For 2012, 14 best beach awards have landed on the shores of the island. Isle of Wight beaches to be recognised for the coveted Blue Flag (which represents water quality as well as the overall cleanliness and good maintenance of the beach) include Shanklin, Sandown and Ventnor. The three championship beaches also secured Quality Coast awards, which are offered by the venerable Keep Britain Tidy scheme as a recognition of litter-free sand and pebbles.

Ventnor Beach, England, UK by Andreas Trepte

Colwell; Springvale; Cowes and East Cowes; Gurnard; Yaverland; and Totland join the multi-award winning three as other proud recipients of the Quality Coast award.

The award winning beaches cover most of the island’s coast and most of the places frequently visited by tourists. Local authorities and businesses inspect the beaches on a daily basis to make sure they are clean and safe, and have implemented a set of guidelines for safe use of the Isle of Wight’s beaches, intended to help beach users get the most from the environment without spoiling it for themselves or for others.

For crab hunting, rock pool hunting or just sitting down on the sand and quietly contemplating the sea, Bembridge’s beaches are just the ticket. The town boasts a number of quiet bays, filled with either sand, pebble or shell. While they are close to busy waters (they overlook the Solent), the beaches themselves are quiet and endearing. They are popular with families who like to scramble around the tidal reach, collecting shells and gazing into the mysteries of the ocean creatures who live there!

For a quiet family stay, the west coast of the island is where it’s at. Here smaller beaches mean fewer people, and many of the sandy coves are tucked away so discreetly that they can get overlooked altogether. Queen of the quiet beaches, Colwell bay is a small sandy bay, and offers pleasant lunches in one or two cafes. The clear water attracts families who come to investigate the life below the waves.

Compton bay, Isle of Wight, England, UK by JimChampion

For more action and adventure, surfers of all stripes tend to head over to Compton bay. A beach break working at all stages of the tide, Compton benefits from brisk winds, which power the sailed craft with ease. Also, Compton is a great place to go fossil hunting – at low tide you can see fossilised dinosaur footprints in the rocks at the edges of the bay.

Freshwater is another excellent family beach, which enjoys shelter from a small headland. Freshwater is well served with cafes and also enjoys proximity to the local golf course.

Author Bio:

The author along with the family live on the Isle of Wight since 2004 and owns Wight Locations, a self-catering holiday cottage company with holiday properties across the Island. With a keen love for the Island, the author writes about the experiences and about the best things to do when visiting.

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Cottage in Longparish Road, Wherwell / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Anguskirk

Location

Cottage holidays can be enjoyed in very different parts of the country. Many holidaymakers opt for Devon, Cornwall and the Cotswolds for their flat scenery and wide range of cottages and homes, while others prefer the more mountainous Lake District. Decisions can often be made in terms of how isolated a trip you want to enjoy, or whether you prefer to be close to a major town or village. Cottages in Sussex are recommended for the latter, as they offer quick access to London. By contrast, the rural Scottish Highlands can give you great peace and quiet in the Northernmost part of the country.

Timing

When you choose to book a holiday cottage will make a big difference to the overall experience. Christmas bookings tend to go very fast, and need to be booked far in advance to avoid both high costs and places selling out. This approach is particularly important to take if booking on behalf of a large family or a group of friend. Many holiday cottages also tend to sell out around school holidays and bank holidays, so check your calendar beforehand. You might also find that some holiday cottages can be booked during off peak season at a reduced cost.

Manor House at Great Dixter / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by antonychammond

Local Activities and Features

It is always important to look into whether a holiday cottage can offer any specific features and activities. A cottage might be self catering or catered, or might include special bathroom and living room facilities like a hot tub or video games. At the same time, the cost of a holiday cottage may or may not include charges for Internet use. When viewing a holiday cottage, try to think about whether you can access any specific local activities like horse riding or sailing. It is also worth exploring the potential of a day trip to a neighbouring village or town.

Family and Pets

Many holiday cottages will have specific rules about the number of children and pets that can be brought to a location. Problems might arise in terms of having the facilities to cope with a lot of small children, and visitors may have to bring their own equipment. However, by checking ahead and doing your research, it is possible to see unique parts of Britain, while enjoying the best facilities and activities of an area.

Habs is a traveling enthusiast working with Cottages Direct. I love taking breaks in the UK and abroad. But most of all, I love to share my vacation experiences.

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Photo by admin

There are a large number and variety of British holiday camps such as Pontin’s, Butlins, Heaven etc. Where you can hire apartments, where they include free on-site entertainment, restaurants, and lots more activities and events for kids to participate in, and you can usually get great deals for certain packages, if you start looking and booking.

On the other hand if you like to see the outdoors then why not take the family camping, let them enjoy and experience the wonder of the great out doors and what nature has in store. All camp-sites these days have toilet and shower facilities, an on-site shop and the majority have a club house with live entertainment.

So when choosing your back to Britain holiday try to remember a few things:

Location: When deciding where to take your vacation think about what you really want, do you want to be near to a major town to enjoy the heritage, would you prefer a place with nature hikes and outdoors activities or maybe somewhere with all the amenities in one place for you to enjoy.

You should also take in to consideration your journey time, you will certainly almost be within 2 hours drive of a camp-site. Look at local amenities and attractions along with opening times and prices.

Preparation and travel: Make sure you have checked your car over and topped it up with fuel, water oil etc. along with checking tyres including the spare. If you wear contacts make sure you pop to your optician in Durham to pick up a full supply as it might be more difficult to source these at short notice while you’re away. The majority of check-in times can range from 11am – 2pm, so make sure you plan your journey well including allowing for traffic, it’s advised to check local traffic before setting off and possibly locating 2 different routes. You should also allow for the dreaded saying “I need a wee” which can cause minor delays.

Clothing: You should prepare yourself for all kinds of weather when camping, you most definitely should expect typical British rain. So pack a light cagoule with a hood, avoid umbrellas as they become a hassle to carry. Pack sensible footwear as the majority of the time activities will be involved, but also remember to pack light and sensibly. Tents tend to be short on space so the baggage will either need to stay in the car or be used as a head rest or chair.

Warmth: Even in the summer months camping can still be cold at night. It’s worth putting a ground cover down before you put up your tent, exercise mats are fine or if you like your home comforts a blow up bed is handing to share as long as you remember the foot pump. It is worth spending slightly more money on a proper camping sleeping back along with a small pillow. May be worth sleeping in Pyjama’s and taking a jumper for those colder hours and also for sitting around the camp-fire. (Always check permission before building a camp-fire)

It may also be worth packing a couple of torches with batteries, toilet roll and toiletries, bottled water and empty carrier bags. You can guarantee that someone will need to navigate there where to the toilet facilities during the night so a torch is handy so you avoid the tent ropes. It may also be an idea to take a beach wind break for cooking behind and deck/garden chairs for the wet weather.

Food and toiletries: Take a few snacks and drinks with you for the journey as this is a mini road trip for kids, so let them enjoy it. When camping remember to pack foods in a cool box where needed. You will also need to bring plates, cutlery, bowls, cups etc. Food can be as cheap & simple or as expensive and funky as you like. Cereals or an English breakfast, sandwiches, fruit etc. are probably the easiest when camping or in a caravan along with the occasional meal out.  Marshmallows are an extremely fun activities with a warm hot chocolate.

On arrival when camping take a little time to think where you want to pitch your tent, making sure there is enough room for all of your belongings as well as room for the kids to play games and have a run.  Let the kids help pitch the tent, it’s the perfect family activity and team work, although allow extra daylight time and have patience they will just be over excited. For safety reasons tie a piece of material which will highlight when lit up around the tent ropes, so people can avoid them when walking past late at night.

Remember to have fun, locate activities which all the family will enjoy, join children’s clubs or day activities and bring back family time. Take a ball for a kick about or game of catch. For the journey suggest games to make the time pass quicker. Cram as much as you can into the days and show the family the best of British holidays.

Claire Nelson is a freelance writer from England who has travelled the world including five continents. Her particular favourites are New Zealand and Canada however since moving from New York to England last year she has started to fall in love with the Great British caravan holiday closer to home.

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Photo by best-of-european-union.eu

Over 11 million British holiday makers head to France each year, with many of those packing a tent or towing a caravan to provide their accommodation for the week or two that they’re en France!

Whether you’re heading for the sun drenched beaches of the south of France, the rural charm of Provence or the wine filled vineyards of the Loire there are a few essential items that are important to include before you leave home.

1. Spare wheel – make sure yours is legal and that you have the relevant jack and wrench – and the locking wheel nut tool if you have one. There’s only one thing worse than a flat tyre while you’re on holiday and that’s not having a spare!
2. A Liber  t-tag.  Keep on trucking with a pre bought and registered French tolls t-tag. When all you want to do is get to your pitch, pop the tent up and start enjoying your holiday, the last thing you want to do is queue up with all the other non-French tourists at the Autoroute toll booths. Well now you don’t have to as – for the very first time – the Liber – t tag can be ordered and paid for in the UK, using your UK bank account and the good old British pound. Paying French tolls has never been quicker or easier.
3. Sat Nav including French Maps – AND a map. Many of us have a Sat Nav for the UK and some of us just assume that it will carry on working whilst we’re aboard. But this is not the case, you need to get French mapping software and make sure you know how to use it before you go away. You also need a map – just in case the Sat Nav fails, gets stolen or suddenly decides you’re actually in Italy and not in France – it does happen!
4. A good cooker and a kettle. We Brits don’t half like our tea and in my experience – the French don’t. So it’s essential for the good of all to be able to brew up whenever the mood takes us. From beside the road on a break from driving to every lovely, lazy and relaxed morning of the holiday – there’s nothing like a good cup of tea.
5. A big cool box. No matter how precious you think the space is in your car, caravan, camper van etc. In our experience a nice big cool box is essential for keeping water and juice cold while you’re traveling and beer and wine chilled for when you get there and start unwinding.

As a regular traveller to France, Rachel Wheats makes use of Sanef Tollings Liber-t tag to take the hassle out of paying French tolls.

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