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Stayed here on the Bank Holiday for 2 nights. Prebooked through Forest Holidays, had no problem at all and on arrival it was very organised and we were given all the info we needed. Found a nice spot in the far right field. I was slightly worried at arriving Friday mid afternoon on a bank hol, but we found a good spot. By Friday evening the site was a lot fuller and on Saturday the campsite full sign appeared outside.
The pegs were a nightmare to get in the ground - probably because under the grass section we had chosen, was continuation of the concrete which dominates the site. We did our best to get the pegs in however didn't take kindly to hearing the warden say we had done some lazy pegging! I'd recommended having some strong pegs!
The facilities were good. Lots of toilets and sinks. The showers were lovely and warm. Cubicle could have done with a curtain as clothes got a bit wet just hanging on the peg on the back of the door. Didnt use the washing up facilities however saw queues. No sink cubicles in the toilets and no sockets for hairdryers. There is a hairdryer which takes coins, however.
The site has some ready tents, they looked a bit dated from the outer and by the Saturday afternoon tents were pitched on any spare grass around them.
Take away good, and cheap, providing breakfasts and evening food. Shop was good and stocked a wide range of bits, inc camping accessories, although prices over the top - £2.50 for a 2L bottle of coke.
Very dark at night so torches are needed.
Park leads to some lovely walks and has a fascinating history. Visited Hurst castle (not sure it was worth the long walk from Milford on Sea) and various beach spots for some fantastic views of the Needles, IOW. Site is a 10 minute drive to Sainsburys, Harvester, Toby Carvery.
Liked the site, it's not the prettiest but that didn't even matter. Would have enjoyed it more if it was allocated pitches but if in the area again we would probably return to this one.
Sorry folks but I was disappointed with this site. Having the van and the New Forest just on my doorstep I really wanted my trip to be awesome. Maybe I've been spoilt in the past but to pay the ££££ we did I would have wanted more than I got.
Positive side was good toilets. There is a play area but kids came back absolutely smothered in dust.
There are some guided walks that look interesting, but I felt expensive given how much I'd already paid.
There are good directions to a couple of local pubs which is ok if you like that sorta thing. Sadly nothing for local tea rooms.
Severely let down by total lack of allocation, helpfulness from the staff and lack of small (under 5s) children's activities. Masses of concrete and rock hard ground that'll punish your tent pegs to spaghetti. Seriously get some 'groundhog' pegs before you go! And a claw hammer!
Local information does not seem to exist. Staff do not seem to know anything about the local area (shop staff as this seems to be main info point). We would have like to have walked from the site to the Station Tea Rooms but our inquiry merely received a shrug and an offer to sell us a pretty useless map!
My son and I have recently spent a Bank Holiday weekend at this nice little site, and have to say that it's a nicely run and well laid out site. There's a nice little play park, a well stocked shop, and good walks from the site into the forest.
For a Bank Holiday it was uncrowded, and there was plenty of space to pitch for our group to be able to stay together.
The location is excellent and central for daytrips out, but we chose to remain pretty much in situ.
There are a few amenities blocks, all clean and well serviced, with free showers.
The one complaint was that the ground was ridiculously hard, I wrote off 6 pegs whilst pitching. Bring some strong pegs!
Otherwise, excellent site, and friendly service, a little on the pricey side, but it was a Bank Holiday I guess.
We have just returned here for a weekend in our Bongo; the last visit was in a tent.
We chose here for the facilities and the opportunity to not have to drive anywhere during our stay. The toilet blocks, 3 off, are spotless, much better than some very posh hotels we've stayed in. Each block has clear notices of the cleaning times so you know when to go to another. We pitched between 2 blocks in a premium area as we require a hook up.
Although we had some extremely bad storms overnight, the site drained well.
Our daughter loved the play area with it's structures and soft ground. Using her scooter to whizz around the site was advantageous.
The shop is well stocked. We had a take away meal on the first night as it was such good value and the chips were lovely. We had breakfast baps on the last morning, such good value and hardly worth the washing up of cooking in the van.
We spent the days hiking out in the forest on the circular routes illustrated in the shop, a fun way to get covered in mud.
As this site is less than an hour from home it makes it an ideal weekend or short break option; safe, secure, clean, tidy, friendly. What more could you ask for.
We booked 2 nights at the Holmsley site - our chosen destination for our first family camping trip.
We arrived at 6pm on the Friday and were very pleased with the smooth check-in process. We exchanged our empty gas canister for a full one on arrival, the price was very reasonable.
The premium areas were relatively busy but there still seemed to be lots of space. We instantly liked the look of the site, and the toilet/shower and dishwashing facilities looked great.
We booked a standard pitch and were very pleased to find a secluded spot at the bottom of a slope behind the shop/takeaway lodge with no other campers around. The weather throughout April had been amazing and so we were looking forward to a sunny break for the weekend.
We pitched the tent and were very excited about spending our first night under canvas together as a family with our 3.5 year old daughter. Unfortunately, shortly after 8pm it began to rain, allbeit lightly. It progressively got heavier.And then the thunderstorms started. By 12am the storm was deafening, although the tent was holding up well and we were warm and dry.
At 1am, the storm got heavier and following torrential rain for hours, the ditch surrounding our area burst its banks. Our tent was flooded instantly.With a river flowing through our main storage area. Now we know why no-one was camping in our secluded spot! They knew something we didn't! We were wading in water that was almost knee high and quickly grabbed all our belongings and headed for the car. It was a terrifying experience for our daughter and an extremely disappointing turn of events for us. We decided to pack everything up, wet tent included, and head for home which was luckily only about 1.5 hours away - however the entrance/exit is locked at 10.30pm and so we had no option but to sleep in the car for the night and then we left as soon as the gate opened in the morning.
We really hope to visit Holmsley again in the future and actually get a chance to explore the site and its facilities which looked to be excellent!
Our only gripe was that we have tried to contact the site to let them know we'd left but their phone number simply directs you to the Forest Holidays website - it would be nice to talk to someone!
Just back from a few days camping in the van at Holmsley. This is the second time we've been and we weren't disappointed. Obviously it was busy as it's a large site and the weather was glorious, plus the Easter break was coming up (we left by Thursday to avoid the crowds). We found a perfect hook-up space right by the woods at the bottom of the camp and it was lovely and flat and private. After buying rock pegs for the awning (lesson learnt from last time), it turned out we didn't need them for this pitch - they'll come in handy at some point I would think. You never know if you'll need them though so definitely recommend getting some just in case. This is a free for all get a pitch site - nothing is reserved in advance and I like this, it means you don't get what you're given and can have a drive round looking for the best spot, although I imagine it would be a bit of a nightmare when it's really busy. Pitches aren't marked as such and you have to look for the empty hook ups. The site might not suit all as it's an old WWII airstrip and looks exactly that. A lot of concrete with green strips in the centre and to the sides - however, the surrounding forest more than makes up for this plus the roads make it so easy to have a cycle around - kids seem to love it as they zoom around on their little bikes.
There is a great shop on site which seems to have pretty much everything you might need - yes, you will pay a bit of a premium for the convenience but it's definitely not over the top and being able to get fresh bread and milk so close is such a bonus. Even though it was very busy, we managed to get bread whenever we needed it. The shop also sells freshly brewed coffee and croissants, pain au chocolate etc, so if you can't be bothered putting the kettle on, have a wander over, pick up a coffee and a newspaper and voila, ready for the morning.
There is also a take-away on the site which we didn't use - but not for lack of trying! We got back late (about 9.00pm) from a bike ride out and didn't fancy cooking so we decided to get a take-away. Unfortunately when we got there (9.15pm), it had closed, even though the board states closing time is 10.30pm. 2 lads were also there wondering if it was open and then a lady popped her head around the shop door and said they had closed early 'as they had had no business'. We thought this was a bit rough, particularly as when we were walking off another 2 couples and a lady with a child all walked up to get a take-away! 10.30 should mean 10.30 regardless.
The toilets are fantastically clean with constant hot water and free showers (with a push button system - it works fine). The showers though are blindingly hot! I had to keep stepping out from under the water - I wouldn't want to risk putting a child in there. Why they can't turn the temperature down a bit beats me - especially as they are really into water and energy savings. I've seen some comments about the loo roll dispensers only dispensing one sheet and this being a problem - it absolutely isn't and can't understand this at all. If you want more sheets, just gently pull the roll through - it works fine. I've also seen complaints about the amount of time it takes to clean the toilets - 2 hour closures. Again, why would this be a problem when there are two further blocks on the site, plus it shows how thoroughly they clean them. I think in this instance it's a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't - there'd be a lot of complaints if they didn't clean the blocks - ah well.
The gates to the site are locked at 10.30 so if you're out in a campervan you have to get back before then - however, it's well documented so I can't see why people would complain about it. If you're in a tent, just park your car outside (plenty of parking) and wander over to your tent. Not a problem that I can see and again I imagine there'd be complaints if cars were driving round at midnight or 1.00am - sometimes you just can't please people.
The site staff were nothing but friendly and helpful - very smiley people so absolutely no problem with that at all.
Walking, Biking and Burley:
There are numerous beautiful walks and cycles tracks surrounding the site and nothing is particularly far away - but remember, it isn't particularly flat so you'll need your 'cycling legs' a bit to get back up those hills you enjoyed going down! Burley is only about 3 miles away with a couple of nice routes - either along the old railway track (road bikes not a great idea but we made it) and also up to Thorney and then a glorious, open ride down into the village - well worth a visit with nice little shops and 2 nice pubs (really good food). The surrounding lanes are gorgeous for cyclists and walkers alike with loads of ponies, cattle, donkeys etc wandering around free as birds. Warning - ponies will try to mug you for bananas!
It's so easy to drive to the big towns from here too and it's worth just making a day of driving around and just looking and stopping where you like.
All in all, apart from a couple of niggles, this really is a great site - convenient, well set up, beautiful location, easy access to everything and very peaceful despite it's size. It's very child friendly with a nice little playground, lots of space for running and cycling without supervision and lovely little walks down to the stream - we saw a group of kids on a route march through the woods with little fishing nets and a lady chatting away telling them about their surroundings - lots of happy faces.
If you want 'idyllic', then this isn't the site for you (albeit that I think it's actually a very pleasant site) - if you want the convenience of a hook-up, great surroundings, easy access, great walks and great cycle routes, then give it a go - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Have stayed at Holmsley twice. It's a very large site but it's got good facilities. It's on the old Holmsley South Airfield and as such good use is made of the aircraft stands for caravans.
It's not the prettiest of sites but it's in a great location close to Brockenhurst and there's a great choice of local hostelries near by. Access to the Forest is direct from the campsite and there's a lovely circular walk.
Exploring the airfield is good fun and there's an information board opposite the campsite entrance. The New Forest Airfields Memorial is located very close to the site and it's well worth the visit, the New Forest was clearly a hive of activity during WW2 and there's lots of evidence to be had here.
The facilities are well maintained and the staff are friendly and informative. There's a good store on site. There's a dedicated camping / overflow field which was closed on my visit but this is open to tents during the summer and looked better than the general site in my opinion - more picturesque.
My family have just returned from a wonderful weeks holiday on this campsite. We were a bit dubious when we were told that we couldn't 'book' pitches, (you pay in advance to hold your space - but then have to find a pitch when you arrive) But we needn't have worried, we found two pitches together within minutes - The site was fantastic.
The shower and toilet blocks were clean, with lovely hot water.
The shop was always well stocked with everything you might need - and not at 'rip off prices'
The staff all very friendly and helpful.
The site even has their own Take away kiosk, opening for breakfast baps in the morning and meals in the afternoon/evening- which were reasonably priced too.
A lovely play park. Lots of cycle areas. Ponies and cows just outside the site.
A 'no noise after 10.30pm' rule, which was adhered to perfectly (although IT IS a very quiet site anyway, considering the size of it and how busy it was - we were amazed)
Gates to the site are closed between 10.30pm and 7am, so no noise of cars coming in and out when the kids are tucked up in bed.
Surrounded by nature, but not too far from beaches and towns.
We booked this camp site for originally 2 nights but ended up staying for another night as we thoroughly enjoyed it! This was our 1st time camping together as a family & mine since I left the Scouts 14 years ago. The ground was hard but still managed to secure the tent as much as possible & it didn't blow away, so I must of done a decent job!
The staff were very helpful and polite & the facilities were clean & tidy. The water in the showers were a bit too hot for the kids but I found that there were ways around it, some parents bathed their babies in the sinks (great idea and practical). There was a small assault course/play are for the kids which is not ideal for most toddlers but mine still had great fun exploring and getting grubby! There is also a launderette which was handy for washing some grubby bits of ours. It's situated right next door to the reception/shop on the left. There is also a dish-washing room next to the toilets.
We pitched up on the 'island' directly opposite the 1st toilet/shower block (there's 2 on this camp site) & we had enough space next to our tent to park our car & also still have enough room away from others. If anyone has a problem with anyone pitching up too close, then the wardens do take care of this you just have to let them know.
There's also a bike hire facility available where they'll deliver your chosen bikes to the site & I've also just read that you can hire ice packs (I so wished I'd of known about this!)
We visited this campsite on the last day of the school term and have lots of good things to say about it. The showers were lovely and hot, though you had to time it well or you would have been waiting in the queue for a while! The dishwashing facilities were also good as the sinks were large and the water very hot.
I would echo what other reviewers have said about it getting very busy at the weekends. I got there at 12pm on Friday and it was already busy but by Sunday afternoon there was lots of space again. There were tents too close together where people were struggling to find somewhere to pitch. I would also recommend trying to pitch as far from the gravel paths as you can as the crunching sound of people walking along it doesn’t stop all night!
My kids aged 8 & 5 loved the freedom they experienced on this site as they were able to cycle around and to/ from the playground by themselves. There were always lots of ponies around the gates, much to their amusement.
It was our first UK camping trip as a family and the whole weekend went very well. That said, we intend to visit one of the other Forestry Commission sites next time, to see if we can get more of a feeling that we’re in the New Forest as it’s quite a large, open site and I would like to be more nestled in the trees/ bushes.
We stayed for 4 nights in mid-July. Arriving on a Thursday, we were very pleased with our choice of site, and found ourselves a nice spot in the 'plain heath' section with plenty of space around us. Unfortunately, everything changed over the weekend! The number of tents they allowed in was incredible, we joked it was like Glastonbury but without the music! We'd been advised of the 3-6 metres between tents rule on arrival (it was also reiterated on the info leaflet you were given, and on signs within the site itself) but over the weekend the rule seemed to be completely forgotten! Returning after being out for the afternoon we found a tent had been pitched where we'd been parking our car, and it was almost touching ours, certainly no more than 1 metre away. We kept joking 'well surely they're not going to let any more in now' then yet more tents would appear!
Also, despite the rule of keeping noise to a minimum between 10.30-8.00, it was so noisy it was impossible to sleep- people were drinking and talking loudly outside their tents until at least 1.30am (or later), and then noise from nearby families with young children began at around 6am. The latter wouldn't have been a problem if there'd have been the proper distance between tents. I considered asking for a refund for the other nights we'd paid for as I felt too tired to enjoy the holiday! Maybe zones for different types of campers would help at busy times?
The other main criticism we had was about the shower block- the water was far too hot, and there was also very little ventilation (all but one windows were locked). It became so hot and steamy that trying to get dried after showering was difficult!
The location and setting of the campsite are wonderful, but my advice would be to avoid weekends over the summer!
First time in a while my wife and I have camped and first time ever for the kids and we had a whale of a time. We found this a nice family friendly site to get back into the swing of things with good all round facilities.
Shower/toilet blocks were great as were the dishwashing areas though a bit of a squeeze at times. Showers/toilets did get a bit grubby but with the amount of happy campers on site it doesn't come as any surprise and some people need to clear up after themselves rather than leave it for the staff to do.
Glad I bought some rock pegs the day before we arrived as I definitely needed them.
Kids enjoyed the play area, sometimes a bit too much which led to the laundrette being used.
The camp is perfectly located to use as a base for the surrounding area and the attractions available. The kids enjoyed the Adventure Wonderland, opposite Bournemouth Airport, though my personal fave was the Ringwood Brewery tour.
Pre booked 4 nights on a premium pitch (includes EHU) a week before trip. Arrived and booked in with no problems we had a number of pitches to choose from? Pitches could be more clearly marked out and some sort of bushes or hedging planted to give greater privacy. Rock pegs are advisable due to stony ground. There are numerous water points around the site, and there are 3 shower blocks which look quite new with plenty of hot water and were always clean. But did seem odd that there always seemed to be a block closed for cleaning at busy times of day. Plenty of rubbish bins around the site for recycling. BBQ are allowed but no fires for obvious reasons.
The best thing about the site is that the New Forest ponies are kept out of the site by the fencing. It is a lovely area for walking and cycling along the forest tracks.
Our 2 tent party of 4 has just returned from a weekend at Holmsley.
We arrived at 8pm on Friday night to be met by a 20 person deep cue. There was only 1 person checking in and the systems weren't running quickly enough.
We then struggled to find somewhere to camp as plenty of other campers were using there cars to create space for themselves. The site could do with Wardens controlling the pitching during busy periods. It really was 'every man for himself'.
Once we were settled the facilities are top notch. Showers are clean and the shop and takeaway and very good.
Saturday morning saw us have to move one of the tents as it wasn't quite 3meters away from our other tent. It did seem to be not well enforced throughout the site though as other tents were closer than what we were.
The location of the site is very good with Christchurch and Highcliffe beaches a short drive away and plenty of walks available in the New Forest.
We enjoyed our stay at Holmsley although we will probably visit another New Forest site next time.
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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
Stayed here on the Bank Holiday for 2 nights. Prebooked through Forest Holidays, had no problem at all and on arrival it was very organised and we were given all the info we needed. Found a nice spot in the far right field. I was slightly worried at arriving Friday mid afternoon on a bank hol, but we found a good spot. By Friday evening the site was a lot fuller and on Saturday the campsite full sign appeared outside. 
