This blog post is marked as an AD (advert) because we were invited to stay at Caalm Camp, Dorset free of charge in exchange for creating this content. We were also gifted tickets to Wookey Hole caves by the marketing team at Wookey Hole. I aim to be transparent in order to retain your trust and I hope you will continue to support the Thrifty Mumma Thrifty Bubba blog and social media channels.
Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog.
We were recently invited to enjoy a family staycation with a difference at Caalm Camp, Dorset. As a family with a young toddler we were a bit apprehensive about being cold and wet. However, our stay couldn’t have been further from this traditional view of UK camping.
On our arrival we were warmly greeted by Mark who welcomed us to the glampsite and gave us a grand tour. He reassured us that we would not be cold or wet during our stay and took us to see the facilities and the yurts.
Our home for the weekend was a beautiful Mongolian yurt called ‘Foxglove’. Heated by a log burner, Foxglove was toasty warm and offered us a proper bed with Egyptian cotton sheets and electricity!
Each of the six yurts on site are named after wildflowers and can sleep up to six people. They are each beautifully equipped and furnished as well as being adorned by traditional handpainted decoration.
Bedding and towels as well as the travel cot for Bubba were included and meant that we only had to bring ourselves, our bags and a food shop for the weekend.
During our stay we were given access to the Old Haybarn which has been sensitively renovated and now houses a fully equipped kitchen, living and dining room unit. Each yurt has its own dedicated fridge, storage cupboard and utensil drawer.
Incredibly, the Old Haybarn is also equipped with dedicated shower rooms and toilets. Each yurt has its own private and lockable shower room and toilet so you can safely leave your toiletries in there!
The Old Haybarn also includes a hangout area for teens, a pool table, a table tennis table and some friendly goats that you can feed. Bubba fell in love with them during the trip and still talks about feeding the ‘gots’ now!
Thrifty Dadda enjoyed keeping the log burner going during our stay. We took firelighters with us that we found in Aldi but you could buy them for 20p each on site and Caalm Camp also provided buckets of coal for £3 which we used to stoke the fire overnight to avoid it burning out.
Although the weather wasn’t the best during our stay, we had a lovely time getting back to nature and the log burner kept us really warm. In fact, on a few occasions, we felt we were too hot!
It was lovely to sleep under the stars and hear the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof of the yurt overnight. We all slept well and woke feeling rested before making pancakes in the kitchen. After breakfast, Bubba enjoyed playing in the outdoor play areas on site.
That morning we headed to Shaftesbury which is a lovely town and enjoyed pottering in the charity shops and ate tasty treats from the Reeve the Baker!
It just so happened that we were there for my birthday weekend so I booked a mobile massage with Becky for the afternoon. It was a unique experience to have a massage in a yurt and it made for a very relaxing afternoon.
We would thoroughly recommend staying at Caalm Camp – we had a lovely, relaxing time and the hosts couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. It is clear to see why families with members of all ages love glamping here. It is truly a unique experience and outside of term time there are some very cheap times to visit too.
On our journey home we stopped to visit Wookey Hole caves and attractions. We hadn’t visited before and we were interested to see what it had to offer.
On arrival the wind and rain had begun to set in so we decided to head inside and see the indoor attractions first.
Bubba was mesmerised by the live Circus Show which was very impressive and with ‘The Greatest Showman’ soundtrack ringing in our ears we made our way to the entrance to the Wookey Hole caves.
As we entered the cave we were told about the Wookey Hole Witch and the caverns that we were soon to enter. The children in our group were given glow sticks and we descended into the depths.
There were lots of slippery steps and places where you had to dip your head to get through the pathways. Prams and buggies are not permitted in the caves so we carried Bubba but would recommend taking a baby carrier if you are thinking of visiting the caves with a little one.
Bubba was really brave in the darker caves and enjoyed the echoes and lights.
It was really interesting to hear the history of the caves and our guide Brian was very entertaining!
Back out in the open air we enjoyed walking through the Mystic Fairy Garden down to Dinosaur Valley where Bubba liked spotting the animatronic dinosaurs dotted throughout the park.
The Wizards play castle soft play was a hit for the little ones as the weather turned and we had fun finding our way through the Mirror Maze.
All in all we had a lovely weekend away and it was really nice to visit places that we hadn’t been to before.
Thank you so much to Caalm Camp, Dorset for inviting us to experience glamping as a family in their beautiful yurts. Thank you also to Wookey Hole for gifting us tickets to visit the caves and attractions during our staycation.
Have you ever been glamping? Do you have a favourite family friendly staycation destination in the UK? I’d love to know so be sure to let me know by commenting below.
As always, thank you so much for reading.
Love, Thrifty Mumma X
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To find out more about Caalm Camp please visit the dedicated website: https://dorsetyurtcampsite.co.uk
To find out more about Wookey Hole please visit the dedicated website: https://www.wookey.co.uk
You might like to read these related posts:
Holiday hacks for travelling with toddlers
Why you should choose a Beach Retreat for a relaxing and restorative family holiday
Thrifty Mumma Thrifty Bubba 
I know I just commented on your Tweet but seriously, thanks so much for sharing this. I used to love the place as a kid. My Dad used to take me and my little brother most years, he’s no longer with us now but it’s really brought back some lovely, happy memories of our trips there. 🙂
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I’m so happy to hear that my post allowed you to remember happy childhood memories as a family. It’s a fun place to visit with so much to see and do. My Dad is no longer with us either so I know how hard that can be – in fact, I’ve written blog posts about it and filmed a YouTube video all about How to deal with grief positively. Thank you so much for commenting! X
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