Camping in Salisbury

Camping is one of those things that has been in my family for as long as I can remember. There are lots of photos in the family albums of my parents, sister and I in various locations around the UK with our tent and I have many fond memories of holidays under canvas. As you know by now I was recently in Salisbury camping with my family – it was really nice to get away from the city and into the countryside.

My parents are members of the Camping and Caravanning club which is the world’s oldest and largest society for all forms of camping. It has over 500,000 members and the facilities and services provided at the extensive collection of camp sites are developed by those of us who share a love of camping and caravanning. The campsites usually have good on-site facilities including on-site shops for camping essentials, electricity hookups, toilets, showers and clothes washing facilities.

Camping packing essentials:

• Warm blankets – it can get very cold at night, so warm bedding is a must!
• Sensible pyjamas – when you have to walk a to and from the toilet block in the middle of the night you definitely need pjs which are warm, offer proper coverage and doesn’t mean you will have to fight to put on when you’re desperate for the loo!
• Books – entertainment in a field can sometimes be a bit scarce, so make sure you have lots of books to read – or in my case my kindle fire so that you can enjoy sitting in the sun reading a good book.
• Shoes – good walking shoes is a must, when camping you tend to walk into the city, to the local attractions – so it’s really important to make sure you have comfortable shoes so you’re feet don’t end up sore!

My parents have a really great tent – it’s made up of different pods and you can mix and match the pods based on your requirements. For us we have a kitchen pod and 2 bedroom pods, we usually have 2 people per pod but they are very spacious and I think that 3 or even 4 people could fit into the pod (depending on how much luggage you have!)

Our family camping has very much changed over the years moving from cooking over a single gas cylinder to more modern camping complete with a two gas burner stove and.. yes, a microwave! You can see our ‘camp kitchen’ in the picture above. Cooking in the tent is not so bad, my husband made a lovely vegetarian friendly spaghetti bolognese using some simple ingredients and the camping saucepans – it’s not that great having to lug water from the tap in the middle of the field – but it is worth it!

The camp site at Salisbury is in a great location only 20-30 mins walk from the City centre and right next to Old Sarum the iron age hill fort which often has historical events to entertain and educate those who choose to visit. I really love camping and look forward to going again next year.