The early May Bank Holiday of May 2012 is not one that will be remembered for fantastic weather throughout the UK. However, as we had yet to spend any time away in our camper van, the unpredictability of the British weather was not going to stop my family from making the most of the Bank Holiday weekend. Thus we decided to play safe in our campsite choice and stay with Park Resorts at their Kessingland Beach site just south of Great Yarmouth. It certainly paid off.

More known for their static caravan holidays, park-resorts.co.uk also have touring/camping fields on a majority of their sites. You can book your placement online and unlike other large campsites, there are no minimum stays for weekends/bank holidays. Placements with electric can be booked and in all the parks we have stayed at toilet blocks/washing facilities have been provided and are clean and of a good standard.

The real benefit though is that you get to use all the facilities on the site which can really come in handy for family camping, especially on wet weekends. At Kessingland we had use of the indoor swimming pool of reasonable size (and a very warm spa bath!) and two playgrounds.

Kids activities were also provided throughout the weekend in the main indoor entertainment complex. Our two girls thoroughly enjoyed the face painting and tricks with the clowns during the day. In the evening, there is dancing, games and shows for the little ones as well. This allowed the adults to warm up with a coffee or enjoy a drink from the bar in the evening.

We didn’t escape the wet weather completely! The touring field was completely waterlogged when we got there. Even though we have had exceptional rain over the last couple of weeks, I suspect this area gets muddy quite frequently when there has been a serious downpour. Unfortunately most campervans and caravans had to be pulled out of the mud on departure leaving the whole area full of tyre ruts – not ideal for the rest of season!

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

Also, I would suggest taking your own beverages. For a break which had been pretty good value for money throughout the whole weekend, the drinks (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic) in the bar were very expensive and similar to prices you pay in London.

Ideally, if the sun was shining we would have been out enjoying the surrounding area (including the shingle beach) and sitting out in the warmth with friends and a barbecue. Unfortunately, the weather got in the way but our weekend wasn’t ruined by enjoying some traditional British family entertainment without spending a fortune.

Images by Mark Attwell