May bank holiday – the sequel: where to go and what to do this weekend

Another May bank holiday! We are already dancing frenetically, packing our bags for the weekend and wondering wistfully how life would be if every Monday was a bank holiday, like, forever. (Bring it in, Cameron, this might make you popular.)

The weather gods this week may be behaving like mad swivel-eyed loons, but just like Starship, nothing’s gonna stop us now/getting away this bank holiday weekend. It’s British weather, so there’s bound to be sun among the wind at some point.

The Pitchup.com team are scattering to Hay-on-Wye , the coastline of Essex and beyond this weekend: if you still haven’t made plans for the Great May Day Bank Holiday Weekend (The Sequel), here are some of our top campsites and holiday parks with availability, including special offers and nearby all-weather attractions. (Dates and prices are for 25—27 May unless otherwise stated.)

Cornwall

Tremorvu at Helston has spacious pitches on a secluded family-run site a mile and a half from the beach, near the National Seal Sanctuary and about half an hour from the Eden Project. There’s 20% off non-electric grass pitches for tents, tourers and motorhomes this weekend, from £22.40 including two dogs. A bell tent is available for three nights from 24—27 May from £120, sleeping up to four.

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Tencreek Holiday Park is at lovely Looe with its Harbour Quay and banjo pier, access to the South West Coast Park and close to Fowey with its ferry to Polruan and Bodinnick. The park has a kids’ club, entertainment complex, heated indoor pool, food shop, takeaway and diner; electric pitches start from £39 for two nights this weekend.

Devon

Quarry Pods at Dunsdon Farm : Near the Devon coast but only seven miles from the coastline of north Cornwall, this park has new waterproof pods each with their own private washroom with shower, sink and wash basin. They sleep two people and start from £100 for this weekend. Or party people can book a three-berth glamping cocoon with its own beer fridge at Woolacombe ’s Europa Park from £80, on a site with clubhouse, regular entertainment and indoor pool. Other cabins sleeping four, five or six start from £160.

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Haldon Forest Holiday Park : Five miles from Exeter and just a mile from the tracks and trails of Haldon Forest, a few miles from the Exe Estuary and within driving distance of the beach and nature reserve of Dawlish Warren. Electric pitches start from £48.

Dorset

Serious anglers should head to Gillingham’s Coking Farm Fishery this weekend, where there are five fishing lakes to land whoppers of over 30lbs, or to tell whoppers that you did. There’s a bait shop on site selling rods and reels too. Coking Farm Fishery is adults-only and has hardstanding electric pitches from £30 for two nights, with dogs charged at £1 per night. Nearby, there’s walking the Blackmore Vale, exploring the Jurassic Coast or visiting Dorset’s county town of Dorchester.

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Little Oak Yurts: Based on a Dorchester Farm, Little Oak has a shepherd’s hut with woodburning stove and kitchen area available for two nights from Friday from £120, with cycling, beaches and Blackmore Vale walks all nearby.

East Anglia

Take your folk to Norfolk for the bank holiday weekend for a stay at the award-winning seaside park Searles Leisure Resort in Hunstanton, with ten food outlets, free hot water for showers, indoor and outdoor pools, golf course with driving range, beauty salon, kids’ clubs and evening entertainment. Bikes can be hired at the park for exploring the north Norfolk coastline , or take the Coasthopper bus from Hunstanton. Non-electric pitches at Searles have 25% off from 24 May—1 June and start from £75 for a minimum of three nights from 24—27 May.

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King’s Lynn Caravan and Camping Park : Also near Norfolk, this park is on ten acres of landscaped parkland just outside the town of King’s Lynn and eight miles from the royal holiday pad at Sandringham. It’s available this weekend for a minimum stay of three nights, with heated camping pods sleeping up to four from £120 and electric pitches for tents, tourers and motorhomes from £48-54, 24—27 May.

North-east England

Just in case it rains, Park Rose Caravans three miles from the seaside resort of Bridlington is in the activity and adventure centre Park Rose Village with loads to do for all ages: an F1 racing track, indoor play barn with zip wires, mini town with mini jail, crazy golf and its own award-winning Birds of Prey and Animal Park. Scarborough, Whitby and Filey are all nearby and the city of York is within an hour’s drive. Hardstanding electric pitches for tourers and motorhomes at Park Rose Caravans start from £50.

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The Hideaway at Baxby Manor : Glamp near York on this popular site, close to the Yorkshire moors and dales, the coast and Robin Hood’s Bay, and half an hour's drive from the spa town of Harrogate. Bell tents come with beds, crockery, barbecue tools, camping stove, chairs and table, with a firepit outside. The Hideaway has a minimum stay of three nights, and starts from £225 for 24—27 May.

Central England

Pick from several sites with availability in Central England for this weekend, including parks in Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, and Skegness and Lincolnshire. For Skeggy, the nicely-named Grooby’s Pit is in seven acres of countryside and has a well-stocked coarse fishing lake; there’s more Skegness fishing at Birchwoods Fishing and Camping with two large lakes on site. Both sites have non-electric pitches for the weekend – Grooby’s for tents and tourers from £32 and Birchwoods for two-person tents from £20. The Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve, Northcote Heavy Horse Centre and the National Parrot Sanctuary are all close by.

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Wootton Park , Warwickshire: Toasty wool-insulated camping pods with everything supplied from bathrobes to hairdryers, and with breakfast available in the old on-site farmhouse. Pods sleep up to four (two adults and two small children) and start from £160 with parking for unlimited cars included. Nearby there are all sorts of Shakespearely stuff in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Cotswolds and jousting at Warwick Castle; the park is also just twenty minutes from Birmingham.

Wales

We have over 25 Welsh sites with availability for the bank holiday weekend: our most bargainous pitches with electric hook-up are Bryn Tawel at Gwynedd for tents, and pitches for tourers and motorhomes at Pembrokeshire’s Tregroes Touring and Camping Site , both from £24 for the weekend.

The family-run Penlan Holiday Village in the Teifi Valley has two-bedroom holiday homes from £140, on a park with swimming pool, games room and clubhouse, and is next to the huge Allt Ceiliog Nature Reserve.

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FishermanCabins , Ceredigion: Newly-built cabins on the edge of the Aberarth coastal path with beach fishing and surfing. Cabins sleep up to two or three and start from £90 for both nights.

Under the Milk Wood, Pembrokeshire: There’s 20% off standard tipis at Under the Milk Wood until 1 September, with a tipi available for a three night stay over the bank holiday weekend (24—27 May) from £340, sleeping up to five. Pembroke Castle and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park are both within three miles.

Sychpwll Centre , Powys: Book into a bell tent at this eco site between Welshpool and Oswestry, with watersports, walking, climbing and golf all nearby. Bell tents sleeping two people are available this weekend from £100.

Scotland

Scotland also has over 25 sites with availability for this weekend, including island retreats, holiday parks and sites for tents, tourers and motorhomes. The dog-friendly and family-friendly Glenluce Holiday Park in Dumfries and Galloway is in the grounds of an old mansion estate and has fishing on site, heated indoor pool and access to free trout fishing a mile away. Electric pitches start from £40 for both nights.

For island hideaways, Croft 183 Caravan and Camping Site is on the lovely island of Barra, the only place in the world to have an airstrip landing on the beach and voted the most scenic airport in the world by savvy pilots. Harvest some cockles from the same beach (we’re sure we don’t have to tell you to look out for oncoming planes), then cook them up back at camp, sit back and watch the sunset. The two-bedroom holiday cottage at Croft 183 has 10% off until the end of May, and is £162 for the three nights of 24—27 May.

Also for Scottish islands:

Seal and otter spotting in the Orkneys at the bargain-friendly Ayres Rock Hostel and Camp Site , with pitches from £12, camping pods from £40 and a two-bedroom holiday home from £60 for both nights.

Grass pitches at Rubha Phoil Eco Camping on the Isle of Skye from £30.

Tent pitches at Isle of Iona Campsite on the ancient and car-free Isle of Iona from £26.

Rent-a-tent availability at the Isle of Lismore’s eco-camp for two to six people, from £32-52.

We of course wouldn't suggest extending your bank holiday break longer than Monday (except that we totally would), but if you're now in holiday mode and this is in your mind, add the relevant dates into the search box on the homepage and then search by price, location or any of our 80 filters. We'll see y'all on Tuesday. Perhaps.