Caravanning is a popular holiday choice, which means that there are loads of destinations to choose from. Staying at a designated caravan park is a good idea because they should provide you with at least the basic facilities that you need to be comfortable, such as clean toilets and access to fresh water. There is a vast range of different types of caravan site with all kinds of different facilities.

When you are choosing somewhere to stay it is worth considering what you need from your holiday destination. Here are 10 things that could affect your choice of pitch:

1. Animals – Not all sites allow pets, some may charge if you do take them.

2. Adults – Some sites are adult only sites, creating a completely different atmosphere.

3. Children – Some sites will have lots of child friendly facilities such as playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts and even petting zoos.

4. Privacy – If you want a high degree of privacy it may be worth looking for somewhere with en-suite facilities and secluded pitches.

5. Facilities – Sports facilities, food and drink availability and social events all differ from place to place. If you want to cycle, many sites offer cycle hire facilities.

6. Public Transport Connections – If you wish to see the local area you should find out about the local transport system. Check how close the train station or bus stop is to the site.

7. Locations – If you want lots of things to do during your holiday, check the local area or your intended destination site for information about areas of natural beauty, tourist attractions, water parks, beaches, local events and other things to do.

8. Locality – It is worth finding out how long it will take you to get to the site, and how much that journey will cost you.

9. Price – Price varies enormously, from £3 a night upwards, you may find that it is beneficial to join a club so that you can take advantage of their reduced rates.

10. Booking – Book well in advance if you have a specific site in mind. During peak times some sites get completely booked up.

Once you have decided upon what you need from a site you can start looking at the different kinds of sites available.

Static Caravan Sites

There are lots of static caravan sites in the U.K. They are available to buy and to rent. If you particularly like a certain area and wish for the comfort of having your own things around you then buying a static caravan may be a good idea. You can also rent static caravans. This is excellent if you do not have the means to transport a touring caravan. The parks that static caravans are located on will normally offer a range of facilities.

Touring Caravan Sites

Touring caravans are flexible homes. You can stay in large parks with many facilities or you can retreat to small rustic pitches in the countryside, the choice is yours!

Certified Locations

The smallest sites known as Certified Locations to the Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club, are suitable for no more than 5 caravans at any one time. They offer seclusion and basic amenities. Certified locations are casual, normally rural caravan sites designed to facilitate your enjoyment of the local area rather than to provide you with on-site activities. Many sites of this size are affiliated to a caravan club so they are only available to use if you are a member. The cost of staying in a site of this size starts at about £3, which makes it great value for money if you can entertain yourself.

Starred Caravan Sites – The British Graded Holiday Park Scheme

There is a system in place to evaluate holiday parks and caravan sites. It is the traditional 5* system. Private sites, holiday parks owned by commercial operators and the club sites that are open to non-members will generally all be rated under the star system. It is organised by the tourist boards of the U.K. As you would expect 5* is the top rating; caravan sites with this accolade will have groceries available daily, 24 hour access to a public telephone, good lighting, heated toilets and 75% of pitches will have electrical hook ups. 5* sites will have extremely high levels of cleanliness and all facilities will be in good order.

The other sites are graded according to where they fall in comparison to this. 5* means exceptional standards, 4* excellent quality, 3* is the industry standard, 2* is good, 1* is acceptable. Any parks that fall below these standards will not be awarded a star.

The star system is not an indication of the types of facilities available, but of the quality of the facilities that are there. Star status is reviewed annually. Always check individual brochures for details about the exact facilities that will be available.

Other Criteria for Judging Holiday Parks

The Camping and Caravanning Club and The Caravan Club have their own criteria for judging their own caravan sites. This information is available to members. Both of the clubs have a good reputation and many choose these sites because they have a high minimum standard.

The David Bellamy Conservation Award is given to all of the caravan sites in the U.K. that are making a comprehensive effort and having a positive affect on local wildlife. There are 600+ awarded sites at the moment. Many of the sites are in areas of great natural beauty and some are completely eco-friendly.

The impact of travel on the environment is huge. Daily car trips and annual summer holidays abroad are the norm for many people. This causes a huge release of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. But there are a number of ways that you can actively reduce your carbon footprint when you go on holiday.

Environmentalists have long praised the green credentials of caravanning when compared with other modes of transport, particularly plane travel. The National Caravanning Council’s research shows that the C02 emissions released when transporting a family of four on holiday in a mid weight caravan and car combination are significantly less than catching a plane and are also the same as or less than taking the journey on a train. In fact if you go on holiday in a large car towing a heavy caravan it will still be a great deal less harmful to the environment than if you went on a plane. This is especially true of short and medium distance journeys such as travelling within the U.K. and travelling to France or Spain.

There is always more that we can all do to reduce our impact on the environment and whilst caravanning is a good start it is by no means the end. Here are five tips that will help you to lower fuel wastage whilst driving:

1. Make sure that your caravan and car are well matched for fuel efficiency.

2. Towing at 40 mph uses significantly less fuel that towing at 50 mph. Try to not exceed 75% of your maximum speed as this makes a large difference. Also avoid rapid acceleration.

3. Turn off your engine if there is no movement ahead. If you have to leave the engine idle for more than approximately 30 seconds then it is more fuel efficient to turn it off.

4. Ensure that you have the correct tyre pressure and that your vehicles are in optimum condition as this combats the inevitable inefficiencies as your vehicles get older which will reduce fuel consumption and make oil leaks far less likely to occur.

5. Obtain a profiled roof box; increasing aerodynamic efficiency on your caravan can make a surprising amount of difference to your overall efficiency.

Lowering fuel emissions on the journey is an effective way to have a greener holiday. You should also find that the cost of your holiday will be less than with foreign travel. Particularly for travel within the U.K. where there is no need to deal with unfavourable currency rates and generally no need to use other more expensive forms of transport such as ferries.

There are many other measures that you can take to ensure that your holiday has the lowest environmental impact possible, Here are five more ways that you can save the environment and save yourself some money in the process!

1. Avoid short journeys with your caravan; the start of the journey uses up a lot of fuel.

2. Take less with you! More weight = more energy consumption.

3. Take bikes with you. When you are at your destination you can use these instead of the car for fun, healthy and carbon free travel.

4. Trips to the beach or nature reserves are a great day out and will not cost you much at all.

5. Choose a eco-friendly caravan site. Both the Camping and Caravanning Club and the Caravan Club have schemes in place to ensure that their sites are always trying to improve upon their green credentials. 

Influential botanist David Bellamy gives Conservation Awards each year to any caravan sites that achieve high levels of natural integration with their surroundings. The awards include consideration of every aspect of how the site is run including water conservation, encouraging bio-diversity and having good recycling facilities. Some caravan sites get bad press for being unsightly and unnatural areas but any that David Bellamy has awarded are sure to be the exact opposite of this. Giving you and your family many opportunities to stay in beautiful places that are designed to sustain and celebrate nature whilst creating a lovely holiday destination.

If you put all of these factors together you are going to be going on a great holiday that costs you and the environment less!