Monday 11 July 2011

Campsites: Hardhurst Farm

Hardhurst Farm campsite is located on the outskirts of Hope in the Peak District. We only discovered it last year and stayed here for 3 weekends during the summer.

It's the most relaxed campsite I've ever stayed on. No need to pay in advance, or even for a deposit. In fact, we didn't pay for our weekend until we were leaving. There aren't even properly market out pitches; we've just been shown an area and told to pitch 'around here somewhere'.

This was great for us as we went with friends in both tents and tourers so we were able to pitch so that we made a circle.

The facilities aren't bad - the toilets are in need of updating but they worked perfectly fine - but the shower block is only a couple of years old and is very nice. There's a cafe on site which serves a great breakfast for a reasonable price. I didn't take notes but I think it was around £5 for a full English.

We stayed on a pitch with electric, 2 adults, a baby and 2 dogs, and it cost us £16 per night which is one of the cheapest places we've been.

There is a lovely pub which serves food just 2 minutes walk from the campsite which also has a nice little play area and a lovely beer garden if you're lucky enough to get sunshine.

The village of Hope is about a mile away and has shops and a couple more pubs. Castleton is around 2 miles further down the road and is a lovely little town where you can visit Peveril Castle (don't attempt to take a pushchair up there though!) or the caverns.

If you're after proper walks then you won't be disappointed (so I'm told!). There are lots of walks in this area, lots of which can be found here.

The view from Peveril Castle

Unfortunately the campsite doesn't have a website but you can see the details on the UK campsite website here.