Silloth is a small town located in Cumbria It sits on the shoreline of the Solway Firth, which is often used as a base to explore Cumbria, the Lake District, Hadrian's Wall and the Solway coast. Silloth has one of the largest greens, ‘Siloth Green’ which is a focal point of the town and is used to host many events. Silloth also has its own promenade.
We decided to stay here when looking for a campsite on pitchup.com for the bank holiday weekend at the end of May. To be honest id never heard of Silloth before or did any research beforehand, we saw the campsite on the website which was near to a beach and in Cumbria so booked it on a Whim really.
The weather for the 2 days we were there for wasn’t great it rained and was very windy near the sea front, so didn’t get full use of the beach. However, the beach is a rocky beach, so not one for sunbathing on but good for walks, which we did do on the second day. After doing some research before writing this blog, it does look like there are some sandy beaches but not sure where these are.
Pictures above are from the animal stall at Silloth Green Day
On the Sunday we decided to have a look in the town, there are a few shops, pubs and cafes in the centre of town, nothing that would keep you there all day. However, we were lucky that there was an event going on at the green, ‘Silloth Green Day’ I believe it was called. There were stalls, fair ground rides, dog show, donkey rides, animals etc which kept us occupied for a while. There was also an arcade which had a café inside on the promenade. Other than the event that was going on, there was not much else in Silloth itself (not that we found anyway)
One thing we enjoyed about Silloth was the walks and views, once the weather cleared up we decided to go on a walk along the sea front, we followed the public footpaths which took us to where the river meets the sea, which was very nice. We stayed at Solway holiday village and the sea front and town was a short walk away.
There is also a market and car boot on a Sunday (and bank holiday) on the Airfield In Silloth, we went on Sunday and it was a wash out because of the awful weather, there was about 3 stalls. We decided to call in on the way home on the bank holiday Monday, although there were more stalls it was still disappointing to say the least, it also has bad reviews on trip advisor. However, if you’re into car boots you may find something, but as for the market side of things its nothing to shout about.
As we were only there for 2 days, we found things to do and enjoyed ourselves. If we were to stay longer, we would probably to other places in and around Cumbria and use it as a base to get around. I prefer to go somewhere with much more going on, but if your looking for a quiet getaway then Silloth could be the place for you.
Do your research before you go as they may be something for you, i.e. fishing and golf if that’s your type of thing.
Places to visit Nearby
Keswick - 27 miles (We visited here on our way home, there is much more to do here, plenty of shops and walk round the lake)
Carlisle - 23 miles
Lake district
Hadrian’s wall
Pros
Good Base for visiting other places nearby
Good Walks
Cons
Not much going on in Silloth itself unless you go when there’s some sort of event on.
Solway holiday village - Campsite review
Campsite
When we arrived at SHV, we went to reception where they gave us our entertainment passes, explained where we needed to go etc. We then went to the touring/camping area of the holiday park, there was a cabin there were they allocated you a pitch. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
We stayed on an electric grass tent, the pitch we were allocated was located under the trees, and part of the ground was uneven and had holes in it and as it was raining this did fill up with water. However, some of the other pitches did look ok, maybe it was just our pitch.
The touring and camping area have one block which included toilets, showers, waste disposal and water points, this was a short walk from the pitch. I would have preferred to be nearer as a don’t have a portable toilet (yet) but wasn’t a big issue. This area of the campsite was a bit outdated and not the cleanest, however they are adequate.
The check in time was 1pm, the checkout time was 10am. When booking it did say 11am, but in the information pack they gave us on arrival it said 10am, however we left around 11 and they didn’t say anything.
The camping and touring field was a 5min walk to the main reception and entertainment complex.
We stayed for 2 nights, over the may bank holiday so was quite busy.
Facilities
Bar and Club house – there is a bar, which is combined with the restaurant, which has a pool table and play sports on the big screen. Then separate to the bar (Nags Head Bar) Just across, up some stairs Is where the entertainment is held which also held.
Daytime and nightime entertainment – when we arrived, we were given timetables for the daytime and night-time entertainment, the day time entertainment was for the kids and night time entertainment was a mix for both adults and kids.
We don’t have kids so couldn’t comment on what the entertainment is like during the day. Both nights we stayed here we went to the nigh time entertainment, the Saturday night they had bingo for the adults, a bingo session for the kids and then a tribute act and then just party music. The Ariana Grande tribute act was particularly good. The second night was a Whitney tribute which didn’t seem to be as good and the party music and things they did in between were a bit samey, so If you was there for the week it could get a little bit boring, however the kids seemed to enjoy it.
I would recommend getting there early in busy periods as it was hard to get a seat.
Overall, we did enjoy the entertainment
Indoor swimming pool - we didn’t use the swimming pool, but on arrival was informed that if you wanted to use this facility you have to book with the lifeguard.
Restaurant – there is also a restaurant on site which also offer takeaway, we used the restaurant on the last night as we couldn’t be bothered cooking, the food was good, nothing special but it was ok.
Arcade – there is a small arcade, again we didn’t use this but again good for the kids (if you have them)
Price
We paid £46.00 for 2 nights, 2 people for an electric pitch
For prices see website
Pros
Great for kids and families
Club house and bar on site
Daytime and evening entertainment
On site restaurant
Cons
Wifi not free
Some areas of the campsite are outdated including shower block, toilets and washing up areas
Some of the pitches are uneven and under trees
Would I go back?
Personally, I wouldn’t go back in a hurry, mainly because of the local area there’s not much to do in Silloth itself. Yes, the location is great for travelling to other places, but I’m sure there are better campsites in other areas. If I had kids and didn’t want to venture out of the site, then maybe I would stay again as there’s plenty for the kids to do. I think if the place had a spruce up it would be a lot better.
Overall Rating
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