Avon with its fourteenth century town centre.

Of course, you could take a completely different route, and go from Dover Castle to Deal Castle, we did this last year and there was so much to explore.

Options, that is what you get when you hire a motorhome, and options are what you need when planning a half-term holiday with the family.