The Lymington camping bump: hybrid camping and hotel weekend

Always looking for the best of both worlds, I’m complicated.

I like waking up to the sun hitting our tent in the morning and taking an early walk along a sea wall with a jet-boil coffee. However, it’s balanced with a deep affection for steam rooms, freshly laundered terry bath robes and reading New Yorkers in sun loungers by the pool. My husband has slowly acquired an appreciation for the joys of “roughing it” in the outdoors over our 10 year relationship, but I’m always considering how we can optimise family happiness when planning adventures.

To do both in one weekend, I pack down the camping gear into a rolling carry-on suitcase and book a train for a hybrid camping weekend that ends with a spa hotel and a sun lounger by the pool for everyone.

Why choose Lymington? Public transport is the best.

When I want to take public transport, which is always (what could be better than watching the English countryside reel past for an hour), I look for great countryside destinations on efficient train lines from my home in London.

Lymington at the southern tip of Hampshire has a lot going for it: not only is Lymington on the train, it’s in the New Forrest, has a ferry to Isle of Wight with arguably the most pictureque train station in England, a charming town centre with a quay with a top ice cream selection, and a vast nature reserve featuring a Tudor castle and a crisply painted white and green lighthouse.

Most importantly, it’s less than 2 hours, with only one change.

How to do it (3 nights for £200)

Over a long weekend, we do a Friday/Saturday night of camping and depart early Sunday to spend two full days at the pool.

A Friday lunchtime train will allow you to have an ice cream along the Lymington quay before taking your suitcase on an adventure walk through fields on route to Hurst View campsite. Stay for two nights while exploring the marshlands, Solent and Hurst Castle. After a Sunday morning walk, take a cab to Elmers Court Hotel and leave your bags in the clock room while spending the afternoon playing in the indoor and outdoor pools. Yes, they have an adult steam room and sauna. Finally, stop at the pick-your-own farm near the station to pick a bonnet of raspberries and strawberries as snacks for the train home.

Lymington Nature Reserve and Keyhaven Marshes

South of Lymington there are rambling marshlands and mudflats with seawall paths along the Solent. Bamboo dancing in the wind, birds flying in formation - it’s peaceful and a good walk year round. It’s ideal for a winter walk with views of the Isle of Wight or cycling the maze of seawall paths to find blackberries in August.

Hurst View Campsite is nestled in this Nature Reserve so it allows frictionless mornings where you’re already at your destination.

Hurst Castle and light house

Hurst Castle was built by Henry VIII and restored by Queen Victoria. It stands low at the end of a walkable two mile rock spit off Keyhaven in the Solent with spectacular views of the Needles. There’s a small ferry from the Keyhaven harbour (round trip adults £7, children £3).

View of the Needles, Isle of Wight from Hurst Castle

Tudor with splashes of Victorian splendour.

The castle is higglety pigglety - Tudor stairs with some Victorian brick patched in. Children can run wild, crawling into windows and jumping off sheer drops - nothing is roped off. The section recounting Charles I’s time imprisioned at the castle before his death is a series of laminants stuck to a pushpin board. Fascinating history, preserved casually by English Heritage.

The Gun Inn

We stopped at the Gun Inn for a big pub lunch after arriving back in Keyhaven. I’m not such a fan of the gun as decorating theme, but the interior is heritage and tasteful. We sat under a canopy in the beer garden. The skate with grilled sugar snap peas was hearty and fresh. The fries were light and crispy - the way they should be.

While camping, we tend to have our biggest meal of the day at lunch, out and on the nicer side. Then we find interesting cheese and fruit during the day to make a picnic dinner.

Milford on sea

Milford on Sea has a collection of shops ideal for making a gourmet camping picnic dinner, which is always my preference rather than carting cooking equipment. Milford is worth the walk from the Gun Inn. Fabulous cheese recommendations at Rockpool Cheese Limited. Rich Pitchfork Cheddar was a find paired with lemon olive oil crackers and Moscato grape nectar. There’s also a Green Grocer to add some summer fruit and veg. For a some local bread and pastries, we went to The Coastal Bakery which was sold out of nearly everything when we arrived, which is a review itself.

Lymington Quay

Near the Quay, there are cobblestone streets lined with bunting that could be left over from the Jubilee, but I like to think is there to celebrate summer. The small alley-like streets are heavy with ice cream and plastic beach toy options. (Be focused if walking by with children.) We usually go for the local option: the New Forrest ice cream and sit along the harbour that’s packed with boats of every size. I like that the ferries pacing back and forth to the Isle of Wight help to keep time.

Goodall’s Strawberries

Pick-Your-Own strawberries, raspberries and sweetcorn within a block of a train station for a perfect Sunday afternoon snack on the train back to London with some leftover cheese. It’s a small operation with an honesty box, at least on the Monday we arrived to pick our weight in raspberries. Strawberries were lingering, but raspberries were ripe and heavy by August 1st.

Lymington Pier: the best train station view in England.

How to get there

It’s easy and less than two hours from London. Trains leave from Waterloo (and pass Clapham Junction) bound for Weymouth. Get off in the heart of the New Forrest in Brockenhurst and cross the platform and take a short train to Lymington. (1h 48 mins)

Where to stay and the camping bump

I recommend the hybrid trip, where you camp for 2-3 nights and then do a recovery Sunday or Monday night in a splurge spa hotel when the rates are lower than the standard weekend price.

Plus you get the camping bump. The camping bump is when you adjust to sleeping on the ground and then experience any hotel like 5* luxury. No one takes freshly pressed sheets and a bathrobe for granted directly after stuffing their sleeping bag in stuff sack.

Camping

Hurst View Campsite: Stay here if you want immediate access to moody, gorgeous walks along the seawall and marshlands that boarder the Solent. It’s a long walk or cab ride from Lymington train station. We made our girls walk, but promised ice cream in the Quay. The site spans four open hedged fields with without pitch restrictions, but no view. This is basic amenities, with a cafe and shop. Nothing gourmet; the coffee is nescafe. The back exit of the campsite is adjoins a nature preserve a view of Hurst Castle and its lighthouse. Endless fresh morning walks and blackberries in August.

Hotel

MacDonald’s Elmer’s Court: we love this hotel because of the fabulous pools and its location a short walk from the train station. The outdoor pool is a garden oasis with plenty of loungers and framed with stone walls. The indoor pool is warm, has a kids section and a steam room/sauna for the parents. The hotel grounds are rambling and have views directly onto the Solent. It’s has a strange collection of time-shares, family hotel room blocks and a stately home. The family rooms include small rooms with sweet micro bunk beds, which is a treat for the 4 and 6 year old, but wouldn’t suit full size teenagers. A Sunday Family room with a cooked breakfast is £160. Sunday spa packages run £210.