Sheffield is centrally located within England, which arguably makes it a better base for exploring the UK countryside than any of its more famous destinations. While known for its industrial heritage, almost two-thirds of the city comprises green space, including more than 250 different parks and woodlands. Defined as the UK’s ‘outdoor city’ as a result, the entire westernmost third of the city lies within the bounds of the Peak District National Park, where you’ll find the likes of the quaint town of Bakewell and Chatsworth House, one of the country’s top stately homes. It also means visitors renting a campervan in Sheffield are never more than a few kilometres away from some of the UK’s finest walking, bouldering and cycling country.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport lies approximately 30 kilometres from central Sheffield. Handling more than a million passengers per year, its flight schedule is dominated by budget airlines including TUI and Wizz Air, which link Sheffield with more than 40 European destinations during the summer season. The airport can be reached by road via the M18 motorway, which connects up with the M1. The UK’s second-longest motorway, it provides speedy road links both to Leeds to the north and London to the south, making it easy to get to your motorhome hire in Sheffield. Given its geographic location, there is no shortage of trains arriving and departing from Sheffield station. It takes little more than an hour to reach Manchester, and just two hours to reach London’s St Pancras International, the UK terminus for Eurostar trains from Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
Although Sheffield has a good supply of parking spaces in car parks and in on-street parking bays, such as at the pay and display bays on Devonshire Green, many are too small to accommodate a campervan. Costs are approximately €1.50 per hour, and tickets need to be purchased before you leave your vehicle, and placed on the windshield inside. A better alternative is therefore the Park and Ride sites on the outskirts of the city. Some have entry barriers limiting height to 2.1 meters. However, at the present time, the Meadowhall site on Barrow Road and the IKEA superstore on Sheffield Road are both barrier free. They are also both are in the north of the city, and offer free parking.