Vacation V Staycation Costs
We sadly accepted a while back that our hoped for trip abroad, in May/June, would not be happening and have booked on a two week rally in June-which we are very much looking forward to.
Over the last couple of days I have been looking at options for July/August and wondered how prices compare.
Normally we would go abroad at the times I mention so never look to see how over there compares with here.
Anyway, just looked at the price for a 10 day stay at sites of similar levels of quality and facilities, one in Cornwall and one in the Vendee.
The price for Cornwall, at Pentewan Sands, is £498.10.
The price for France at La Yole via the club and including a BF overnight crossing with cabin is £488.36
We don't go 'over there' to save money but its another example to show that considering 'going' as opposed to 'staying' need not cost a lot more.
Comments
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Pentewan Sands has always (at least as far back as 30 years ago) been very expensive in July & August. Mrs M's parents went there for several years, booking the same pitch a year in advance each time, before we introduced them to the site we used at approximately half the cost on the other coast of Cornwall.
It would be interesting to see a comparison with other sites nearby, I think a former member of the forum (an ennobled one
) used to mention London Apprentice - would that be correct in that area?0 -
From memory, London Apprentice is a couple miles away, back towards St Austell. We visited Pentewan Sands a couple of years ago, but stayed in a ‘static’ as we took our daughter and grandchildren. I guess the big draw is it’s proximity to the beach. Very busy when we were there, and if I’m honest, not my thing at all. We did actually take the kids when they were young, probably 1982. Back then, it was easy to get a decent size pitch (we were tenting), whereas now they seem more packed in. It’s changed a lot in that time.
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I remember. I think it was River Valley he used to visit. It's is bit inland so doesn't have Pentewan's beach frontage but it is dog friendly.
https://www.rivervalleyholidaypark.co.uk/touring-pitches
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When we first started our our continental trips back in 2003 I seem to recall working out that if away for 2 to 2 1/2 weeks it was no more expensive than the UK, and I'm allowing for extra insurance, more miles and a crossing. I think now it's nearer 3 to 3 1/2 weeks.
But as we know it's not just about costs. We prefer French sites, the facilities, the different cultures, food, wine, need I go on.
Colin
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Plus a free bar for 10 people I’d expect🤷🏻♂️😊
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Does price have anything to do with it? Surely you go where you want to, and pay the price. If we go on a seven night cruise which could cost perhaps £2000 I don't compare that with going to Cornwall or Italy, I go because I fancy a cruise? The last 3/4 years we have toured exclusively in the UK and finding lots of interesting places to visit. Previously we have spent a lot of time touring in Europe, often going twice a year up to eight weeks which restricted our ability to visit much of the UK. Maybe in the future we will return to Europe but I am not particularly bothered when that happens. I think if people are always going to think of the UK as second best, particularly in terms of cost, I think my advice would be to stay at home until you are free to cross the channel because it seems to me that you won't enjoy touring in the UK?
David
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IMO i think doing costing like this is very subjective, e.g. we normally spend April thru June in Spain, only because we have family in Spain and it tends to be much warmer than France during that period.
So that it is not stressful for pooch we normally travel Portsmouth - Caen or Poole - Cherbourg, doing it this way ferry crossing is much cheaper, return £500+, however you have to factor in minimum 8 night stop overs for the journey down/return to Spain/France on a reasonable site and of course diesel.Tolls are not such an issue now as Spain no longer has toll roads, not even on the primary routes, France still has tolls but no idea of much we spend have one of those magic things you stick in window and the barrier just opens.
The site we normally use in Spain was €14 per night fully svcd and 7kw per day electricity, good site with direct access to beach including dog friendly, minimum stay 1 month to get this price, however, mid June thru August same pitch will cost you €32 , you do get a swimming pool, bar/restaurant, and first rate facilities, and the pitches are large enough for caravan, awning, car and an outside eating/lounging area.
The other option is ferry direct to Santander/Bilbao, cost £1k+ plus probably 4 stop overs out and back to ferry port plus diesel.
I have never kept a log of how much we spend on e.g. diesel, and this is a big variable dependant upon MPG when towing, not forgetting travel and breakdown insurance
This year we have decided not to bother with over there, but for the month of September we have booked a site in Devon, approx cost £1k, we have been to site several times, it has all we require e.g. indoor swimming pool, regular mobile food vans, with lots of local food, it is also in striking distance of resorts such as Bude.
I have now got a tick sheet of all the documents for us and the dog that we will need for overthere, jabs and health check for the dog, check we do not have anything in the fridge that resembles anything like meat or dairy, even if it is Danish bacon
, check that no borders have been closed or internal travel curtailed as a result of Covid-19.For a UK get away we get the van ready maybe a week before first trip and from then on we could be off within 24hrs and on site probably at most 6 hours drive, and personally i dont buy this thing about getting better food/drink over there, we dont have any problems sourcing local food and drink of a high quality in the UK, the only caveat on all of this for me would be the quality of the weather.
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Presumably you don't have a pet so no fees for passports and jabs etc. plus you don't have to take into account any test for Covid that France or ourselves, with the way their rates are increasing, might impose. Then, for me certainly, I would need to extend my caravan insurance to cover the length of stay in France plus any extra that my car insurer may charge for Green Card (not sure if they would) and also pay an additional supplement for the Travel insurance that Nationwide provide due to pre-existing conditions (add at least £150 for a 2 week stay).
It may be economical for people like yourselves but I tend to agree with some of what DK alluded to. We go for other reasons not cost and I would and have paid extra for the enjoyment of it.
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You’d have to pay me £498 to stay at Pentewan Sands in July/August. Maybe La Yole offers something different making it much better value or is it just a cheaper ‘factory campsite’?
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Hi DK, Slightly bemused by your response-I attempted to show that for sites, both of which I have stayed at, came out at the almost identical price including the ferry to get over there.
We also go where we want but for the life of me cannot see what the price of a cruise has to do with my comparison?
I was certainly not thinking of the UK as second best and, so far as your advice goes, well least said the better.
I can only presume that for some reason you have read into my post something that was never intended.
So far as sites near Pentewan, none, so far as I am aware, have a pool and if you have to be paid to stay at Pentewan what would your idea be of a good site?
We spend two weeks every year at Pentewan, on a club rally, and this year it will be four weeks. It would not be my choice purely as a site, but there are other reasons it appeals main one being the grandchildren love it.
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"So far as sites near Pentewan, none, so far as I am aware, have a pool and if you have to be paid to stay at Pentewan what would your idea be of a good site?"
How far away is River Valley?
I'm with Steve & Bill, nothing would make me stay at Pentewan Sands, apart from anything else the site and beach ban dogs!
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Outside of July/August, Pentewan does have a lot going for it - beach location, coastal walks, one of the best pubs in Cornwall (Ship Inn), close proximity to Mevagissey (nicest harbour in Cornwall), but in high season it’s just too much for my tastes. I can understand why kids love it ditto people wanting to launch boats and those hideous jet skis (which should be banned).
It’s sister site just up the road at Heligan is a much nicer place for my taste. Dogs allowed if that floats your boat.
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Steve, Bill Moulesy, This was a post re comparative costs, not a critique from the position of a non dog owner.
We went there initially as friends were on a rally and had no awareness of the dog ban however, as there are a number of club rallies there each year it does seem to have an appeal to quite a few.
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Yes, nice site. Plenty of space, rural location, next door to ‘Lost Gardens of Heligan, Lobbs Farm Shop, located on national cycle route 3 with easy walk/cycle to Mevagissey, St Austell, Pentewan and further afield (hills included!) Bus service, close to Roseland Peninsula, fab unspoil beaches at nearby Vault, Hemmick, & Portluney (Caerhays). Proper Cornwall - what’s not to like 👍
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Yes, no problem with that. But you did choose to use one of the most expensive sites in Cornwall in July/August for your comparison. I've never stayed at River Valley, don't know how it compares to your French site, but I did check their prices and I think it works out at £360 for 10 nights - that's about 25% cheaper than your French site, before adding on all the extra costs involved in fuel, insurance etc.
As I've frequently said on threads such as this, price comparisons are pretty pointless really since one can almost always find more (or less) expensive sites to suit whatever point is being made.
Enjoying holidays, of whatever form, is surely about so much more than just cost?
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But is that a correct comparison? If I wanted to stay at a site in the South of France which I have stayed at a couple of times, using ACSI at €17 a night out of season, but if I wanted peak it would cost £740 for two weeks plus £250 for the Tunnel and probably £200 for insurance so a total of £1190, that is in late July. There is nothing particularly special about this site except it's in the South of France on a lovely beach. So you can play with all sorts of combinations between your £500 and my £1200 but what does it prove? The point of mentioning the cruise was to use it has a comparison of a different type of holiday I might go on. I know nothing about Pentewan and probably wouldn't visit the site or Cornwall in the peak season.
David
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No hijacking whatsoever David. The OP introduced a cost comparison (in fact the OP was explicitly about costs, there was the original mention of the cost of ,the Cornish site, not mine) so I think it's perfectly valid for anyone to extend the comparison. You yourself have frequently done similar by mentioning different sites.
It is odd how often these discussions about sites in different countries revolve around costs, despite the frequent statements that price doesn't matter.
Please allow the discussion to flow instead of trying to undermine points simply because they are inconvenient to you.
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Had a look back at the last 1 month tour in mid season we did in France. Stayed mostly on Municipal type sites in June, some of them ACSI sites. I don't keep a detailed cost sheet but tend to mention cost of sites.
Worked out at just over £17 per night, adjusted for slight difference in exchange rate. So 30 nights came to about £510. Ferry fee was approximately £200, travel insurance for month £224, caravan insurance upgrade £48 (insurer charged pro rata rate). Not included any figures for diesel costs. Total approx £982
Following year we spent 1 month in Norfolk, all CLs, much the same facilities that were found on the sites we used in France. Average cost £14.50 pn, so campsite fees came to £435. No insurance for carAvan or travel insurance or ferry.
So saving of at about £550+.
Does it make a difference to my choice of whether I stay or go? No it doesn't. We'll continue to tour wherever the interest takes us.
At least I recognise it's going to cost me more if I go abroad and it's not some comparison picked out the air but factual.
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It is a thread equally at home in Overseas or UK Sites and Touring so to talk about French or Cornish sites is not hijacking but merely continuing the theme started by the OP.
I find it ironic that the accusation of hijacking is made by one who frequently refers to overseas sites in UK threads.
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