The Warren, Folkestone, Kent

The place for any London campers wanting a good weekend break not too far from town, The Warren is a small campsite at the foot of the white cliffs. It is perched on a small sliver of land just above the (pebble) beach (to which you have direct access so great if your kids are old enough to go there by themselves). Some of the pitches have views straight out to sea, and you can request one of the few 'honeymoon' pitches (single pitches dotted around at the top of slopes/ledges and surrounded on all sides by either bushes or sea views. I give the facilities a high mark not because there are a lot of them (just a small shop and toilet blocks) but because the shower/loo blocks are amongst the best I have found - there are 2 huge 'family' bathrooms perfect for dealing with 2 or 3 kids at a time - bigger than an average family bathroom by far. The blocks are spotless, with flowers and plentiful hot water.

The campsite is very civilised and everything quietens up after about 10pm. The only downside to the campsite is the road in; you have to go down a steepish pot-holed road. Not a problem if you are camping, but I wouldn't personally fancy manoeuvring a caravan down (though obviously plenty do). The site gets very busy in the summer so phone first (though if you go and find it is full, there is another larger site next door which has a cafe and better views but no beach access)

Other than the beach you need to go out of the site for entertainment but you do have three brilliant attractions to hand. The Romney, H&D railway is 10 minutes drive away and is a steam railway that some people actually use to commute between the towns (the line ruins for appx 10 miles each way) - the cafe next to the Hythe station is a great old fashioned caff to have lunch in before/after the trip. Then there is the beachfront at Folkestone: a lottery grant has resulted in the most marvellous park running from the beach up the side of the cliffs. There are huge sandpits for younger children, and enormous wooden 'pirate ships' and suchlike dotted along the paths for older children to clamber all over. Some of the structures are designed for younger toddlers, some for children up to 10YO or so. And of course there is a good cafe in the middle. Finally there is the Port Lympne wildlife park which is a zoo with a heart - owned by the Aspinal family it is committed to returning animals to the wild. It is not a traditional zoo and only specialises in a small range of animals (mostly those found in the African Plains - Rhino's, Giraffes etc). You can take 2hr 'safari trips' into the enclosures with the staff at certain times of the day.