Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre

From £19 For 1 night, 2 adults 9.1 45 reviews
Electric pitch
Large tents welcome (added by infobardwellequestriancouk 11 jan 2013)
View from tent (added by visitor 27 aug 2016)
Views from the site (added by infobardwellequestriancouk 13 apr 2012)

  • On a working equestrian centre 15 minutes' drive from Bury St Edmunds
  • Lessons and rides for ages five and up, including for beginners
  • Modern heated shower room, toilets and launderette
Horsey guests, non-horsey guests, non-horsey guests hoping to be transformed into horsey guests… all sorts of visitors are welcome to stay at Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre, a friendly site within a riding centre 20 minutes’ walk from the village of Ixworth and 20 minutes’ drive from Bury St Edmunds. Experienced riders champing at the bit to set off into the Suffolk countryside can sign up for various hacks here, and lessons can be arranged as well – both adults and kids aged five and above. Book your riding activities in advance to avoid disappointment. Actually (whisper it…) not all that fussed by all the equestrian activity? It’s possible you may be converted – but even if you’re not, this is a splendid spot for a Suffolk break. The riding centre is set well back from the road and the site has just a handful of pitches – they’re next to an orchard and surrounded by horses grazing in the fields, so you should be in for a peaceful stay. With all this countryside roaming to be done (on horseback, on foot or on two wheels as you wish) it’s entirely possible you’ll end up a bit mucky at some stage. That situation doesn’t have to last long, as the site has two showers and washing-up facilities for guests.

Site type

Touring caravan pitches 2
Motorhome pitches 2
Tent pitches 2
Opens 1 April
Please note

Languages spoken

English

Open from Mon, 1 Apr to

Pitch types & availability

Reviews

89%

would recommend this site to a friend

87%

would stay here again

  • 68%
    10
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    9
  • 22%
    8
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    7
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Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Excellent will return

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Michael D. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: Lovely place to stay, very peaceful, toilet and shower very clean, staff very friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend a stay there, we shall be returning a some point.

Disliked: One dislike was the lane up to the site, had a heavy rain storm making the driveway flooded, apart from that, perfect

Recommend to friends Visit again

The welcome when we arrived on site was lovely. I was shown…

Overall 8/10
Location 8
Value for money 8
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 8
Cleanliness 8
Wifi 10
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: The welcome when we arrived on site was lovely. I was shown round and shown the facilities, which were clean. We had a lovely view of the horses and the campsite was quiet.

Recommend to friends Visit again

The space…

Overall 4/10
Location 8
Value for money 4
Accommodation 6
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 2
Child friendliness 2
Cleanliness 4
Wifi 2
Tanja H. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: The space

Disliked: Toilet

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: I’m not really sure what was expected. We are a small campsite with basic facilities. Most people comment on our friendly staff and beautiful surroundings.

Fantastic, very clean and would throughly recommend.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Gina S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: It was an amazing site. Met by the staff and shown around. Fantastic that they have a washing machine and tumble dryer to use. Showers and toilet facilities very clean. The site itself was really peaceful. I would definitely recommend it and use it again if I am in the area.

Disliked: Toilet block a little distance from the actual site, but as they were so brilliant didn't affect me.

Recommend to friends Visit again

peaceful location…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Cliff M. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: peaceful location

Disliked: Lock on shower room would not work Track to site could do with resurfacing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Quiet, clean, friendly staff. If ever going to Thetford I will for…

Overall 10/10
Location 8
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Peter S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Quiet, clean, friendly staff. If ever going to Thetford I will for sure stay again.

Disliked: Local pubs are bit far on foot if you just had a day of adventures :)

Recommend to friends Visit again

Lovely clean remote site with all facilities we needed.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 8
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Small quiet campsite with good facilities - showers ,toilets, washing up facilities. Friendly staff.

Disliked: Nothing to dislike.

Recommend to friends Visit again

maddie was very welcoming and went out of her way to find…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: maddie was very welcoming and went out of her way to find a slot for my daughter to ride. After losing her confidence riding over 4 years ago, maddie was fab, kind and encouraging. A credit to the atables. Camping overlooking beautiful horses on a lovely grass pitch. What is there not to like.,

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you. I’ll pass your compliments on to Maddie. She is a great member of our team.

Lovely quiet site, very relaxing just watching the horses in the fields.…

Overall 6/10
Location 6
Value for money 2
Accommodation 6
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness No rating
Wifi No rating
Paul H. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric grass pitch

Liked: Lovely quiet site, very relaxing just watching the horses in the fields. Facilities perfectly up to scratch, we didn't use it but nice to have a washing machine if you need it, toilet and showers nice and clean. Very friendly staff who checked us in.

Disliked: Oh dear ! Our stay was totally ruined by the the experience of getting onto the pitch. The "driveway" is nothing more than a dirt track with loads of potholes, one was filled with water and was the entire width of the driveway, we couldn't even see how deep it was !! To add insult to injury, there were even concrete speed bumps that were perfectly intact, Perhaps if the whole driveway was concreted, I could understand the need for speed bumps. If that wasn't bad enough, the approach to the camping field looked like a farm track that a tractor had been using, muddy and rucked up. We were towing our nice clean caravan and after the car getting stuck in the mud and the wheels spinning, I wished I hadn't cleaned it !! Luckily our car was a 4WD SUV so we were able to negotiate the mud track onto some grass ! If you have a saloon car, low ground clearance and 2WD, Avoid !

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thanks for you review. The campsite is on a working equestrian centre. Due to the exceptional rainfall we have had the driveway/ access tracks have not been great. However, these tracks are used by our customers each day without a problem. The sleeping policemen are there to keep the traffic at the very slow speed that is necessary with do many horses/pedestrians/animals about.

Rural and rustic with a lovely sunset Basic but adequate and clean facilities Lovely…

Overall 10/10
Location 6
Value for money 8
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass touring pitch

Liked: Rural and rustic with a lovely sunset Basic but adequate and clean facilities Lovely friendly welcome and very quiet site

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for the nice review.


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house

Cycle hire

Evening entertainment

Fishing

Fitness centre

Games room

Indoor swimming pool

Kids' club

On-site restaurant/cafe

Outdoor swimming pool

Play area

TV room

Take away

Tennis

Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available

Car parking by pitch/unit

Composting toilet

Disabled facilities

Dog park

Drying room

Food shop

Free wifi

Ice pack freezing

Internet access

Launderette

Parent & baby washroom

Pick-up from public transport

Portable toilet

Pub toilets

Public telephone

Shower available

Toilet block

Washing-up area

Wifi

Groups welcome

D. of E. welcome

Family friendly

Motorcycle friendly

Single-sex groups welcome

Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided

Barbecues allowed

Campfires allowed

Commercial vehicles allowed

Dogs allowed

Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Budget/backpacker

Peaceful

Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities

Chemical disposal

Electric car charging point(s)

Gas cylinders available

Recycling available

Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby

Dog walk nearby

Nearby farmers' market

Public transport nearby

Shop nearby

Type

Tiny (1-10 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Cycling nearby

Horse riding nearby

Restaurant nearby

Location

Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre

Ixworth Road

Bardwell

Bury St Edmunds

Suffolk

England

IP31 1AU

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London GMT (GMT+00:00)

GPS

52.31533°N
0.84329°W

Route directions

Turn off the A1088 at the signpost for Bardwell; once you've made this turn the site is the second drive on the left: the long drive between leylandii hedges. Look out for a brown sign at the end of the drive with a caravan, tent and horse on.

Nearest transport

Coach
1.3 mi Village Hall
1.4 mi Village Hall
1.6 mi Jacobs Close
Rail
4.7 mi Thurston Rail Station
6.1 mi Elmswell Rail Station
7 mi Bury St Edmunds Rail Station
Airport
29.3 mi Cambridge Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

Bardwell’s a good place to set out for a stroll or a cycle ride in the Stanton Rides, which has three circular trails running through the splendid Suffolk scenery (totalling 28 miles if you do the lot). For dog walks, head to nearby Knettishall Heath. If you’ve still got leg power left, there are more walks to be had in Thetford Forest Park (20 minutes’ drive), as well as Go Ape. If not, perhaps it’s time for a gentler day out at Bressingham (25 minutes), where you can hitch a ride on the steam railway, take a slow-paced gallop on traditional fairground rides and explore Walmington-on-Sea memorabilia at the official Dad’s Army Appreciation Society collection. Leave the country views behind for a bit and head over to Bury St Edmunds (15 minutes) for a day of bimbling around the historic town, taking in the cathedral and abbey gardens, or meandering around the market (if you’re in town on a Wednesday or Saturday). It could well be thirsty work, so perhaps it’d also be wise to plan a stop at the Greene King brewery for a tour or a pint at the beer café.

Must see

Bressingham Steam and Gardens 10.2 mi

Ickworth House, Park and Gardens 10.2 mi

Banham Zoo 11.8 mi

Grimes Graves 13.8 mi

Newmarket Racecourses 20.3 mi

National Trust

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds 7.5 mi

Ickworth House, Park and Gardens 10.2 mi

Lavenham Guildhall 14.4 mi

Melford Hall 16.9 mi

Oxburgh Hall 21.7 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Ixworth - Great Livermere - Troston - Ixworth 1.3 mi

Ixworth Thorpe 1.5 mi

Fakenham Magna 3 mi

EUSTON PARK 4 mi

Hepworth 4.2 mi

Local events

  • Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival (Saturday 28 September 2024 – Saturday 28 September 2024)

    Aldeburgh, Suffolk 29.5 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Want to know more about camping in Suffolk?

  • Does Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre? Bardwell’s a good place to set out for a stroll or a cycle ride in the Stanton Rides, which has three circular trails running through the splendid Suffolk scenery (totalling 28 miles … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  2 p.m. –  6 p.m.
    Depart by:  12 p.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre? From £19 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.