Wareham Forest Tourist Park

A quiet, quality family campsite nestling amid forest scenery, with visiting foxes and the occasional sika deer, must be one of Britain’s perfect campsites. But, for all its wonderful natural forest appeal, don’t imagine Wareham Forest Tourist Park to be in any way primitive. This is a well-groomed, state-of-the-art site with everything from Wi-Fi to an extremely sophisticated  security-code system.

It’s several years since Tony and Sarah Birch left Carnon Downs caravan park in Cornwall when a chance arose to buy their own slice of gorgeous Wareham Forest. The campsite was already well established but Tony and Sarah have brought it forward in leaps and bounds.

Its quiet family park appeal has been accentuated and its facilities are constantly being refined.
It has one of the most comprehensive adventure playgrounds anywhere, an outdoor swimming pool with adjacent toddler pool surrounded by palm-tree-fringed sunbathing areas – and it’s surrounded by nature trails, tracks and walking opportunities direct from the campsite. There’s a quiet ambiance here, an air of quality in every aspect of the park.

Start with the two shower buildings, for example. They’re well heated, the showers are adjustable in temperature, there are basin privacy cubicles and all the cubicles are large. The buildings also contain washing-up rooms – even those are heated, too, and a laundry.

More than half the 200 pitches on this 43-acre campsite are flint-pebble hardstandings, all are larger than average and some are suitable for American RVs.

There’s ample space for football or cricket games well away from the pitches – and if the weather makes indoor games more appealing, book a time-slot one of the two full-size table tennis tables in the family room adjacent to the reception office. There’s a lending library in this room, too – and it overlooks the swimming pool, making a pleasant environment to come and read the Sunday newspapers while the children play table tennis.
Wi-Fi is available at various points around the park and is being rolled out across the park. If your pitch isn’t one of those where you can pick a signal, you can take your laptop into the family room which is in range of the hotspot.