snowie Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 MMM has just dropped onto doormat, and a CC flyer has dropped out of it. I don't want to just repeat the UK versus France debate, I'd rather ask the specific question, do you find it possible to tour and not book months in advance? We have been put off attempting a long trip in uk because CC and C&CC site are pre-booked way in advance and options very limited for late booking. (unless out of season) I think that "touring" has an element of spontaneity about it . Have things improved? How much do most CC members actually tour? alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I think your right to be sceptical!lol.. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 We have no problems whatsoever when touring in the UK. By the way .... what's a Site? :D Have you tried the THS (Temporary Holiday Sites). Both Clubs have them, they are very basic and will not suit the 'Glampers' who seem to prefer the CC. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 well..if you consider the CC camping model (field with tap and toilet block) as "Glamping" I feel very sorry for you..what a deprived life you lead :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 If for any reason we had to return to U.K. touring then the only way we could think to do it, avoiding pre-booking, would be to use a mixture of CCC temp holiday rallies MCC weekend rallies, Britstops, PMH stopover sites and Brownhills "aire" and their event weekends (where we are now). On second thoughts if we were restricted to U.K. would sell up and stop motorhoming!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I think that 747 makes some valid points. We also are usually able to go away in UK at short notice and find somewhere to stay. It may be a case of phoning first and possibly even going to a 2nd or even 3rd choice. A week past Thursday we decided that we would like 6 days in The Lake District starting on the Sunday. Admittedly I did check but we were on one CC site and 2 CCC sites. We could have stayed longer on Walker Park, Keswick if we had wished. It does help if we don't want EHU which at this time of year is what we prefer. There is a basic facility CCC site we like in an area of excellent walking and The Holiday Site Manager said that for those not wanting EHU it is possible to find a pitch without booking even on Bank Holiday weekends. We have also toured in England during the July/August school holidays without booking, some of the time staying on CCC Temporary Holiday Sites. Two years ago we spent over 6 weeks in May and June touring the east coast of Scotland, The Orkneys and The Shetlands without booking anything apart from the nights before and after sailing. We had absolutely no problems with wild camping, CC, CCC, CS,CL, Council or commercial sites. It was really as easy as tours we had made in mainland Europe at the same time in other years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Some positive points above. Just like to add some observations from my experiences. We are long standing members of both Clubs and we do tour, usually out of season, and do not book months ahead. But trips last August were also achievable – planned at a few days' notice. Checking the availability for popular sites for any weekend [e.g. CC sites at Baltic Wharf, Bristol; Rowntree Park, York; Chatsworth Park] is advisable. And check the late availability page on the CC website which gives availability for 3 following weekends. And it is always worth ringing the Wardens to see if there have been last minute cancellations. This worked for us at Baltic Wharf. There is not so much of a problem with fully booked sites with the C&CC – the clue is in the name, Camping and Caravanning Club. Tent campers tend not to commit so far ahead as caravanners do, and on the whole, tend not to camp in very low season. I don’t know what the situation is like as regards independent and commercial sites as we have rarely used them. CL and CS sites are another option. Many are open all year and there is a search facility on both Club websites. It’s not quite the spontaneous touring that we are accustomed to on mainland Europe. We have to be a little more organised and think ahead, if not actually book ahead. Whether or not you want to be that little more organised is a matter of choice and, I suppose, will depend on how much you want to tour in the UK, because there are specific places that you want to visit. We just adjust the way we tour to account for the differences. Cheers Gwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 snowie - 2013-06-22 11:43 AM ...I'd rather ask the specific question, do you find it possible to tour [in the UK] and not book months in advance? ... Yes, with a motorhome, it's easy - arguably it's what it's all about. There are thousands of formal and informal stopover areas in the UK. Because of our outdoor pursuits interests we are out at least every other weekend up and down the country and have also done several much longer motorhoming holidays within the UK. We never book anything and have never yet been stuck for places to sleep / recreate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Short answer, as others have said, is yes you can, and you do not need to book - unless you want popular sites at weekends, bank holidays, or during school holidays - which still leaves plenty of scope. Sunday to Thusrday nights usually have vacancies, even at the more popular sites. So, just move off Friday to somewhere less popular, and go on to somewhere popular (if that is what you want) next Sunday. It is a strategy that will work most times. You can check availability of the club sites on their websites, so you get a fair idea of damand in advance. It is not as easy as once across the Channel, but it is quite do-able, with just that bit of guile. In fact, you don't even have to join, as most of their sites now accept non-members, though the charge is lower if a member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 £10 extra per night for non members, so if you're going to want to stop in UK for more than a night or two may as well join (perish the thought) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 To answer the OP's question: No. In all the years we have been extensively touring, all over Spain, France, Portugal, Andorra (not in Britain), in non-peak and peak seasons too, we have never ever had a problem finding a site, or an Aire, or a wildcamp spot; and we have never once booked ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 Well we'll give it a try, now we can plan to get the van out on the road in July and August . We'll start with just a couple of nights away from home, but make no reservations, just turning up at sites as we would in France ( maybe on CLs we would phone in advance ). Looking forward to getting out there! Thanks for your thoughts, alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Hi Snowie, We toured a few years back taking in Central England, the East Coast, a lot of Scotland and a lot of Wales. We never booked ahead. We used the C&CC ‘Big Sites Book’, a list of sites that I had gleaned from various websites (Motorhomefacts for example) and other sites that we happened upon. We really did not have a problem. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Obviously very popular club sites are notoriously difficult to get on last minute but worth a call direct to the site as usually there are no shows. Alternatively you can allways get on a cl - cs pretty much anywhere you wish to visit and there are some really nice ones from a fiver to fifteen quid a night depending on facilities. A cl - cs is like safe legal wild camping IMO :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 At the moment on the CCC site at Dunbar. Did not phone ahead and booked in no problem on Friday. Cracking site with clear views over the Forth with excellent fascilities for only £12.5 for two pensioners. As an aside walked into Dunbar which was a bit of a chore, 2 miles but found it a lovely town. Made use of public toilets which were unbelievable , they were spotless and the attendants had decorated the place with artificial flowers. To be fair the council got it spot on by providing the fascility to such a standard and should be commended. Managed to catch the attendant and told her she did her town proud, got a great smile back which had made her day and mine and best of all it cost nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 ips, I'm surprised, I'd have thought that with only 5 pitches and a lot of people who don't want bells and whistles they would fill quickly. We'd better get going, cheers alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Snowie you would think that but only those in tourist hotspots fill up regularly. We dont have elec so seem to attract more Mh than caravan who seem to want bells and whistles. Just install another hard standing which has been christened by a Mh and one of our regular caravaners in the last week. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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