Cost of non-electric tent pitches

[bern]

For the last 2 summers we have gone to Nodes Point on the Isle of Wight. They have both been great holidays overall but last year I got fed up with paying £30 a night for a non-electric pitch when the washing facilities were so poor. By poor I mean (very) dirty showers, no toilet paper and faulty hair dryers (for my wife!) for the duration of our stay. The upside is it is in a great location.

Anyway this post isn't meant to be about last year, it's about this year. I've started to look and was surprised to see £30/night seems to be the going rate. We have only got back into camping in the last 2 years now our 2 kids are old enough to survive cold nights! Previous to this my wife and I use to go to Cornwall in the summer and pay around £5/night, this was around 10 years ago now!

So is £30/night expensive for 2 adults and 2 kids in a family tent with a non-electric pitch or am I being a typical tight Yorkshireman! £300 for 10 nights camping just seems excessive.

Any recommendations of good cheap camping sites more the welcome. We don't need any fancy facilities just clean showers and somewhere to wash our dishes.

[smifffymoto]

Get yourself over to France and pay much less than less.

[mart 63]

We have a seasonal pitch for our caravan on Dyfryn seaside estates near Barmouth. Camping without electric is £21 per night for a famiky of 5 during school holidays and £19 other dates.The site is adjacent to a stunning 7 mile beach. On the site you have a Club,restaurant, chippy, well stocked shop, pool with sauna and jacuzzi.It also has good Wifi.showers are 50p for 10 mins and the toilets and showers are spotlessly clean. Good kids playground. Dog friendly too.The non electric pitches are next the sand dunes and this beach.

[bern]

That looks superb. Like that you have the beach and snowdonia close by.

Looks like you can't book for non-electric pitches, just a case of turning up?

[oldcynic]

We spent a fantastic 10 nights at Birchbank Farm at the bottom of the lake district 2 years ago - £12/night for 4 of us in a twin axle caravan (hookup is £3 extra, but there's not many)

No clubs, no chippy, just rolling hills and a stream - but decent wash/shower rooms and free range eggs from the farm. I was reminded just how fast 2 small children can make friends, and how much fun they can have with a simple stream, and the tourist trail wasn't far away.

http://www.birchbank.co.uk/

[mart 63]

bern said:

That looks superb. Like that you have the beach and snowdonia close by.

Looks like you can't book for non-electric pitches, just a case of turning up?

Its a very large field, it holds a few hundred tents and ive never seen it full.The electric hookups are only £25 a nite in peak season and are very large with your own water and electric.

[oblio]

mart 63 said:

...Dyfryn seaside estates near Barmouth...On the site you have a Club,restaurant, chippy, well stocked shop...It also has good Wifi..

I struggled to find all the info on these facilities on the website...or is it me?

It sounds great btw

[mart 63]

I aint looked at the website, but all the facilities are there

[Rosscow]

oblio said:

mart 63 said:

...Dyfryn seaside estates near Barmouth...On the site you have a Club,restaurant, chippy, well stocked shop...It also has good Wifi..

I struggled to find all the info on these facilities on the website...or is it me?

It sounds great btw

http://www.dyffryn-seaside-estate.co.uk/facilities.html

[oblio]

Thanks folks - go it now

Click on "On the Park" and then another click on Facilities in the right hand column!

Not that user friendly really but I'll add the site to our list

PS: Do you know if they have hard standings at all?

[mart 63]

All the caravan pitches are hard standing.

[Antony Moxey]

Paying for showers? Have to say that's a new one on me and we've been camping for years.

Try somewhere like here http://www.wooda.co.uk/tariffs - no £30 pitches at this place, we've been loads of times on both electric and non electric pitches in both tents and motorhomes.

[dirty boy]

We're paying £29 a night with electric in Wales this year. 2 adults and 2 children.

[chopper602]

Don't think I've ever paid that much for our motorhome (with electric hook-up), other than a lakeside pitch on Lake Garda (Italy)

[BigBob]

smifffymoto said:

Get yourself over to France and pay much less than less.

We visited France in September last year and stayed just up the coast from Biaritz on a motorhome site - 7 euro a night including hook up. Not suitable for tents as no toilets/ showers but plenty of hook ups/ waste disposal points. Overlooking a lake and 100m from beach with a village town close by with everything you need.

Will I be camping in this country - don't think so!!

[Mr Peel]

Camping used to be a cheap holiday. Nowadays it's a lifestyle and is increasingly marketed as such...

[oldcynic]

Antony Moxey said:

Paying for showers? Have to say that's a new one on me and we've been camping for years.

Try somewhere like here http://www.wooda.co.uk/tariffs - no £30 pitches at this place, we've been loads of times on both electric and non electric pitches in both tents and motorhomes.

I presume you haven't visited in school holidays then? Taking my wife and 2 of our children during the summer holidays would be £34/night for an unserviced pitch!

[oblio]

The most expensive we have ever paid was in the Forest of Dean at the CSMA site there (Whitemead) and it was £35...and that was in winter

Normally pay around £17-22 in winter and up to around £25-27 in summer in the UK. HS plus EHU, 2 adults

[mart 63]

The site we are on opens in 2 weeke for the season. I will gladly take some photos of the electric and non electric pitches if anybody is interested. This is our pitch with a 2.8m awning and annex on it and 5m of grass to the next caravan . All caravan pitches are the same size.