We are planning our summer 2012 Holiday in your beautiful country. I've been there a lot as a kid and after Brighton 2011 we'd love to come back.

We plan to arrive in Dover on the 2nd of June and make a roadtrip for three weeks. Our trip will end at Lavenham Vintage VW show. We will take the boat from Harwich back to Holland on Sunday the 24th.

We planned the trip as follows so far:
Dover-Stonehenge-Cornwall-South Wales-Wales-Liverpool-Lake district-Scotland-Edenbrough-Kielder-York-Lavenham.

Any recommondation would be great for planning the trip. We will drive 5000km's in this roadtrip which will be a lot but that's what we do...

try traffords in bassenthwhaite nr kendal ,dubs upt norff chosen site.
views are superb!
I like the headland in Tintagel ,North Cornwall as it in the town ,but on the cliffs near to the isle of Lundy.

Thanks for these tips!

Checked them out and looking promising. Allways open for more tips! Not only for camping but also for things to see and vistit, meetings, best roads to drive and free campspots.

Nice one Serge , see you @ Lavenham

Hi Pierre,

I live in Bristol and I love it here

come and check it out on your way past from Cornwall to South Wales, as you head North up the M5 come off at junction 19 and follow the signs for Bristol, after 4-5 miles you get to some traffic lights and shortly after a 2nd set. at the 2nd set go in the left hand lane to the Toll Bridge- Clifton Suspension Bridge.

You'll f**king love it !

Best way into Bristol and you'll be straight into the heart of it. have a look at the link below, imagine coming over the bridge from the side with the trees and you're straight into a vibrant little city.
http://www.zzzone.co.uk/photography/cli ... on-bridge/
the 4th picture down on the link shows the camera obscura - look like a light house.

Camera Obscura is one of my favourites and is only £2 basically its a box camera and you stand inside the box. There is a 1meter dish in the middle of a round room onto which the image from outside is projected onto. I think I am right in saying there is only 3 in the country. I love it it's one of Bristol's little gems.
http://visitbristol.co.uk/things-to-do/ ... ave-p24651

Also you have the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, - you may notice the hot air balloons in the 1st picture of the Bridge in the link.
Bristol Balloon Fiesta is held in the ground of Ashton Court Gate on the other side of the Suspension Bridge to the city.
9th -12th August
http://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk/

and the red arrows stunt team will be there - THIS LINK BELOW IS OUT OF DATE AND SHOWS 2011's date but you get the idea.
http://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk/c ... rrows.aspx

Bristol is a great city, sites and attractions include Clifton Suspension Bridge, SS Great Briton, Camera Obscura Cabots/Broadmead for shopping and more bars/nightclubs and restaurants than you could possibly fit into your holiday.

I and can recommend Colliters Brook Farm BnB.
http://collitersbrookfarm.co.uk/default.aspx


The owner lets me park my split there, he has a camp site with shower/toilet block and is only 2 miles from my place and I can walk into the city centre in 15 mins, although sometimes, if you ask him nicely, he may give you a lift, or even catch me there working on my splittie.

If you do decide to drop by give me a PM and we could meet up and I'll tell you where else is good.

Jason

This is what we did this summer. UK indeed although not as long as inteded. Still had a great time....


Facts:
Km's: 5000
Day’s: 24
County’s: 4
Breakdowns: 0
Festivals/meetings: 3,5



Tuesday evening 11th of June we started our trip towards the Ferry of Dunkerke-Dover. It’s doable in one evening from our home so we could cach the 10:00 Am ferry..

Since supposed to have pretty bad weather forecast before leaving home but when we got to Dover it turned out to be full summer. So we decided to stay close to this lovely weather. We ended up in Canterbury. Nice old city and after some scouting the neighborhood we found a nice farm campsite. Not to expensive and we where the only guest present.(which is always a nice thing… )




But we planned to get to Devon and Cornwall we decided to leave in the afternoon. Weather forecast turned out te be true…


Still some nice scenery:

[


Luckily it’s also nice inside the bus…


Around midnight it stopped raining and it kept fairly dry. Better taking pictures without pouring rain……




Meanwhile we got to Devon. This is truly fairy country and it seems to be made for raodtrips:







Although they seem to use funny names for their city’s :


The famous narrow roads can be found everywhere but the best ones can be found in Dartmore nation park



After cruising aroud this park we went searching for a suitable wildcamp spot. We expected this to be fairly easy in a wildpark but it seemed a lot harder than we thought. All small roads ended at somebody’s house or farm. So did a tricky sandtrail we decided to take. When we got to the farm a man came asking what we are searching for. I told him we liked is off road trail and ended up at his farm. He started talking about his natural water source and how he bottled this water and sells it though out the region. After some more chitchat the man asked if we were looking for a campspot. We did as a matter of facts so he offered us his one of his fields. It was enormously and full of little yellow butterflowers. All privacy in the world and it was the ultimate hippy experience for us.



We did some shopping earlier that day. In GB there is a thing called Marks and Spencers(M&S). Sort of a supermarket but you can only find luxury meals for way too much money. We got ourselves a nice dinner being pasta and fresh fish. Just delicious:


We took some water from our guy:




The highest point of Dartmoor is a bare, rocky place with big stones lying everywhere. It’s a rough place, especially with stormy winds…



There are wild horses in several national parks in GB. These horses run freely through the national parks but they are marked and watched by some people. They are not scared of people and it’s a nice sighting to see them run and play.


The Eden project turned out to be on our route so we decided to check it out. We didn’t get in but we liked the architecture.


Next up is the cost off Cornwall. This place is famous for it’s own micro climate, blue sea and white beaches. Even palm trees grow here. It looked like northern Italy from time to time to us:





So we arrived in Falmouth. That’s a nice harbor town where when we arrived the International Chanty Festival took place. A bunch of singing pirates, pretty weird people if you ask us…


But managed to find a great free campsite:



Had some coffee in the morning and then we took off to lands and. This is the most western point of the UK. But first a bit of beach:


Lands End:


Next place wat St. Ives. One of the prettiest cities of Cornwall if you ask us. Found a nice campsite over there.




It’s time to visit Exmoor Park. It’s a bit like Dartmoor but a bit more sweet and lovely. We really like the roads getting there.




In Exmoor we found an off road track. We couldn’t resist this one but when we got down in the Valley it turned out te be quite wet. We thought we saw a good campsite but it clearly wasn’t. So we got stuck. No one around and no suitable tyres for these conditions…We managed to get loose again but had to turn also. Full speed up the hill until we got stuck again and then a sharp turn go get us going again. This was a close one, if we got like 5 meters deeper in this valley we wouldn’t be able to get out on our own. Always nice to have some adventure from time to time…



Managed to get out of this mess again we found a spot that suited us as a campsite also. We got kicked out by a guy who was hunting over there and he told us he wouldn’t want to shoot us while hunting. So we searched for a regular campsite. We found this in 5 minutes and it was the best ever. We got our own field and it was cheap also.


British breakfast:


But a roadtrip is a roadtrip, so after a lovely summer morning we started driving again. Up to Wales!








We arrived in Pembroke. Old city with a very special castle. We found a parking space next to the castle and tree pubs and figured that it was a perfect campsite for us. It was my birthday so that was convenient. We found the bed pretty late that evening. .



Next morning we drove to the “Black mountains” Yet again a national park, famous for it’s bad weather and stunning black hills. Weather turned out to be so bad that we couldn’t see much…








That same day we had an appointment at Mr. Kempes, Mark. We met this guy in the WinterTrail 2012 and talked about a little visit at his house and pub this summer. Since he was going to to Lavenham also we decided to travel together. It got really late again. Lavenham should be like 2,5 hours drive but we managed to do it in 6…




The kempes only has one mirror so driving is pretty scary in the UK in this RHD van. So we decided to co-drive with him. This car is truelly unbelievable. All the noises it makes, it’s like it’s alive. Straight cut, non-sychro gearbox, dubble clutching, everything. Make no mistake, this car is in perfect condition. Every thing Works, it has fresh MOT and no structural rust. I really love this beast.






Brighthouse Farm camping at Lavenham was super nice.


Party Flipseat #1 it was…




Next morning was Lavenham VW show. Als only we where able to find it …



Found it! Turn Right at:









Saturday night it started raining heavily again. Which means hanging around in tents in the morning. We where glad we had our big tent set up. Stephan made a nice picture on Evelyns foot. The V was from her flipflops


Eventually everybody left and we should also. Waited for a dry moment to get the tent bagged and took of. We took Stephan to London in trade of a shouwer. Nice trade if you ask me.


Our second meeting was at Steve’s. We met him last year and he has an ’61 Rhd SO 34. We arrived at his pub when England had a Euro Cup football macht agains Italy. England lost..


We could sleep at his house and his driveway made a great campsite. We had a few very nice days in luxury and visited London also. So much thanks for his hospitallity!


Our Ferrry was planned for Wendsday morning. But the Tuesday was open so we went to Brighton. We had been here before during Brighton Breeze and a day at the beach was tempting. Unfortunately the weather got misty that afternoon.


Evelyn has a special pedicure


The last part of our trip would be Rock Werchter(at least wat we tought). This is a major music festival with bands like Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Cypress Hil and many more. Had lot’s of fun and will be visiting this festival again.





At Monday we had to get back home again. End of our vacation, at least that's what we tought. After 3 days we decided to go to Le Mans classic. Another 1000 miles…
The best (racing)cars inthe word can be seen here. And they are being used and raced also. Many Bugatti’s, Bentleys, Ferrari’s, Porsches and you would not see on a regular event. We where guests at the Flat4France club. A field full of busses, Porsches, Beetles and Ghisa’s. All cars where stunning I must say.




Evelyn her dream came true when she was able to drive along with a 1929 Bentley:









It got late again in Party Flipseat # 1…



Next day more cars and races:
















That’s about it. Summer trip 2012 is done. But lot’s of weekends to enjoy the bus! Summer is not over yet…

Fab fab - thx for sharing

Great road trip - looks like you had a great time despite the weather - will hopefully be getting to Devon before the end of Summer.

The urge to have a Stock bus has grown since reading this thread. I am not sure how I feel about that