Campsite costs UK

[Salty Spuds]

I guess I must inadvertently be thinking I’m cool then

Nah! I think your safe there Funnily enough, one of the worst sites we've been on was booked via Pitchup. Our limit is about £25, depending on time of year & area. We stayed on a cracking little CL site in Cornwall for £12/night. All we ask is a clean bog & shower. It doesn't have to be underfloor heated with piped music & rose petals on the floor. We avoid sites with pools/clubs/restaurants etc, as you end up paying for stuff you don't want/need. We also avoid sites run by chains, Haven springs to mind, they want top dollar & have more rules than the CC&C.

 

[oldiebut goodie]

I spent 2 months around the UK - if I had used camp sites every night I would have had to re-mortgage! I can't believe what people pay for them. The only reason for using a site is to empty a loo if there is nowhere else. Water came from rivers etc - ensure that you have a good filter like Nature Pure.

 

[CAB]

Nah! I think your safe there Funnily enough, one of the worst sites we've been on was booked via Pitchup. Our limit is about £25, depending on time of year & area. We stayed on a cracking little CL site in Cornwall for £12/night. All we ask is a clean bog & shower. It doesn't have to be underfloor heated with piped music & rose petals on the floor. We avoid sites with pools/clubs/restaurants etc, as you end up paying for stuff you don't want/need. We also avoid sites run by chains, Haven springs to mind, they want top dollar & have more rules than the CC&C.

Haven apparently do very cheap off-peak deals?

Never looked into it myself, just what I have heard.

 

[Sackmycook]

Haven apparently do very cheap off-peak deals?

Never looked into it myself, just what I have heard.

Never will stay at a Haven.....too many horror stories of kids riding quads and families scrapping after the bar shuts

 

[JDC]

We tried Haven last year in the lakes and it was quite good. It had a lot more to offer than just a field and toilets. Food, pub and shop on site suited us.

 

[True Romance]

If you can go off grid and use own facilities then look at rallies with motorhome clubs or temporary holiday sites.

 

[JDC]

Checked out Haven for bank holiday. Van and awning works out about £55 per night plus extra for the dog. Madness.

 

[Stay Frosty]

Tintagel from next weekend for three nights and then four nights in Brixham with hook up comes to £235.80.
I think where the wallet rinsing starts is during school holiday periods, either side of these events is the calmer pricing of before and after the feeding frenzy.

 

[JDC]

Not too bad,only works out about £33pn and it is nice down there. Bit far for me to travel for a long weekend though.

 

[JOG]

During the pandemic, the UK “camping” industry was gifted an opportunity to return to their pre-70’s packaged foreign holiday heady days. Despite some operators sitting on healthy reserves, they elected not to invest but draw the wagons round. Their customer base had expanded as families bought tents, caravans and camper vans. And, as ever, the industry risks watching it all evaporate…! The masses will offload their pandemic purchases and take their money elsewhere!

 

[True Romance]

Getting offers almost daily from the two big clubs so think cost is starting to bite them now.

 

[Ayjay]

I know it's not to everyones taste but we don't like to self-cater too much and started getting fed up with how remote a lot of the C&CC sites were from anywhere to eat and drink and learned to research their exact locations as the names of the sites were often no real guide - Lynton is a good example being quite a way from the town on a very steep track which is OK for going but a real pain for the return journey with a couple of pints inside you. We were members for years during our tenting days when it was easier to pitch up and drive the car anywhere (albeit reluctantly as it always meant one of us couldn't drink!) but in the van it's not so easy once we're settled in. Their pitch prices also started to go up a lot and I always said that the year that we never used a C&CC site would be our last subscription and that was the year before last (ignoring covid when everything was in suspended animation) - I can't say that I've missed much since, particularly the over- officious resident camp guards. I've no experience of the Caravan Club and no real desire to change that.

 

[Stay Frosty]

The camp commandants are mostly legend as far as we've found apart from some particularly up her own backside mare we met at Canterbury who told us under no circumstances could we put anything on "her" grass.
Regarding the various sites not being in ideal places we've stayed at Brighton twice now and while it's a proper walk from the Marina end of there to the centre of Brighton it's doable and beach promenade all the way, at less than £40 per night it leaves more money to spend on entertainment too.
Edit and I've just noticed on the pictures that they were taken April 19th last year, what a difference a year makes...

 

[TallPaul_S]

One way to feel better about the slightly rising campsite costs is too look at what you'd have to pay for an actual self catering place to stay on Airbnb. You'll be lucky to get a place to yourself (IE not a room in a house) for less than £100, off season, non school holidays. And that'll very often be a 'hut'. You can quite easily pay £130, £150 a night.

Makes a campsite with hook up for £30 a night seem a bargain!

 

[Salty Spuds]

Never will stay at a Haven.....too many horror stories of kids riding quads and families scrapping after the bar shuts

Yeah, Haven does seem to attract a certain Demographic.

 

[Ayjay]

@Stay Frosty. When you say a 'proper' walk, how far do you reckon it is or how long at an average pace (whatever that is!)?

 

[Stay Frosty]

About a mile and a half so a bit of a jaunt and not many bogs on the way back with a full bladder... lesser skinflints would taxi it.

 

[kipperman]

One way to feel better about the slightly rising campsite costs is too look at what you'd have to pay for an actual self catering place to stay on Airbnb. You'll be lucky to get a place to yourself (IE not a room in a house) for less than £100, off season, non school holidays. And that'll very often be a 'hut'. You can quite easily pay £130, £150 a night.

Makes a campsite with hook up for £30 a night seem a bargain!

Yes, but you probably won’t have made the major investment that is your van if you are booking an AirBnB instead of a campsite

 

[Martinf]

The Brighton site mentioned by @Stay Frosty is probably our favourite. Good access to the area, walkable for us to the town centre and fantastic bus service.

Interestingly it is a C&MH site which @Ayjay is reluctant to try. I would say from our experience their sites are preferable and treat you like adults. Both little things like you are trusted to turn the taps off to major issues like able to return late in the evening if you want to go out in your van. They are also often much better located for access to something other than the countryside.

 

[Stay Frosty]

One nice little bit of comfort with that Brighton site was getting took short and the walk of shame in the middle of the night but finding the lights and heating on on in the block and the local FM radio station playing "Born Slippy" quietly in the background even though I actually only needed a wee.