is the Club about touring or static holidays?
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On our most recent 5 week trip to the SW, we got caught in the bad storms in September, quite a bit of rain but mainly wind. There was not much scope to alter things as the weather was bad everywhere down there, so we did miss out some of the NT places we had intended to visit.
A few years back we had the same problem up north, we were at Morvich then booked for Bunree, but the forecast was terrible, gales followed by heavy rain, so we stayed on at Morvich an extra night till the gales were past and then cut short the trip and headed home, Bunree was to be our last stop.
As ET said, if the weather is bad it is usually bad over a fair area.
We have in the past altered a trip significantly after setting out, or extended a stay somewhere and missed out an intended stop, but not generally because of weather, rather because there were still things to see.
When over the water, where we usually never book anything, we often end up somewhere completely different from our original intended destination, and have changed routes to avoid floods in France in 2016, and in Germany a few years before that.
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Thanks ET & Kj for your replies.
We cut short a trip last November due to very high winds on the East coast, then moved to the West where they had winds + snow so gave up and came home
our rule of thumb in the UK is if we can move out of it we do, if not and it doesn't look like its going to change in the next couple of days then we go home.Abroad though its always possible to find somewhere better, yes it might mean a couple of days drive but that is preferable to trying to sit it out.
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TG, we stick to where we've booked, unless of course we get snowed in!! And that's happen a few times too. As we tend to use CLs the owners are a lot more flexible in bad weather with regards changes in arrival dates.
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TG, the other thing that (for us) would cause the sort of problems you describe moght be the fact that site/area one is hugely interesting and we could spend far more time than 'planned', or conversely, it turns out to be nowhere near expectations and one/two days is more than enough.....
setting out a timetable of matching chunks may work for some, but for me, theres nothing worse than hanging around a place that is of little interest.
shifting booked dates, especially in a popular area/period, would be just as bad as trying to get them in the first place on Frenzy Day..ie a pain.
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If you want, you can be static for a whole season through a seasonal pitch so the answer to this is that the Club does cater for both touring and static in this way. So I guess there's something for everyone!
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I think the club acknowledged that "touring" using club sites was an "urban myth", years ago, when the magazine title was changed from "En Route".
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In that case, I’m a myth.
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I would agree that touring without booking is difficult.
However:-
Short season, It is possible to caravan all year in the UK, although choice does reduce.
Weather, yes we have that in the UK, rarely puts us off.
Cost, a wide variety of sites are available to suit all pockets.
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people may well still 'tour', ie visit a series of places on a route....but the process these days almost certainly involves booking those places for a nominated number of days...if the places are popular, you're covering several weekends and its a 'popular' time of year (anytime theres a chance of sunshine) its a must or you'll be scratching around for alternatives.
these may be available, perhaps in the form of CLs etc but one has to take a chance.
we generally only do one UK 'tour' a year and usually book (for this reason) and stick to the itinerary.....however, this type of vanning doesnt really appeal which is why the rest of our UK visits are late decision one or two site trips, with most of our longer term trips done where booking isnt an issue.
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All the more room for the rest of us, BB. Well done!
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Mulling this over I now realise that several of our favourite sites have been discovered as a result of our initial choice of site being fully booked and then having to seek alternatives. Others we've just stumbled across whilst out and about on our tours.
When the children were young we often went off for the weekend on the spur of the moment. Having the van all ready to roll meant it was literally a couple of minutes and we were away. Some lovely CLs discovered less than an hour from home which were revisited but we always enjoyed finding new ones. Sometimes we just overlook our own 'backyards'.
With the children 'flown' Mrs SF and I would occasionally visit sites midweek and commute to work from them in the car. Much of all above was achieved without forward thinking and little need for booking and it is still possible to do today. I guess it's all down to remaining flexible and having a mindset to make the very best of what is available to you. Not a bad philosophy for life in general me thinks.
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my first +1 of 2018
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We find the same in the UK, there is a need to book some popular sites but touring at a whim is still possible ,off peak more, the same as " over there"but of course off peak with a caravan in motor caravan country over their is more dificult as so many of the thousand of sites have a very short season
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We prefer longer stays because of the awning. It takes a long time to erect the awning, lay the awning carpet and assemble all the awning furniture, so not worthwhile if it is just for one or two nights!
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I wanted to stay 21 nights at Gatwick but couldn't get a pitch there because fully booked over this weekend even though there's weekday availability. So it's 21 nights at Redhill instead! Thankfully, I've got a seasonal pitch at Gatwick for next winter which will solve the problem.
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We tour for 6-8 weeks at a time, using a mixture of sites, cl's and C&CC rallies. I only ever book the first stop, and then from there we decide were we want to go. The C&CC do a pitch ahead system, where the site you are on, will make the booking for you at a site you want to go to. It has never failed for us, although I do appreciate that this might not apply in peak season at some of their sites, e.g. Keswick in the Lake District. But then there is usually a rally we can go to instead, where no booking is needed.
We also use non club sites, again we have experienced no problems with getting a pitch. The only thing I find these days, as opposed to our early touring years, is that turning up on spec., seems to be frowned on, but a quick phone call enroute is acceptable. That probably has more to do with the advent of mobile phones.
We have a caravan, have no problem with MHs, each to their own.
Also, and we might have been lucky, but we got on Clumber Park for a weekend in the Summer hols, as they had just had a late cancellation when I phoned on a Friday morning when we were heading back south from Scotland..
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I am not undertanding the financial model of there being sites which are never ever full, and if they were there are more similar very close to hand, and all in a short season. From what I have read, the prices charged are not high, so how do the operators make a profit? Do foreign governments (local or national) pay out huge subsidies?
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