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Reviews of Callow Top Holiday Park

Q: Is Callow Top Holiday Park child friendly?

YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities

Q: Does Callow Top Holiday Park have a swimming pool?

YES, there is a pool on site View all facilities

Q: Where is the nearest shop to Callow Top Holiday Park?

There is a shop on site View all facilities

Campsite Search > UK > Central England > Peak District & Derbyshire > Ashbourne > Callow Top Holiday Park > Reviews

Callow Top Holiday Park
Buxton Road
Sandybrook
Ashbourne
Derbyshire (Browse area)
DE6 2AQ
Tel: 01335 344 020
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Pitches: 200
Open: 22/03/2024 to 10/11/2024
22/03/2025 to 10/11/2025

Rating:

8/10 from 335 Reviews

Photos (17)

Tent Pitches	Caravan Pitches	Motorhome Pitches	Small Campervans
No Glamping Units	No Statics for Hire	Holiday Homes for Sale	Seasonal Pitches
Electric Hookups	Hardstanding Pitches	No Fully Serviced Pitches	Show Full Facilities

Who's it for
Families Welcome	Not Members Only	No Rallies	Not Naturist Site
Dogs Welcome	No Dogs Allowed	Groups Welcome
Facilities
Toilet Facilities	Hot Showers	Washing Up	No Bathroom
Baby Changing Facilities	Laundry On Site	Drinking Water	Disabled Friendly
Chemical Disposal	Battery Charging	Gas Exchange	Recycling Facilities
No Kitchen Facilities	No Freezer / Fridge	Motorhome Point	Wifi Access
Shop On Site	Bar On Site	Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway On Site
Activities
Kids Playground	No TV Room	Games Room	No Evening Ents
Fishing On Site	No Wild Swimming	Indoor Pool <5 miles	Outdoor Pool On Site
No Horse Riding	Cycle Hire <1 mile	Golf <5 miles	Tennis <1 mile
No Beach	Watersports <5 miles	No Boat Launch
Other Features
No Sea Views	Not Working Farm	No Campfires Allowed
No Waterside Pitches	Public Transport <5 miles	Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access

Reviews: 335 in total, now showing 71 to 80 Previous 10 Next 10

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Date of Visit: September 2013

Unit: Campervan

Reviewer: Millsy2012

12 reviews from this member

Big pitches 9 meters in field 3. Facilities very good in deed pool, pub (separate adult area), clubhouse and arcade. Staff very good at what they do. First time on this site think will return next year. Quite a lot of children on scooters but overall well behaved.

Date of Visit: September 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Wanos9

2 reviews from this member

Just spent a night at callow top first ever camping went with some friends. First impressions were good, huge site good set up. It has an outdoor heated pool which was good and the cafe was also very good with nice food. The lager I had wasn't very good although the staff did change it but still rubbish. The pitches were good nice and flat and a good size. What spoilt it was idiots in next field playing loud music until 12. 30 am and when you have young kids this wasn't good. I'm all for having a good time but really. Does it have to be that load that it can be heard miles away and have a better taste in music. Billy ray sirus come on. The showers were ok but had to pay for them. We decided to come home the sat night as it had forecast heavy rain for Sunday morning and didn't fancy putting tent away in rain. I would go back but will try other sites first.

Date of Visit: September 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Nathan B

4 reviews from this member

Just had weekend at callow top lovely child friendly site, I cant comment on some of bad reviews as it wasn't peak season, everything on site was clean and tidy, great play area for kids, with bike hire too if they get bored of that, nice pool, I didn't eat in cafe or pub, but on reflection the cafe prices for food was very steep, £6. 50 for jacket spud !, only gripe I had was very large site, with nowhere near enough showers and toilets, also lack of water taps, we were in field five which is a very large field and there wasn't a single tap in that field, also I would say they need more rubbish areas, as only 1 point for the whole site, but I will be going back, but not in peak season, kids loved it and if there happy adults are happy too

Date of Visit: July 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Nitnot

5 reviews from this member

Stayed here a number of times, excellent site - lots of well-kept facilities and things to do if the weather isn't great, and a 20-30 minute walk to Ashbourne which has lots of shops & pubs etc, directly on the Tissington trail and a perfect base for visiting all that Derbyshire has to offer. Food from the on-site pub is reasonable value and beer prices ok too. Ideal for families but wouldn't recommend for those that wanted a quiet site. Booking and check-in busy but efficient - we expect to return again next season.

Date of Visit: August 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Debmichael

4 reviews from this member

We visited Callow Top over the last bank holiday weekend as a group of 4 families with a total of 17 of us. I have read most of the reviews on here before we left and I can understand the reasons for some of the negative comments. However there are lots of positives about the site.

We arrived to a friendly young girl on reception and were checked in very quickly, given a map and sent on our way. We had a really big pitch on field six. 630-633. The pitches are flat and a good size. (non electric). The electric ones are not so generous.

The pitches are around the edge of the field with a huge area in the middle for ball games. I was very impressed that they hadn't decided to fill it up with more tents. The kids made use of this area a lot during the weekend.

I was really surprised with the toilets, there really are not enough of them for the amount of people. There were at least 400 people on our field with only 8 toilets. The showers were even further away and only 12 for the whole site. I think that for the price you pay the site could invest some of the money into a new toilet block as its seems to be what most people complain about. The other issue is the washing up facilities; 8 sinks for the whole site is ridiculous. We tended to wait till early morning and do them before anyone else work in order not to have to queue. The toilets were pretty clean the whole time.

The pool was used and enjoyed by the kids but I did notice that there were a lot of kids unsupervised and some very rude adults who thought it ok to swear at 10 year old boys, however, that's not the sites fault.

We did not use the bike hire but it did seem cheaper than anywhere else in the area.

The bar and restaurant seemed to be very busy and although we didn't eat the food it looked pretty good.

Callow top isn't the best campsite we have stayed at but its certainly not the worst. I think that if they were to invest some of the money into increasing the number of toilets and washing facilities in field 6 and 7 they would have a fantastic site.

The area is lovely, the walk into Ashbourne is fab, and dovedale is a must to see. All in all I would recommend, its not a mini butlins its much much better than butlins it just has a few niggles and possibly a bit to commercial for me.

Date of Visit: August 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: DamianL

3 reviews from this member

The partner and I visited Callow Top with our children (Aged 5, 20 months and 6 months) for 6 nights in August. It was initially supposed to be for 3 nights but we extended it to 6 which I suppose does say something about the site!

First of all I will cover facilities, the toilets/showers were always perfectly clean, a little muddy with the rain being heavy but was spotless again once the cleaner visited every morning and afternoon.

There is an indoor pot wash area with approx 6 sinks which was perfectly clean, we never had to wait for a sink and we visited in the middle of summer holidays so I think this is enough. In the same room is also two 6 foot freezers for your ice packs.

Next to the pot wash area is a mini arcade with air hockey and some random arcade machines as well as a (slightly outdated) juke box. We didn't spend much time in there but it was good fun.

There are also two swimming pools at Callow Top, a 15 metre by 7 metre main pool which has a depth range of 0. 8metres to 2. 5 metres. The children do get a little rowdy in there as it is not supervised by a life guard but this wasn't particularly an issue. There is also a small children's paddling pool which never seemed to get very busy.

There is also a very well stocked shop on site which seems to sell everything, if not a little over priced.

Pitch sizes were fairly good and accommodated our Zenobia 6 and porch outfit with a little space to spare, grass was cut neatly and the pitch was almost perfectly level.

They have a cafe/bar and a restaurant/bar on site, both serving some local ales and some well known lagers/bitters. The cafe/bar is very child friendly and the R/B is more for the adults.

Staff on site were very friendly and helpful with any queries/complaints we had.

They also offer bike rental at reasonable prices.

Nearby (5 minute drive) is the town of Ashbourne which is a lovely little town, a few pubs/restaurants/chip shops and some nice little shops as well as a Sainsbury's for anything you may have forgotten

In summary, Callow Top is a fantastic holiday park, it had a friendly atmosphere and was set out perfectly to give a middle ground between bustling holiday park and little camp site. So it was perfect for us. We will definitely be returning.

Date of Visit: August 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: LinzXB

1 review from this member

Me and my partner decided to visit Callow Top for our first ever camping trip. We had read some great, some terrible reviews on the place but figured we would give it a go.

We love the place and cannot wait to go back.

The staff were absolutely amazing, they were very professional, but also so friendly and helpful. They took our complaints seriously and dealt with them extremely fast. We could not find a fault with the staff of Callow Top if we tried! They are brilliant!

The facilities were well above par for what you'd expect on a campsite. The toilets were mostly very clean apart from when there had been heavy rain, there was obviously mud and dirt on the floors of the showers/toilets, but that couldn't really be helped. The washing up facilities were very well laid out, and there is also a freezer for ice packs in the same room. There is an on-site laundrette, although only 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. It would cost around £4 to wash and dry a full load, which is not too badly priced for a holiday site.

The on-site entertainment was great. They have bingo and discos for family nights in the Cafe Bar, and on a Sunday they have some kind of live singer/band performing there. The playground looked very fun for the children, and is open til 9. 30pm at night, although they are not too strict with that, and some nights was open til just before 10pm. There is also a Bar/Restaurant which is nice and quiet usually, great for a quiet drink at night time for the adults.

The pool is great fun when not too busy. The only issue I had with it, was that the pool is not supervised by a life-guard, which meant not many people followed the rules of no diving/bombing or inflatables when the pool had more than 20 people in. Me and my partner still enjoyed it very much though.

The people we met were very friendly, there is definitely a lovely atmosphere around the site and we got chatting to several people. There is a nice sense of community at Callow Top.

You can also rent out bikes for the day, which we did, and we cycled along the Tissington Trail. It was beautiful - I definitely recommend that to anybody visiting Callow Top.

The town of Ashbourne is lovely, to the point where me and my partner ended up discussing one day maybe moving up to Ashbourne! It genuinely is a beautiful little place.

I know for certain we will be camping at Callow Top again in the very near future, in fact, we have started planning our next visit already! It is definitely far better than we imagined.

Date of Visit: August 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Philandjodie

2 reviews from this member

We booked a tent pitch for 3 nights over the bank holiday weekend and had 2 small children, a dog and an extra vehicle with us. Upon arrival we were directed to field 7 which is the 'overflow' field with no facilities other than a stand pipe for fresh water. The pitch absolutely stank of urine which was obviously from previous campers who didn’t want to walk the 800 yds. To the nearest toilets. We witnessed first-hand, a male camper urinating in the bushes wearing nothing more than his underpants, which is not ideal for young children to see. The toilet and washing facilities are terrible and are woefully inadequate for the number of people on the site. The showers contained sanitary bins that absolutely stank, in the ladies toilets the sanitary bins were small wastepaper bins and the sanitary waste was overflowing onto the floor and with temperatures of 20+ degrees you can imagine the smell. Other campers continuously played loud music from their cars with apparent disregard for other campers and with no site rules on this. Lots of kids on bikes which in itself is not a problem but the amount and speed of traffic using the same roads as the kids was dangerous and we feel only a matter of time before there is a serious accident. Our neighbouring campers blatantly disregarded the 'no visitor’s rules' and had their relatives visit them for 2 days running, which is not only a fire risk but puts additional strain on the facilities. The locality of the site to the TIssington Trail is a positive as this is a great cycle route which the kids and dog really enjoyed and made walking into Ashbourne under the old railway tunnel a delight. The Swimming pool is a bonus although it is dirty and full of unsupervised teenagers which make swimming with toddlers dangerous. The pub and play park area were kept very clean and tidy, but would benefit from more picnic tables that can be used by parents supervising their children in the play park and not just customers of the pub. All in all this was a very disappointing camping visit and to be expected to pay 20p for a dirty and smelly shower after spending almost £90 to camp for 3 nights is an insult. Will not be returning and would much prefer a smaller, less 'Butlins' style site.

Date of Visit: August 2013

Unit: Motorhome

Reviewer: Bsps

4 reviews from this member

Visited callow top in august this year, this site could be a good site except hundreds of kids being left to entertain themselves while parents just did their thing ( I know this is not the campsite's fault) but the children riding around on their bikes and there were hundreds of them were just biking in front of cars the times I saw one nearly getting run over.

The swimming pool was great but no lifeguard on duty again kids were left to entertain themselves in the pool, miles too many in the pool for the size my grand daughter got kicked in the eye by a boy dive bombing into the pool even though there were signs up saying it was not allowed. I think in the height of the season there should be a band control for the amount of children and adults allowed in the pool in a session. Shame because callow top could be a great site if there was more control on the campers and their children

Date of Visit: July 2013

Unit: Tent

Reviewer: Andreoufamily

1 review from this member

We have just spent 4 days at Callow Top with another family; 4 adults and 4 children in total. I had my reservations about noise and overall suitability (our youngest is not yet 2), but we were all very impressed. Our pitch was as far from the hustle and bustle of the site as possible (pitches 629-630)and that suited us fine. It was a 4/5 minute stroll to the nearest toilet block, but again that was no trouble for us. There are pitches right next to the loos if that's what you really want. The caravan pitches are right next to the pub / restaurant area and would have been way too noisy for us, but the tent pitches are all a suitable distance away.

Good food at the pub and restaurant - excellent, polite service. Pools got incredibly busy and our younger ones were quite put-off by the older children and teenagers doing what they do and being loud. Disco nights outside of the pub were a family-friendly event and suitable even for the little-ones.

Toilets and showers were very clean and stocked as necessary. There are lots of children on site in the holidays, so if quiet camping is what you're after, this isn't for you. Children on bikes, scooters, things that kind of looked like scooters zooming around everywhere. Driving through the site is a hazard in itself. Pitches were more than adequate size and distance apart.

Only negatives are minor ones: Not enough washing-up facilities; we had to queue for 2 out of the 4 days. Also, be prepared with your 20p pieces. Washing machine, 1 load = £2. To dry that one load = £2 (all in 20ps). Showers 20p for (a very quick)4 mins. One night we were kept awake until 1am by a roudy, loud family - not a lot we could do about it as they weren't the approachable type, but, y'know it was just for one night thankfully. Great location for Ashbourne, Alton Towers, Matlock, Bakewell etc.

Overall, very happy and would recommend to families who want to keep their children occupied and jolly.

Previous 335 Reviews in total, now showing 71 to 80 Next

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Common Questions

Is Callow Top Holiday Park child friendly?  YES, it accepts children & has a playground  View all facilities

Does Callow Top Holiday Park have a swimming pool?  YES, there is a pool on site  View all facilities

Where is the nearest shop to Callow Top Holiday Park?  There is a shop on site  View all facilities

Is Callow Top Holiday Park dog friendly?  YES  View all facilities

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