Am I missing the point of owning a caravan?

[DCW27]

Hi All

I am starting to think I am missing the point of owning a caravan. We have just decided we would like to go away on the first May bank holiday but can we find anywhere with availabilty? Answer No :evil: I know it is short notice but is everywhere really full? Five years ago it seemed much easier! I don't want to be planning 6 months in advance, just want to load up and go. Am I missing something?

David

 

[colin-yorkshire]

are you missing something!! probably yes, if you want to go where everybody else is and try to book the sites where people are allowed to block book months in advance without a deposit. just in case they might want to go.
then perhaps you are missing the point of touring with a van.
on bank holidays every body wants to be at the most popular spots, hell you can't even get into IKEA :woohoo:
if you must go away bank holiday weekends, pick a small private site miles away from anywhere, and enjoy the peace and quiet,
we toured for 40 years and never booked a site except for the first stop, after that it was all ad lib and went where the flow took us thats real caravanning.

 

[pmyo]

It would seem most Caravan club sites are booked up months in advance. We go over to Southport CC for the annual Fireworks / Airshow, and literally need to book in November for the following September, or we wont be going!

There are loads of sites with availability for bank holiday though, as suggested, usually the more peaceful ones.

 

[Raywood]

You can always find somewhere but the most popular sites will have booked up some time ago. The Caravan Club still has availability in most areas but you would have to be flexible as to where you stopped.

 

[madeleine]

Totaly agree, my husbands self employed and we cant always plan too far in advance, trying to get weekend pitches is even a problem if you want somewhere popular, we like sites with wash rooms and not in the middle of nowhere so this makes it a bit more difficult.
Maddy

 

[Dustydog]

Hi All

I am starting to think I am missing the point of owning a caravan. We have just decided we would like to go away on the first May bank holiday but can we find anywhere with availabilty? Answer No :evil: I know it is short notice but is everywhere really full? Five years ago it seemed much easier! I don't want to be planning 6 months in advance, just want to load up and go. Am I missing something?

David

Hi David

Where exactly have you been looking?
We often head off at short notice and have never failed. In fact we have been to places well off the beaten track. Far cheaper and just as good as most.
Have you looked at this:- http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/

 

[JonnyG]

yep same as dusty dog.we always find somewhere near to where we want to visit, a lot depends on what your priorities are and how much you want to pay a night..

 

[SueF]

We have just been looking for somewhere to go for our holiday in June. We are finally able to go outside of school holidays and we wanted to book a site so we could take our youngest (18 year old) son to Harry Potter place before he goes away to Uni. The Caravan Club sites we looked at were fine from Sunday to leaving on a Friday but woe betide you wanting to stay over a weekend. We have booked one for the 5 days but will keep a look out at the late availability and see if the weekend becomes free. It is a little bit galling but we can manage with that. Will remember next year though not to bother with weekends but may well be using other sites as only the 2 of us (fingers crossed). I know that this is a common gripe on the Caravan club forums but we have never been caught out by it previously as knowing school holiday times get booked up we were much more organised!

 

[Woodentop]

Ah, someone who does not know the secret.

Find a couple of CC sites that might be suitable and ring them direct. You'll be surprised how often they can accommodate you..................

 

[SirRogerFFS]

I have found many times that if a short notice to find a site is needed there are lots of farm sites that will have vacancies .Some sites like the one were on at Easter you wouldnt find better . Derbyshire is where we were and there were lots of vacancies around as well. Dont be afraid of Farms some of them are just the best.