Summertime camping on the south coast is great for venturing out to find new campsites to stay at and so 7 of us went on a jolly good camping weekend at Litton Lakes in east Dorset was a great find to explore this part of the beautiful Dorset coast.
Location
Litton Lakes camping ground, café and activity lake is a great place for families to pitch up – small, with a relaxed vibe with some special facilities and in a great location.
Nestled in a peaceful valley in the Dorset countryside, Litton Lakes is just 10 minutes from the stunning Jurassic Coast and its magnificent beaches, sat in the heart of a hiker and bikers paradise, with pubs close by, a stream and walks and bike routes from the campsite. It is easy to get to off the main A35 and we liked the fact that it is mostly families with small tents so a great starter campsite.
Facilities
The campsite is nice and small and feels safe so the children could run around and play ball games in a grassy central area. Probably the highlight is the small lake in which you can swim and paddle board so great for our kids to learn paddleboarding safely! The water was pretty warm for summer swimming and the ducks did not seem to mind sharing the water with swimmers. Again a good intro to wild inland swimming for children.
The onsite cafe has essential provisions though there are also farm shops nearby. It also serves nice coffee and drinks, ice creams, cakes, and some breakfast items etc. Now there are also local artisans selling craft products which is a nice touch.
An evening walk from the campsite
When we arrived at the campsite after nearly a couple of hours drive we wanted to have the kids let off steam so we went for a walk through the fields to a nearby pub.
We got a bit lost but it was the getting there, not the destination, as they say! The sunset was lovely. Unfortunately the pub was closed when we got there or too busy but we went back next day and enjoyed listening to a local band in the garden. A mobile pizza service was on offer but incredibly popular so we had to venture back to the campsite to feed four hungry children.
Dorset villages and coast
The campsite is in a great local spot for exploring this part of Dorset. We spent a couple of days exploring and visited Weymouth for the beach and fish n chips, Abbotsbury (great walk around the hill and coast, West Bay (great playground), and Chesil Beach to name but a few. Dorset is just brimming with great spots to explore, country walks, quaint villages and there is even Monkey World en route!
You can do some serious hiking or just short strolls, it’s always amazing how you can find little hidden, quiet gems even with the hustle and bustle of the big caravan parks and places like Weymouth. If the weather is good and there is a beach that usually keeps the kids happy for many hours but on these types of beaches we have learned to bring our trusty windbreaker to provide some shelter and our mini beach tent, also good for changing.
Not all the beaches are great for swimming as there can be a sharp pitch from the shingly beach into the sea but Weymouth beach is fantastic – although of course 100s of people share that thought so it does get pretty crowded.
The walk at Abbotsbury by the old monastery was probably our favourite – climbing up the hill to the old ruin at the top was short enough to be fun and hard enough to get out of breath. We said we would come back but so far lots of other places have been calling to us – so much to see and do!
