Caravanning - couple of Q's

[sleepwouldbenice]

hello all

Dh and I thinking of buying a caravan - now the kids are older (3 & 7) I am really keen to explore our lovely country - it will probably be for weekend use, maybe the odd week away, all in UK

Couple of random Q's

• if we go away for the weekend we like to get out and about and explore. So if we were in a caravan site say Fri and Sat night and wanted to go out for the day on the Sunday what do people do with the caravan? Obvious choices are to leave in the site (but assume you have to pay for another night and could be a pain to have to back track to get it sometimes) or to take it with you - my preferance but how easy is it to park it say in towns or public places - and how do you find out where you can do so?

• when we usually go away for the week in say Dorset (5 hours drive away for us) we often drive in the evening, let kids fall asleep in car then stop at travel lodge / similar for a night, arriving about 11pm. If we had caravan then ideal would be to stop somewhere at similar time of night and sleep in caravan - is this possible? ie are there parks where you can arrive late at night and park up for the night?

Thanks very much ladies - warning, may be more Q's!!!!

Yes you would pay for Sunday - you psy per night and usually have to be off site mid morning although you can also pay a bit extra to leave later. Town parking with a caravan is very limited and often prohibited. Service stations quite often have space but can levy a charge for stopping overnight. There are also issues re theft of caravans from service stations. My ILs often solve both problem by stopping overnight at a 5 van site which can be as little as £6.

Thanks for this!

If town parking limited are there usually options at say park and rides etc - or I am thinking any general place you may stop at on way home?

I am guessing a 5 can site its as the name suggests - small areas you just pull into with prob basic facilties so as you say you can leave caravan there for day whilst you go and do things / or use as stopover on way down? sounds great

are they usually pre bookable? / open late at night

(ps off to bed but thanks again)

yes we use CL's / 5 van sites, they are licensed for just that and rarely have 'deadlines' for having to be off at noon as the larger "club sites" do. We are in the Camping and Caravanning club and also the Caravan club - it is prob an idea to do one of these, it doesn't much matter which one, as they both have a brilliant directory listing all the small sites that they have under their 'umbrella'. All of equally good standards.

Thanks again. Have been thinking about Caravan club and whether to join so I guess thats that Q covered too

Eer, whats a CL?

Never heard of staying overnight at a park and ride.

A CL is a club site. Caravanning and Camping have them dotted all over the country, as do I think do the Caravan Club. If you join they send you a book with 1000s of them listed and I think you can now also search via their website (again you have to be a member). You phone the owners direct and book.

They can be totally basic and just have pitches, a standpipe to collect water from in your aquaroll, and somewhere to dispose of waste. But most these days have electric hook ups, some have individual water stands on each pitch (you need a adaptor if you do want constant running water in your caravan), showers, even pools! There are lots of hidden gems and there are awards given to the best ones. My ILs went to Scotland for 3 weeks and made their leisurely way there and back via 5 van sites and we had a fantastic surfing holiday at one nr Kingsbridge, Devon and also stayed at a great one in Norfolk.

Go for it - tis fab. We're going away tomorrow [packing procrastinator emoticon] only about 45 mins from home to a small site. I'ts away! You can count on one hand the amount of nights we've spent at home this school hol

only a note of caution re the caravan club. This (only) applies to the larger Club sites in both cases. On the plus side, you don't have to pay a booking fee to reserve a pitch. The (perhaps obvious) downer associated with that is that there are often "no vacancies" on sites via the booking system, but you will find empty pitches on sites which have been reserved by no-show-ers :(
The c&cc on the other hand charge £25 of your site fee as a booking - you pay in full if the cost is less than that - to reserve your pitch. Better availability and more realistic reflection on the online booking system. Bummer if you want to book a load of sites in advance and you're not in a position to pay for them all, but OTOH there tends not to have to be the 'rush' at new year to book all your holidays for the year
Hope that makes sense, I've typed it way too fast and I should be packing!!

Thanks again for all your advice - will def be looking to buy over the autumn / winter ready for next year. Suspect you will see me post more Q's. Excited about freedom possibilities + annoyed at self for not doing this year!!

When I was talking about the park and ride I was thinking about the times I mentioned when you are on the last day of your weekend or whatever away and you need somewhere to dump / park caravan whilst you go out and about for the day?

Anywa, obviously wont get reply over weekend, caravanners all far too busy enjoying themselves!!!