i'm looking at visiting ulwell cottage caravan and camping park near swanage in dorset, for next year, possibly early july maybe in a tent "montana 6."
could anyone tell me which pitches are reasonably level for a tent , as i dont want to be on a slope, as stated in some of the reviews,
also is the bus service frequent from the site to swanage and studland beaches.
and if there are any decent pubs within reasonable walking distance, as we usually like to leave the vehicle on site and use public transport if poss,
ive put a link to the parks site plan "here" ( if it works)
thanks all
stu.
------------- I predict a riot !!
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We visited the site in summer and intended to stay a few nights in our motorhome, but found it to far away from Swanage to walk comfortable leaving the van on pitch. Cant comment on tent pitches, but we found that Swanage, like many resorts are only to willing to charge high car park fees, and even ban motorhomes from the car parks, we decided to spend our money elsewhere ( when will they learn) perhaps they like to keep the victorian run down appearence for them selves. kiev
We use Ulwell a lot and like the site. Pitches from 15 to 28 are probably your best bet. They are grass and are the ones that get used first by folk in tents. Numbers 1 to 14 are the ones that slope a bit. Pitches 41 to 66 are at different levels with slopes or walls between.
The bus stop is outside the site on the main road and the service is hourly at least, sometimes more in high season. It is the Wilts & Dorset 150 service http://www.wdbus.co.uk/htm/ttSouthern/index-s.asp
We visited ulwell last May. The site is very clean and well maintained. There is a nice swimming pool and park/ play area for the children. It is probably about 40 minutes walk into swanage. The nearest pub is the Crows Nest but thats about 25 mins from the site. There are some great walks from the site if you actually like walking !! We walked to Corfe castle on day. Now for the bad bit!!! Do not pitch on numbers 60 to 66. These pitches are on slopes and access to them is poor. There are no clear boundaries to where one pitch starts and an other starts. You are right in the middle and there was no where to park your car: luckily we were with 2 other families so we were able to park our cars together in a block. People constantly walked through our pitch to get to these because of the layout. As mentioned above the other pitches did look ok. Be careful when you book because they ask you the size of your tent ( we have outwell hartford xl + a canopy) we were then told because of the size of our tent we were unable to pitch on numbers 15, 16 and 17 and told the best pitches for us would be the dreaded 63, 60 and 62!!! I don't think so!.
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Ulwell Cottage was the very first site I ever camped at, about 4 years ago. I hadn't booked and just turned up there and they gave me a pitch just behind the reception which was under some trees in front of the play area. I have a feeling it might have been pitch 12?
It was fairly flat there and of course a short distance to the entrance and the pub. The pub, incidentally, is also the local pub and not just for campers. I found the food excellent although a little expensive but better than going into Swanage and paying the extortionate parking fees...you need a credit card to park there!!
The downside was that the whole camp is quite hilly and the nearest toilet was a good couple of minutes uphill walk away. Not too bad for me but not good for anyone with walking difficulties. It's a nice, well kept site but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with walking difficulties. The pitches themselves are fairly flat as I recall but the site itself isn't the easiest to negotiate.
There is another campsite in the town itself called Cauldron Barn Farm, only 10 minutes slow walk to the seafront, but again, although the pitches themselves are flat the area is generally hilly (see the UKCS reviews)...not exceptionally so but quite tiring on the old legs.
Perhaps the flattest site I have been to along that stretch of coast is West Fleet Farm near Weymouth (no caravans). The entire campsite is pretty well a big flat field seperated into sections by low walls, trees and shrubs and very well maintained. It has it's own bar/restaurant with entertainment in the evenings but isn't a large commercial site. The downside is that it's in the middle of nowhere about 4 miles from Weymouth...parking at Weymouth is a heck of a lot more reasonably priced and more plentiful than Swanage though.
Having now looked at the Ulwell Cottage site plan they put me on one of those unmarked pitches just up from the gas tanks...beware of earwigs falling out the trees. I went home with a tent bag full of them! It was shortly after that my wife banished my camping gear to the shed.
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Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: ulwell cottage caravan park, swanage
