Touring UK without having to book
When we had a caravan in the 80s-90s we travelled around quite a lot but I never remembering having to book all the time. (we were caravan club members then). Very often we would just turn up, and often we usually stayed one or two days and then moved on.
We have spent the last 7 yrs in France and have never booked a site. we have now returned to the UK only to find the the majority of sites require advanced booking. I would prefer to just turn up if possible as most of our travelling is done on the spur of the moment. With modern phones is phoning ahead on the day a possibility.
Any advice would be gratefully received
Glen
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If you want to use Club Sites only, it will be much more difficult than it used to be, especially certain sites at weekends. However, if you can use a mix of Clubs, CLs, CS's, and small, quality private sites, it is not impossible. We did a tour of South/Mid Wales last September, and although we did a bit of research before setting off, having a reasonable idea of what options were available on our chosen route, we only booked our first stop near Tenby, and that was only because the Ironman event was on, and it was super busy. We booked our next sites on our travels, depending on what we wanted to see, and which route we travelled in. Worked really well for us, and we stayed on a nice mix of sites.
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From what I see on sites (we are away in UK for 17 to 18 weeks a year) I would say yes for the vast majority of sites. The days that you might have trouble with though are Fridays and particularly Saturdays and that can possibly cause a problem with weekenders although if booking the day before there are likely to have been a cancellation or three.
My personal choice would be to do as I did in the 7 week school holidays in mid nineties when we were awake for all that period. I planned a general route and booked the Saturdays only. The rest I booked the night before and should still work today. I did cancel some bookings and rebooked to suit some changes but at least I had somewhere to go.
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Yes it can be done in certain parts of the country, C&MC sites are usually busy especially at the weekends but if you use CL's or the Non Facilities sites you will usually find a place. C&CC you usually don't have any problems getting a pitch at short notice other than at their busy site at Keswick but even that can be done at very short notice. As the C&CC take deposits folk tend not to book too far ahead. The other thing that is good with the C&CC is their THS (temporary holiday sites) these run for most of the summer season and you can just drop in on many of them without prior booking, stay as long or short as you want, only thing is you have no electric hook up. Then of course there are all the independent sites and commercial sites to choose from. Some of these have varying offers at certain times of the year like 3 for 2 nights. Just remain flexible.
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Things have changed in the UK a fair bit since the 80s-90s. It depends largely on time of year, day of week, type of site and area but turning up on spec or ringing on the day is taking a huge chance of getting what you want.
As I've said before, vanning has become a victim of its own success with more and more units trying to pitch.
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Hi Glen, A quick look at the Late Availability list is showing over a thousand empty pitches on Club Sites here in Devon and Cornwall this coming weekend. And the independent / commercial sites will be less busy than that. Come on down !
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...just a different mentality here, probably due to a ggeneral shortage of pitches.....result, folk book ahead possibly when there isn't a need but this drives the spiral of fear over a site being full when arriving.
as AD says, 'over there' finding an alternative just up the road isn't an issue, the alternatives here will probably be booked too....
im aftraid it's probably 'when in Rome.....', or 'if you can't beat 'em...'
take your pick...
PS....agree with TG, THS sites are a great way to tour impromtu, and they run for the greater part of the year.....some folk spend many months just moving from one to another....
good luck...
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You certainly have to book sites over the Bank Holiday periods and also in specific popular areas. We've just booked a 12 site trip to Scotland, starting next week, using virtually all CLs and there were 2 sites that we tried were already fully booked and 3 others where we got the last available pitch.
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"Booking mentality"?
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We head up through D&G (2 CLs) to Balmaha, then Clachan. Up to Carrbridge then Dornoch followed by the Moray coast. We'll be at David's site at Errol from 30th May for 4 nights before we head down to Fife and then Berwick. I guess that we'll be nearest you when we're at David's. Will you be away then?
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Great minds, Nellie. We're breaking our journey north at David's site this time but we'll be later than you.
We usually go to the C&CC site at Scone but they’ve lost our business due to having a 2 night minimum booking restriction.
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Hopefully we'll see the new puppies there before they go to good homes. There were ones about last time we visited too. Shame you're not there when we are, it would have been good to meet you.
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Puppies - don't tempt me!
I think we'll miss you by about 10 days, Nellie. Didn’t we do similar last year with our timing?
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I see what you mean, David, but I think the club only books sites overseas if that’s what the customer wants.
We're doing much as you describe - sites booked to the ferry and the first one after we land. We'll play it by ear from there on.
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I'm sure we did. Which way are you coming north, M6 & A74 etc or are you touring around?
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Straight up the M5/6/74 etc with 1 night stops en route to get us to Ullapool and the ferry.
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Inner & Outer Hebrides this time is it? Sounds like a great trip, hope that the weather's fine for your crossing.
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Thanks, Nellie.
Outer Hebrides from Lewis down to Barra then sail into Oban on the return crossing.
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Would love to do that but not with a caravan.
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People do. Vanbirds is doing that route in reverse but, because they have a cvan, are booking every stop on the islands.
I think this PVC really lends itself to that type of trip, more so than any other unit we've had.
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I guess we have a choice. As individuals we can choose not to book and turn up on spec. The difficulty is that the majority of people choose to book, which means that those who choose not to book risk the possibility of turning up and not having a pitch. In turn this results in more people booking so as not to risk not having a pitch and therefore further reduces the number of pitches available for those who wish to turn up on spec. It becomes a bit of a vicious circle.
How this vicious circle started, I don't know, but even in the '80's I can remember booking pitches for our trailer tent.
In Europe, in this respect, I think that they are 'a little behind us'. It is still possible to go to France, even in the main holiday period and not book a pitch. However, I believe this is slowly changing. It is certainly advisable to book popular sites in the main holiday areas (e.g. in coastal Provence). I remember not booking and turning up at our 'regular' site for years. However, one year we turned up and they were so tight, we had to swap pitches half way through our stay. From that moment onwards, we decided to book. We now book all our sites in Europe. It is certainly possible to just turn up, but after a long journey, the last think I want to do is to try a number of sites to try and find a pitch. They are not as far down the line as we are in the UK, but I can certainly sense a gradual change towards booking, especially in the popular areas at popular times. There are plenty of other differences between the UK and Europe, but I sense some sites in Europe are moving towards what we now have in the UK.
David
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More than likely Nellie, if OH gets the all clear we are hoping to get away by mid May.
Funnily when OH was in hospital, David was in the next bed to him, so they had a good old chat. We said we would pop out to see him before we head off.
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Glen
There may be pitfalls as others have said but it may not be impossible. Often the judgement is made on the occupancy of Club sites, particularly at weekends. I think you would have to do a lot more prior research and be prepared to have a plan B. It may also depend on how spur of the moment you are? If its wake up and decide to go to Bridlington or is it a case of deciding a few days beforehand. If its the latter it might be easier.
David
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