The obvious appeal is space. A beach that holds hundreds of towels in August is often down to a handful of dog walkers and the odd bird watcher outside the school holidays. Coastal paths near parks like ours on the North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire coast are at their best when they're not crowded, and the light in autumn and early spring tends to sit lower and softer over the water than the flat glare of a July afternoon.

You can find out more via dog-friendly static caravan holiday lets holidays.

Find out more at Yorkshire coast staycations.

England and Wales carry eight bank holidays across the year, and for anyone planning a caravan break, they follow a fairly consistent pattern worth knowing before booking. New Year's Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday, the early May Monday, the late May spring bank holiday, the August bank holiday on the last Monday of the month, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Of these, the ones that realistically suit a caravan holiday, early May, late May and August, are also the three that see the sharpest jump in bookings at coastal parks.

The practical case starts with the beaches themselves. A stretch of sand near a park like ours on the Yorkshire or East Anglian coast that's genuinely difficult to find space on in July is, by late September, wide open. Rock pools, dunes and the tideline are easier to wander round at leisure, without weaving between other groups, and a dog can be let off the lead on stretches that carry summer restrictions.

Booking early is less about beating a queue and more about choice. A pitch with a sea view, a caravan that sleeps six comfortably, or a week that lines up with both parents' annual leave: these are the bookings that get taken months out, not the week before. Parks along the English coast, ours included, tend to open the following year's summer diary not long after the current season closes, so the families who book in autumn get first pick of the following July and August.