How do you do it?....

[mustard1972]

After much thought we have planned our August Holiday, we all want to visit Devon or Cornwall so rather than stay in one spot i felt that if we split the holiday up so...... Woollacombe for four nights then Truro for four nights then Brixham for three nights before the journey back to Essex....

My wife calls me a fidgetar*e and i must admit i do get itchy feet after a few days and want to explore elsewhere , however the wife now has reservations on whether we should to pack up / unpack so many times....so my question is .....how do you lot do it?.......small breaks, or one big one...

The total mileage over the break is 750miles(250 out and 250 back, with the remainder between sites) but we will see three sites across devon and cornwall... :woohoo:

 

[Dustydog]

What three sites do you have in mind?

 

[mustard1972]

Willingcott at Woollacombe
Merrose Farm at Truro then
Hillhead at Brixham

all CC sites, the last has swimming pool, small bar , games rooms etc for the kids, first two would be local attractions based

 

[Gagakev]

Suppose thats why they are called TOURING caravns

Bit too much for me (if I was able to do 11 nights that is )
We do 3 or 4 nights every 4 to 6 weeks and one main 7 dayer in August.
Think in your position i would do two sites at the most, you should be able to find plenty to do for 5 to 6 nights.
Setting up 3 times whilst on your main jaunt.. not for me.

You need to learn to RELAX :lol:

 

[AdifferentJim]

Personally I love the freedom of caravanning (no set times for meals, etc) but I can't be fussed with the touring bit. Packing up, driving somewhere else then setting up again is all a waste of my valuable relaxation time.

My holidays consist of 3.5 weeks at one site in Biarritz and two, one week stays at a site in Cornwall plus the odd week-end 2 or 3 day stays

 

[Thingy]

One big one for us. Once the awning is up, its staying up. The trick is to pick a site with easy access to other areas. I would rather drive an extra hour or so rather than wrestle the canvas monster.

 

[Dustydog]

All depends where we are. Cornwall we stay on one site for two weeks and relax.
Scotland we move on every five days or so.Hitching and pitch get takes a couple of hours. The porch awning being the best buy ever. The sat dish takes 15 mins mainly connecting up the wires a day setting up through tripod.
A established of both worlds.At heart we are tourers.

 

[Thingy]

Scotland we move on every five days or so

That would be dodging the midgies then :lol:

 

[Parksy]

You mentioned the nights that you will stay on each site but don't forget that a lot of days will be spent packing up and moving to the next site and setting up again. This is fine if you enjoy the travelling and seting up but it will eat into your actual holiday down time leaving you with not much time to relax and to explore the areas where you are staying.
Personally I'd spread the different sites over different breaks to get the best out of the different locations or perhaps up sticks just the once.

 

[FrintonMike]

We normally stay at least 5 days on one site but as we are retired and show dogs we go away a lot during the year and see most of the country.
With regards to Hill Head it is usually booked most of the year as it is so popular. If you have not already booked do so now

 

[crazyguider]

We have a main week in August, one at Easter, long bank holiday weekends, and a couple of weekends in the summer hols.all depends on the time OH can get off at the right time. We do plan to go to France next year and do 2 sites in 2 weeks. Once I'm settled I don't want to be off again until it's time to go.

 

[RayS]

Depends a bit on what 'setting up' involves. If it means awning, then i would say 5 nights minimum to make it worth while.
If however, you don't have an awning or just something like a fiamma caravanstore pull out with just a couple of chairs outside then one or two nights perfectly reasonable, particurly if in transit. An on board water tank saves even more work for one night, but since most sites want you to leave by midday one night usually means transit rather than stay.

As others have said, a bit of pre trip homework should find a site towards the centre of the area of interest.

Off peak, suggest not booking in advance and then play it by ear when you get to first site. If suits you well, stay. If not, move on. My ifea for two weeks in France would be ferry and perhaps that night somewhere close, another one nigth, main holiday for about 10 nights, then reverse plan coming back. Thiis would enable you to get quite a long way from the port, and to have time to settle in and relax

 

[Raywood]

Last year in about three and a half weeks we booked seven sites. We tend to spend three or four days on most sites and plan accordi g to our itchy feet. The first two sites were short stays to visit relatives so probably do not count. We do however have no awning and can pitch and pack in about fifteen minutes. The total mileage was about 1500 though.

 

[Mel]

Steadies go down and stay down for as long as possible. Two whole weeks if I have got that much leave. I wonder if there is a difference between folks who are retired who might like a lot going on when away and those of us who are still chained to the oars who want to slump in a chair and stay there?
Mel

 

[crazyguider]

I agree Mel! Once there, thats where I stay! We tend to choose areas where there is plenty for us all to see and do, if we want to. We are planning to go to France next year, for 2 weeks, but even then we will only use 2 sites.

 

[mustard1972]

Hmmmm, decisions decisions, i think the words of experience from you all are guiding me towards finding a beach based venue and then doing 8 days with a few trips out in between....

Ill give it some thought and post my next decision shortly

 

[pensioner]

Well this is going to be our first session with the van but I don't plan on staying anywhere for less than 5 days,,
I agree with RayS, awning up and sort out,,,awning down and pack, there's at least a full day probably more gone, and being a mature, not to mention totally inexperienced couple, we want downtime to relax and enjoy the area.

 

[Mel]

Lets face it pensioner: after putting up the divorce in a bag, sorry awning; it is at least 3 days before me and the OH are back on speaking terms.
Mel