AA Campsite of the Year

AA REVEALS TOP UK STAYCATION SPOTS FOR 2025…

Posted on February 12, 2025

As UK travel trends continue to favour local and sustainable tourism, the annual AA Caravan & Camping Awards have announced the top outdoor accommodation spots for the 2024-25 season.

This year’s winners offer the best of scenic retreats and luxurious glamping, with a new Sustainable Park award showing a growing preference for eco-friendly and unique staycations among UK travellers. The awards celebrated 12 exceptional sites across the country, selected by the AA’s expert inspectors for their outstanding quality and commitment to customer satisfaction.

Categories included AA Glamping Site of the Year, AA Campsite of the Year, and AA Most Improved Campsite of the Year. This year’s winners span the UK, from the rich history and sweeping views from the Isle of Anglesey in Wales to the stunning ancient woodlands nestled within the South Downs of West Sussex.

Hosting the awards, Simon Numphud, Managing Director at AA Media, said, “As local travel continues to grow and sustainable tourism gains momentum, we are excited to announce the best camping and caravanning destinations for the upcoming year.

This year’s winners have demonstrated outstanding quality along with a strong dedication to eco-friendly practices and customer satisfaction, making them excellent options for UK travellers.” All winners of the awards feature in the 57th edition of the AA Caravan & Camping Guide, which is £14.99 and available to buy in bookshops now.

Congratulations to all 2024-25 winners, the full list of this year’s AA Caravan and Camping Awards winners can also be found on RatedTrips.com.

Rated Trips by AA Media
The UK’s top campsites and caravan parks for 2025 | AA RatedTrips.com

TOP MARKS FOR UK CAMPSITE

Posted on February 15, 2023

TOP MARKS FOR UK CAMPSITE

AA caravan and camping award winners...

 

LEADING CAMPSITES AND CARAVAN PARKS in the UK have been confirmed and are featured in the AA Caravan and Camping Guide

 

The leading campsites and caravan parks in the UK have been confirmed and are featured in the AA Caravan and Camping Guide 2023, out now from AA Publishing. Amongst those celebrating is Silverdale Caravan Park in Lancashire, the AA Campsite of the Year for England and this year’s overall winner.

A rise in eco-friendly camping has shown holidaymakers are looking for environmentally friendly destinations. Camp Katur, winners of the AA Glamping Site of the Year, focuses on upcycling materials with fire pits created from washing machine drums and galvanised bucket washbasins.

Among the regional winners is Beaconsfield Holiday Park, winner of AA Campsite of the Year Heart of England, a purpose-built, family-run park on farmland in open countryside which offers quality in every area. Simon Numphud, Managing Director at AA Media says: “With people spending their holidays in the UK and exploring the great British countryside, we are thrilled to celebrate the UK’s best campsites for 2022.

“This year’s winners have demonstrated outstanding quality, high levels of customer care and fantastic facilities which meet customers’ growing expectations. “With UK staycations continuing to prove popular among holidaymakers, the AA Caravan and Camping Guide offers an invaluable guide to holidaymakers choosing to stay in a tent, caravan, motorhome, or glamping site.

We hope this new guide inspires people who are set to embark on new journeys.” AA Media connects the UK with travel ideas and rated places to stay and visit. It includes AA Hotel & Hospitality Services, which rates and publishes information about the hospitality industry, including hotels, guest accommodation and restaurants.

They introduced the renowned star rating scheme for quality in 1908 and have inspected restaurants for the Rosette award since 1956. Ratedtrips.com showcases all AA-rated places to stay and visit, and they publish a well-established range of lifestyle publications such as their camping and restaurant guides.

 

MORE HOLIDAYMAKERS are looking for environmentally- friendly locations to pitch their tents and caravans.

 

BEST SELLER
Britain’s best-selling caravan and camping guide provides the very best places for people to take their tent, caravan, or motorhome across the UK. This guide enables travellers to discover over 580 sites from five Pennant premier parks to more affordable options. Now in its 55th edition; being in the guide means the sites have been professionally inspected by the AA’s highly experienced inspection team, it also features AA award-winning parks and.

Top sites with gold and platinum pennants across as well as AA’s Campsite of the year. The guide consistently sells year on year, which demonstrates a loyal readership. Just one or two bookings via the guide covers the outlay of the assessment fee. Inspectors look for best in class in any given region, where the owners and team have created a top-class experience within their site’s grading level.

All winners will feature in the 55th Edition of the AA Caravan & Camping Guide. All the destinations featured in the guide have been inspected and rated by AA professional inspectors, grading sites from one to five Pennants, based on their facilities and hospitality.

Each entry within the guide includes location, ratings, contact details, directions, prices, opening times, facilities, and a description to help holidaymakers select the right site for their needs. Mirroring the increasing popularity of luxury camping, this year’s winners include glamping facilities, including yurts, shepherd’s huts, and vintage caravans. The winners include a focus on family friendliness, eco-friendliness, fishing, best views and sites for lake lovers.

 

UK’s Top Parks For Happy Campers

Posted on February 9, 2017

UK’s Top Parks For Happy Campers

Castlerigg Hall in Keswick, Cumbria, took the top spot as the Regional Campsite of the Year for the North West.

Castlerigg Hall in Keswick, Cumbria, took the top spot as the Regional Campsite of the Year for the North West.

Vale of Pickering Caravan Park in North Yorkshire has been crowned the Campsite of the Year 2017 at the AA Caravan and Camping Awards. The park beat off stiff competition from 860 sites across the country, which were all visited by the AA’s campsite inspectors to assess the touring pitches, facilities and hospitality.

 

Each park is graded from one to five pennants, with Gold Pennants awarded to the very best. Since winning an AA regional award in 2013, owners of the Vale of Pickering Caravan Park - Chris and Dianne Stockdale - have continued to invest in the park each year, including a new state-ofthe- art facilities block which has six fully-equipped wet rooms and a dishwashing room. New electric points and a dog wash, with a hot shower were also added to the park this year.

Another notable winner this year was Forest Fields Caravan and Camping Park in Powys, which was named AA Campsite of the Year for Wales. The family-run park, which is located near to Royal Welsh Showground, is popular with families and outdoor adventure groups. The park’s owners - the Barstow family - also has plans to expand the glamping offering in 2017.

Elsewhere in the country Castlerigg Hall in Keswick, Cumbria took the top spot as the Regional Campsite of the Year for the North West. Owned by the Jackson family since 1938, the park provides luxury caravan holiday homes for hire, plus eco-friendly camping pods and pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes. A former farm which began by welcoming campers, Castlerigg Hall is today one of the Lake District’s most highly regarded parks. 2017 also saw the introduction of a new award – The AA Glamping Site of the Year, to celebrate the increasing popularity of glamping. The winner of this brand new award was Durrell Wildlife Camp in Jersey, which is situated in 32 acres of landscaped parkland and water-gardens offers guest the opportunity to stay overnight in stylish Ecopods with unlimited access to some of the rarest wildlife species on earth.

All the winners of this year’s AA Caravan and Camping Awards will appear in the new AA Caravan and Camping Guide 2017.

Family Values

Posted on August 29, 2014

Family Values

Family-Values-2

Park directors Phillip and Becki Osborne collected Polmanter’s Campsite of the Year for 2014 award at the recent AA awards.

With views of the Cornish coastline from St Ives Bay to Trevose Head, Polmanter Touring Park has been a popular destination for families and couples looking for a base from which to explore the West Cornwall peninsula for more than four decades.

“We are fortunate to have an enviable location within walking distance of the stunning seaside town of St Ives, with sea views from many pitches,” says Phillip Osborne, director at Polmanter. “This, coupled with the high standards of the park ensures that a significant proportion of our visitors return year after year.”

Park owners, John and Sheena Osborne, have always been supported in running and developing the site by their four sons, of which Phillip and his wife Becki now run the site, living there with their two young children Kerenza and William.

Phillip provides day-to-day site management and continues to develop the park, with the aim of maintaining the high standards set by his parents. He comments: “We have a great team of permanent and seasonal staff who enjoy their work and provide a great level of service to our customers.”

Family-Values-Sunset

Polmanter boasts 295 camping and toring pitches, accommodating 11,000 guests each year.

With almost 300 spacious pitches on site, all with individual hedges and many with a sea view, Polmanter pride themselves on providing a quality camping and touring experience for their guests.

Philip adds: “We offer the opportunity for returning guests to book a specific pitch, and the online ‘pick a pitch’ facility on our website allows less familiar visitors to select their preferred pitch before arrival – which has proven to be an effective marketing tool for us.”

The Osborne family first moved to Polmanter in 1968, when the site was predominantly a dairy farm, which had offered basic camping facilities for the previous six summers. In the early days the family ran the farm and campsite simultaneously, selling milk produced by the dairy herd to campers in the on-site shop.

In 1982 the family decided to sell the dairy herd and focus solely on the touring business. Improvements were made to the amenity blocks, two tennis courts were added, and shortly afterwards a swimming pool with changing facilities and a sun terrace were constructed in the old farmyard.