Ruby's new friends ...

Olivia and Ruby had a great time in Cornwall - you can read all about their adventures on Ruby's Blog page.

On a plate...

Elsie and Flo have new registration plates so that everyone who sees them on the road will know who they are. Many of the other snail trail campervans have special number plates too ... check out the Meet the Campers page for details.

There's nothing quite like a British seaside holiday ... we're getting booked up for the summer months, so if you're thinking of heading to the coast in a snailtrail camper this summer please get in touch soon!

01767 600440

mail@snailtrail.co.uk

The Happy Campers ....

We love the book "The Happy Campers" and recommend it to anyone with a love of camping/fun/food/life. Written by Tess Carr and Kat Heyes it features beautiful photographs, recipes for campers, fun things to do in the outdoors and loads of fantastic information to make sure you're a happy camper. We think this book is essential reading and so have left a copy in each of our campers for our hirers to enjoy.

The website by the same name www.thehappycampers.co.uk is equally as addictive with loads of great information and campsite recommendations.

Camper Toy Convoy

Many thanks to the lovely folk at TLT Solicitors ... that's Marie, Catherine, Kerry and Daniel ... for sending through these fantastic photos of their very own camper fleet.

"As you can see, we are huge fans and have very much enjoyed making our camper van family to decorate our office."

Receiving these photos really made us smile - thank you!

You can make and decorate your own colour-me-camper by clicking here, or you can visit our meet the campers page to make miniature versions of our very own snailtrail campers here. We'd love to see your photos too!

2007 Happy Snappies Competition

And the winner is ...

Dean & Karen invited Matilda along to their wedding and honeymoon on The Gower, Wales in May 07. It looks like they had an amazing time! For this fantastic photo they win a long weekend in a snailtrail camper in 2008 - maybe they could celebrate their first wedding anniversary with Matilda?!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their great photos (we've loved them all), and in particular to the runners up below who will receive snailtrail mugs for these truly happy snappies:

Andrew, Caroline & Isabella


Rupert & Emily

Wear your badge with pride ...

... cute badges to be proud of. Each pack includes three badges; one showing your favourite snailtrail camper, another "I heart" badge just to prove your affection, and the third featuring our friendly, smiley snail. Priced at £3.99 each set (plus 50p p+p for up to 6 sets), these make great stocking fillers for Christmas, or are fab keepsakes of your trip in a snailtrail camper.

Available in Betty sky blue, Pearl cream, Flo turquoise, Elsie green, Matilda yellow, Nell orange, Pru periwinkle blue, Dot black, Ruby red, Sylvie grey & Peggy pink.

Telephone 01767 600440 to place your order, or send us a completed order form from the snailtrail wear page.

If you're thinking of booking a snailtrail camper, particularly in peak time, now is a good time to make your reservation as we have only a few summer weeks remaining.

Telephone us on 01767 600440 or email us at mail@snailtrail.co.uk to check availability.

Time for Tea ...

...Our mugs make your tea taste nice. Visit our snailtrail gear page for details of these, our t-shirts and fun badges. Fantastic Christmas presents for anyone one with a passion for VW campers!

Paint the town Red ...

Ruby red, the watercooled camper, has now joined our fleet and we're already taking bookings for her. If you're a romantic, you're footie team wears red, or you'd like to try a watercooled camper before buying one ... Ruby's for you.

Flo & Fleece ...
Here is Flo the campervan on a recent outing to Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, where she took a happy party for a birthday picnic. Love the Flo Birthday Cake!

When it got chilly the kids all wrapped up in retro fleece. This fleece is gorgeously snuggly and comes in a myriad of patterns and colours. Even the picnic blanket was made out of fleece. Have a look at www.planetfleece.co.uk for fleece to buy online and for inspirational (and easy!) ideas on what to make with it.

Campsites we like...

We thought you might like to know about Deepdale, on the North Norfolk coast...

"Deepdale Camping is a quiet, family friendly, north Norfolk coast campsite, with five well kept paddocks in the heart of the beautiful village of Burnham Deepdale.  Offering the perfect camping base to discover the north Norfolk coast, an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, famous for it’s nature and bird reserves, walking and cycling, watersports and history. "

www.deepdalefarm.co.uk

Deepdale does not provide electric hook up - but has lots of other facilities to tempt you. It is an eco-friendly site, and has a noise policy to keep things nice and peaceful.

Campsites we like ...

We thought you might like to know about Clippesby Hall, Norfolk.

"Take yourself out for the day, or come and use our award-winning information centre, which has a wealth of ideas designed to help you enjoy your stay here, including walking, cycling, boating, bird watching and fishing. Let our friendly and knowledgeable guides help you out. We offer a booking service for bike hire and canoe hire; a wide range of maps and routes are available, together with unrivalled local knowledge of the hidden treasures in and around the Broads National Park. Spend some time with one of our enthusiastic team of experts planning your trips and we are sure this will enhance your visit to this beautiful and peaceful part of the country."

www.clippesbyhall.com

Clippesby Hall's award winning touring and camping park is spread over 8 distinctive areas, providing you with a choice between more secluded individual pitches set into the natural woodland, and open, family-oriented lawns, most with electricity connection available. Clippesby Hall is in a perfect location to explore the Norfolk Broads National Park

Make Your Own Camper ....

Print out, colour and stick this camper to make your very own customised snailtrail camper - choose your own colour scheme and camper name, you could even add glitter! Let your imaganition loose.

We would love to see your designs!

Please send photos of your home-made campers to myowncamper@snailtrail.co.uk - your camper may appear on this gallery page.

View the pdf and print out page (2.46mb)

Dear Prudence ...

Thank you to everyone who telephoned and emailed with name suggestions for our periwinkle blue camper. We have named her Prudence, or Pru to her friends; a name which was suggested by several of you, and which we think suits her well. We now also have a list of great names just waiting for some campers to come along!

The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you ...

Go Retro!

We're partying at snailtrail and have popped the cork on a bottle of Babycham to celebrate. Our two new campers on the block are ready for hire, and are furnished with genuine vintage fabrics from the 60's & 70's. We like to think of these two campers as our hippy chicks! Keep an eye out for their interior photos which will be appearing on the VW Camper Vans page in the next few weeks. In the meantime, back to the party ... anyone for some cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick?

Make your own snailtrail vw camper ...

toys for desks, toys for kids, toys for you.

These are great and they're free (aside from the print cost). Print and cut out the camper plan, glue and stick the tabs. Easy peasy. You can choose to make the snail trail camper of your choice, just go to the appropriate "Make your own..." link on our VW Campers Vans page. Please be patient for the cut-out to download - it will be worth the wait. Experiment with print sizes - the little ones are very cute! And watch out for the colour-me cut-out camper soon to be added to this page. Have fun!

As Featured in The Observer & Travel.Guardian.co.uk - Sunday 18th March 2007

"50 best no-fly holidays"

"If you are looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, or simply can't face the hassle of airports this summer, then look no further. Our inspirational ideas show you how to get away without getting on a plane"

Elsie wants to know - does appearing in The Observer and The Guardian bring her the same celebrity status as Flo's appearances on GMtv? We think it's even-stevens.

And the Winner Is...

Ian & Mandy Clinch, who took Pearl, the volkswagen camper, on the Hippy Trail to Ifracombe, Bude, Looe & Lyme Regis have won the 2006 Gallery photo competition with this happy hippy picture. We love the wig Ian! Thanks for sending in such a great picture, and well done to you both - you will receive 10% off your next snailtrail booking, together with snailtrail t-shirts.

The runners up will also receive snailtrail t-shirts and are:

Bethany, Chris, Ella & Erin family - for this, and the other wonderful photos of Betty's week in Dorset.

And, the Herrington family for this Happy Smiley photo with Betty - we love it!

Thank you so much for sending you fab photos in - it's great to see what the campers get up to!

We will also be sending t-shirts to Harry & Oscar Warman from London for Harry's fine poem all about Betty:

A Poem To Betty

Betty is Blue,
Betty is Cool,
When you are on Holiday in Betty
There is no School.

Betty is fast.
Betty can dance.
We took Betty
all the way
to France.

Thank you Harry!

"Had the most amazing week in Flo! Toured Cornwall & Devon and got an amazing reaction wherever we went! Will definitely hire again!!! Thank you. x"
Laura & Danny Acock

"Fell in love with Matilda on our honeymoon in France. We would like to adopt her and take her home ... x"
Ben & Christine Reed

"Thank you for everything. We have had a lovely, cosy week in Flo - a real adventure in a perfect van. Thank You. xxx"
Kathryn also said that the Just Married sign writing ensured smiles, waves and beeps along the way - helping to make their honeymoon truly memorable!
Kathryn & Leo Rice

Steven Walker writes "One (hire) company in particular has tackled the conundrum of the 30-plus-year-old Van in a unique way - all their Bay Window Campers are new!

Snail Trail is a relatively new name in VW Camper hire, although they are already one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly services available, with their fleet of Brazilian Bay Window campers... The 2006-registered vans have the retro feel without the retro grief, and all the vehicles are kitted out to a very high specification, carefully cleaned" (thanks Tom!) "and maintained" (thanks Normand!)" as part of the snailtrail fleet. No grubby, worn, mid-Seventies interiors here; every aspect of the vans is new and thoroughly modern - with the obvious exception of the actual design".

"The Snail Trail ethos is based on enjoyment - enjoyment of both a product and form - and a celebration of a type of recreation (snailtrail) themselves love" - we couldn't have put it better ourselves!

Betty on tour in Dorset
Great week in sunny Dorset - Betty did a great job up and down the Purbeck Hills!

On the chain ferry to Studland	Ella & Betty at Corge Castle	Purbeck Hills - Portland Bill behind

Thanks
Bethany, Chris, Ella & Erin

Camper Capers

Having grown up in the 70's, you can imagine then our excitement when GMTV contacted us to hire a VW camper for Keith Chegwin's very own use! Camper Capers will be appearing on your tv screen (and millions of others the length and breadth of the country) in July and August. The camper in which Cheggers will have his capers? Our beautiful Flo. Like all our volkswagen campers, Flo is fitted with a cd player, so we can't help but wonder - will Cheggers Play Pop whilst he's at the wheel?

Which Colour Camper will you Choose?
Flo, Elsie and Matilda, our brand new, retro VW campers have arrived! All three share the same good looks as Betty and Pearl. Flo & Elsie (pictured) have a slightly different layout on the inside. There is a wider rock n' roll bed/ rear seat which spans the width of the vehicle and allows for 3 seat belts - so a family of five can travel in one of these! The larger bed means that there is a small cool box (instead of a fridge) to hold a few essentials.

Matilda has exactly the same interior layout as Betty and Pearl and is white all over at present, but soon to be resprayed a pretty primrose yellow on her lower half - look out for photos of her soon to be appearing on this website.

We are already taking bookings for the new campers, so if you would like further information please do contact us on 01767 600440 or by using the contact us form.

Whichever camper you choose, they are all 2006 registered, beautifully fitted out, genuine Volkswagen Camper vans - live the dream!

Family Fun!

Thanks
Kate, Paul, James and Sophia Herrington

Pearl's A Model - And She's Looking Good! (or Does My Bumper Look Big in This?)
Pearl, the VW camper, has recently been seen in a large shop window in London's Oxford Street! Fashion chain New Look - running a promotion for their summer clothing range, and they asked if they could use Pearl to draw attention to their flagship store's display. Let's just hope all the attention didn't go to her head.

... And Betty's in the Limelight too!
Manchester based photographer Aidan O'Rourke recently took Betty, for a short road trip around North Norfolk in order to write up his experiences in the camper for his fantastic website www.aidan.co.uk . Check out the beautiful photography on the site, together with the VW Camper Blog where Betty is featured.