On the road to a camp site deep in the countryside

IF you don’t like huge public embarrassments, then avoid driving a 22ft motorhome through a tiny Devon village.

It took us so long to manoeuvre round a 90-degree bend that people came out of the nearby pub to watch. And laugh. And film.

It’s probably up on YouTube — try searching under “Couple’s marriage breaks down in motorhome”.
Anyway, the moral is always read to the end of the bumf about directions to a campsite deep in the countryside.

Particularly the bit where it says — underlined in bold — DON’T trust your satnav to find us.

It wasn’t the greatest start ever to a family holiday but luckily our trip to Devon got better.

First the vehicle. We hired a top-of-the-range Swift Lifestyle that sleeps six and comfortably takes mum, dad, two teenagers and a small dog.

There’s a double bunk above the driver’s cab, the middle dining area converts into another double bed and there are two bunks at the back. There’s also a sink and draining board, fridge, four-ring hob, a loo with shower plus plenty of storage.

The outside has neat things such as an awning, shower and barbecue points and everything is easy to find and use.

The vehicle, essentially a converted Fiat Euro van, is simpler to drive than you’d think, too. Its manual 2.3-litre diesel engine is powerful enough to get where you want to go, although not at speed. But then racing to destinations isn’t the point on a touring holiday.

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Without getting into Swiss Toni “driving a motorhome is like making love to a beautiful woman” territory, if you’re mindful of your length and width, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Your home-from-home needs a good location and in Slapton Sands we had the best going. This friendly, immaculate campsite is set in rolling green fields outside Slapton village. You wake in the morning to the sound of cows mooing and waves gently lapping on the beach.

Dogs are welcome and you can take them to the beach or Slapton Ley nature reserve and let them loose.

The campsite has a small shop for basics but a mobile baker calls every morning (get there early) and a fish and chip van comes once a week.

Pretty Slapton village has a shop and two pubs. The friendly, welcoming Queen’s Arms (“Was that you lot in the motorhome? Very funny that!”) offers excellent pub grub at very reasonable prices and there’s also the more foodie Tower Inn. Both come recommended.

Slapton Sands is a wide, clean, family beach that’s mainly pebbly. Further along the bay is Torcross, a hamlet with a good pub and cafe and, intriguingly, an old Sherman tank in the car park.

Freedom of road

This tank, dredged from the Channel a few years ago, is a memorial to the 749 US soldiers killed during friendly fire while practising for D-Day landings.

If you fancy going further afield, Dartmoor, Plymouth and Exeter are an easy drive but town centre parking in a motorhome can be a challenge. Better to cycle or take the bus to busy smaller places like Dartmouth (top harbourside restaurants and pubs) and Salcombe (good for watersports).

If you’re the kind of family that doesn’t get on in a four-bedroom house, let alone in what is essentially a 22ft by 7ft single room, then this isn’t the holiday for you.

But if you enjoy mucking in together and the relative freedom of the open road, this is a lot of fun.

Might be an idea to take a map though.

Go: Devon

GETTING THERE: has hints and advice to get you started.

STAYING THERE: Our stay at Slapton was arranged by The Camping and Caravanning Club, which has more than 100 UK sites. Pitches start at £5pp. See . We borrowed a van from Marquis Leisure (). Swift Motorhomes start from £39,995 (£595 per week to rent).

MORE INFO: The Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show runs from Feb 23 to 28 at the NEC, Birmingham. Tickets from £7/£8, .