First outing of the year at Easter to Oxford (Blenheim Palace & Oxford city centre), Windsor Castle & Legoland, Harry Potter Studios & City of London.
For Oxford Blenheim Palace we stayed at Diamond Park Farm www.diamondpark.co.uk close to the M40 - £29 per night with its onsite Restaurant and Bar. The campsite has an outdoor swimming pool that is open in the summer months. Very clean and well maintained with all the facilities including a dedicated MH grey water disposal bay (bit narrow turning into and out of). Great as an overnight stopover – you have to drive to nearby locations but is in a good location and my wife was chatting to a family from Armagh who are on their 3rd stay there so can’t be bad. Blenheim Palace is a short drive away with ample parking for MHs (charge for entry to Blenheim Palace and Grounds only, not for parking).
Oxford City – Redbridge is the only Park and Ride for high-sided vehicles located off the A34. Rip off £8 flat rate for MHs to park only (not ride) on what is essentially waste ground – coaches pay £5! Oxford County Council’s road sweeper was busy dumping its grey/brown water into the large puddle at the exit point (environmental obligations anyone?) so not wanting to get the MH any dirtier than it already was, I drove out via the “Entry” side.
Windsor Alma Road Carpark – I had checked this out on-line in advance as it is listed as a MH overnight stop (Plan “B” would have been Queens Acre Campsite). When we arrived there were no marked MH parking bays and so I phoned the telephone number on the sign board. This went through to the traffic attendant who was on site and he advised that they “don’t like campervans” which is a pity as I pointed out it attracts “Tourism and Revenue for local businesses in Windsor”. Another MH arrived shortly after I did and the attendant advised that it would cost them £9 to park and £30 for mine (due to length). The other MH quickly vanished. After further “discussion” with the parking attendant, he agreed to let me park in a coach bay and pay the standard £9 car/van rate including overnight. When we returned in the evening, there were two MH’s parked up in the carparking area and so we parked alongside them for the night. Alma Road is a great location for visiting Windsor as it is only a 5+ min walk to the centre but it was noisy overnight from the nearby trains leaving/departing as well as (not surprisingly) being under the flight path for Heathrow.
For Legoland we overnighted at the http://www.thewhitehartholyport.co.uk/ pub. This stop was planned well in advance initially via their website and confirmed by email. Located in a quiet, pretty English village, it is a peaceful haven that belies it’s proximity to the M40, Maidenhead and Slough. The pub was closing early as it was Easter Monday and so we were unable to eat there (normally you would have a meal if you were staying overnight in your MH). The menu looked good and they were very friendly and overnighting in their carpark felt safe and was very quiet.
Parking @ Legoland was easy enough as we were one of the first to arrive and had breakfast in the MH whilst waiting for the park to open. Legoland was disappointing this time – many rides i.e. Viking Splash etc were either not working or broke down during the day and the place seemed a bit tired compared to previous visits. There was a noticeable one-sidedness in the number of people being let through on rides who had paid extra to queue hop which increased waiting times. We used vouchers off Kelloggs cereal packets (Adult free when you pay for a child) and I know that Tesco vouchers can be used but it is seriously not worth paying full price @ £60 pp.
For Harry Potter World and London City we stayed 3 nights at http://www.highclerefarmpark.co.uk camping located close to a the quaint village of Chalfont St Giles which is close to the M25@ £28 per night with water and EHU. The campsite is split in two with a larger area with controlled access via a height bar and unrestricted hard standing area close to reception. We were close to the reception so could come and go as we pleased. Word of warning… do not use Garmin to reach the campsite as it will send you up and down single track lanes!!! Best to access from the M25 @ Junction 18 and Rickmansworth Road avoiding every road with “Lane” in the title. Very convenient for Harry Potter world which the kids really enjoyed and spent 5.5 hours going around
. There is a Green King chain pub in the village which is a 15min walk from the campsite and serves meals if you don’t fancy cooking that night. Felt like a VIP parking at Harry Potter World (no charge for parking) as there was an area specially cordoned off near the entrance with parking over 4 car spaces!!
For London City, it is best to get a Taxi from Highclere camping (£10 each way) to Chalfont & Latimer and then it is only a Tube ride (off peak) to London City. There are some “express” Tube trains on the route that bypass a number of stops. We did the tour around the Houses of Parliament Tour and it was really good.
For Oxford Blenheim Palace we stayed at Diamond Park Farm www.diamondpark.co.uk close to the M40 - £29 per night with its onsite Restaurant and Bar. The campsite has an outdoor swimming pool that is open in the summer months. Very clean and well maintained with all the facilities including a dedicated MH grey water disposal bay (bit narrow turning into and out of). Great as an overnight stopover – you have to drive to nearby locations but is in a good location and my wife was chatting to a family from Armagh who are on their 3rd stay there so can’t be bad. Blenheim Palace is a short drive away with ample parking for MHs (charge for entry to Blenheim Palace and Grounds only, not for parking).
Oxford City – Redbridge is the only Park and Ride for high-sided vehicles located off the A34. Rip off £8 flat rate for MHs to park only (not ride) on what is essentially waste ground – coaches pay £5! Oxford County Council’s road sweeper was busy dumping its grey/brown water into the large puddle at the exit point (environmental obligations anyone?) so not wanting to get the MH any dirtier than it already was, I drove out via the “Entry” side.
Windsor Alma Road Carpark – I had checked this out on-line in advance as it is listed as a MH overnight stop (Plan “B” would have been Queens Acre Campsite). When we arrived there were no marked MH parking bays and so I phoned the telephone number on the sign board. This went through to the traffic attendant who was on site and he advised that they “don’t like campervans” which is a pity as I pointed out it attracts “Tourism and Revenue for local businesses in Windsor”. Another MH arrived shortly after I did and the attendant advised that it would cost them £9 to park and £30 for mine (due to length). The other MH quickly vanished. After further “discussion” with the parking attendant, he agreed to let me park in a coach bay and pay the standard £9 car/van rate including overnight. When we returned in the evening, there were two MH’s parked up in the carparking area and so we parked alongside them for the night. Alma Road is a great location for visiting Windsor as it is only a 5+ min walk to the centre but it was noisy overnight from the nearby trains leaving/departing as well as (not surprisingly) being under the flight path for Heathrow.
For Legoland we overnighted at the http://www.thewhitehartholyport.co.uk/ pub. This stop was planned well in advance initially via their website and confirmed by email. Located in a quiet, pretty English village, it is a peaceful haven that belies it’s proximity to the M40, Maidenhead and Slough. The pub was closing early as it was Easter Monday and so we were unable to eat there (normally you would have a meal if you were staying overnight in your MH). The menu looked good and they were very friendly and overnighting in their carpark felt safe and was very quiet.
Parking @ Legoland was easy enough as we were one of the first to arrive and had breakfast in the MH whilst waiting for the park to open. Legoland was disappointing this time – many rides i.e. Viking Splash etc were either not working or broke down during the day and the place seemed a bit tired compared to previous visits. There was a noticeable one-sidedness in the number of people being let through on rides who had paid extra to queue hop which increased waiting times. We used vouchers off Kelloggs cereal packets (Adult free when you pay for a child) and I know that Tesco vouchers can be used but it is seriously not worth paying full price @ £60 pp.
For Harry Potter World and London City we stayed 3 nights at http://www.highclerefarmpark.co.uk camping located close to a the quaint village of Chalfont St Giles which is close to the M25@ £28 per night with water and EHU. The campsite is split in two with a larger area with controlled access via a height bar and unrestricted hard standing area close to reception. We were close to the reception so could come and go as we pleased. Word of warning… do not use Garmin to reach the campsite as it will send you up and down single track lanes!!! Best to access from the M25 @ Junction 18 and Rickmansworth Road avoiding every road with “Lane” in the title. Very convenient for Harry Potter world which the kids really enjoyed and spent 5.5 hours going around
. There is a Green King chain pub in the village which is a 15min walk from the campsite and serves meals if you don’t fancy cooking that night. Felt like a VIP parking at Harry Potter World (no charge for parking) as there was an area specially cordoned off near the entrance with parking over 4 car spaces!!
For London City, it is best to get a Taxi from Highclere camping (£10 each way) to Chalfont & Latimer and then it is only a Tube ride (off peak) to London City. There are some “express” Tube trains on the route that bypass a number of stops. We did the tour around the Houses of Parliament Tour and it was really good.
