Between 2003 and 2005 my husband and I moved abroad for discovery, exploration and new horizons, hitting upon Nepal as a good a place as any. Based in the frenetic capital of Kathmandu, our eagerly awaited holidays were usually spent trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas with the time in between reminiscing about what we had experienced on the last trek and busily researching and planning the next one. The best treks were those on which we camped, pitching up on the odd ledge of flat ground in the middle of villages that seemed to be teetering on the edge of the world. The walking was challenging
(especially to begin with, before our fresh-from-England legs had slimmed down and toughened up; one well-meaning wizened old lady sitting in one of the villages we came to on our first trek described my legs as 'tree-trunks'; nice...) the villages and habitations were fascinating and the vistas were breath-taking.
Well, of course they would be, wouldn't they?Back in the UK, though, with our new-found stamina, we realised that our Nepalese experiences had changed our attitude to walking here too. We found ourselves planning UK walking holidays, using the hours of walking we'd do each day to explore the place we'd decided to visit. We had metamorphosed into ramblers...
With hundreds of thousands of members signed up to more than 500 ramblers groups in the UK and hundreds of thousands of other good folk both young and old identifying themselves as walkers in the UK, I am not alone in my enjoyment. We walk for health, for contemplation and for companionship. We walk as therapy: to clear our heads and ease the bottle-neck of thoughts in times of crisis. We walk to explore, to discover and to be free, to exercise our right to roam. And many of us walk to shed some of our more inhibiting layers and do that thing everyone seems to be talking about these days:
get back to nature.Which is why walking holidays go foot in foot with camping and touring holidays - what better way to immerse yourself in the natural environments that this fascinatingly varied nation of ours has to offer than to lay your head close to the earth your are exploring? And there are so many great options for walking camping holidays in the UK, be it in a tent or with a motorhome or caravan as your base, it seems crazy to go abroad before exploring more local terrain.
For fabulous fell walking camp near the
Yorkshire Three Peaks and Cross Fell, Cumbria. Set amidst the barely tamed wilderness of the Pennines, you can set yourself the popular challenge of joining the ‘Three Peaks of Yorkshire Club’, conquering Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent in 12 hours. Of course, there are thousands of walking routes in this area and you might want to opt for more leisurely explorations of each peak and surrounding fells.
If coastal paths do it for you then considering camping in the
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park where one of the most beguiling regions of the UK is fringed with a rugged coastal path connecting vast sandy beaches, hidden coves, heather-clad cliffs and traditional fishing communities.
If you want to use walking to get under the skin of a region, then choosing to camp on an island is an exciting option with terrain often varying from flat footpath to rugged coastal path and mountain climbing within a few miles. Camping on the
Isle of Mull, Scotland offers just that variety, with the peak of Ben More at nearly 1000 metres above nearby sea-level tantalizing those of us wanting to 'bag a munro'.
These campsites offering access to great walking holidays come in all shapes and sizes. OK, so many walkers will want to find a campsite with no more than basic sock-drying facilities but other ramblers out there like their creature comforts,
thank you very much. Search the listings for each individual site to find your ideal tent, caravan or motorhome pitch from which to ramble your legs off.
