Chestnuts Caravan Park

Yorkshire is filled to the gills with heritage spots galore, at castles, country houses, stately homes and abbeys: Ripley Castle, Castle Howard, Helmsley Castle, Richmond Castle and Newby Hall and are just a few of the posh country piles you can poke around locally, and the Abbey of Byland and Studley Royal Park (with the ruins of Fountains Abbey within) are within easy reach too. You can reach the edge of the North York Moors National Park in about 15 minutes by car, or the Yorkshire Dales National Park in just over half an hour, so Chestnuts Caravan Park is splendid to use a base for exploring both. The site also lies between Northallerton and Thirsk, both around 10 minutes’ drive away: Northallerton’s busy twice-weekly markets and tiptop array of high-end boutiques make it a topping spot for shoppers, while Thirsk’s cobbled market square, contemporary art gallery and James Herriot museum attract culture vultures from all over. Further afield, visit Ripon to see its fine cathedral and historic architecture, or York and its iconic 2,000-year-old cathedral, Jorvik Viking Centre and National Railway Museum. Also within easy reach is the highly handsome spa town of Harrogate, packed with yet more photogenic old architecture and its famed spa baths and Betty’s tearoom.