How much will you pay or have paid for a campsite (1 Viewer)

[barryd]

Hi barry to me and I suspect to anybody but fulltimers, campsite fees are small part of our yearly motorhome expenditure. Since I bought it in 05, depreciation will have been around £5000 per year, add in fuel, insurance, road tax, maintenance etc. and your up to maybe £7000 per year, so even if I spent a grand a year on sites, its still only around 15% of my running costs.

Something that many people forget, they imagine that their motorhome is a cheap way of having a holiday, but that's rarely the case.

Olley

When you put it like that it doesnt seem much. I think for me part of the reason I dont want to pay is I dont want to be on a campsite. For many they do and for good reasons like yourself. Despite being a Yorkshire man Im not really tight and dont mind spending cash on the MH but it adds to the enjoyment to me if we find a free wild camp spot with a great view or a free laid back Aire or cheap CL. No sorry. I cant get away from it, I do sound like a tight sod!

Cheers
BD

 

[GregM]

£75!!!! The new target to beat! Unbelievable.

Right I dont have children but there seems to be some suggesting that they are prepared to spend lots of money for a pitch so the kiddies can have swimming pools, slides, entertainment, etc.

Now its not that long since I was a kid (well it is really) going camping with my dad in the lakes. We camped either on small sites or in the hills and made our own entertainment. Playing with other kids, making catapults and playing in the rivers and streams or having a kick about or going canoeing etc etc. My dad used to just turf us out and let us get on with it. Fantastic. Why is it kids seem to take priority these days and have to have entertainment layed on for them? Sorry for being a moning old git who clearly doesnt understand anything about the modern world including campsite fees and children!

I agree, we go away at weekends to CC&C district meets/rallys in the middle of a field and the kids love it but it is just for a few days at a time. If it rains then they spend that time in the motorhome, boring for them and kills the peace and quiet for us

Camping and caravaning is different in that you can just jump in the car and visit places, this isn't so easy in a Motorhome.

At least with these big sites with all ammenaties the kids have entertainment with and without parents on tow.:thumb:

 

[barryd]

Perhaps I will regret not having children one day but somehow, I doubt it.

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[olley]

Who's going to look after you in your old age?

Olley

 

[moandick]

Try a Bank Holiday at Billings Aquadrome: - Motorhome of 36 feet and up to 4 people - £100 per night with a three night minimum book.

Compared to a Premier Inn or whatever, not so bad, methinks?

 

[scotjimland]

Try a Bank Holiday at Billings Aquadrome: - Motorhome of 36 feet and up to 4 people - £100 per night with a three night minimum book.

Compared to a Premier Inn or whatever, not so bad, methinks?

Billings Shitadrome .. ?

you'll leave lighter than you came, and not just in your pocket ..

should be renamed Billings Iraqadrome

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[moandick]

Agreed, Jim - site more commonly known as "Duck Poo Park" (or Duck S**t City) whichever version you prefer!

 

[chatter]

Always knew there was some reason that i use c&cc holiday sites, the one at blackpool in august has swimming pool,clubhouse,sports bar, arcade, shops, park, fishing ponds and football area. Costs this year £13 a night which includes hardstanding pitch and ehu. In fact the two grankids i take dont even want to leave the site and go into blackpool.

We go to europe but avoid the july/august peak season we use camping cheques and asci card and pay on average €15 a night for sites .

Wilding and aires are not an option for a 5ver really but we have on occasion come accross a quiet spot and stayed overnight.

I would never pay the amounts stated earlier in the thread, kids or no kids, and over the years i have taken not only my own away but also the grankids. Once again its demand and easy pickings. People with kids can only holiday at certain times and people with sites and inbuilt entertainment know that families are trapped by that and are easy pickings - they can charge what they like - yet earlier or later in the year those same sites will charge as little as £10 a night

 

[olley]

Hi Chatter CCC holiday site sounds interesting, do you have to book? I am a member.

Olley

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[barryd]

Who's going to look after you in your old age?

Olley

Well we are both 44 years old and if I get my way (lot of persuading to do) we will go away in the van for as long as possible, maybe a few years or who knows maybe forever or until we need to put down roots again. My plan is to live and see as much as possible while Im still fit enough and able to. If I end up too decrepid to look after myself then at least I will have done what I wanted to do (hopefully) and the state can look after me, Ive paid enough in tax etc over the last 20 years to subsidise my own private care home!

 

[barryd]

Try a Bank Holiday at Billings Aquadrome: - Motorhome of 36 feet and up to 4 people - £100 per night with a three night minimum book.

Compared to a Premier Inn or whatever, not so bad, methinks?

I think thats £100 for the three nights surely? Cant possibly be £100 per night can it? Although from what I have read today, anything is possible!

 

[scotjimland]

I think thats £100 for the three nights surely? Cant possibly be £100 per night can it? Although from what I have read today, anything is possible!

OHHH yes it is

look here, scroll down to BH w/ends

Link Removed

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[ourcampersbeentrashed]

we probably spend more than most as during the holidays we tend to look for sites that are near a beach, are dog friendly and have childrens daytime entertainment as well as a pool and evening entertainment so these are usually quite expensive.

So far we have managed to keep below £30 per night during high season, but prices this year seem to have sored quite dramatically with some of the sites we used to use now becoming out of our price range.

We only book haven or park resorts camping sites last minute or when they have a sale on and to be quite honest have so far found most of them to be overrated and very expensive compared to other independent sites with more or similar facilities and theres no way we would pay £75 per night for a pitch when we could get a hotel room for that.

 

[nicholsong]

I am in the 'barryd' camp, but then i have no kids/grandkids - saved me a fortune!

As for swimming etc, give me a beach and fresh water anytime.

Olley. To answer the Q about who looks after one in old age, my answer is the same person who has done it all my life - ME. When I cannot do that I have some terminator ideas, but meanwhile I want to be independent.

Geoff

 

[haganap]

A

So it looks like the £70 campsite must be a record. I have to say Im gobsmacked. It looks like we are divided into two camps. Freeloaders like me and people who want all singing all dancing sites and are prepared to part with wods of cash for the right site.

Am I missing something on these 5 star sites? Do you all do swinging or what, free beer?. It cant be a better view than some of the free spots I could mention.

I'm from the cissy south so don't have anything to say But for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would pay a fortune for a motorhome and then pay to park it on a campsite. May as well go in a travellodge

Ok seems like there's a little bit of something being aimed at me here.

So to answer a few. 6pm Cowboy, you fail to undersatand? well firstly have a read of my blog. You will see that most of my year is spent on aires, showgrounds or anywhere else I can get a cheap deal.
So Say I go to France for 3 weeks in summer. 10-12 days of this I might spend on a very expensive site. What will I get? direct beach access to a private surf beach, nightclubs for teens, a swimming complex worthy of an american theme park, nightly entertainment resteraunts, entertainent, and enough entertainment to make any 13 yr olds, enjoy them selves.
so thats what I get for my money. Now I could pay 4-5k for that in any Spannish/Turkish resort and fly the family over there for our annual summer holiday just like many folks do. Not forgetting the annual airport scrum, and hasall that comes with flying.
However what's it cost me? It cost me £700 for my 10 nights and £300 on fuel, add a £60 ferry crossing on top of that.

So what does that leave me? well enough money last year to of spent almost 2 months (in terms of nights) away in our motorhome. A ski holiday, a two week, tour of scotland, numerous shows, the odd few nights up the road.
I also get at least a week of our summer holiday visiting aires in France in various places.

I am not sure how old many of you are or if you have children, or can remember what its like to have kids. Kids need a holiday to, Its about sharing our holidays as a family. Some things we want and some things the kids want, after all we are a family.
So may as well go in a travel lodge? dont make me laugh, you have to drive there for starters, in a car, not tour there in a motorhome.

I hope this some way goes to explaining to you why we mix our holidays and enjoy ourselves.


One other thing. When ever I am on a site or indeed an aire, there are loads and loads of others from all over Europe, including the French. we have met many lovely French people on holidays who pay the same as us. So we are not the only ones. Sites charge what ever they can get away with and all the time there full and te demand is there they will charge it.

And nearly lastly, remember its the school holidays we are forced to go in. The 6 week period when schools right across Europe are on holiday. That means its peak PEAK PEAK I tell you.

so please don't knock it, it might not be your choice and it certainly aint mine. However untill there are just the two of us we will be stuck with this type of holiday. However I certainly aint going to wish or fast forward those years away, merely enjoy them. Grown ups always remember holidays they had as kids and ours will have far more than most to remember because we have a motorhome.

Regards

Paul, A southerner emigrated to the North on obviously a big fat NHS salary:thumb:

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[Loujess]

There were many complaints at the cost of £27.50 for one night at the NEC last week. There weren't even any showers?

Ivy

 

[Landy lover]

I am with ScotJimland on this one - we have never never paid more than £20 ever. Unless it is a rally where there is a lot of extras for the money - the cheapest was a couple of years ago - a CL out in the wilds @ £4 off season including EHU - the most recent cheapest was £7 including EHU last Sept the average we generally pay is £10 per night including EHU the most expensive in the last year was £15 which was the nearest site to a show we were attending and felt it better to pay the price for the site than the fuel to travel through the rush hour. Some really lovely sites around for £10 per night worth doing research to get the best deal - some CL's offer a deal on extended stay - worth asking 7 nights for 6 - some 7 for 5 - if someone asked me to pay £75 per night after I had finished laughing would ask if that was per week.

In fairness though I can understand the interest in the big sites for the Extras if I had kids - I do but at 40 years old she is the one paying through the nose

 

[Pugboxter]

I see that BarryD the man who doesn't want to pay much is now famous

Page 39 of the CC magazine

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[barryd]

ITs interesting that it appears the main reason people are prepared to pay lots of money for a site is down to entertaining the kids. After extensively touring France last summer we hardly ever came across Brits on the Aires and never when wilding. Is it possible that we (and im sticking my neck out here) tend to like to conform and play it safe? Aires or Wilding are not what we are used to in the UK so we stay clear of them abroad? Even in July and August we just never came across Brits. I can count on one hand the number of British vans we came across yet when we once ventured on a campsite in the Loire it was full of them. I reckon its a combination of our way of life of conforming and needing stuff like shops, swimming pools, entertainment and a bar all laid on for us. Please dont think Im knocking it or trying to be smug because thats simply not the case. Its just an interesting thread to get an idea of other peoples MH lives.

Perhaps Im missing out on not having children but there is nothing I can do about it now. One things for sure if I had them they would be adopting to the way we want to do things so once they were old enough they would be turfed out into the wilderness to make their own entertainment, not onto some plastic Haven campsite.

 

[chatter]

There were many complaints at the cost of £27.50 for one night at the NEC last week. There weren't even any showers?

Ivy

Im not supprised, saw some pics on another forum a poster had put on, if you wanted fresh water or to empty the grey or black you had to endure a mudbath, and even some vans and motorhomes were parked where it was muddy, they must of run out of room on the carpark hardstanding.
The cc mag should be full of complaint letters next month about the charges and condition of the area if the club dare to print them

 

[haganap]

ITs interesting that it appears the main reason people are prepared to pay lots of money for a site is down to entertaining the kids. After extensively touring France last summer we hardly ever came across Brits on the Aires and never when wilding. Is it possible that we (and im sticking my neck out here) tend to like to conform and play it safe? Aires or Wilding are not what we are used to in the UK so we stay clear of them abroad? Even in July and August we just never came across Brits. I can count on one hand the number of British vans we came across yet when we once ventured on a campsite in the Loire it was full of them. I reckon its a combination of our way of life of conforming and needing stuff like shops, swimming pools, entertainment and a bar all laid on for us. Please dont think Im knocking it or trying to be smug because thats simply not the case. Its just an interesting thread to get an idea of other peoples MH lives.

Perhaps Im missing out on not having children but there is nothing I can do about it now. One things for sure if I had them they would be adopting to the way we want to do things so once they were old enough they would be turfed out into the wilderness to make their own entertainment, not onto some plastic Haven campsite.

Well Barry,
Thats not our experience. In the 5-6 years we have been motorhoming we rarely stay on sites, only in the summer as mentioned. We extensively use aires, or wild camp. In France we regulaly meet other Brits on aires. granted that there always outnumbered by the other countries but there are still plenty on aires. There are far more people using sites with caravans or tents from the uk. Probably because there options are not that of a motorhome.
No one "thinks" your being smug, we know you are
no in seriousness, it is an interesting thread. The people we bought our motorhome from could not get on with it. They simply used it as a caravan and found themselves stuck on sites. I believe the best way to use a MH is to tour. But as Olley so rightly said. "there is no wrong or right way, just different ways"

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[haganap]

I see that BarryD the man who doesn't want to pay much is now famous

Page 39 of the CC magazine

explain to us that wouldn't get a CC magazine,

 

[mad welsh]

they only charge 70 pounds to park because people are more than willing to pay. if everyone say no way mate the price either drops or the site goes bust.

 

[Pugboxter]

explain to us that wouldn't get a CC magazine,

A short letter from Barry about how good the CL's are in the winter and that you can have a great winter caravanning trip without going to Spain or Portugal made the letters page.

and all for 50p a night (I made that bit up )

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[barryd]

I thought Id got away with that! I cant beleive I wrote to the CC! I was bored one night so emailed them out of the blue having had some great experiences over winter.

Now the whole world knows Im a tight git!

Bet the CC dont publish the complaints though!

BD

 

[Road Runner]

explain to us that wouldn't get a CC magazine,

Barry went away over Xmas and stayed on some lovely sites ranging from £6 to £10.

 

[barryd]

Barry went away over Xmas and stayed on some lovely sites ranging from £6 to £10.

The CL at Hayling Island and one at Exeter were only £6 with EHU!!! I actually felt bad just handing over £6 so made a point of hardly using any leccy!

I cant see how they can make any money at those rates but Im definately not complaining!

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[6pm Cowboy]

just take the lawn mower ... that'll keep em happy

or better still, take the box it came in.

I take your points about travelling with children though.

 

[jhorsf]

Barry did that 6£ include christmas dinner



Barry went away over Xmas and stayed on some lovely sites ranging from £6 to £10. __________________

 

[barryd]

Barry did that 6£ include christmas dinner

No believe it or not we had Christmas Dinner on......Wait for it, yes A CAMPSITE!!!!

Before you think, Oooh Barryd has splashed out and treated his long suffering wife to a proper campsite with serviced facilities and hot showers and washing machines, well I did but it was on the Isle of Wight and I did a special deal through the campsite at Cowes for 7 nights including the ferry crossing for £132!!!! Mrs D did have to cook the Turkey in the van which took flipping hours.

I only went cos it was cheaper than using the CL's on the island and paying for a ferry ticket!

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