Wellington park - reading

[caz05]

We would like to try camping with out 8 and 2 year old. We live about 40 minutes from Wellington park in reading and it looks great with park entry included in camping price But has anyone actually been there and if so what was it like?

We are novice campers so don't want to venture to far from home and want to do just 1 night to see how it goes first

We have! Nice pitches but some are a bit stony, but they are among trees and feel very nice. Toilets and showers clean, but only a few so may have to queue. The park is also nice, playground, miniature railway etc etc. We'd go back again!

We went this year as a family group with 4 kids aged 4,5,6 and 7. We went four two nights band it served its purpose really well, fine facilities and big pitches. Mainly it was great to not have to think about what to do new just spent the middle day pottering round the park. Would yo consider doing two nights? Its a lot of work going camping for just one night. It would prob be more relaxing going for two,

It gets very booked up (we've never managed to go) but now peak season is past it might be easier.

Depending which direction you are coming from, I can recommend Inwood Camping just outside Basingstoke (I know, but you wouldn't know). We did a 1-nighter there at the weekend, it has basic but clean facilities and is in a woods, you can pitch up in little glades or join other people in bigger field areas. Best of all you can have camp fires. My two had a great time just playing in the woods near the tent, in one field there are haybales and a rudimentary swing, plus room for a few ball games. We did a fire at night, cooked sausages and jacket potatoes on it, then re-kindled it in the morning and did pancakes and bacon.

We went to inwood this summer. Best campsite ever! But basic (but clean) facility.

It's fantastic for kids, a really easy holiday, and great value as there's enough to do that you don't have to factor in days out. Plus you can go back to your tent at lunch time (and drink wine) so no having to carry picnics around. We're just back and will be going again next year.

We've been to Wellington too and echo the comments above. Wish we'd discovered it when the kids were younger as they wre growing out of Wellington at 10 and 14.

It's great having direct access to the park when everyone else has gone home, so I'd aim to go early summer then you have the benefits of long evenings.

We'd managed to at fairly short notice , I think as long as you avoid bank holidays and school hols you can book with a couple of week's notice, and it's always worth trying at the last minute if the weather is looking good.

whoknows we're thinking of trying Inwood, so good to hear that you rate it :)

We went last weekend. We booked it on the Friday morning and then set off.

The campsite was full, so they stuck us in the Antler Pen, with a solitary portaloo and a tap and lots of deer poo, oh, and deer, with antlers..........

They did tell us that the main campsite was full though so we agreed to this.

We went Monday to Friday in the school summer holidays and it was half empty. I think if you avoid weekends you don't need to book ahead, just phone up on the day.

We've been and thought it was great, good value too as you get free entry to the park.

We have been a few times with DS now 5, both just us and as a group and we love it. It is pretty near to us too, but having the park makes it a really relaxing time as you don't have to plan things to do. A couple of times we have been in the more open part of the site (pitches 74 onwards I think) and I prefer it as it is more grassy and you can see the deer as it is next to the fenced off deer park. I would definitely take their advice and have a second groundsheet and heavy duty tent pegs though as even this part of the site is quite stony and hard. We worked out that for 2 nights camping which gives you 3 days access to the park was only £7 more expensive than paying for us all to just get into the park for 3 days, so pretty good value.