Herston Caravan and Camping

View prices & book 6.5 381 reviews
Well-spaced pitches
Bell tent
Spacious grass pitches
Bell tent with picnic table

  • Award-winning holiday park a mile from the beach in Swanage
  • Half an hour's drive from Monkey World and Durdle Door
  • Lively entertainment programme at the site's show bar
Three cheers for this one on Dorset's Jurassic Coast: Herston Caravan and Camping is an award-winning and family-friendly site a five-minute drive from the town of Swanage and its sandy beach. Everyone should find a full programme of stuff to do see and do in this neck of the woods: perhaps rides on the steam-powered Swanage Railway, windsurfing down at Swanage Bay or clifftop walks on the South West Coast Path. The popular attractions of Corfe Castle, Old Harry Rocks and Durdle Door are all under half an hour's drive away too. Facilities on site include free wifi, a playground and a mini market that also functions as a visitor information centre. The café/bar sells meals, coffees and a dizzying range of cocktails, and there's also a separate show bar with dance floor and a lively entertainment programme of live music, karaoke and other events. The spacious and clean toilet blocks have plentiful hot showers, family bathrooms and disabled facilities, and the site also has a launderette and a washing-up area. Dogs are welcome at the park as long as they are kept on a lead and cleaned up after.

Site type

Touring caravan pitches 164
Motorhome pitches 164
Tent pitches 46
Rent a tent 57
Open all year
Opens
Please note
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • The site does not accept breeds/crossbreeds listed in the Dangerous Dogs Act (i.e. Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and Fila Brasileiro).

Languages spoken

English

Pitch types & availability

Reviews

52%

would recommend this site to a friend

51%

would stay here again

  • 25%
    10
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    9
  • 22%
    8
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    7
  • 22%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 11%
    4
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    3
  • 19%
    2
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    1

Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Local to town.…

Overall 2/10
Location 10
Value for money 2
Accommodation 2
Facilities / Activities 4
Customer service 6
Child friendliness 6
Cleanliness 2
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Local to town.

Disliked: Showers were disgusting. Couldn't even use them. The site is a complete mess.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Easy walking distance to Swanage…

Overall 4/10
Location 10
Value for money 6
Accommodation 4
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 6
Child friendliness 6
Cleanliness 2
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Easy walking distance to Swanage

Disliked: Pitches overgrown. Toilets locks did not all work. No cleaning rota for the loos. I appreciate it that we were past the end of the traditional season but some basic maintenance and cleaning of the loo block would have made the stay more enjoyable.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Would not recommend or revisit

Overall 2/10
Location 8
Value for money 2
Accommodation 2
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 2
Child friendliness 2
Cleanliness 2
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding touring pitch (large)

Liked: Nothing to like sadly

Disliked: Site looked like you were entering a scrap yard with cars everywhere and some being worked on alongside static caravans. Site was untidy. The worse part was the state of the showers and toilets. Absolutely disgusting. Such a shame as the site has so much potential especially being so close to a beautiful town like Swanage.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Very quiet site…

Overall 6/10
Location 8
Value for money 8
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities 4
Customer service 4
Child friendliness 2
Cleanliness 6
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Very quiet site

Disliked: Looked very tired.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great location, facilities ok, but need refreshing

Overall 6/10
Location 10
Value for money 4
Accommodation 4
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 2
Child friendliness 6
Cleanliness 2
Wifi 4
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bell tent

Liked: Lots of space in the Bell Tents
Hot water in showers
Great location - easy to walk into Swanage (20 mins brisk walk)

Disliked: Disorganised in reception - sent me to drive to the field entrance, neglected to tell me there was a combination padlock on the gate which I needed the code for.

I asked to be next to a friend in another tent so I wasn't so isolated on my own, but this was ignored even though the bell tents were not busy.

Toilet/showers ok, but quite old and run down - shower fills up as you shower etc.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Ok…

Overall 6/10
Location 8
Value for money 6
Accommodation 6
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 4
Child friendliness 8
Cleanliness 4
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bell tent

Liked: Ok

Disliked: All day breakfast finished at 10.30

Recommend to friends Visit again

Location…

Overall 4/10
Location 8
Value for money 2
Accommodation 2
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 4
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 2
Wifi No rating
Michelle A. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Location

Disliked: Toilet and shower facilities very poor. Not cleaned or maintained.
Whole site looked scruffy and lacked maintenance

Recommend to friends Visit again

What a shame this site has the potential to be a superb site.

Overall 6/10
Location 10
Value for money 6
Accommodation 6
Facilities / Activities 4
Customer service 6
Child friendliness 4
Cleanliness 2
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Hot showers but need a good clean and maintenance.
Location is excellent would stay again for that reason only.

Disliked: Dirty showers and toilets no hand towels all weekend
Site scruffy and untidy.
Did not appreciate children in permanent pitches throwing stones at my car as a drove through to my pitch.The site is tired, the whole site needs maintenance and tidy up. Could do with new shower blocks or at least a good clean.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Not award winning .. when was this achieved?

Overall 4/10
Location 8
Value for money 2
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 2
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 2
Wifi No rating
Elaine D. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Proximity to swanage

Disliked: Facilities and site lacked care and attention. Some of it had disused vehicles on site. Toilet and shower facilities were not up to standard and need a real good makeover or replacing - we used our own. Dishwashing area was basic and you had to keep walking away to make the light work so you could see what you were doing - hot water inconsistent.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Good size pitch with all facilities…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Alan H. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Good size pitch with all facilities

Recommend to friends Visit again


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house Cycle hire Evening entertainment Fishing Fitness centre Games room Indoor swimming pool Kids' club On-site restaurant/cafe Outdoor swimming pool Play area TV room Take away Tennis Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available Car parking by pitch/unit Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Launderette Local produce Parent & baby washroom Pick-up from public transport Portable toilet Pub toilets Public telephone Shower available Toilet block Washing-up area Wifi

Groups welcome

Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Rallies welcome Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided Barbecues allowed Campfires allowed Commercial vehicles allowed Dogs allowed Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Budget/backpacker Forest Leave the car at home Luxury Peaceful Remote location Spectacular scenery Walkers' paradise Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities Chemical disposal Electric car charging point(s) Gas cylinders available Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby Public transport nearby Shop nearby

Type

Large (51-200 pitches)

Accessibility

Disabled facilities

Nearby leisure

Canoeing/kayaking nearby Climbing nearby Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Fishing nearby Golf nearby Horse riding nearby Indoor pool nearby Leisure/theme park nearby Mountain biking nearby Outdoor pool nearby Restaurant nearby Sailing nearby Surf school nearby Tennis nearby Watersports nearby

Touring and motorhomes

Drainage hook-up points for tourers Seasonal pitches Water hook-up points for tourers

Location

Herston Caravan and Camping

Washpond Lane

Swanage

Dorset

England

BH19 3DJ

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London GMT (GMT+00:00)

GPS

50.61816°N
-1.97913°W

Nearest transport

Coach
1 mi Bus Station
3.6 mi East Street
3.6 mi East Street
Rail
7 mi Poole Rail Station
7.4 mi Parkstone (Dorset) Rail Station
7.6 mi Hamworthy Rail Station
Ferry
4.5 mi Shell Bay Ferry Terminal
4.7 mi Sandbanks Ferry Terminal
5 mi Brownsea Island Ferry Landing
Airport
12.8 mi Bournemouth International Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

A five-minute drive gets you into Swanage for sandy walks, sandcastle building, splashing about and more serious watersports. To kayak round the cliffs and coves of the Jurassic Coast, make for Knoll beach (10 minutes' drive) or Lulworth Cove (40 minutes) to hire your craft and see the place from sea level. The 630 mile-long South West Coast Path passes through town: pick it up and head eastwards to the Studland and Godlington Heath Nature Reserve to see the wild and nature-filled Wessex that inspired Thomas Hardy (or hire a steed from the trekking centre for extra historical detail). Going west, the path goes past the splendid sights of Stair Hole and Durdle Door (40 minutes), while descents of varying steepness lead down to quiet and cove-like beaches like Winspit (accessible only on foot from Worth Matravers, 10 minutes away) and Kimmeridge (half an hour). For a spot of time travel, pick up the Swanage Railway for a nine-mile steam trip to Wareham, perhaps stopping off en route for a clamber round the ruins of Corfe Castle (10 minutes). Younger visitors should have a ball among the play barns, pedal go-karts and pettable animals at the Putlake Adventure Farm, five minutes away. Further afield, there are pony rides, deer safaris, tractor trips and bouncy castles at Farmer Palmer's Farm Park (30 minutes), and at a similar distance the heavy hardware in The Tank Museum and the charming residents of Monkey World should keep everyone's monkeys out of mischief.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020201920182017
Swanage Central 1 mi Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Studland Knoll House 2.6 mi Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Shell Bay North 4.4 mi Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Poole Sandbanks Peninsular 5.2 mi Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Poole Shore Road Beach 5.7 mi Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Swanage Railway 1 mi

Studland Beach and Nature Reserve 3 mi

Corfe Castle 3.8 mi

Brownsea Island 5 mi

Dorset Cruises 8.1 mi

National Trust

Studland Beach and Nature Reserve 2.2 mi

Corfe Castle 3.7 mi

Brownsea Island 4.9 mi

White Mill 13.4 mi

Kingston Lacy 13.5 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Herston - Worth Matravers - Corfe 0.3 mi

Swanage to Corfe Circular Walk 1.8 mi

Durlston Castle Historic Landscape 1.9 mi

Studland - Old Harry - Ballard Down - Studland 2.2 mi

Worth Matravers - Cliffs, Caves and Chapel 2.9 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Nearest sites

Unfortunately, we have no nearby bookable sites.

Want to know more about camping in Dorset?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Herston Caravan and Camping have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Herston Caravan and Camping dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Herston Caravan and Camping? A five-minute drive gets you into Swanage for sandy walks, sandcastle building, splashing about and more serious watersports. To kayak round the cliffs and coves of the Jurassic Coast, make for Knoll … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Herston Caravan and Camping?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  12 p.m. –  10 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  3 p.m. –  Anytime
    Depart by:  10 a.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Herston Caravan and Camping? From £28 (for 1 night, 8 people) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.