14th & 15th February 2014
Trying to book a site at the start of the February school holidays was bound to be a problem, especially when quite a few sites don’t open until March/April. We tried a few hoping that the weather may have caused some last minute cancellations, but no joy. I remembered I had seen a site hidden away near Clifton Moor shopping park. Looking on ukcampsite.co.uk I did a search on their google map radius search. There it was, Rawcliffe Manor caravan park. Handily situated next to a pub but also a 5 min walk to Clifton Moor shopping centre which has a 10 screen multiplex cinema, bowling, Tesco’s and fuel station, various shops and eating places. A bus service from Clifton Moor runs in to York every 10 or 15 mins. Or walk 5 minutes in the opposite direction to a Park & Ride service which operates every 10 minutes passing by the York Railway Museum before it reaches its destination at York city centre. There is also a cycle track and footpath from the site along side the River Ouse to the centre of York.
Attractions within a short distance include York Minster, Yorvic Centre, Castle Museum, Castle Howard, Yorkshire Dales, Shambles, Site seeing and Ghost walks, Boat trip on the River Ouse & Yorkshire Moors.
The site – Adults only - has 13 pitches which are classed as super pitches – electric, rubbish bin, water tap, grey waste, and toilet waste – Some care is needed in emptying the toilet cassette.
Pitches are hard standing for the motorhome or caravan with a grass section next to it. Most pitches are separated by a hedge. The pitches are small but ample but larger outfits may struggle.
The site also has a small toilet block containing 1 toilet and shower plus 2 sinks for male and female. There is a disabled toilet but this also incorporates washing up sink, washing machine and tumble dryer. These facilities were clean & modern.
Cost per night is £25 which is more than we would normally like to pay but as we had struggled to find a site and this was very handy we went for it.
On arrival we were met with a friendly welcome and told our pitch number. As we pulled on to the pitch we were advised of a better pitch but we struggled as the overhanging branches on the row of conifers were hitting the roof. We asked if we could park on another pitch so we didn’t have the branches banging on the roof and this was fine..
We didn’t try the pub but it did look very enticing. You can get a takeaway from the pub to your van if you prefer. You can also vacate your pitch later on a Sunday if you would like to stay for the carvery. The pub also has free wi-fi.
You can see the site here on google maps.
