Camping sites.

We've done caravaning on big sites, no tents/vans but we just got ourselves a swb transit and looking for sites that we can park up and pitch with the kids, no booking just pack and go type of thing for this weekend. I realise it's bank holiday weekend but we just want a quick break.. (don't we all!) Can anyone recommend some around South Wales/South west England or point me in the direction of some good camping/rambling websites please

 

I'd seriously book first, you should see how packed the local touring place gets down here on bank holiday

http://www.freshwaterbeach.co.uk/

 

Now if you had asked for sites in Germany or Denmark, I could have named hundreds. In the UK, I only know of 2 or 3. Sadly, none of those are in the area you mentioned.

 

We only bought it Saturday so it's bit of a whim! Have a had a quick look, 72 quid for the weekend, family friendly and it's not too far to drive Thank you @Zigs

@Sandy Ground We have mentioned driving abroad but atm it's bit too short notice and my passport has run out, plus this will be the first trip away in the van so need to get practice in first We done a park called Duinrell in Holland last year and we realised how easy it is to drive over and pitch a tent! So we definitely won't rule out Europe for next year.

 

@Lynd there is The Camping and Caravanning Club(might be too many n's in the spelling of caravanning) and The Caravan Club which will often take tents although you will pay more money for your pitch as you are not members.

I think you are cutting it a bit fine as it is a BH weekend to be honest because a lot of sites will probably be booked up already as more people are having their vacations at home rather than abroad.

When we had our trailer tent you could just turn up on spec at a chosen site and there was usually vacancies but not sure if that is the same these days as we usually book ours in advance,although with the caravan club if they have cancellations they can sometimes for you in but that might just apply to members.

Hope you manage to get something sorted especially as the forecast is iffy weather wise at the moment...

 

Thank you @Kandy, my partner mentioned this website but he didn't have much of a clue, but I'm on it now and its got a handy site search tool and it might be worth signing up if we enjoy it
I noticed the weather is not looking brilliant as well but we really don't mind! Do you have any idea if a panelled gazebo could be classed as an awning or does it need to be an actual awning?

 

Which one of the two clubs have you been looking at @Lynd because I think the first club has more camping members but from what my friend was telling me you have to pay so much upfront when you book because they like The Caravan Club have had a lot of no shows in the past so now make a charge when you make a booking which would be better than turning up on Spec hoping to get pitched then find out there are no vacancies.

I don't know whether the commercial sites still have people turning up on spec or whether people book in advance nowadays.

If you do decide to book anywhere it would be best to ask the Wardens etc when making the booking about a panne led gazebo as they all have their own rules and regulations as to what is and is not acceptable.

We have found in the past using the commercial sites that we had ice packs stolen from the communal freezer even though we had our name on them.My sister had the same thing happen to her and it put her off camping for life.Since we have had a caravan with its own fridge we have never had that problem.

Will speak later as just off to watch Judge Rinder

 

love it!

Again Thanks, I'm on camping and caravaning website, a lot of the sites that are coming up do seem quite exclusive to this club. Still haven't checked the other one out yet, too much info on this one I'm on atm! I just noticed communal freezers so thanks for the heads up regarding that. I can see why people get put off. And with booking I'm going to get all the info up on the websites and ring the sites individually regarding the gazebo, tent and van.. as that is a lot of space to take up. Really appreciated

 

If you do come down this way, don't follow the sat nav, it'll try to take you all the way down to Exeter, come off the M5 at Taunton and keep going south

 

TALKING...

@Lynd i don't know whether you are on Facebook but the C&CC are on there so you might be able to pick up some tips on sites to go to.Also there is the camping and caravanning UK sites review site which lists camp sites and then users give reviews and I think they cover the whole country and you might have more choice if you ring round.

I used to love proper camping (tents/trailer tents) as we used to have a dog so was rather a bit limited as we always took her with us and besides Hotels and B&B's cost a fortune especially when the kids are on their hols as you are no doubt aware.

We have seen the gazebos on some of the club sites but they are usually open sided ones.

Any more questions please ask as the are a few of us campers on here

 

Oh god your a star! OH is on FB, will log in to his account now
Have been reading the reviews for most of the sites in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Like the sound of one Tir Bach Farm, small site with animals and a small park..kids and animals run free and its out of the way

With the leisure battery what can we actually run off it..its connected to the main light in the back of the van atm. Can we get converter kits for these to run sockets? or is it simpler or harder than that.
Also we're trying to decide between a gas bbq or a double burner with grill.. I say the latter and a disposable bbq for burgers as I don't want smokey food constantly but OH is saying the burners take too long.. (typical man).
And finally a potty.. have seen one for about 17 quid on ebay (new) is it worth getting one?

I can't really think of anything else atm.. did think about a small fridge but I think I'll manage with cooler/freezer bags for food for now.

 

Lights telly and laptop from the battery, I've got 5 batteries and an inverter, but I wouldn't want to use them for anything like boiling a kettle, if I need to run something that takes a lot of power I plug the car into the van's system and turn the engine on while i'm using it.

Works both way there, if the car battery goes flat I can plug it into the solar batteries to start it

 

Hi Lynd,Zigs has come up with a few good pointers to get you started

As I am not technically minded being blonde I leave all the dangerous stuff like electricity and Gaz to Mr Kandy and he is at work at the moment.

And please please make sure if you cook in any way not to do any of it inside either a tent or gazebo (closed in) as there has been some cases of Carbon Monoxide poisoning on campsites over the last few years because folk have put their BBQ's inside their tents to cook the meals when it has rained and they have ended up dying

When we had our tent and then a trailer tent we always used a two burner stove which had a little grill underneath it.

We have often got home from a days walking and we have already finished our evening meal and gone back out for an evening walk while those with BBQ's are still faffing about trying to get them hot enough,and it is alway the men that do the cooking on these types of things.What is that all about?

If you go on a big enough site they will have shower blocks but if you get your own porta potty then you will need a little tent of its own to put it in plus you have to have the right sort of chemicals to use with it to dissolve the unmentionables. I alway let Mr Kandy deal with that aspect as I do all the cooking and besides those portable loo containers in the caravans are too heavy for me to carry.(Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

Not too sure if you can run a small fridge from a leisure battery as you don't want to drain all the power in it and end up having it run flat....

 

There are special "camping fridges." I use one made by Elektrolux. They have a changeover switch that allows them to run off mains, gas (propane or butane) and battery. The recommendation is to only use the battery mode when the vehicles engine is running. Otherwise, gas works fine when parked if there is none of this new fangled elektrickery. It can be used for cooking as well.

One tip: Lighting usually works off the leisure battery, so convert to LED's to use less power.

 

That is fab, thought I wouldn't be able to run a kettle but tv and xbox will be high on the list. And I've had a lil gander of those solar panels to hook up to the battery, not sure if the smaller ones with clips under 30 quid would do the job? can you recommend any please?

Oh bloody hell that's awful, no we wouldn't cook in the van/tent and if it did come to the cooking in the gazebo it would be open, I'd be cacking them anyways and especially with kids and all the flammables lying round!
And that's the one, grill underneath, looks great for 30 odd quid! I thought by the time the coals would be hot on bbq, the food be done on burner!! Yeah.. what is it with men and bbqs?!
The few sites I've short listed have got toilet/shower blocks, which will be handy but was wondering for night time convenience.. maybe its just more expense though, when I was younger my friend had a portaloo in her caravan and we were told "no number 2's" haha ..yeah I don't fancy cleaning out 4 peoples waste tbh.

And with the fridges...

Thats the kind I seen funnily enough was about 150 quid, bit too much of an expense for a weekend whim but seemed like a good option if your a proper tourer. At the moment there's kind of a strip light in there so I'm assuming it takes a lot of power so the LED's make sense.. Mr Lynd is gonna love you for that, I told him no bright silly LEDS!!