Timing affects cost as much as accommodation type. Travelling outside school holidays and bank holiday weekends, even by a few days either side, tends to bring costs down considerably, simply because you're avoiding the weeks everyone else is trying to book. If your circumstances allow any flexibility on dates, this is worth more than almost any other single budgeting decision.
As a rough guide: book six months or more ahead for summer holiday weeks, two to three months ahead for half terms and bank holidays, and anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months ahead for a standard term-time week. If you're flexible on exact dates, you can comfortably push closer to the wire; if you're fixed on a specific week, particularly a school holiday one, earlier is always safer than later.
On the budget side, self-catering works in your favour with a bigger group. Cooking most meals in the caravan rather than eating out as a party of eight or ten keeps costs sensible, and splitting the shopping and cooking between the adults spreads both the effort and the spend. A shared static caravan holiday, or two units booked close together, usually works out considerably more cost-effective than the equivalent number of hotel rooms plus regular restaurant bills.
Ask how far the park actually is from the beach or the coast, in minutes rather than vague terms like "nearby". A ten-minute drive and a forty-minute drive are both sometimes described the same way in marketing copy, so it's worth checking a map or asking directly if walking to the coast matters to your plans.
Packing for a coastal caravan holiday is really about planning for a British summer rather than a guaranteed one, so flexibility matters more than any single item on the list.
Day to day, you'll be doing your own cooking and washing up, read full article much as you would in a self-catering cottage, so it helps to bring a few kitchen basics like tea towels and washing-up liquid rather than assuming everything will be there. Bedding is usually provided, but it's worth checking your specific booking, since this varies park to park.
As a rough guide: book six months or more ahead for summer holiday weeks, two to three months ahead for half terms and bank holidays, and anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months ahead for a standard term-time week. If you're flexible on exact dates, you can comfortably push closer to the wire; if you're fixed on a specific week, particularly a school holiday one, earlier is always safer than later.
On the budget side, self-catering works in your favour with a bigger group. Cooking most meals in the caravan rather than eating out as a party of eight or ten keeps costs sensible, and splitting the shopping and cooking between the adults spreads both the effort and the spend. A shared static caravan holiday, or two units booked close together, usually works out considerably more cost-effective than the equivalent number of hotel rooms plus regular restaurant bills.
Ask how far the park actually is from the beach or the coast, in minutes rather than vague terms like "nearby". A ten-minute drive and a forty-minute drive are both sometimes described the same way in marketing copy, so it's worth checking a map or asking directly if walking to the coast matters to your plans.
Packing for a coastal caravan holiday is really about planning for a British summer rather than a guaranteed one, so flexibility matters more than any single item on the list.
Day to day, you'll be doing your own cooking and washing up, read full article much as you would in a self-catering cottage, so it helps to bring a few kitchen basics like tea towels and washing-up liquid rather than assuming everything will be there. Bedding is usually provided, but it's worth checking your specific booking, since this varies park to park.