Crimdon Dene Holiday Park

We recently visited the Durham coast and spent a few nights at Crimdon Dene Holiday Park. The park is one of many within the UK operated by Parkdean Resorts. Parkdean are primarily for static caravans which can be purchased or rented. They do however also accept touring units which is why we decided to write this review.

Crimdon Dene Holiday Park – The Positives

The touring pitches at this park are hardstanding with electric. Awnings are allowed. Prices seem reasonable and depend on the pitch size you book. They seem to list 6m x 4m and 8m x 4m pitches. Any pitch can have up to 6 people on the booking and the price will vary depending on the number in your party. Weekends are more expensive than midweek bookings.

Dogs are allowed and the sandy beach below the park is also dog friendly all year round. The touring pitches are located close to the facilities which include a small Nisa shop, toilet and shower block, indoor pool and bar / restaurant. We didn’t really use the facilities during our stay but they seem popular and very welcome considering they are included within the price.

Crimdon Dene Holiday Park – The Negatives

There isn’t that much to complain about to be honest. Like all Parkdean Resorts the main focus is on the static caravans which you can buy or rent. That’s not to say that tourers are unwelcome. You can’t pitch wherever you want though and the touring pitches being close to the bar might not suit everyone, especially at weekends in high season. Our visit was midweek but reading other reviews it seems noise was an issue for some. Most of the complaints I’ve read revolve around unsupervised children or late night parties. I’m not sure if there are rules relating to noise and behaviour. If there are, how likely is it they will be enforced if the offender is someone who has spent thousands on a static caravan?

What’s in the area?

For many visitors the idea is to do as little as possible and stay put. You could certainly do this with the facilities on offer. If like us however you like to explore an area in more detail you might be keen to know what’s available. Hartlepool is close by which has The National Museum of the Royal Navy. They have HMS Trincomalee which is the oldest warship still afloat in Europe.

About a 30 minute drive inland is the beautiful city of Durham which has lots of interesting buildings. Most notably these include Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle.

Sunderland is about 30 minutes to the North and Newcastle another 30 minutes North again. Hopefully I won’t offend anyone by saying that the latter has more for the tourist, from culture, shopping and nightlife.

If you drive 30 minutes south you have Stockton-on-Tees. It’s not really a tourist destination but I wanted to visit to photograph the Infinity Bridge. It also has an interesting Transporter Bridge.

For those looking for walking opportunities and wild spaces there are a few possibilities. To the West is the North Pennines whilst to the South you have a couple of National Parks. Closer to the coast is the North York Moors National Park and more centrally located is the Yorkshire Dales National Park. If you have a tourer though I’d say it’s unlikely you would use Crimdon Dene Holiday Park as a base to visit either of these.

If you are looking to explore the Durham Coast and would like to know more about this camping option click the link below.

Parkdean – Crimdon Dene.