At the weekend we camped for two nights at Lynmouth Holiday Retreat in Exmoor National Park, North Devon. We stayed in our Mazda Bongo campervan and went to see both Lynmouth and Lynton. Here is my travel photo diary so you can see what we got up to and just how beautiful the scenery in Lynton and Lynmouth is.
Morning campers! A lovely view out the back of our Mazda Bongo first thing on Saturday morning. We arrived around 9.30pm on the Friday evening. I hadn’t planned to go camping after school with the kids originally. I’d booked for the Easter holidays, but as the facilities wouldn’t have been open due to coronavirus restrictions, we had to rebook and travel down after school. Friday traffic was a nightmare and we decided to stop off for dinner in Bristol. We went to Pepeneros for pizza which is one of the best vegan pizza and gelato places we have found. Always really tasty. The traffic was still terrible even after dinner time, so it took a long time to get to our campsite and we arrived for bedtime! It was lovely to wake up to a dry day in the morning as the weather forecast had been switching between rain and cloud all week.Directly from the campsite we were able to join the public footpaths to walk to Lymouth. The campsite we stayed at was at the top of the hill in West Lyn. We headed along the footpaths and walked down a hill through woodland to reach Lynmouth. These lovely views were near the start of our walk.Beautiful sea views as we began our walk to Lynmouth.I’ve never seen so many foxgloves! They were all over the woodland and country lanes.Foxgloves and wildflowers everywhere in Lynmouth and Lynton.Sheep and a sea view!Reuben wanted a photo of himself by the flowers. He reminds me of a ventriloquist doll here!Mega foxglove!The sea! Amazing views behind too which my camera just wouldn’t pick up the beauty of.Down we go! Lots of steep winding paths down the side of the hill through woodland from West Lyn to Lynmouth.Foxgloves and ferns galore!Trees everywhere! So many trees! It’s what makes this place feel so natural and picturesque as there are rolling hills and valleys, but they are still covered in trees and nature.Bella wanted a photo on the mossy rock.Nearly there!The final part of the walk down was through some very pretty cottagesAnd we made it to Lynmouth 🙂 The kids were very happy to see a playpark after the walk down.So happy!We went to The Harbour Shed for lunch – chippy chips!Bella spent her pocket money on this activity book in one of the gift shops.Lynmouth Street. There are some lovely gift shops to browse and quite a few pasty shops too!There are rivers running down to the sea from all around it seems in Lynmouth.Lynmouth Harbour with great green cliff views in the background.Lynmouth Harbour with amazing scenery of tree filled hills and valleys behind.Lynmouth – a very picturesque villageReally love all the tree backdrops everywhere in Lynmouth.Can you see the railway?
We definitely need to ride the railway!So cool! The water powered railway took us from Lynmouth at the bottom, to Lynton at the top! It’s super steep and the trains are powered by water from a river at the top of the hill. The top train cart is filled with water and the bottom cart is emptied, so the weight of the top train pulls the other up!Waiting out turn at Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Find out more about the railway here!Off we go!
Choo choo!Amazing views from the top of Cliff Railway. Look at the colour of the sea!Lovely cliff views from the top of Cliff Railway.Something fun for the kids!We walked back down from the top of the railway through part of Lynton and towards the coastal path to head to the Valley of the Rocks! Lots of pretty flowers lining the streets of Lynton.Coastal path walk from Lynton to the Valley of the Rocks. It was such a steep drop into the sea next to us, in some places it made Ben’s legs turn to jelly!A great spot for a game of Cricket! Quite a surprise as we came over the cliff.Valley of the Rocks, Exmoor National Park. There are lots of mountain goats up there!Valley of the Rocks, Exmoor National Park. Click here to learn more about the Valley of the Rocks!This view in Lynton reminded me of Portugal with the terracotta rooftops! We walked back from the Valley of the Rocks through some woodland and down some country lanes back down to Lynmouth.This water jets are coming from the attraction Glen Lyn Gorge which we didn’t visit, but you can see the jets shooting out to the river as you wander around Lynmouth.
Time to head back to the campsite. Back up the hill we go!One tired Reuben after 15km of walking! Nearly back now!This is the campsite we stayed at – Lynmouth Holiday Retreat. It was the cleanest campsite I’ve ever seen with very welcoming hosts.The facilities were spotless!Our setup in the Bongo campervan this time. When we camped in Cheddar recently the kids argued a fair bit when they were both trying to sleep in the pop-top, so this time Ben made Reuben a bed on the front seat. He folded the front passenger seat all the way down, added a sofa cushion from one of our patio seats at home and it worked perfectly. Then Bella had the pop-top to herself. She closes the hatch and sleeps over it, but here you can see how she opens it to join in with us and not feel alone before sleeping.And me and Ben sleep here across all the folded down seats. It’s an eight person vehicle so we have lots of seats to sleep across and we put a futon mattress on top of all the seats.
How much is camping in a camper at Lynmouth Holiday Retreat?
I always find it interesting to know how much different holidays cost, whether on a budget or if there’s some money to be spent.
Keeping a record of our holiday costs also allows me to make comparisons when booking in the future to know if something is a rip off or good value!
Sometimes we go on holiday on a really tight budget, but other times we have a little more to spend.
For this trip we wanted a budget camping holiday as soon as we were out of lockdown and we weren’t looking to spend much. For four of us in a Bongo campervan, with awning and choosing and electric hardstanding pitch, we paid just £80 in total for the campsite, so only £40 per night which is really a great deal for four of us and the extras we added.
We had to pay more to have the awning and extra for the kids, and the electric and hardstanding… so if you are a couple or want to spend less, then it can be even cheaper!
In the end we didn’t actually take the awning, but set up a two-man popup tent next to the Bongo so we could offload all our belongings into it.
Do you want to stay at Lynmouth Holiday Retreat? Here are their details:
We booked this accommodation on PitchUp. We love using PitchUp as we can input our exact dates for travel and requirements for the campsites. Then we usually search using the map view to pick suitable campsites and compare. We use the map to see how close to the beach they are, as this is usually a top requirement for us!
Our next stop is Edmonton in Cornwall in the summer holidays with a couple of days in Devon tagged on to the end! Keep an eye on our family travel diary for our photos and travel tales!
Lynton is a real hidden gem. We stayed in the Rock House Hotel (the white building to the left of the river in your photos of the boats). Absolutely beautiful place. We’ve been a couple of times now. We found it by accident one year on our way to Cornwall and stayed there the following year.
This looks like such a beautiful which I will hopefully one day get to visit. I love national parks as they are so peaceful and picturesque.
Lynton is a real hidden gem. We stayed in the Rock House Hotel (the white building to the left of the river in your photos of the boats). Absolutely beautiful place. We’ve been a couple of times now. We found it by accident one year on our way to Cornwall and stayed there the following year.
It’s so picturesque! We really enjoyed exploring 😊
Looks a beautiful pace, looks like you had a good time too
Some amazing views. The cliff top railway looks fun.
So much green! What a beautiful part of the world.
Wow looks beautiful!