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I, along with my family spent the late May Bank Holiday here, it was a good job we booked well in advance as, on the Friday, the 'site full' signs were out. The site has 'dog-free' areas and some pitches with electric hookup. The site shop, although dearer than Sainsburys (10 minutes away towards Christchurch) hasa a good range of essentials and sensible opening hours.
The friendliness of the staff is excellent and they really are helpful, it is a pity they are let down by toilet/shower/washup facilities which I suspect are not much changed from the sites life as an RAF station! Making allowances for the fact that the site was VERY busy and it was obvious that the facilities were regularly cleaned, they were well below the standard achieved on the better sites in France, I think the main problem was that there were not enough facilities, another WC/shower/washup block would reduce queueing and, with full cleaning out twice a day, make for a better experience.
Apart from this what a brilliant site, my grand-children had a super time,the on site play facilities were well maintained. There is so much for them to do on the forest, as much play space as they could ever want and the ponies!. I did find the free-for-all pitching system a bit wasteful of space and, on the Saturday, a latecomer pitched up next to us, by the time the sleeping extensions were pegged out, the tent was less than one foot from our sons tent ! Notwithstanding any of the above would I go back there.YES!, super for children, access to the forest (bring your bikes) and not far from the beach at Bournemouth.
After arriving at the site after a horrendous journey we went to check in but were told by the Receptionist we had no electric hook up, although I had booked a dog free pitch with EHU. We were told to move to a pitch without electrics which we did but found really frustrating.
Only other bad point was by the time we had sorted this out it was getting late, we had to queue for over an hour at their onsite takeaway.
Good points were the showers and toilets were fairly clean, there was a nice play area for the younger children and lots of space for them to ride their bikes.
Just a few minutes walk out of the site were all the ponies and foals which the kids loved.
The site is big but doesn't feel like it and we would probably go back but am a bit wary of booking an electric pitch to be told we hadn't booked one.
We have just returned from a week here and we dragged along friends and their kids with us as we enjoyed it so much last year.
It was as good as we remembered it. The shop now opens at 8am so no need to wait so long for a morning cuppa, they also open more hours and the take away also has longer opening hours and does good food that is cooked fresh although you do have to wait!
I did find however that the showers and toilets were not as clean as last August, but this may just be it was low season and not cleaned as often. They weren't bad just not as before.
This site is totally child friendly and I would recomend it to anyone. Us and our friends will definatley be returning.
Visited in half term week end of October. Pre booked 2 pitches in case it was packed but managed to get pitched together, although hooks ups were all booked up. Shop well supplied and a nice guy ran it. Toilets pretty clean but I am guessing end of sesaon and all that they probably dont get as good as clean as they might have earlier in the season. The shower blcok near the shop was the best as you had some where to put your clothes when you had a shower but we have learnt to take 2 empty carier bags one for clean and one for dirty clothes as the spray from the shower hits all your hanging stuff and your shoes get it to. Really dark here at night as there is no lighting so take a torch. Nice space for the kids to play and a park and only 2 minutes walk before you see all the wild ponies. Lovely place would go again when the weather is nicer.
There isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said! A large, lively, family site with well maintained facilities, and plenty of room for the kids to run around. The noise from the planes may disturb a light sleeper, but they are no worse than the general background noise, especially when the site is full.
I really only have a couple of observations to make: The Take-away signs were left out at all times, giving the impression (to us at least!) that it was open every evening. This wasn't the case as we found out when we went to get some jacket potatoes on Sunday evening and found it closed! Also the shop opening time in the morning was nine o'clock (at least 1.5 hours after everyone had got up!). This resulted in huge queues of people getting fresh milk for their morning cuppa and the kids breakfast.
Overall we had a great time and would definitley consider the site in future trips to the New Forest.
This is a large site with a excellent shop that sells everything from salt to sleeping bags. The large open fields provide plenty of pitch spaces, but we camped in a lovely little wooded area behind the childrens playground which was much more sheltered. The horses are kept out of the site which makes it a little less daunting if you are worried about the horses, but there are plenty just out side of the site along the entrance road if you want to see any. This site is miles away from anywhere and it is a good hours walk to the nearest pub, so if you want to have a good drink and not take the car then be prepared for a good hike. Also drinkers be warned they don't sell alcohol on a sunday! This is a good site if it is your first visit to the New Forest, but not the place to go if you want to leave the car behind
Stayed for four nights midweek in very hot weather. The site was full and that meant LOTS of everything - Tents, Caravans, People, Kids, bikes, scooters, cars, queues - except space! It seems their 20 ft between pitches only applies in off peak times.
Having found our pitch we did have a good time. All facilities are well maintained and the shop well stocked if a bit pricey.
We visited Highcliffe beach which was refreshingly empty! The steep walk down the cliff from the car park probably puts most off! Worth the effort though. We then walked along the coast to Muddeford Quay to join in the crab fishing frenzy there! VERY busy.
Local village Burley is very nice with some nice souvenir shops many based on withcraft to the delight of my gothic teenagers! The pub serves a very generous cream tea!
Overall a great base for seeing the forest and coast, and plenty to occupy the kids when on site.
This was our first camping experience and after reading the reveiws and having two children aged 2 and 8 i was slighty aprehensive.
But.... this site was excelent and would definatly go back, we had a standard pitch(no electric) and we had a lovely pitch, on this site you choose your pitch so you can either be right amongst loads of people or in a more quiet and secluded spot, we chose the later without realising.
Althought there is 700 pitches on this site we would never have guessed, there is plenty of shower blocks and they are kept clean, we went at various times and the longest we waited was 5 minutes.
The shop is well stocked although a little expensive and doesnt open until 9am which when you get up and want milk is a pain, the park is great although can get a bit rowdy in the late evening with teenagers.
There is excelent acess directly to the New Forest with great walks, and plenty of cows and pony's. Dont pitch under a pine tree - too many squirells, although great to watch very noisy eaters. The closest pub is about 3 miles away which is a bit of a downfall although it does have a park, which is quite rare in the area. We didnt really notice the planes after a while although they wern't really that regular anyway. In all a fantastic site with excelent amenities, great for escaping.
May 2005 I went with a group of friends here and had a good weekend but I do agree it is a bit on the large size. I will openly admit that i was one of the naughty people that drove to the loo block as it was a good 5 minute walk from where we were pitched. Which if you are desperate is a rather long walk! This site is fine for a good base in the New Forest the loos and showers are kept clean and I never had to queue - then again i tend to go at about 10ish after a leisurly breakfast. It is great for families as it is an old airstrip there are loads of flat surfaces for kids to tear about on - on that note if you are looking for a peaceful quiet campsite - go elsewhere as Holmsley is fairly lively and full of children and caters very well for them.
May 2005 Holmsley on Whitsun bank holiday weekend this year was more like a festival than a campsite - people pitched absolutely anywhere and everywhere, including us, as we arrived late and had to take what we could find. We're new to camping and probably naive, but we were shocked that you can book a pitch on a campsite early in the new year, then arrive to find it is first-come-first-served, and that there are no obviously suitable pitches left. So be warned, this campsite is big and, certainly on this bank holiday, very busy. Infact, we couldn't even keep within their 20-foot-between-pitches rule, and we weren't the only ones.
On the upside there are plenty of well maintained toilets and showers and the dishwashing room was kept very clean and the water was always hot. So no complaints with the facilities. Nice playground for the kids and the old taxiways (former WWII airfield) are great for children to play on scooters/bikes etc. Lots of opportunities to give even small children their freedom.
The location is wonderful; right off the main roads in the middle of shrubland. You literally walk out of the perimeter and into the wilds of the New Forest. But as other reviewers mentioned, it is directly under a flight path, so quite noisy, even in the early hours.
Big Sainsbury's is 10 mins in the car, and site has a pretty good shop.
Overall, big, sometimes noisy at nights (inconsiderate people as well as planes), and a free-for-all which is probably great if you get there early and get a good pitch, but terrible if you get stuck in traffic like we did and arrive late.
May 2005 Have just returned from our 2nd visit to Holmsley - this visit was for 4 nights we previously visited at the end of April for 2 nights.
We had a nice site on the outside of the field just under the trees and we ended up with a good size pitch although looking around there seemed to be a lot of people squeezed into small spaces. Not having an allocated pitch meant you had to keep looking until you found a pitch (we had an electric hook up).
We used the shop £1.15 for a loaf of bread! and we used the take away for nice hot chips these were reasonably priced.
I was less impressed by the site this visit than last - the toilets and shower blocks did not appear to be kept as clean this time and the large bins were overflowing.
May 2005 Not a bad site. Good things: * Clean toilet blocks * Plenty of space * Not over organised (e.g. pitch where you like) * Some trees and bushes to break up the site. * Quiet location. * Easy access to the coast, the forest, and Sainsbury's (about 10 minutes towards Christchurch).
Bad things: * A bit big for our taste, but that is just personal * One toilet block wasn't open. We were made aware of this, but it did mean that to get a nice spot that wasn't surrounded by caravans with no sense of privacy meant a long walk to the loo. Galling when all the lights in the shut block were off! Quite a few people were driving to the toilet... I kid ye not. * Lots of graffiti on the toilet doors. (No, I don't want to suck your... thank you!) * Badly designed shower cubicles where it was almost impossible to keep your clothes dry.
Personally, I won't be going back, but that is more because I like smaller sites than because this site is bad. Fine, but uninspiring, I'd say.
May 2005 We normally go to Ashurst but since getting a dog we decided to go back to Holmsley. I forgot how nice it was! Not only do they have hookup and non hookup pitches but also tent only pitches and dog free pitches, a takeaway, very reasonable prices £2.70 for a full English (9 items)
The other nice thing about this site is the ponies cant get in (on other sites I have seen a few tents trodden through by them trying to get to the food!) The roads are fairly quiet and flat around the area so we were able to take our 6 yr old on a nice bike ride.
The beautiful village of Burley is only five minutes drive, my favourite village in the whole of the New Forest.
July 2004 I generaly agree with previous reviewers. When we stayed, the campsite was fully booked and the sheer numbers involved can challenge even a well-run site like this. You do have to search a bit for a vacant pitch, the toilets may be some distance away, Bournemouth Hurn airport seems rather close, but despite the crowds the noise wasn't too bad. The staff worked hard to keep the toilets maintained, but the huge number of campers caused queuing for showers.
We liked the location giving easy access to both the coast and the New Forest.
Although there's nothing intrinsically wrong with Holmsley, the Forestry Commission's other large New Forest site at Roundhill appeared more spacious when we stayed there a while back; you can't get a shower at Roundhill, but unless you time it right or are very patient, you can't at Holmsley either!
May 2004 It was the Bank holiday weekend and it was our first time camping. The site was full and as there are no marked pitches it was quite daunting trying to find a suitable spot. The site is based on an old airfield and the old runways were put to good use by cyclists and caravans alike. We were lucky to find a reasonably quiet wooded spot. The toliets and showers were clean and cleaned regularly. The shop was well stocked and the take-away made fantastic chips!! The kids loved the playground and made loads of friends. The New Forest is just on the other side of the fence and there is plenty of countryside to explore. We will definately be returning.
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Common Questions
Is Holmsley Camping In The New Forest child friendly? YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Holmsley Camping In The New Forest? There is a shop on site View all facilities
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
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Tent Pitches 
Caravan Pitches 
Motorhome Pitches 
Small Campervans 
Glamping Units 
No Statics for Hire 
No Statics for Sale 
Seasonal Pitches 
Electric Hookups 
Hardstanding Pitches 
No Fully Serviced Pitches 
Families Welcome 
Not Members Only 
Rallies Welcome 
Not Naturist Site 
Dogs Welcome 
No Dogs Allowed 
Groups Welcome 
Motorbikers Welcome 
Toilet Facilities 
Hot Showers 
Washing Up 
No Bathroom 
No Baby Changing 
Laundry On Site 
Drinking Water 
Disabled Friendly 
Chemical Disposal 
Battery Charging 
No Gas Exchange 
Recycling Facilities 
No Kitchen Facilities 
No Freezer / Fridge 
Motorhome Point 
Wifi Access 
Shop On Site 
Bar <5 miles 
Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway <5 miles 
Kids Playground 
No TV Room 
No Games Room 
No Evening Ents 
No Fishing 
No Wild Swimming 
No Indoor Pool 
No Outdoor Pool 
Horse Riding <5 miles 
Cycle Hire On Site 
Golf <5 miles 
No Tennis 
Beach <10 miles 
Watersports <10 miles 
No Boat Launch 
No Sea Views 
Not Working Farm 
No Campfires Allowed 
No Waterside Pitches 
Public Transport <5 miles
Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access 
Electric Car Charging Point
I, along with my family spent the late May Bank Holiday here, it was a good job we booked well in advance as, on the Friday, the 'site full' signs were out. The site has 'dog-free' areas and some pitches with electric hookup. The site shop, although dearer than Sainsburys (10 minutes away towards Christchurch) hasa a good range of essentials and sensible opening hours.
