Last weekend we visited St Neots Camping and Caravanning Club site for the first time and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather was fine, the walks by the river were excellent, St Neots itself was interesting and we found a great Chinese take away, all in all a very good weekend.
The best route to the St Neots site is to follow the directions in the Camping and Caravanning Club book and leave the A1 at the junction for the A428 towards Cambridge. The directions are easy to follow but what feels strange or unusual is that the route must be taken through a housing estate, where there are lots of parked cars so care must be taken.
St Neots has a small reception area. Check in went smoothly and quickly and we were given a ‘docket’ to give to a ‘man on a bike’ who would then direct us to our pitch that we chose following his description of what was left. This may seem quirky but it does seem to happen on quite a few of the Camping and Caravan Club sites and it works very well.
St Neots is a spacious camp site, very rural and right next to the river Great Ouse. It has a mix of motorhomes, caravans and tents and there are a number of hardstandings but the majority are grass so it’s worth booking in advance if you can.
There is a riverside walk right into the centre of St Neots and it’s very easy to find. You leave by the entrance you arrived at and walk to the end of the road, then cross the bridge on your left at the swings and turn right and follow the path keeping along the side of the river. The walk is very pleasant and there are a number of different paths you can take, all of which have cute wooden bridges that pass over tributaries of the river. You will come to an under pass in approximately ten minutes so take the steps at the mid point and turn left on the bridge, keep walking and the centre is straight ahead. The town has the usual shops and coffee bars but interesting enough for a stroll around.
If you walk up to the river on the site and turn left and walk along the towpath you will come to a large weir and a lock after about 10 minutes. There are lots of boats going up and down the river so there’s plenty to see and admire. Near the weir is an ex mill that is now a pub/restaurant that we didn’t use but comes highly recommended from the site managers. If you walk past the pub you come to a village called Eaton Socon that has a number of pubs and a nice green near the Church where you can sit and watch the world go by.
If you like Chinese food there is an excellent restaurant and take away called Yumi Yumi – oh yes it is – but ignore the name, the food is very good and you can ring through the order for collection. It’s very easy to find, just go out of the site and keep walking straight down the road and you’ll soon see it in Montagu Square. Try it, you won’t regret it I can assure you.
We enjoyed the weekend very much and the overall feel of the place was very good with the huge bonus of being very near to the river. The site amenities were not quite up to the standard of the Caravan Club but that’s not to say there was anything wrong with them at all. Try it for yourself if you haven’t been, you’ll have a good time I’m sure.
