𝘼𝘿 in collaboration with Go Outdoors

Campervans are the perfect way of escaping for the weekend in search of rest and beautiful surroundings. Our latest trip to the Peak District is the second time we've used Bumble Campers and their incredibly equipped vehicles for our adventure. 

The company who have two bases; one in Peterborough and Manchester provide campervans not only at affordable hire prices but almost everything you need in one place for your road trip, touring or festival. They make the packing part easy, all you need are your own essentials and some grub to tuck into, and away you go! We picked up a 4 Seat 4 Sleeper Campervan* for our trip to the Peak District. 

The Bumble team make it incredibly quick and easy to get you out on the road and onto your adventure, but of course, give you a great lowdown of your camper van and how everything works before you go! 

The interior has plenty of space for storage so that you can organize all your gear while you're camped up. In the two seat, two sleep during the day you have a large folded futon acting as a sofa which can be laid flat in the night for sleeping on. It's really easy to move and become a bed in the evening, a lot easier and comfortable as I had expected. The difference with this one in comparison to the 2 Seater 2 Sleeper van was that we had the addition of a Roof Tent above our van. The Roof Tent is incredibly easy to set up, it pops up quickly and with the use of a ladder you can get up and down easily. The tent sleeps 2 more adults comfortably and we were keen to give it a go on our adventure. 

Read more: #bumbleabout in Norfolk with Bumble Campers

At the rear, you have a cooking and prep area with a countertop, built in sink with water supply and waste, fridge and camping stove. Not forgetting a huge bonus to this van was their onboard power available - meaning we could charge our phones overnight safely! There is also a small tub full of some essentials to get you started, including mugs and pans. This allows you to take care of all of your immediate needs without going too far. We loved the entire practicality of the design, it enabled us to do a lot of stuff in one place whilst camping and the design is well suited to a camping adventure. The 4 Seat 4 Sleeper was just as comfortable and spacious as our last camper! 

We chose Peak District for this adventure and it took around 2 hours from their base in Peterborough to arrive at our first destination of the weekend, Ballidon Moor Farm. 

Ballidon Moor Farm is set in a fantastic location as its nestled between Ashbourne and Bakewell. The campsite is small with ten hookups and two glamping pods available. The access to the site is incredibly easy and is fairly level with plenty of space to relax and enjoy some privacy on your trip. There are four toilets and two showers within a portacabin on site, these offered fantastic hot showers. Outside is also a basic but clean outside sink with cold water, fresh tap water and chemical waste disposal. On site was a friendly farm cat called Frankie who loved having a cuddle with us during our stay! 

Our stay was fairly peaceful until the local cows decided to come to life at 1am. It was fine though as we are able to get into the campervan and quickly get comfortable again. The owner Victoria was incredibly accommodating and friendly to us as we visited out of season.

Book your Bumble Campervan today!

In the morning we packed up our campervan and drove 20 minutes West of the campsite to the gorgeous backdrop of Dovedale. The impressive limestone ravines and the Dovedale Stepping Stones makes it one of the most popular areas in the Peak District. We parked our campervan easily at the Ilam Hall and walked for 40 or so minutes to the Dovedale Stepping Stones. You can park at a designated car park for Dovedale (DE6 2AY) and it costs £3 to park! We definitely enjoyed tucking into their onsite catering van where we enjoyed ice cream before returning back to the van. 

The second campsite for our trip was Smithyfields, a small and quiet campsite located in the heart of the Peak District, 15 minutes north of Dovedale. Smithyfields Camping is situated in the centre of the idyllic village of Alstonefield; offering a perfect base for exploring all that this area has to offer. The campsite is a fantastic private and quiet location with endless walks on the doorstep and a village pub just down the road! Upon arrival, we noticed our spacious pitch for the night, all designated upon booking. Our pitch was next to the bathroom facilities but it never disturbed our sleep or time on the site! I enjoyed the luxury of a heated bathroom - especially as the Spring weather still brought us low temperatures. 

The local pub, The George is fantastic but a hotspot for travelers in the area so I would urge that you book a reservation before your trip. It was fully booked for us so we headed on a 15 minute walk down the road to another pub. Although the food was tapas style and enjoyable it wasn't too comfortable. 

In terms of driving the campervan, the vans are automatic drive, so if you haven't had experience of driving them before it can take some getting used to! It can be incredibly helpful if you're driving long distances for your adventure as the cruise control is a brilliant feature. Controlling the veichle isn't bad, they are big, heavy and wide so you need to be cautious when parking and taking them around corners but it's quite comfortable once you've taken down a few miles already!

I've had quite a few camping experiences since beginning my blog, including the experience of sleeping on the floor of a muddy field for a festival. I also gave Glamping a go too (most recently with Podpads)! Next on the list was to try my hand at Campervanning and what better way to do it in style with Bumble Campers. I was curious to see how my camping experiences had compared and whether Campervans are the ideal thing for me when it comes to taking weekend adventures. 

Based in Peterborough and Manchester, these fun Bumble Bus campervans not only come with affordable hire prices but almost everything you need for your road trip, touring or festival. And let's face it, if you're anything like me then you probably forget something every time.

We picked up our 2 Seater 2 Sleeper Campervan for a weekend break in Norfolk. It was only an hour away from their base in Peterborough so it was easy to pick up and get back on the road to our destination for the weekend. The team at Bumble also make it incredibly quick and easy to get you out on the road and onto your adventure, but of course, give you a great lowdown of your camper van and everything you can use before you go.

The interior has plenty of space for storage so that you can organize all your gear while you're camped up. During the day you have a large folded futon acting as a sofa which can be laid flat in the night for sleeping on. It's really easy to move and become a bed in the evening, a lot easier and comfortable as I had expected. At the rear, you have a cooking and prep area with a countertop, built in sink with water supply and waste, fridge and camping stove. Not forgetting a huge bonus to this van was their onboard power available - meaning we could charge our phones overnight safely! There is also a small tub full of some essentials to get you started, including mugs and pans. This allows you take care of all of your immediate needs without going too far. We loved the entire practicality of the design, it enabled us to do a lot of stuff in one place whilst camping and the design is well suited to a camping adventure.

The appearance of this camper alone attracted a lot of attention in our site and we got into a regular conversation about it with people who loved seeing how practical it was!


The ingenious behind the camper is the use of space and materials; the board which supports the futon at night doubles as a folding table to assemble at the back of the van when you're eating, the front seats become a great place for storing unneeded items when not travelling, all in all, it just makes a great use of the space available to it. There was a downside to this in that

At night it's cosy even when the temperature drops meaning you never get too cold, provided you've brought a thick enough duvet! We were also provided with a small electrical heater which after 10 minutes of being on made our van incredibly cosy and held the heat in well. It was just what we needed when travelling in the Autumn.

Book your Bumble Campervan today!

If you think you won't be getting much sleep because it's quite bright in the van during the day, you are provided with blackout material to put on the windows. It definitely allowed us to feel safe and gave us some privacy.


The vans are automatic drive, so if you've not had the experience driving them before it can be a bit of a challenge! But once you're used to it, it's not nearly as bad and can be incredibly helpful if you're driving long distances (the cruise control is another brilliant feature for long distances! Make use of it!). The biggest, most jarring difference would have to be the steering column shifter though, having never used one before it definitely threw me the first few attempts at shifting.

The actual control isn't bad, they're big, heavy and wide, so you need to be careful parking and taking them around corners, but not bad once you've taken them a few miles and gotten a feel for it. Just don't expect to be firing off the line when you put your foot down!

We had a fantastic experience with Bumble Campers. We loved being able to sit out of the back of the van drinking a beer and playing a board game during the afternoon than at night get all snuggled up with a film. There is a wifi dongle available in the car, we didn't need to use ours but that is available should you need it. Personally, the opportunity to have some time away from internet access at the weekend was refreshing.

I'd highly recommend one of the Campervans from Bumble for your next adventure. They're affordable, really practical and the team are incredibly helpful (especially if you're using a campervan for the first time). We're already deciding on an adventure with the help of Bumble Campers in 2019, we loved it that much we'll definitely be using campervans in the future!

You can find out more about Bumble Campers on their website here.

If you enjoyed reading this post then you may enjoy reading about my Glamping Experience with Podpads*. 

*Collaboration with Bumble Campers. A Campervan was hired to me for the weekend in return for a blog review and social coverage. All words and photos are my own and not influenced by the company I'm working with. 

Luxury Camping or "glamping" at a festival is definitely something I can get on board on. Whenever we usually go to a music festival we jampack our car with tons of essentials to get us through the weekend and nearly always forget something or other. Also, it's a hefty mission attempting to carry all our belongings from the car park to where we'll be camping and then back again at the end of the festival. Therefore, any opportunity for some "luxury" whilst at a music festival is definitely welcomed. 

Recently we were able to experience glamping at a music festival when luxury camping brand PodPads allowed us to test drive their new product, the Dream Catcher at Womad Festival. 

PodPads offer an alternative to traditional camping that allows you to leave less luggage at home and bring just the clothing and foodie essentials to get you through. One of the biggest appeals for us was that there were more facilities available to us that weren't available throughout the festival's campsite. We were able to access things like upgraded toilets and washroom facilities, phone charge outlets, tea & coffee stations and The Pink Pamper Show Pamper Parlour where we could dry and style our hair. 

The luxury camping brand provides pre-pitched accommodation and can tailor size groups from 2-8 people.

Our Luxury Dream Catcher is the newest addition to the PodPads range and we couldn't wait to test drive it for ourselves. It takes the idea of glamping further. The Dream Catcher was definitely spacious which meant there was enough space for our luggage and to unwind in the tent should we want to. (It definitely came in handy when the heavens decided to open during our stay!)

The Dream Catcher feels very much luxurious in comparison to traditional camping. The pod contained mains 240v electricity which came in handy to charge up our phones after snapping photos from the festival all day. We had the luxury of a double bed that came with foam mattresses, fitted sheets, duvets and pillows. Unfortunately for us, our bed wasn't that comfortable and we found it difficult to sleep. The fitted sheet didn't fit the bed very well so we did spend a lot of time trying to get it back on. Our Dream Catcher also came with fantastic bed throws, scatter cushions, bath towels and hand towels to make our stay as comfortable as possible. It does come with its own key which means your belongings are safe whilst you are in the festival's arena. It definitely made us feel safe whilst we were sleeping.

Our Dream Catcher was advertised to come with 2 camping chairs, camping table, lantern and coat hooks but we didn't have these located in our pod. We could have definitely done with the coat hooks after the rainfall as it meant soaking our own camping chairs in the process of trying to store them to dry. These things slightly dampened our experience in the Dream Catcher, to be honest. Luckily, we had brought our own camping chairs for the festival so I'm glad we remembered to bring these with us!

The Dream Catcher did bode pretty well when the heavens opened during the weekend, it was incredibly noisy but we managed to stay well sheltered.

I'd definitely like to give another Glamping experience a go with PodPads, it was unfortunate that some things were missed from our list that was supposed to be included in our stay. The staff on-site were extremely helpful and accommodating, especially when we had to leave early Sunday morning due to the weather.

You should definitely check out what PodPads has to offer you for a unique glamping experience on their website here.

If you enjoyed reading this post then you may enjoy reading my other Glamping experience at New Farm Holidays in Lincolnshire.