Film-inspired UK Holiday Destinations

Jan. 26, 2012 - PRLog -- Add some silver-screen glamour to your UK break by holidaying in the footsteps of kings, queens, knights and spies with these deals to destinations that featured in major movies.

Enjoy a seven-night family break at any of these holiday parks and you’ll have great accommodation, a wealth of facilities including pools complexes, children’s clubs, games, sports and entertainment, and you can explore locations that featured in famous films.

Book with BreakFree Holidays (http://www.breakfreeholidays.co.uk) for special deals from the widest choice of major and independent holiday park operators.

Historical locations
Nobody does period drama as well as us Brits and it’s unsurprising that so many films about historic events were shot out and about in the UK.

Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett, covers the early years of our first Queen and much of the tension revolves around The Tower of London where plotters and spies were imprisoned. For the film, the imposing gaol is recreated at Warkworth Castle in Northumberland (entry £12.50 family ticket), one of the most impressive fortresses in the North East. Where to stay: Cresswell Towers Holiday Park has direct access to the sweeping beach at Druridge Bay and is just eight miles from Warkworth Castle. A three-night stay starts from only £91 departing 13 April, including a £16 saving for bookings with breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

Ang Lee’s film of Sense and Sensibility is full of twists and turns, love and loss. In the final scenes headstrong younger sister Marianne Dashwood, played by Kate Winslett, finally marries her suitor, Colonel Brandon, in a ceremony that was filmed at St Mary’s Church in Berry Pomeroy, Devon. The nearby castle is one of the most haunted in Britain, home to the spooky White Lady. Where to stay: Exercise good sense and stay at Waterside Holiday Park in Paignton on the English Riviera. The park, which is only five miles from St Mary’s Church, has direct access to Saltern Cove, the only UK nature reserve to extend underwater. Seven nights for a family departing 12 May start from only £220, including a £50 saving for bookings at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

In one of the most thrilling scenes of the 1995 version of Richard III, starring Sir Ian McKellan, the Earl of Richmond sails over from France and leads his troops ashore to defeat Richard at the battle of Bosworth. The landing was filmed at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, which can still be explored along a network of footpaths that lead to the coast. Where to stay: Frenchmans Beach Holiday Park at Rye Harbour in East Sussex is less than one mile away. A seven-night family stay starts from only £149 for a 21 April first night. Includes a £50 saving for bookings made at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

The classic David Lean film Great Expectations tells the rags-to-riches tale of orphan Pip, whose early years are centred on St Mary’s Marshes in Kent where he helps an escaped convict, with far-reaching results. The marshland is now a nature reserve and full of wildlife.  Where to stay: New Beach Holiday Park in Dymchurch is only four miles along the coast. Book seven nights from 28 April from only £153, saving £50 for bookings with breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

In the black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, Louis Mazzini swears brutal revenge on the D’Ascoyne family who ostracised his mother. Family members are bumped off one-by-one in Chalfont, the home of the D’Ascoynes, which was actually recreated at the magnificent Leeds Castle in Kent (£18.50 per adult, £11 per child, includes entry to the stunning grounds, maze and aviary). Where to stay: there are several outstanding holiday parks within 25 miles of Leeds Castle. Book a three-night stay at Warden Springs Holiday Park on the Isle of Sheppey starting 4 May from only £127, with a £22 saving when booked at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

Repeat locations
Some locations are so iconic they feature in film after film. Chatham Historic Dock in Kent (£42.50 family ticket) has been used for many thrilling action sequences for movies including the first Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr; Bond movie The World is Not Enough and fantasy adventure the Golden Compass.  The Historic Dockyard is a packed day out with galleries, warships and a vibrant programme of events. Where to stay: Sheerness Holiday Park on the Isle of Sheppey is only 11 miles from the Dockyard. Seven-night family stays start from as little as £140 for a 19 May first night, including a £50 saving with breakfreeholidays.co.uk

Dover Castle in Kent (family entry £41.60) has doubled up as the ominous Tower of London in two films, to Kill A King – about Cromwell during the English Civil War - and The Other Boleyn Girl, about the mistress of Henry VIII. Dover Castle also became Elsinore Castle in the Mel Gibson film version of Hamlet. Where to stay: St Margaret’s Bay Holiday Park is set by the famous White Cliffs and is only three miles from Dover Castle. Book a three-night stay from 25 May from only £217, saving £24 with breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

Faraway in the UK
Sometimes UK locations are transformed into exotic destinations from across the world. In The New World, about English settlers discovering America, the beach at Newfoundland where John Smith first landed was recreated at Clovelly Beach in Devon. Where to stay: Bideford Bay Holiday Park in North Devon is close to the blue flag beaches of Westward Ho and only two miles from Clovelly. Prices start from £138 for a three-night holiday departing 13 April, including a £15 saving when booked at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

The early action in Bond thriller Die Another Day takes place in North Korea, some of which was recreated by flooding Deepdale Farm in north Norfolk to create the illusion of paddy fields – dotted with partially submerged luxury cars. Where to stay: Heacham Beach Holiday Park is on the sandy west Norfolk coast and 10 miles from Deepdale Farm. Three-night family holidays from 6 April start from £177, including a £19 saving for bookings at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

Even the Sahara has been brought to England, with Carry on Film Follow That Camel using Camber Sands in Sussex to recreate Africa’s largest desert. Camber Sands Holiday Park is closest to the beaches and seven nights start from as little as £162 for a 11 May departure, with a £17 saving for bookings at breakfreeholidays.co.uk.

All prices taken from BreakFree Holidays (http://www.breakfreeholidays.co.uk).

- Ends-

# # #

BreakFree Holidays provides holidays for more than 200,000 customers per year through the website breakfreeholidays.co.uk. The company features special deals at 400 locations in the UK and across Europe from many of the top holiday brands and independent operators. All types of self-catering accommodation are on offer, including caravans, chalets, lodges and apartments.