Who doesn’t love a trip to Devon? Our first trip in the Big Red Van, staying in a new spot, so some familiar and some new experiences. Arriving after a slow meander through the countryside was a novelty, instead of after a long slog. Not entirely sure which is better!

We booked in for 4 nights at Slapton Sands C&CC site at £44.35 per night on hard standing including EHU.

I’m not going to go on about the cost of it, but really 🤨

The check-in process was a bit frustrating. The office didn’t open until 4pm, the keypad for the barrier was in an awkward spot, so I had to get out and trot round and there wasn’t really much manoeuvre room onto the pitches, which were not even all level 🫤

There was a sea view though, in the distance and a playground to keep the young uns busy.

Location-wise it was bang in the middle of where we wanted to be; easy access to Kingsbridge, Dartmouth, Salcombe and technically walking distance to the Start Bay Inn, albeit either a mile along the shingle beach or braving the mosquitoes along the Ley.

First trip was to Kingsbridge, as tradition dictates, but no parking on the harbour for the Big Red Van, nor any vehicle over 5m, according to the shouty red sign. Emergency googling revealed one car park that accepts motorhomes or similar, at the cattlemarket up the hill. £1.20 for 3 hours. They allow overnight parking for up to 2 consecutive nights for a reasonable fee. I had to download the RingGo app to pay to park.

We amused ourselves looking for decent pasties (19 quid for 4 greasy salty monstrosities from No 37 on Fore St!!!)

The little tourist train was fun for 2 quid down the side of the harbour and the Salcombe ice creams from the little hut on the harbour were tasty and £16 for 4 single scoops (with flakes, mind).

The question is, did we stay long enough? Would we go back to this campsite? What would we do differently?

The tides were a bit off for our planned trip across to Burgh Island on the sea tractor, so we’ll do that another time. The steam railway costs an absolute arm and a leg, so we passed on that, but the days we spent in Dartmouth and (surprisingly) Brixham were fantastic. We didn’t venture to Salcombe either this time round, but I don’t feel like we really missed out.

We could have spent two weeks just hanging around Start Bay and would have been happy. The kids made friends at the camp, and we’ve spent many happy times lurking around the general area to know what we like. 4 days was enough to feel like we did some stuff, but still leave you feeling like you’d enjoy another trip.

The question of whether we’d go back to the campsite is not straightforward to answer. The bottom line is that if we go back in the Big Red Van our options are diminished – mainly by places to park when we’re out and about. South Devon just got less friendly towards larger vehicles. Shame.