Hello caravan and motorhomers
Hello my fellow Caravan and Motorhomers. Have been a caravanner for a few years and we have now decided to take the next step/chapter and have purchased a new motorhome. we will certainly miss our old caravan as it served us well and have many fond memories of times spent in it. But now it feels like a good time to change. There will be certainly a lot of new things to remember but looking forward too.
My main question and request for advice, where do you think are the best sites for motorhomes? I would certainly be interested in your comments. we are planning to go to Cirencester park shortly as this is our "local" and have always started our season and ended our season there.
Many Thanks.
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The best sites are dependant on what you want from them and where you want to be. It’s a very personal thing.
There are many great sites in this country, both club and non-club. I’d recommend choosing a few to make a tour and wandering around in your MH en route from site to site.
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I don't think you should get hung up about the 'best' sites for MH, per se, merely to understand that changing from a caravan to a MH has opened up a few new options in the way you can tour.
as above, get out and give it a go, make the journey up as you go, pull in and have a break when you choose, pop into a town on the way to your destination, get the feel of being unrestricted in making the journey part of the whole experience rather than a chore...
once you are a bit more confident, you'll perhaps be touring in a far more impromptu way than you did with your caravan where you (probably) booked site, drove there, parked, explored in the car, packed up, hitched up .....repeat....
..and if you really want to expand on the impromtu touring style and enjoy total freedom to roam, no booking, easy parking on each journey etc, then take Peedee's advice and book a ferry crossing....
good luck with the new van.
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Mr Fix It
We changed to a motorhome six years ago so can understand your question. Even when we caravanned we tended only to make relatively short stays on campsites and favoured those that were either within walking distance of a town/village/attraction or had good transport links. We have since changed to a smaller motorhome which may open up more options for us. There are a surprising number of sites in the UK where you do have access to reasonable walk or transport links. The site you mention, Cirencester, is one of them where, as you know, you can walk into town quite easily. I have a list of sites that are near to things here if its any help http://www.davidklyne.co.uk/uk_campsite_new_2_index.html Just look for the little motorhome symbol against the site report which indicates a fairly friendly place for motorhomes if leaving it on site.
Hope you enjoy the change.
David
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I would think the Sites you found to suit you while you had a Caravan would be as good as it gets.
There aren't any designated Motorhome sites that don't cater for Caravans as far as I know in the UK – only in the Motorhome friendly countries abroad.
When owning a Motorhome you need a couple of leisure batteries, a Solar panel, a refillable gas system, your own facilities and the World is quite literally your lobster.
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We have also recently moved to a MH from 14 years with a caravan and 30 with tents. Whilst we have equipped it for off grid use and will certainly use it on Aires abroad. In this country we see it more as a means to move on easily and frequently. The sites will still be booked and in our current state of health, I don't really see many bad sites, other than those that might pose problems due to unsuitable surfaces. We like to walk, so as long as the site has a few decent routes from the gate, it will be fine for a few days. The fridge has sufficient capacity and we will restock on route to the next one. As BB says it will also be possible to break the journey, possibly at a National Trust Property. Some have MH parking and it is easy to phone and check. We are also looking into getting ebikes which would extend our range a bit. The above will unfortunately have to wait until our next tour, this one was booked thinking we had a caravan with several things difficult to cancel, arranged, so we will be taking a car.
One site that would be good with a MH even for an extended stay is Hawes. A relatively easy walk into the market town for shopping, pubs, restaurants etc. Several things to visit within walking distance (the old mill, museum, rope shop, Wensleydale creamery) plus multitudinous walks from the site.
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agree with Steve that 'the journey' becomes less 'a purpose' and more part of the trip...in fact, on our recent return from Portugal, 'the journey' became the trip, punctuated by lunch stops that turned out to be overnight stops, overnights that became a longer stay and longer stays that didn't cut it so we moved on...
yes, we had 'earmarked' several 'long' stays (a week or more) but even these don't have to be planned...they can just as easily evolve.
we picked out 3/4 long stops and these included good cycling, proximity to handy bars/restaurants etc and all this applies equally whether in the uk or abroad.
so, you can still do all the research and pick your sites as, perhaps, you did with the caravan, nothing wrong with this.....however, you may find that the 'exploring' (and stopping, overnight or longer) can be done as you tour along, rather than having to 'get there' first and then take the car, and return, and repeat daily...
IMHO, its the opening up of a different 'off the cuff' style that is the main difference of MH ownership....it might take a while to realise the different benefits but once it's 'clicked' touring can take on a different form.
then, if this really is your thing, there are places where this type of touring is truly welcomed.
enjoy.
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If you want to enjoy your MH to the full, I would suggest you consider your new purchase as a new beginning. They can be so different, but if you choose to use it merely as a slightly easier on site based tourer then you will be missing out on a world of opportunities. It’s got wheels, very easy to use wheels, and can take you all sorts of places where you don’t have to holiday in the there and back routine. I would suggest you pick an area of the country you want to see, consider what in that area is of interest to you, might be the history, might be the nice gardens, might be the local events. But you don’t have to let the sites become your sole focus. Choose a few sites that link up, spend just one or two nights on a site, but focus on visiting places. NT, EH, HHA, National Parks are very easy with a bit of pre departure planning.
You don’t say how big your MH is, so parking needs to be considered. But despite what a number of overseas regulars will tell you, touring is very easy in this country, and lots of us are doing it all over, at all times of the year. Those used to touring overseas are finding it different if they have chosen to stay in UK, but that’s all it is really, just different. Still very enjoyable, still easy. But mix those site choices up, there are some great CLs, some lovely small private sites, just as nice and in many instances a great deal cheaper than some Club Sites.
Want a nice little tour to take you out of local (guessing Gloucestershire) comfort zone? Try Shropshire/Welsh Borders. Bromyard Downs Club Site, then look towards Ludlow area, there is an AS site, but we used a nice CL, then up towards Shrewsbury area, again there’s Love2Stay AS site or another nice CL maybe, on up to Llangollen area, then work your way back down either via Potteries or get into Wales. A week would fit all this in if you plan properly. Lots of history, lots of interesting churches, lots of great little market towns with nice eateries. No need to park up on one site and walk everywhere, or stand waiting for a ruddy bus! Use those wheels, it’s what a MH is for, not attached to a tap on a boring Club Site. 😁Honestly, it is so very easy.
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I think the answer has to come from within. We motorhome and plan sites according to what we want from our visit. If we need a site close to family members so we can visit them then that factor is the most important. If we need a site giving us access to a walk we want to do or an area we want to explore then that is the important requirement. If we want to visit the theatre or a market then those providing access are the ones we choose. There are no sites in the wrong places, just sites which meet our needs according to what we want. Sometimes we have to modify our way of best using a site to meet our needs but that's just part of motorhoming in my opinion. Sometimes this means using the onboard facilities or not having mains electric but that's okay, no one dies, in fact it's most comfortable, we've equipped it for that purpose.
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Thanks to our motorhome we've got out of the drive everywhere routine, in fact I think we've seen more locally from the sites we've stayed on and even enjoyed a few bus, boat and train trips too. So enjoy it in whatever way you choose to use it and one thing for certain, if you're in it you'll have everything to hand wherever you are.
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In the UK, look for
- a high proportion of hard standing,
- sites which are not approached by a series of narrow roads as you will want to go out from the site in the van,
- good public transport links if you don't want to take your van into a town centre,
- motorhome service point - the newer 'drive over' are better than the traditional 'lift up the lid'.
- Those that encourage you to pursue your other interests
From memory, I cannot recall a CMC site that was not motorhome friendly. You don't need to go abroad to enjoy motorhoming. We stopped going abroad about 10 years ago and still enjoy motorhoming using CMC sites.
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You don't need to go abroad to enjoy motorhoming.
I am so glad to hear that viewpoint, I was beginning to think it was impossible. Also applies to caravans I would think
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"From memory, I cannot recall a CMC site that was not motorhome friendly. You don't need to go abroad to enjoy motorhoming. We stopped going abroad about 10 years ago and still enjoy motorhoming using CMC sites."
Well said, and I guess the same goes for the tens of thousands of fellow MHers who use club sites each year!
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Don't know what it would be like driving on to site as school finishes as it is next door to college.
Rather slow, but then the pot holes make it that in any event 😂 Cars parked at the end of the lane, plus an occasional ice cream van can make it very tight turning into the lane. They are not allowed to park on the long section down to the site.
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A site is just somewhere to stop while I go to a play at Stratford on Avon, or climb Scafell, or visit the gardens at Wisley, or go shopping at Bicester Village, or walk the cliffs here in Cornwall. Places are more interesting for me than campsites. Campsites just need to be in convenient locations. They are just somewhere to park and sleep.
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As has already been mentioned. Before we switched from a Motorhome to a Caravan we chose sites that had access to public transport, or walks straight off the site. Also if we were going to take our motorhome out we did a bit of reserch regarding parking at our planned destination. When we both gave up work and were able to spend longer periods away we found that a caravan was more practical.
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