I recently went on holiday with my daughter, my friend and her son for a week. We left our husbands at home, since neither would agree to arrange time off work! It was a lovely holiday, and we packed a lot of activity into a few days. In fact, I need another holiday now just to recover! My 2 year-old daughter and her 3 year-old friend had great fun, and we were pleasantly surprised with the holiday park.

Sundrum Castle is operated by Parkdean Holidays and is situated in Ayrshire, roughly a ten minute drive to the town centre of Ayr and the adjacent sandy beach and extensive shoreline. We stayed in a caravan and it was many years since I had used such accommodation. In fact, I don’t think I had stayed in a caravan since I holidayed with my parents and siblings as a child! Anyway, our caravan was clean, spacious and very well equipped with everything we needed.

The holiday park is surrounded by woodland, and while we didn’t find time to explore the nature walks (mainly due to my rather heavily pregnant situation), it looked very enticing. There is also a wild animal trail. You can collect fact sheets and activity sheets from the reception office, and head off into the woods in search of animals and birds. The site is also very peaceful and tranquil since it is not located near to any busy roads or industrial areas. We enjoyed quiet nights and the beauty of the birds singing every morning.

There is an indoor swimming pool on site, with a flume that my friend and her son enjoyed using. There is a small but adequate amusement arcade, a decent restaurant and bar, a games room and outdoor adventure playground with adjacent patio seating for parents and carers. We made use of the small on site supermarket, and there is also a takeaway restaurant but we didn’t sample the food while we were there. Just outside the holiday park is a small town and a convenience store, fish and chip shop and pizza/curry takeaway shop.

All in all, I was very impressed with our holiday accommodation. The site was located ideally for quick access to the beach and a decent shopping centre. It was quiet and peaceful when we needed it, without feeling isolated from suburban life. There were enough facilities to keep us all occupied, and we found plenty of external places to visit that were within easy travelling distance. More to follow on those expeditions later…

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