AD/Press Trip. Last year we well and truly discovered the joy of glamping. We trotted off to the Lake District for a weekend in a Yurt and we fell hard for the homely charms which glamping offered. Keen to have another lovely few days under canvas, over half term we stayed at Camp Katur in North Yorkshire for a couple of days.

Camp Katur is located on the Camp Hill Estate in Bedale, North Yorkshire. It’s home to Camp Hill House, an 18th century mansion house with a large estate. Nestled in a field tucked away in woodland is Camp Katur Glamping Village. Within the village there are a number of different glamping options; you can stay in bell tents, hobbit pods, a geodome, teepees, safari tents, amongst other options. We stayed in one of the larger safari tents which had its own private bathroom, which was nice.

Arriving at Camp Katur early afternoon, we checked in and walked through the woods and across a lovely meadowy field to our home for the next two nights. We were staying in Afia, a tent which came with a comfy sofa, a woodburner, gas stove, running water and beds for up to 8 people. There was also a private bathroom in a shed, a roomy veranda, a brick BBQ and peace. So much peace.

I really loved having our own en suite shed. It had a cute tin bucket sink, a proper toilet and a shower. It was clean and it was ours. I don’t mind shared facilities, but having your own really feels like a bit of luxury in the woods.

There is no electricity; so the heating is from your woodburner and your lights are from torches, candles and little strings of battery powered fairy lights which are dotted around the place. There were plenty of candles supplied and once you’d lit all the lanterns it was really cosy.

The safari tent really was a little spot of luxury in the woods. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen area, dining table and chairs and a huge leather sofa. Lots of outdoor seating, and of course the en suite shed. It was everything you could want. Perfect for a big family or a group of friends. We loved it.

Although there are a number of tents and pods dotted around the place, there is plenty of room between them and honestly we didn’t hear a peep from anyone else the whole time we were there. There were other families there and most of the kids congregated in the long grass in the middle of the field, playing games and chasing each other, which was great for our boy who quickly made friends and disappeared for hours, only returning for juice and snacks.

The glamping village itself is well thought out. There’s a small shed shop with limited opening hours; though soon after we arrived one of the lovely wardens came over to check everything was ok and to ask if we needed anything from the shop –  we did, we got a couple of disposable barbecues.

Camp Katur also has a BBQ Grill Cabin you can hire and an Eco Spa which I walked past lustfully several times. Next time we visit, I am totally booking that out for a few hours. In the Eco Spa there’s a sauna, a hot tub, a little zen garden and some chairs to recline on. Elsewhere there’s a huge adventure playground for kids, a swing park and you can book yourself on quad biking sessions, a high ropes course, segway rides and footgolf. There’s so much going on, but it’s so peaceful you’d never know unless your sought it out.

Our nights in the safari tent was really cosy. As the sun set we would move inside, light the woodburner, snuggle under blankets and read to each other by candlelight. The beds inside the tent were real beds, with proper memory-foam mattresses. We filled hot water bottles and snuggled down to sleep, and sleep we did. We occasionally heard the screech of an owl in the woods; but they were two of the best nights sleep I’d had in a long while.

Whilst there’s lots to do on site, we had plans to explore the area a bit. There are lots of local attractions and thing to do, but we fancied a walk and some scenery, so we visited Aysgarth Falls, about an hours drive away. It was well worth the drive, we took a picnic and had a good walk. We stopped in Bedale on the way home to buy some provisions for the night. Bedale is a really lovely market town which a great butchers, bakers, a couple of small supermarkets and a really good chip shop.

There’s plenty of civilisation nearby; but camped out on the edge of the woods, looking out over a meadowy field, you could well be in the middle of nowhere. Camp Katur is a magical site. There’s plenty to do, buckets of peace and quiet and the time and the space to rest and wind down for a few days. Wind down we did. We read books; walked, talked, breathed in the fresh air; we played cards, reconnected and fell back in love with our family again. Simplicity does that.

Find out more about Camp Katur by clicking here. For more information about glamping in the UK, visit the Campsites.co.uk website.

 

Disclosure: We were invited guests of Camp Katur, all images an opinions are our own. Camp Katur hosted our stay and Campsites.co.uk only helped to arrange the visit.