GLAMPING | Acorn Adventure Brecon Beacons Family Holidays – Review

June 8, 2015 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Activities, Adventure Travel, Camping Features, Family Holidays, Homepage Feature, Reviews, Sponsored Product/Stay

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Our Visit

Friday 5th – Sunday 7th June 2015
Priced from £149 adult or £109 child fully catered + all activities with accommodation in the tent village
Acorn Adventure Brecon Beacons

The Lowdown

Located a very short distance from the shore of Llangorse Lake, we stayed in one of the new glamping pods, and they didn’t disappoint. We’ve stayed in several camping pods before, but these were the biggest and most well equipped we’ve ever seen.

Our pod had 2 generous single beds, a table, chairs, a kitchen with kettle, fridge and sink, a bathroom with loo and sink plus there was plenty of storage space inside the pod, which made for a very comfortable stay.

Families might prefer the standard pods, which sleep up to 5 and, like the en-suite pods, they are only a very short walk from the facilities block, which includes showers, toilets, changing rooms, plus a laundry and a drying room.

The staff were incredibly friendly, and all of the instructors left me feeling like I was in safe, competent hands. They were also incredibly accommodating, as I needed to make them aware of my back injury and my daughters joint disorder, and they were mindful throughout.

Popular with schools, there are selected family only dates throughout the year, which means there won’t be any large school groups staying on site with you.

Being fully catered means much less hassle for mum and dad; it’s nice to be able to switch your brain off, and not have to worry about mundane things like where or what to eat. Meals are served in the group dining room, and whilst staff dined at the same time, guests were made to feel very welcome.

After working up such an appetite, we thought the food was wholesome and tasty, featuring typical family favourites like lasagne (a special Vegetarian one for me) and thick hearty soups. There was always plenty of water, salad and fruit available too.

On Saturday we had a full day of activities planned, starting with a fun raft building challenge and race, then immediately after, we gave paddle boarding a try.

Despite it looking quite easy and effortless, it turned out to be anything but, and even my snowboarders balance wasn’t sufficient and I fell into the lake numerous times.

Being a bit rubbish just didn’t matter though, the instructors were patient and encouraging and we both had a huge smiles on our faces – which is the only thing that really matters.

After lunch we took a walk from our lakeside base up through the pretty little village to the top site, where the land based activities take place. I tried a spot of climbing for the first time and my daughter, dodgy hips and all, had a go at abseiling. Again the instructor was super-friendly and encouraging, and despite my fear of heights, I gave it a go and felt safe whilst doing it.

Following the climbing, we moved on to our final activity of the day, which was air rifle shooting, which we both loved, though I suspect my enthusiasm was borne at least in part, from the fact that I had finally found something I wasn’t completely terrible at.

There are several Acorn Adventure locations to choose from, including UK, France, Spain and Italy.

We smiled, we laughed and we felt the adrenaline flow. We challenged ourselves and tried new things, and all in beautiful Brecon beside Llangorse lake. It would be difficult to have a bad time there, and for an active family holiday, it’s ideal.

With locations all over the world including France and Spain, there are lots of options to choose from, so you might want to book a taster closer to home in the Brecon Beacons to get a better feel, particularly if you’ve never done anything like this before.

What we loved

The range of activities on offer is fabulous, from paddle boarding and kayaking to climbing and crate stacking, and gives every member of the family the chance to try something new.
Wholesome food that kids will be familiar with and will want to eat.
Choice of accommodation to suit your budget, with tent village accommodation starting at £149 for an all inclusive short break.
Stunning lakeside location in the Brecon Beacons ‘Dark Sky’ national park.
Horses roaming on the common adjacent to the site.
Camping pods are a brilliant alternative to camping, and require much less packing; all we needed was a sleeping bag and pillow.
Picturesque little village with a couple of lovely pubs (I can recommend the Red Lion).
Excellent instructors and friendly, professional staff.
All inclusive pricing means that all of your activities, accommodation and food are included, which makes planning your trip a doddle.
Kids will be so shattered after a day of activities, that you’ll be guaranteed a peaceful evening.

Our verdict

We loved the big range of activities available to try, but don’t come here expecting luxurious facilities (outside of the swanky new pods) or gourmet dining. Facilities and catering are typical of a good outwards bound centre, though the standard of the food here did exceed my expectations. Do come here expecting quality family time and the opportunity to bond whilst trying a fantastic range of outdoors activities, and do expect to have loads of fun and to leave with some brilliant memories, and perhaps a few aches.

Acorn Adventure combine camping in style with a stunning location and brilliant activities, resulting in the perfect active, outdoorsy family break.

Find out more about Acorn Adventure.

More Pictures of Acorn Adventure Brecons

Welcome to Acorn!

Me tying knots to make our raft

GoPro footage from the raft race

Finally something I didn’t totally suck at!

The jetty at Llangorse Lake

The tent village for schools and large groups

Our first view of the glamping pods

The Glamping Pods

Inside our luxury glamping pod

The kitchen area inside the pod

Inside our pod

The super comfy beds inside the pod

A different style of glamping pod, which sleeps 6

Bushcraft tent area

The stunning scenery and grazing horses on the common opposite Acorn Adventure

See more pictures Flickr.

DISCLOSURE | A big thank you to Acorn Adventure who invited us to stay.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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