Cumbria
Family holiday park above Windermere with a bar, restaurant and hardstanding pitches
Park Cliffe sits on a hillside above the eastern shore of Windermere, a few miles south of Bowness off the A592, on an estate of around twenty-five acres of fell and woodland. It is a very different proposition from the National Trust valley sites: this is a properly equipped holiday park with a clubhouse, aimed at families and touring caravanners rather than climbers, and it holds a long list of regional tourism awards.
The pitch mix is broad. There are 28 hardstanding touring pitches with 10-amp electric hook-ups, water and drainage, suitable for caravans, motorhomes, campervans, trailer tents and roof tents, plus separate grass tent fields on terraced ground with views across to the Coniston fells. Glamping units and holiday accommodation are also available. Facilities include modern heated shower blocks, laundry, a games room, a children's playground, free wi-fi across the site, a shop and a clubhouse with a bar and a breakfast restaurant. Dogs are welcome.
The location works well for a mixed holiday. Bowness and the Windermere lake cruises are about ten minutes by car, Newby Bridge and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway are a similar distance south, and the site is close enough to the M6 at junction 36 to make arrival straightforward, which is not true of most Lakeland campsites. The terraced tent pitches are on a slope, so choose your spot with care and expect to work at getting level. The park closes over the winter months and reopens in spring. Prices start from around twenty-eight pounds a night, rising sharply in school holidays, and peak weekends need booking well in advance.