Camping in the New Forest - in April

 The Easter holidays are an opportunity for adventure. With a young family foreign holidays are very expensive during the school holidays so many are choosing to stay home. We did the same during the last 3 days this year. It has been so wet recently but the forecast for the weekend was due to be lovely and so we packed up the car and took a punt. I'm so glad we did. 

We chose to stay in Ashurst in the New Forest at the Ashurst campsite. Here is a link to the booking page if you are interested yourself.  https://www.campinginthenewforest.com/campsites/ashurst/ 

I like the idea of wild camping but I am not ready yet. So I do require sites with showers and toilets as a minimum. There is no WiFi, no electric hookups and no charging points at this site. But as our stay was a short one our power packs were just fine for our phones etc. The site has pitches for tents and hard standing ones for caravans and campervans alike and they also offer seasonal pitches too. 

I loved the wild feel of this campsite but with the convenience of good showers, toilets, shops and pubs on the doorstep. 

At check in I was given all the necessary safety advice by a lovely lady and she offered me two free books about the new forest ponies and two activity sheets for my son. All were complimentary and very welcome. We were given a card to hang from the rear view mirror and one for the tent so the staff can make sure only those meant to be there were on site. There are large gates over the entrance and these are locked at 10pm and opened again at 7.30am. 

Each pitch is 9m x 9m which is an excellent size. There are no set pitches, you can roam the site and find something suitable for your tent and set up. On our visit the ground was incredibly wet owing to the continuous rain we've had but we were able to find a lovely pitch under the trees and still fairly close to the shower block. 

Once you look a little beyond your pitch the site is surrounded by New Forest wildness. Thick woodland with wild deer and wild ponies. The ponies were more than happy to wander through the camp right next to the tents and camper vans like we didn't exist. You must not feed the ponies as they are wild animals and can be unpredictable but we felt safe enough with them roaming around close by. 

The only wrinkle to the stay is the proximity to the railway line. It is the main line which links London to Weymouth and as such is quite busy. Ashurst station isn't stopped at by every train so many just fly on through. The noise is easy to ignore if you camp on the side of the site furthest from the line. It didn't spoil our stay but something to think about if you don't like noise like that. 

Our trip of two nights over the Easter holidays was booked literally at the last minute and cost us £76. Not too bad but still not the cheapest around.  All in all we loved our stay and will be back when it is drier.