Is it with joining Camping and Caravanning Club?

[TolpuddleFarterOATB]

I'm tempted to join the Camping and Caravanning Club, but not sure if it's worth it.

We're a family of four, with a tent and plan to go camping maybe 5 a times a year.

We have been shocked by how much We've paid for pitch fees recently (approximately 25 quid a night.)

So, are the pitch fees cheaper on the certified sites than on normal sites? Are the sites generally better kept than normal sites? Do you find if you're a member that you tend to go to the club and certified sites exclusively?

Cheers in advance.

Sites well looked after as are toilet/shower blocks but can be expensive. Quite pinikity about the siting of caravan or tent. Got on my nerves. But put up with it for spotless loos.

We use a C&C club site regularly. It says on their webite that you need to be a member, so you have to tick a box to say you intend to join if you aren't already a member, but the owners say not to bother just tick the box, it's to deter the "wrong type" or something

contact C&C sites direct and see if you can book anyway

We were members for years just for certified sites. I have never been to one of their proper sites, too regimented for me.

The certified sites can be lovely, some insist that you are members, others don't (but are meant to).

I am not sure it will save you cash tbh, site fees are increasingly expensive. We pay £25 minimum at most places for a family of three.

Membership never meant that we only used c&cc sites, just allowed us to go to the few that insisted.

I think £25 is not that unusual, club/certified site or not. Most sites now charge something for children on top of a pitch fee. So we can find sites for £15, but with our 3 children at £3.50 each, we add on another tenner to the basic price.

I think both Caravan club and C&CC run rallies, where you can get bargains- £13 for 2 nights but these are like pop up camps for a weekend.

Camping is not the cheap holiday it used to be😞

Cheers for the responses! Probably erring on not joining now (sorry C and C!) Will carry on as we are - I was hoping the club might make things slightly cheaper.

It wasn't that long ago that me and DH were paying £8 a night camping...

I think it really depends on what sort of camping you like. In my limited experience, the sites tend to be very geared towards older couples with caravans and can be a bit "No Ball Games" iyswim. Can't complain about the facilities but I would in general rather camp somewhere a bit more relaxed.

Certified sites aren't like that caitlin, they are small privately owned affairs, much more relaxed than club sites. Might be behind a pub, on a farm etc., etc.. Those were the only sites we used. Just the club site pages in the handbook bring me out in a rash 😂.

Are the certified sites good for families? What I like about camping is being in a communal field and all my kids being able to play and make new friends. I wonder if the CSs are too small for there to be other families there. Any opinions?

I use c&c all the time and have been a member for a number of years. Generally the sites allow 'non members' to book but the members will get discount which is what makes it worth joining. We prefer it as we know the site will be well looked after and the toilets and shower facilities will be working and cleaned regularly.
We don't have children at the moment but there's always kids on sites having a great time and meeting new friends. Generally they have a park and area for ball games but those sort of details will be on the website for each different site.

Red jumper, in my experience most of the certified sites are exactly what you're after. We like very informal farm type sites where kids can run free and be safe, campfires tree climbing etc! We always look for showers and toilets and don't tend to pay more than about £15 ish. Also they do temp holiday sites where you get full use of a campsite but much cheaper as you're in the rally field - been hoping to go to Higher harlyn park in Cornwall this month for eg, £20 p night there but site has outdoor pool and looks lovely. Think it's well worth joining for access to the certified sites

We have been members of caravan club for years I actually think caravan sales team talked us into it when we first purchased our van and been newbies we signed up without hesitation.
We used to use the cc club sites a lot they had nice toilet blocks and playgrounds for DC and were pretty much same format wherever you went. Some people do find sites have a lot of rules, pitching and leave earlier etc. Also this was caravan club not c and c but there was a day in December each year when sites would open booking and people would just book up loads of sites and cancel they day or so before but this changed a few years ago I think.

We use caravan club now just for the cl sites which are great that been said a few of the owners aren't bothered if you are a member or not, it's just a case of knowing where to find the sites. Some often have two fields one for cc one for non-members

We like the club because we always book our overseas holidays with them as it works out cheaper then going direct and it's handy to have all site details in one place

Plus dh likes the magazine he gets monthly

There's also the member discounts. 10% at Go Outdoors, 15% at mountain warehouse

C&C sites vary massively. Some are definitely aimed at older campers, but I joined just to get a discount on a week's stay at a particular site, and it still worked out cheaper. I think there are still a lot of sites that aren't too expensive if you know where to look (tent Talk camping group on FB is handy for info like that), esp if you don't want EHU

My parents have always been members and we joined last year to book a holiday to France with their carefree service.

We're members. We do use non-club sites as well. I've yet to encounter a site that we had to be members to book, but we've saved on pitch fees, and used the discounts at small businesses local to sites, e.g. pubs, shops. We like knowing the site will be well run with decent, clean facilities, very friendly staff and other campers. Some are more family orientated than others. DS normally makes friends to go feral with. We have only been to one that had no playpark. That one was billed as suitable for couples, there were other kids but no central point for them to gather. At that one there was a late night issue that needed dealing with and the staff handled it brilliantly.

We also have some confidence that on club sites there doesn't tend to be people pitching up with a crate of Stella and settling in for a rowdy night of keeping us all awake. Call me an old fart.

We've managed without but there's lots of lovely field type sites where we can pitch in a circle and have fires/kids roam near us that aren't c and c.