If you follow me on any form of social media you will know that we recently went on holiday to Caalm Camp – a multi award winning glamping site in Dorset to stay in one of their lovely mongolian yurts and if you know me well you’ll also know that camping is not my forte.. glamping however.. I’m up for.
With it being our first proper holiday as a family of 3, I won’t hide the fact that I was pretty anxious as to how the week would go but it honestly couldn’t have gone better. When we arrived we were greeted by Mark, one of the owners (and probably one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet) who showed us around the campsite and talked us through everything that we needed to know.
The site itself is beautiful and really well thought out, it’s made up of 6 mongolian yurts each named after wild flowers that have their own pathways, fire pits, bbq’s and seating areas. There’s also a big communal seating area with seats around a campfire. I love that you have the choice of both because I’m not the most social person and I can’t imagine having to sit around a fire with people I didn’t know all evening although I expect it would actually be a great way of getting to know everyone and if you’ve got friends staying at the camp at the same time you could all meet up.
Great Facilities
At the top of the campsite you’ve got the kitchen area and the old haybarn which includes a shared kitchen full of your day to day essentials, I was super impressed to find that they provided children’s plates, cups and cutlery etc and that all of the cupboards and drawers were soft shutting so that you didn’t trap any fingers. Rather than sharing cupboards, you each get allocated your own cupboards and fridge where you can store all of your own food. If you walk through to the other end you’ve got a communal living room / dining area full of tables where you can all sit and eat your dinner. It also has 2 sofa’s and a television. We took advantage of this room mostly at lunchtimes and in the evenings to watch the soaps before bed. The living room has a toy corner for the children and also a mini table that Alyssia loved sitting at. Highchairs are also provided which I think is great!
If you walk back through to the middle of the building you’ve got your own bathroom with heated towel rails and under floor heating, the dream right?! Each bathroom is private so you have your own key, this way there is no waiting around and you can safely store your toiletries away knowing that nobody else is using your shampoo. The bathrooms are quite spacious and you’re provided with fluffy white towels which you can warm up on the heated towel rails the night before if you wish. The Old Haybarn is attached to the back of the building and is the go to place if you love playing table tennis or love a good game of pool. All free – I might add. We assumed it would be £1 a game like it is everywhere else but Mark soon explained that he wanted his visitors to feel stressfree and calm whilst on holiday and knowing that money is one of the main causes of holiday stress, he doesn’t charge any extra for use of any of the facilities which I thought was so amazing. We played Pool a few times and I must admit, I did win one game of pool hands down but I’m sure it was it was just luck.
One thing I will say is how impressed I was with cleanliness of the campsite, I’ve never experienced anything like it before and I would 100% visit again knowing that the standards are kept so high. Outside at the top of the campsite there are lots of picnic benches and a pizza oven that you can hire out if you’d like. I would love to do this next time as I can imagine there would be a great atmosphere. There is a big log cabin where all the logs are kept, you’ll find yourself visiting this a few times if you have a partner like mine who likes to think he’s Bear Grylls when it comes to fire making. We lit a fire every night that we were there and it was so lovely to just sit around and spend time together outside the yurt once our toddler had gone to bed.
Just next to the log cabin there is a big wooden wendy house, a great selection of ride on toys & a huge sandpit for the children to play in. Alyssia was in her absolute element round here and we had to bribe her a few times just to get her away from the sandpit for 5 minutes to eat her dinner. It was like being on a farm, beach and adventure play park all in one for her.
The Yurts
Lets talk about the yurts, I’ve had so many questions about these and so many of you have asked to see inside so I figured I would include photos rather than try and tell you just how gorgeous they truly are…
Each yurt is hand painted, inside you’ll find a double bed (which was actually pretty comfy) bedside tables, 2 day beds, 2 chairs, lamps, a wood burner and a mini kitchen apparatus with an induction hob so that you can have your morning cuppa. You also have electric inside your yurt, this is a huge plus for me as I love having my phone fully charged and love to keep a lamp on at night. That’s one of the main pro’s to glamping if you ask me!
If you look up you’ll see that there is a glass roof where you can watch the stars from the comfort of your bed, incredible really! The inside of the yurts are pretty dreamy and I just can’t believe they’ve all been handpainted.
If you walk down to the bottom of the campsite you’ll find the animals, Alyssia has found a new love for cows, sheep and goats over the last week and won’t stop talking about them. Everytime we drive past a field with cows in she gets so excited. You’ll also find a trampoline and a kids play area with a slide and swings etc. There are wild rabbits all around the campsite that kept popping up now and again, usually early in the morning and late at night when its quiet but it was so lovely to see and so cute listening to Alyssia say “where’s the bunnies?” Or “night night bunnies” when she was about to go to bed. The goats were so friendly and were happy to come and say hello, though Alyssia wasn’t so keen and decided she would watch from the gate, bless her!
Overall thoughts on the campsite
All in all the campsite was amazing, it was so clean and tidy and so convenient, making this camping trip so different to anything I have ever experienced. The Haybarn was literally just a walk up a well lit path and there was plenty of things to do for the children, they certainly won’t get bored!
I would definitely recommend this glamping site to anyone looking for a calm holiday out in the sticks. We were made to feel so welcome and would love to go back in the future. The campsite is open all year round, and is suitable for everyone including those with disabilities. You can find out more about Caalm Camp here and maybe even look into booking a stay.
Some Photographs from our stay at Caalm Camp
We honestly did have the best time away and can’t thank Mark & Caryl enough for making us feel so welcome. I can’t wait to go back with both girls in tow, it will be so much fun.
Caalm Camp looks idyllic, so glad you had a good timexx