Haven holiday - things you wouldn't think to pack

[Givemethesworrrrd]

We are going on our first Haven holiday this year.

I was just wondering what people would recommend packing that you wouldn't necessarily think of, even for a self catering holiday! 🙂There's an essential packing list on their site, however, I'm sure people will have their own suggestions too.

Tea towels, as there's never enough
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Hand soap for kitchen and bathroom
Kitchen roll/tinfoil/clingfilm/ziplock bags
Couple of tupperware for picnics and leftovers
Washing up liquid
Washing liquid for machine or hand wash clothes
If they have one, dishwasher tabs
Fire stick for TV if there is internet?
If no internet, maybe a mobile internet dongle...
Swim towels
Easy on shoes to go to pool (crocs, flipflops etc)

Some caravan parks won't even allow deliveries to reception or the car park. I used to work for home delivery in a supermarket in north Devon and spent many Saturday evenings explaining that to irate customers and directing them to a nearby lay-by where my driver would give them their shopping 😭😭

Another option is to pick up a click and collect order once you have unpacked the car. I used to give day out advice while customers put their shopping on their car 😊

Depends on which park and what standard of caravan. We recently came back from a weekend where we booked a gold standard caravan and the kitchen had better quality pans, etc than I have at home, an American fridge freezer, washing machine and a dishwasher.

I always take washing up liquid, dishcloth and tea towels and bin bags and do a food shop off site though.

Fully depends on whether you’re planning on eating every night in the caravan or not. We do 1 or 2 nights in the caravan. First night usually hot dogs as it’s easy and keeps everyone happy. We don’t tend to cook much other than bacon butties or noodles after that so can muddle through with what’s supplied. If your planning on lots of cooking definitely bring the basics you will need, chopping board, sharp knife, spatula even pans etc…

I take

Towels - enough for showering and swimming, I usually rotate so we have some dry all the time.
Hand towel for bathroom
Old hand towel or bath mat that I throw away at the end for the shower
kitchen towels
Can opener is a good call, I always take a bottle opener.
Hair dryer, but I always seem to get one in the van even if it says not supplied
bin bags
washing up liquid
hand soap
washing up bucket. I take open hand soaps so I can throw away at the end or almost used up soaps so I’m not opening new ones, so the kitchen bowl is good to pack things like than in to prevent leaks.
Floor wipes - I find the mops supplied always make the floor dirtier, it’s far easier to give the floor a quick wipe with floor wipes.
Toilet roll
kitchen roll
dish clothes or sponges
anti bac wipes. Last time the caravan was filthy even though the cleaners were in it when we arrived. I like to give everything a once over before I get settled.

Food and snacks, I bring a pack of ice pops to freeze and lots of ice creams. I have a child with a dairy allergy so I always make sure we have vegan ice creams for her so she’s not left out if the others buy from the shop.

Our last one was a platinum? With uninterrupted sea views with decking highest grade available on that site.

Still had the frying pan of doom 😂

Clothes line or rack and some pegs. If you've got kids who like swimming then you'll have costumes and towels that need hanging to dry every day. We took a travel line from the camping section in Tesco, which is basically like a really long bungee cord with hooks on the end and rigged it across the patio area.

Definitely second some manner of hanging things to dry otherwise you’ll have a damp towel over every door in the caravan and if you have a wet week nothing will ever be dry. I threatened that we were taking the heated airer next time after a spectacularly wet week in Kent a few years back

Proper mugs definitely, I do like a bucket sized mug of caffeine in the morning 😂
Sandwich toaster and collapsible wash basket are a stroke of genius! As is the camping washing line, never in a millions years would have thought of that.
@OhmygodDont frying pan of doom 😂

Not specially haven but we do a lot of caravan or other self-catering breaks.

We also do the supermarket delivery - saves so much car space. I book as soon as spaces open and put any number it will accept with a note to call my mobile on arrival then edit when number confirmed if possible.

Also the pop up laundry basket or ikea bags or some of those charity sacks that come through the door.

A few spare dishwasher and laundry tabs in case. Not always needed but don't want to have to buy a whole pack or out of an expensive vending machine in laundrette.

Dish towels and microfibre swim towels as spares. Roll of bin bags and surface wipes (or in the supermarket delivery).

For small kids stuff IKEA zip up drawer dividers and have sometimes taken one of those canvas things that hangs in the wardrobe with sections for little kids' clothes. Some cheap metal dry cleaner hangars as there are never enough.

IKEA kids bowls and plates to avoid breakages.

A couple of extension cables for charging as plugs not always plentiful or convenient.

download some movies to a laptop and take HDMI cable. Also download some stuff to kids devices in case wifi rubbish.

Awwww! So many fond memories of Haven!

Tin foil, sandwich bags, black bin bags.

Take your shoes off as you go in the caravan otherwise you'll have days of mud everywhere.

Lots of 2p coins.

The bingo is a must.

Take lots of photos.

@OldTinHat were all looking forward to it, I've booked some of the activities on site for the kids to do so will definitely be getting pictures of that. I also have no doubt that the arcade is one of the first places they'll want to go to 😆
Great tip on taking your shoes off as you go in!

I always clean all surfaces, the cutlery draw and all utensils, and wash all the crockery. So surface spray, cloths, disinfectant and bleach. It doesn't take long if you do it before you unpack, and, especially since COVID, is a weight off your mind before the holiday begins.

Self catering in general I always pack
My fave kitchen knife
Paper napkins
Sandwich bags
Clippits
Foil for lining baking sheets
Anti bac spray for hard and soft surfaces
Cotton sheets to cover sofas if they don't feel clean enough for me
Solid air freshers for wardrobes

Plus all,the rest of the stuff !!!

If your planning on full on cooking be aware that LPG gas ovens are terrible and take forever to cook anything.

A proper chopping board, sharp knife, tin opener and a bottle opener.

Also, a bath mat.

Decent kitchen knife. Chopping board. Pans. Toilet rolls. Cleaning spray. Bin bags

Hit or miss whether you get scissors or not!

@OhmygodDont I think we must have got really lucky. It was definitely very different to how I remembered my childhood holidays and my DM's struggles with the frying pan.

Pegs and towels/blankets to cover the thin curtains and block early morning sun
Chopping board as they don't supply one
Baking trays as they only supply one small one
Big bowl for fruit/ popcorn as they only have small ones

Shopping bags, sandwich bags, bag clips, clingfilm, foil, kitchen roll, loo roll, box of tissues, a couple of washing up sponges & cloths, tea towels and black sacks.

Scissors, pen, pencil, paper, a quantity of string (washing line for the use of), and if you have a quarter-full bottle of washing-up liquid at home, take that,

Air freshener 😂

For several months before we go away, every time we go into a cafe I will filch a few salt, pepper, vinegar and sauce sachets. We don't take sugar in drinks so we don't bother with that, but one or two sachets of mayo, mustard, brown sauce and ketchup come in really handy and it saves taking full-size ones or buying them when you are there.

I have been known to take my knife sharpener with me on caravan holidays, their knives are always as blunt as anything.

Last time we could have done with another baking sheet as we were having pizza and chips and there was only one pizza tray and nothing to cook frozen chips on at the same time.

God I love a caravan holiday!!

Any favourite pillows and towelling bath robe for post shower or swim. We packed all our stuff in those cheap massive striped zip up bags that you can get on the market - be methodical with what goes in them and they're a doddle to unpack.

£1 coins for the pool lockers! What with being very cashless don’t forget them or a few round trolly tokens haha. Download the restaurant app before you go rather than on their wifi.

@isitbananatimealready fab tip with the packets of salt.

I have stayed at Haven a few times. Sheets and towels are usually provided plus tea towels, loo roll and basic cleaning spray.

I would take:
washing up liquid
liquid soap (they usually supply the cheap thin bars)
Dishwasher tablets
spare tea towels

I always take my own pillow too but that’s personal preference.

Definitely oven gloves. I didn't and had to use a towel to take out oven trays. Was so annoying

Yep, just returned from a caravan holiday and no oven glove!

For the first shop we usually order a click and collect from a nearby supermarket and get it on the way.

Bath mat and towels
Washing up liquid
Dishmatic or other scrubbing item (especially if no dishwasher)
Washing up gloves
Hand wash
Tea/coffee/sugar
Bin liners