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I mean moving from place to place rather than just going to one place for a longer period?

We've only been away for a couple of short breaks in our caravan so far but are thinking about going from home (Norfolk) to South Wales to Cornwall via Cheddar and then staying somewhere else on the way back. We're probably going to do it over 2 - 2.5 weeks.

Just wondered how much touring people do and whether there is anything we need to consider if doing this.

Thanks

Helen

Hi Helen,

For the last few years we have been away for up to 6 weeks at a time during the school summer holidays, staying at 5 or 6 different sites each time.

This summer we are going to somerset, Cornwall, Devon and Gloucestershire. We usually stay for a minimum of 3 or 4 nights on each time but sometimes up to 10 nights depending on location.

I would say that you need to consider what is involved in setting up and packing up each time you move, do you need a awning and if so try and manage with a smaller porch type that can easily be erected and stored away again, after all you don't want to spend too much of your valuable time messing about setting up.

If like us you are travelling at peak holiday times I would say book your sites well in advance and avoid travelling over weekends when traffic is heavier.

We do loads, but we are retired so have time, last year we unusually stayed at 1 site for 12 nights, a few days or less at one is more the norm for us, but we don't travel more than about 130 miles maximum.

Anne

Quote: Originally posted by Viggo on 23/1/2010

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If you're working, you don't have the spare time for touring - unless you actually enjoy pitching and unpitching.

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           We are both working,but manage to do it in the school summer holidays .!!!!

We are retired so intend to use our caravan this year much more than we did our last one when we were both working, but being older we feel more tired after a long journey, so limit our days travel to 140miles max, so do tend to do a site hop if we want to go further away. We tried a three site hop within 12 days last year just after we bought our van, but did find it took quite a chunk out of our relaxation time, so this year its mostly going to be keeping to the 140mile radius of home with one longer September trip with a stopover on the way to Broadlands at Norfolk. We used to pull in on laybys and service areas with out last van but times have changed in the ten year break we had away from caravanning and we no longer feel safe doing this, we never liked doing it anyway because of the road noise and constant engine starting up on the service areas keeping us awake, and would love to find some safe places to pull in for the night just to sleep, without having to de-hitch and set up fully only to have to pack up again 8hrs later!

We are quite lucky I suppose in that we live quite central for traveling to most areas, and can reach the coast east or west or the areas of Cotswolds and Yorkshire within our 140 mile limit, then tend to do day trips to places further afield once we are there, typically Padstow from Cheddar, or the Broads to visit out friends whilst at Sandringham.

Julia    

When we were both working we had TTs and Motorcaravans and each year we would do a 1200 trip in 2 weeks. These covered, in seperate years, Ireland, Wales, Devon and Scotland.

Now that we are both retired, we still cover aprox the same mileage, but do it much slower, spending longer at various points along the way to explore areas more thoroughly.

Because our circumstances have change, so also has the unit we are now using, IE, a small caravan. This allows us to set up a base camp, with an awning if we are staying a while, but not if we are staying only a couple of days. It is totally self contained and we can use it to wildcamp if we choose to do so when in some of the more remoter areas where there are no caravan sites. (North and South Uist and Barra).

As well as the caravan, we have 2 awnings which are both converted tents. A Kyham Sunhouse and a Kyham Driveaway. We use the caravan only, for one or two nights. With the Sunhouse if we stay up to 4 nights and the Driveaway if we stay for more than 4 nights.

The longest trip we have done so far is 1200 miles over 27 nights covering Skye and the Western Isles.

This year we are planning a 4 weeks trip to cover part of Southern England and the Welsh Coast. At no point in this trip will we cover more than 150 miles in any one day.

Ofcourse, as well as one long trip each year, we will also have the odd week here and there where we will go to a formal campsite and stay a week depending on the weather and wherever takes our fancy, but we use exactly the same equipment for a week on a formal campsite as we would use for a 4 week trip apart from the awnings. Staying for a week we know in advance which awning we will use whereas on a long tour we take both and decide only when we arrive somewhere whether we are going to stay a while or move on.

Being free to decide where you go and how long you stay once you get there is the name of the camping game and as long as you are not looking for all singing, all dancing campsites, there will always be room for you somewhere so with a bit of preperation beforehand and a list of alternative campsites in the area you intend to visit, we leave prebooking to the families who need laundrettes and heated swimming pools.