Camping at Andrewshayes Holiday Park

The summer camping season is fast approaching and as our family has grown over the years we have recently invested in a new (absolutely massive!) family tent. We have been itching to test it out for a while and so when we were invited as guests to visit and review the Andrewshayes Holiday Park in Devon, we jumped at the chance.

Andrewshayes Holiday Park

Andrewshayes Holiday Park, based in East Devon, is family run and has been graded a four pennant park by the AA and has held a Gold David Bellamy Award for the past 5 years. The park has been developed over the past 50 years by the Lawrence family who are still on site on a daily basis, giving it such a friendly and welcoming feel.

As well as the camping facilities that we were to take advantage of, the park also offers a full range of luxury self catering holiday homes for hire or sale (some with hot tubs) along with pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.

Camping at Andrewshayes Holiday Park

We were allocated a level grass pitch very close the kids playground, amongst the tourers and motor homes. It was a massive pitch which had plenty of room for our tent and car and then a great area for the kids to play. We were delighted to find that the pitch had an electricity hook up and the on site warden kindly lent us a long extension cable and converter plug.

On-Site Facilities

We were all really impressed with the facilities at Andrewshayes Holiday Park, there was something for everyone. The shower block was very clean, and considering we were camping over quite a chilly weekend, it was not too cold. There was also a block with washing up facilities and a laundry room.  The shop sold basics such as gas, food, sweets etc, as well as a selection of little toys and postcards and next door there is a really useful information room full of leaflets and guides to the local area and all of the fantastic attractions nearby. I also noticed a stack of board games in there too, hand for those rainy days!

There is a cafe and bar on site which during our out of season visit was only open from Friday evening and over the weekend. It had a great eat in and take away menu with classics such as fish and chips, pizza, gourmet burgers and a good kids menu. We ate there on the Friday evening and were really happy with our meal and the friendly service, we were really made to feel welcome and at home. The whole bar has recently had an uplift, and I thought it looked great.

But it was the facilities for the kids that really won us over; with a pool, kids playground, toddler soft play area, games room and football field, it seems they have really thought of everything!

The pool is heated, and covered by a retractable roof meaning that it is suitable even on colder days. The pool area was lovely and warm when we visited, but the water was a tad chilly for Baby DaisLikeThese. The boys had an absolute blast jumping and splashing and had the pool to themselves for most of the time.

The kids play area was very close to our pitch so the boys happily headed there as and when they pleased, which they loved, and even made a few little friends in there too which was lovely.

The games room is like a mini fun fair arcade with 2p machines, teddy grabber game and driving games amongst others. All machines were coin operated so be prepared to be pestered for money! We gave the boys some pocket-money and they relished the independence of popping to the games room to spend it.

Next to the games room is a small toddler soft play area, which is ideal for letting little ones burn off some steam, especially on a rainy day.

The football field was fab for our football loving boys, and with the beautiful backdrop of the rolling Devon countryside, I didn’t mind sitting on one of the benches while they played.

Dog Friendly Facilities

We are always delighted to find dog friendly holidays, and Andrewshayes Holiday Park is certainly that. With water bowls dotted around the park, a dedicated dog exercise field, and a lovely dog walk, Buddy was spoilt!

Things to Do Near By

Being a stones throw from the Jurassic Coast, and surrounded by beautiful Devon countryside, Andrewshayes Holiday park is located close to so many amazing things to see and do. We were only staying for two nights and felt that we didn’t even scratch the surface.

As well as popping to the seaside at Seaton and the beautiful fishing village of Beer, we also had great days out at Charmouth beach and riding the Seaton Tramway.

Charmouth beach is part of the World Heritage Site, Jurassic Coast and is famous for its fossil finding potential.
Well, the boys had an amazing time scouring the beach and were SO excited to actually find fossils, in fact we ended up with quite a haul!! I will honestly never forget those excited faces running towards me to show me their first ever fossil finds.

The Seaton Tramway is a lovely family (and dog!) friendly day out, with a selection of beautiful narrow gauge heritage trams running between Seaton, Colyford and Colyton in East Devon. The trams run approximately every 20 minutes alongside the River Axe estuary and through two nature reserves, giving fabulous views of the wildlife and amazing scenery.

We hopped on and off the trams stopping at Seaton to visit the beach and then at The White Hart Inn at Colyton for lunch. After many a visit to our local transport museum where they have seen many old trams but never a functional one, the kids loved the novelty of riding them and especially sitting on the open top decks!

Some other things that we would love to do if we visit again include:

Visit Lyme Regis for some more fossil hunting
Head to Axe Valley Wildlife Park
Visit the Dinosaur Museum
Ride the Pecorama at Beer

You can also find a fab selection of family and dog friendly days out and local walk ideas over at Flip Flops or Wellies.

Our Verdict

We truly enjoyed camping at Andrewshayes Holiday Park, where we were treated to a small and friendly park with a real family vibe to it. Everyone we met, from staff to some of the longer term mobile home residents, was friendly and welcoming. The size of the park was perfect for the younger family and we felt comfortable giving the boys a degree of freedom to play and explore the park. The facilities were great and catered for everything we could have wanted from a short camping break. The location is perfect, with so much to do within a short drive. Our only niggle was that our pitch was fairly close the edge of the site that boarders the road and so it was noisy. However, if we were to have visited during the Summer camping season we would have pitched on the Orchard Field which is much further away from the road.

Have you been camping at Andrewshayes Holiday Park? How did you like it?

 

Disclaimer: We were invited as guests to camp at Andrewshayes Holiday Park in return for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. 

3 Comments

  1. May 17, 2017 / 9:58 am

    Looks like a fabulous site. The retractable roof on the pool is such a good idea – we just stayed on a site in Normandy with a very similar pool set up. Great post!

  2. May 17, 2017 / 11:02 am

    Love this, my boys would love this! Fossil finding too!
    Love that you can take dogs. We are trying to find things in the U.K. While Harry is still in sor so this would be ideal x

  3. May 17, 2017 / 3:10 pm

    This looks like such a fab site , and I love how family friendly it is. The heated pool is a real bonus, and my girls would love that play park!

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