Treasure Hunting

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Treasure Hunting

Shall we see the four most famous Botanic Gardens in Scotland? Shall we decide for ourselves which is the finest church in Suffolk? Or shall we just catch up with James Bond down in Sussex, or share fish and chips with Dracula in Whitby? Motorhomers were probably born with the constant need to look for something new to do and the motorhome itself offers the opportunity to do this week in and week out. It’s the ultimate leisure vehicle.

"Motorhome sales are still buoyant," says the Motorhome Information Service (MIS). "With record growth over the past 12 years, the vehicle’s popularity is well proven. Established owners know that it offers complete leisure independence, variety and opportunity to do your own thing when you want. And new buyers are discovering this in droves."

Supposing you are a gardening fan - or even if you merely like looking at gardens - then you’ll no doubt be enticed by the four gardens managed by the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. First, take in the magnificent glasshouses in the capital city, Edinburgh, and while you’re there maybe stroll around some of the other sights, before moving on to Dawyck Garden near Peebles, with its spectacular arboretum. Then it’s due west to Benmore, near Dunoon, with its fine, welcoming redwood avenue where nearby you can also enjoy Loch Lomond and the Trossachs before heading south for Port Logan, near Stranraer, which benefits from the warmth of the Gulfstream for its walled and woodland gardens. It truly is a horticultural paradise.

For the history-loving tourist, there is nothing finer than a trip to visit some of Britain’s most beautiful churches that grace the county of Suffolk. There’s quite a disagreement about which are the finest, but the church at Blytheburgh near Southwold is rated very highly by the locals - as is St Marys at Thornham Parva near Eye. Southwold itself boasts St Edmunds, while Holy Trinity at Lavenham completes the top four, as suggested by the excellent www.suffolkchurches.co.uk. The good news is that the website also highlights the best (and often only) pub in each village, which is an added incentive.

On the other hand, you maybe tempted to follow James Bond into Sussex. The opening sequences for 'Living Daylights' were filmed over Beachy Head near Eastbourne. The former lighthouse Belle Toute is close by, which had to be moved brick by brick a few years' ago back to stop it falling into the sea, and was also the location for the film 'The Chalk Garden', starring Hayley Mills. Moving into West Sussex, Bond was back filming 'View to a Kill' at Amberley Museum, not far from Arundel, whose castle became the set of the 1994 film 'The Madness of King George'.

If you enjoy exploring as much as you enjoy a little bit of the macabre, Whitby in North Yorkshire is the place for you, famous for being both the birthplace of Captain Cook and the setting of Bram Stoker's Dracula. You can walk up the 199 steps to St Mary’s church which featured in the novel or visit the spectacular Whitby Abbey, and at the Captain Cook Museum, you can see how the explorer gained his early seagoing experience.

MIS says: "Motorhome owners spend a lot of tourism time, and money, in the UK and when you research the fantastic opportunities all over the country, this will come as no surprise; recent surveys indicate that motorhome owners spend over £75 million each year in local economies. The vehicles are tailor-made for people who want to be on the move, doing, seeing, exploring, discovering. You have your own hotel with you so it need not be expensive; you can stay for as long or as little as you like and travel as fast or as slowly as you want. And that is the motorhome way."