Booking Campsites & Easter prices! Forums

Dibs

One of the joys of having a motorhome is the ability to move around from day to day without feeling you have to stay somewhere. However, during the busier periods it is getting increasingly difficult to find campsites that

a) Have space unless you book a year in advance or
b) are willing to take a booking for one or two nights

It is getting quite stressful just deciding where to go and where to stay!

So this Easter (after trying to book sites in North Yorkshire, The Lakes etc) we have decided to take a risk and not book any sites - we will just head for Mid Wales/Coast and will take our chances - I am confident that we will find sites when we need to (hopefully CS and CLs for value).

Whilsy trying to book we almost got to the point of booking a cheap channel crossing and a few days on the welcoming Aires (but we will save that for the summer).

Another trend is the increasing prices at CC and CCC sites (esp. CC). This Easter (March!) they are charging PEAK rates - for a family of four this soon mounts up (as I say we will be looking for CLs/CSs). Given the ever increasing costs of CC sites (and there 'bland' character - some are better than others, but a once in a lot of the sites you could be anywhere) the value of membership becomes questionable - if it wasn't for the CLs that is!

Anyway - new van tomorrow, so musnt complain too much!

krull

We rarely book. If you don't need all the bells and whistles, you will find somewhere.

Remember that many camp sites do not have a license for caravans but will always take m/h's. Many fams sites that don't advertise are there and just need to stumble on them to find them.

GerryD

Plenty of meets with C&CC or MCC, very rare for them to be number restricted. CC rallies are a waste of time as you have to book two weeks in advance.
Look in the club magazines.

Wizzo

As Gerry says the C&CC rallies are a good way of getting over the problem of Bank Holidays. Did a couple last year and are visiting one this Easter.

Maybe you need EHU though?

JohnW

teemyob

Hello there,

Before we had the motorhome we hardly ventured out of the House or Garden. on Bank Holidays. However, after trying a couple of Bank Holiday weekends here in the UK with the motorhome, we now usually go to France.

You have briefly covered why, though I shall explain in an example with a couple of trips we have experienced.

2006 UK May Bank Holiday weekend in Newquay Group of 6 Adults 3 Nights

Poor quality site (the only one with space) with outdoor pool. Cost for three nights £192.

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2007 May Bank Holiday France, Family Trip 6 Adults + 2 Children 4 Nights

Campsite with full facilities for all inc three heated pools, onsite bar and Restautrant etc. 4 Camping Cheques (£41.20) + £40 for additional 4 adults and two children Cost £81.20 + Norfolkline Ferry £58 Total £139.20 For FOUR Nights! What we saved on the goodies we brought back more than paid for the extra fuel and ferry.

Easter 2008

Booked our crossing for this Easter with Tesco Deals so the Tunnel has cost us nothing. We have not booked any sites, just call on chance or use Aires. There are only four of us max this year and do not need pools or facilities.

If you are looking for a cheap Ferry why not try a quote with Seafrance with the MHF Discount. I am not sure of your circumstances or how flexible your are with travel Dates. I have just tried out in 1 day either side of easter, Thursday evening and return Tuesday evening at 8:50pm and the cost with discount comes out at £58.50 SeaFrance Dover-Calais.

Hope this helps?

Trev.

CurlyBoy

Hi,sorry don't have the answer,but we stop at home bank holidays,choosing to BOYCOTT the greedy *******,silly I know but if we all did this perhaps we might get a better deal(oh yeah,and pigs will fly!!!)
cheers Curlyboy

teemyob

Agree with Curlyboy, boycott or in our case, spend your moeny elsewhere. Trev.

zulurita

Agree,

It is very difficult getting onto a CC or C&CC site if you decide to go away on the spur of the moment. You seem to have to book up early which takes away the spontenaity of this mh life.

You may not even get a CL or CS site as they are limited to 5 vans only so popular ones also need to be booked.

As we have decided to do some Auto-Trail rallies in July & Aug this year up north we spent ages going through CL & CS sites and trying to book for days in between rallies etc. It was quite time consuming, we didn't want to leave it until we came back from France in case all were booked up.

How much easier it is in France with the Aires or Municipal sites, we could just decide at the end of a rally and then drive to the place we chose. I have now made diary pages and typed in where we should be on any given day, lest I forget Wink

6-8 weeks in France wouldn't have caused all this hassle.

CurlyBoy

Hi, absolutely just adds further to the argument why we holiday in France!Can't wait till May when we are off or 8 weeks,but will do some time in Cornwall,but NOT at Easter or May bank Holiday!!cheers Curlyboy