# London day trip stop over on the way to Dover?



## Finola (May 5, 2012)

Hi all wise and seasoned travellers.

My family (including two youngsters) and i have had the opportunity to add a couple of days to the beginning of our annual France pilgrimage next week.

As the youngsters are fascinated with London currently, that's the Olympics for you, I thought we may stop en route to Dover and day trip into London via Train.

Can you kindly recommend any where with good rail links that's not too great a detour from the north to Dover?

It needs to be a campsite as hwmbo won't wild camp this side of the water with the kids on board.

Thanks in anticipation
Phill


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

Crystal palace Caravan club site?


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Jamsieboy said:


> Crystal palace Caravan club site?


I'll second that.There is a bus a few minutes walk from the site that takes you to central London via the Embankment, up Whitehall and to Trafalgar Square. You can, I think, get family trip tickets- ask at Reception. While there take them into the Crystal Palace park to see the dinosaurs !

V. good site, very convenient and not too far from the road to Dover.

G


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## Finola (May 5, 2012)

Grizzly said:


> Jamsieboy said:
> 
> 
> > Crystal palace Caravan club site?
> ...


Thanks guys, having not been into London for 20 years, will this site be affected by lev or congestion? What's the traffic like? Is it better to stay further out and let the train do the work? Or are my nerves getting the better of me?

I didn't like the peripherique in rush hour last year and wonder if London will be similar.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We live to the north west of the site and our main alternatives are the south circular road and, the route we usually take, the M25 to the Croydon/Gatwick junction and straight up. The former is slow but not usually a problem. The latter is longer but faster. I don't know what your best way from Wigan would be however.

There are nice Club sites at Walton on Thames and at Chertsey but the transport is not so frequent or so close to the site at either of these.

CP is in the low emissions zone but that should not mean you having to do anything extra if you have a van that complies.

I can't remember which club it is but one of them (CC ? ) issues a book of money saving vouchers for UK wide attractions each year and _ I think _ you can print them off the website. Many are for London.

G

Edit:

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/caravanclubapps/format/images/attractions/vouchers.pdf


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

A bit further out but close to M25 is:

Kelveden Hatch Camping & Caravanning Club site.

A bit more awkward to get to London but not too bad.

Half mile to bus stop which takes you to Brentwood on the Liverpool Street line.

Site is NE of London just outside M25 so ideal for the rest of your ride to Dover.


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## Habilis-abilis (Feb 10, 2012)

Theres a newish CS near Bexley calledI think Wooten Hall Farm. Sorry to be vague about the name but I can not find the details at the moment.I have stayed there it's a field near to the farm shop and a kids play barn and quiter than you would at first think.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Finola said:


> Grizzly said:
> 
> 
> > Jamsieboy said:
> ...


You wrote 'lev' but I assume you mean LEZ (London Emission Zone.

Both Abbey Wood and Crystal Palace are within the LEZ so check your MH compliance on the Tfl website.

An alternative is the CandCC site at Chertsey, just off M25 with fast trains to Waterloo.

Geoff


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Habilis-abilis said:


> Theres a newish CS near Bexley calledI think Wooten Hall Farm. Sorry to be vague about the name but I can not find the details at the moment.I have stayed there it's a field near to the farm shop and a kids play barn and quiter than you would at first think.


Woollett Hall Farm CS is very easy to get to from either the A2 or A20, and it's a ten minute walk to Albany Park station to get a train to central London. Unfortunately it is just inside the LEZ if this is an issue for you.

Chris


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

I would say NO to Crystal Palace as the extra driving through London will take ages. And your Satnav will also be wrong by at least 30 mins. Trust me, I drive in London most days.

Stick to somewhere en route - somewhere in Kent near the motorway would minimise driving and train - eg it is only 35 mins from Rochester to St Pancras, or maybe even Ashford in Kent, where the really fast trains go into London, but it's on the motorway near Dover.


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

HeatherChloe said:


> I would say NO to Crystal Palace as the extra driving through London will take ages. And your Satnav will also be wrong by at least 30 mins. Trust me, I drive in London most days.
> 
> Stick to somewhere en route - somewhere in Kent near the motorway would minimise driving and train - eg it is only 35 mins from Rochester to St Pancras, or maybe even Ashford in Kent, where the really fast trains go into London, but it's on the motorway near Dover.


I agree.

We are off to Crystal Palace CC soon, but only because I have a hospital appointment nearby. If I wanted to visit London en route to France from the north I would stay at Woollett Hall Farm, as mentioned above. It would hardly be off the route.

Chris


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## AndrewandShirley (Oct 13, 2007)

These are all CCC sites:
North London: Kelvedon Hatch, Hertford and Theobalds Park (J25 M25)

South London: Chertsey and Horsley

All have easy access to London.

Or why not go to the Canterbury site which is again under 1 hour to London.


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

AndrewandShirley said:


> These are all CCC sites:
> North London: Kelvedon Hatch, Hertford and Theobalds Park (J25 M25)
> 
> South London: Chertsey and Horsley
> ...


If coming from the North to Dover, I'd go East way round the M25, thus avoiding M40, M4 and M3 turn offs, and all that Heathrow and Gatwick traffic.

So Chertsey and Horsley would be bad answers.

Kelvedon Hatch would not be bad if you drove to Theydon Bois to get the tube, but best if it is a weekend,


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