2018 was a bumper year for glamping with endless weeks of unbroken sunshine and heat. For the first time ever we had to request no fires outside the caravans – just for a few weeks mind but it felt every inch the Mediterranean. Scorchio! The vans are now wrapped up in their winter coats to protect them from the elements whilst we turn our minds to our 2019 season. We are already taking whole site bookings for the precious spring and summer weekends
The Summer Holidays (capital S, capital H) are fast approaching as every parent will be only too well aware. Endless days stretching out for weeks on end which needs filling. What to do? Where to go (without remortgaging your house)? How to avoid the centuries-old cry ‘I’m Bored’ and how long before you’re screaming at them to put down their (evil) Devices and Go Outside? Sound familiar? Well, delighted to say glamping and summer are a match made in heaven – rather like strawberries and cream, gin and tonic or Ant & Dec… hmm, make that Meghan & Harry. So here goes with our Mad Dogs Summer Bucket List to help ease the load and remind you what Summer Holidays are made for:
May is our favourite month here at Mad Dogs & Vintage Vans. Bluebells carpet the copse and the glamping meadow is covered in frothy, lacy cow parsley. Spring is at its zingy green best and the evenings are light and long. To top it all this year we have been blessed with halcyon days of glorious sunshine. Glamping conditions have never been better *Sigh*. A year ago photographer Katie Spicer came to stay in Gertie to celebrate her wedding anniversary. You can feast your eyes on her beautiful pictures of the glampsite and read Katie’s blog capturing the essence of glamping at this time of year.
Soon the Beast of the East will be a distant frozen memory and it will be time to whip the covers off Monty, Gertie, Sybil and Elsie in readiness for this, our 6th season of glamping adventures… Bring it on. One of the things we love most about life here on the Mad Dogs glampsite is how each season offers different perks and a family glamping trip during the Easter holidays can be super rewarding. The copse, home to the Mad Dogs campfire log circle, shower shack and cosy Mess Tent, is a blaze of green and tiny yellow Spring flowers, the mornings are crisp and the evenings are light.
Take one loved up couple
add a moonlit Vintage Van
decorate with wild meadow flowers
Over the years we’ve hosted many amazing glamping hen parties – from hens wanting a festival vibe to lovers of all things vintage sporting glam 50s outfits to groups wanting an action-packed adventure weekend. We are ideally located in the Wye Valley in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with stunning sunset views west to the Brecon Beacons. Take over the whole glampsite for a magical glamping hen weekend at Mad Dogs & Vintage Vans. We are here to help you plan and prepare your hen party weekend and in the words of Montell Jordan ‘This Is How You Do It’ Sacha & Jo style…
Mad Dogs & Vintage Vans is the perfect place for a party. This year we’ve loved watching guests take over the whole site to celebrate landmark birthdays – we’ve had Helen’s 30th last month, Keavy’s 40th summer bash, Richard’s 40th ‘lost weekend’ (anyone seen Pid?) and twins Wendy & Lindsey’s family celebrations for their joint 50ths. We’ve had a marriage proposal in Monty (and reader, it was a ‘yes’), honeymooners in Sybil and a steady stream of hen parties popping prosecco corks and glamping the weekend away. Then there were vintage enthusiasts Amy & Tom who arrived in Audrey, their beloved Morris Minor, and spent a week in Elsie living a 1950s lifestyle complete with stunning retro outfits and hairdos. In Amy we have found our Mad Dogs 50s pinup (by the way hens take note, you can hire the services of Amy and there’s nothing she can’t do with pins and a curling wand).
Autumn turned out to be a cracker: sunny, mild, dry conditions made for a spectacular display of colour here in the Wye Valley. Perfect conditions too for a bumper crop of chestnuts from our ancient Sweet Chestnut in the copse (affectionately known as the Faraway Tree). This year there were so many even the squirrels were willing to share them. It made a wonderful season finale watching glampers gather round the campfire to roast them.
Autumn is upon us and what better way to experience it than to breathe, feel and taste it.
We are open till the end of October and with the mild temperatures, it is still a very comfortable time of year to stay in one of our vintage vans. Each van has a wood burner to keep you cosy and warm. Come and see the beautiful Autumn colours of the famous Wye Valley and taste some of the best local produce. The video you are about to watch was recorded at Mad Dogs for C4. It highlights some of the beautiful elements of Autumn glamping.
The sweet smell of eucalyptus is the first sensory delight to greet you as you cross over into the otherworldly glory of Mad Dogs and Vintage Vans.
Leaving the motorway and A-roads behind, the last few exciting miles before discovering this gem begin to offer an insight into the purity and peace that lay ahead; golden fields, forest laden vistas and the odd church spire snake out of the hilly landscape. I was totally and utterly ready to be off grid: no phone, no electricity, and no worries.
