Holidaying in the UK is often easier on the budget and can help reduce your carbon foot print. Kirstin Watson, her husband and 22-month-old daughter set off to the Cotswolds to explore the area and enjoy a typically British holiday at the Hoburne Holiday Park
The problem with a Great British holiday is that you are so reliant on the weather. So, if like me you choose the one wet, drizzly week in May which was sandwiched between two weeks of blistering sunshine, you'll know just how disappointing a washout can be.
Our destination was the Hoburne Holiday Park in South Cerney, where we were booked for a Monday to Friday midweek break. The park offers a variety of accommodation from a camp site, static caravans and chalet-style lodges.
With already dampened spirits we didn't get off to the best of starts when we saw that the handle on our patio doors was hanging off. To make matters worse the wood frame around the top of the door was fractured, making the small bolt, which was securing entry, an easy target. It took two trips to reception to get it fixed.
Spacious accommodation
The rest of the accommodation couldn't be knocked. We stayed in a spacious three-bedroom lodge which had a good-sized living and kitchen area and two bathrooms. It was well equipped and very clean. The only thing we had to take were towels and all the beds had been made up with crisp, white linen.
On our first morning we decided to visit the indoor pool (the park has an outdoor pool which is open during the summer, weather permitting). The pool was perfect for our little one. She loved the flume in the middle and the Jacuzzi. I was, however, a bit surprised that we were the only people in it. Where was everybody? According to the lifeguard the park is always deserted during the week and is packed at weekends and half-term.
Given that it was Tuesday and the last time the park had been full was more than 24 hours earlier, I was rather surprised to find the nappy bin in the family changing unit was over-flowing. Sorry, grim I know, but these are the kind of things us mums notice!
Soft-play heaven
A happier discovery was the indoor soft-play centre for under-nines, which our daughter loved. It had two ball pits and loads of things to throw, climb up, over and through. For bigger kids (up to 12), the enormous Magic Land (www.magicland.co.uk) was just ten minutes drive away in Cirencester and boasted huge slides, a football area and ball guns as well as a baby and toddler area with its own bubble machine. There's also an adventure playground on site, as well as tennis courts and crazy golf.Other places to visit
The following day we visited the Cotswolds Wildlife Park (www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk) which, despite a thunder storm and the most torrential downpour of the week, still managed to tick all the right boxes.
Just 30 minutes drive from Hoburne, my husband rated it 'better than London Zoo'. The walls around the enclosed animal areas were really low which meant toddlers could see in easily and a fun train ride took us right round the park so we didn't miss anything.
My parents joined us at Hoburne on the Wednesday. We decided to take them for lunch in a beautiful village called Bibury which we'd passed through the day before. Bibury is picture-perfect and gave our daughter every opportunity to exercise her favourite saying 'another duck, another duck!'
Although there were plenty of places to eat, including a very tempting chippy, we decided to go for a bit of glamour at the beautiful Bibury Court Hotel (www.biburycourt.com). Despite its grand setting, the hotel offered two very reasonable lunchtime menus: a two-course for £12 per head or three courses for £24.
If you like a bit of a mooch around the shops, Cirencester is the nearest shopping centre and has lots of trinket shops as well as boutiques and intriguing antique stores. The town is also home to the beautiful Parish Church of St John the Baptist, which is more like a mini cathedral, and well worth a visit.
Cirencester calls itself the capital of the Cotswolds, but if you're looking for a real flavour of the county you would be better off heading north to Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold.
Bourton-on-the-Water is picturesque and touristy. It's geared for families and there is loads to do, including Bird Land, the Dragonfly Maze, a model village and railway and a pottery. If you prefer a slightly slower pace Stow-on-the-Wold, which is bigger than Bourton, is a haven of antique shops, tea rooms and art galleries.
Well-equipped shops
Talking of shops, Hoburne's onsite CostCutter was not only stuffed with just about everything you could think of (including all camping essentials for those in tents and caravans) but was also reasonably priced. There was also a huge Tesco ten minutes' drive away.
One thing that did cause me to 'tut' was the two pages about Hoburne's commitment to the environment in the welcome pack. It included the following advice 'Please think about: turning off lights when they're not needed and not leaving TVs and electrical equipment on standby.'
The advice seemed rich in light (no pun intended) of the huge room of arcade games which were pumping away all day with not a player in sight.
The clouds cleared just as we packed to leave and I'm happy to report that despite the weather, our memories of the trip are sunny ones.
Kirstin and her family stayed at:
Hoburne Cotswolds,
Broadway Lane,
South Cerney,
Cirencester, GL7 5UQ.
Tel: 01285 860216
For more information about Hoburne Holiday Parks visit www.hoburne.com