# Caravan Club, Camping and Caravanning Club, Britstop or ...?



## thesmiths88 (Nov 30, 2011)

Hi there, wonder if I could pick your brains please. I don't know whether it is worth joining any of these clubs or not.

We have a 7m long motorhome, won't be travelling in school holidays, not too bothered about having a hookup each night and hopefully will be doing some wild camping too. We would mainly be travelling in Wales (where we live) and up to Scotland and inbetween these two, and over to France as well.

Is it worth joining any of these clubs? Are the prices out of school holidays really about £5 a night (we don't need all singing, all dancing campsites)? 

Thanks!


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

First and foremost MHF.
We are also in the Caravan Club, for which I can recall no benefit over the last several years, we don't use them and their sites are expensive. Not sure why we are still members.
Brit Stops has plenty of potential although we have only used them a couple of times.
Motorhome Stopovers, for us, has so far proved the most useful, providing good free venues in the right places.
ACSI and the use of Aires would be favourite for me after buying All the Aires from Vicarious Books
Alan


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Don't know the Motorhome Stopovers mentioned by rosalan, but I will investigate.

C&C, and C&CC - we're in both and use their CL/CS's - the sites with fewer facilities, generally. They can also be useful for cheaper ferries at times.

I would also mention France Passion - the French forerunner of Britstops and well worth it - you meet such lovely people and go to such lovely off-the-beaten-track places; and get to taste some lovely wines and cheeses and lots more!


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## thesmiths88 (Nov 30, 2011)

Thank you - do you have to be a member of CL and CC to use their sites, or can you still use them, but they charge more for non-members?


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Like Motorhome Stopover Club, Britstops, CaravanClub etc, you really need to be a member to use their 'value' sites. The larger sites you can usually visit but need to pay more.
Of course, to get best value you will need to have their books and lists of sites that they have built up over the years.
In France etc, using Aires, you need no membership but it does help to know where to look for them. This information is free and available all over the place, including TomToms Places of interest but Vicarious Books produce a very useful guide for most European countries
Alan


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## Uller (May 29, 2010)

We spent 4 months touring England/Wales last year. We mainly used CC CLs which we found to be much nicer (and cheaper) than CC&C CSs, however when we needed more facilities we found CC&C club sites cheaper than CC! 

Britstops are a great idea but we only used one - two otherswe called were no longer doing it. 

We averaged about £7 per night over the 4 months using mostly CLs with the occasional expensive site.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

rosalan said:


> In France etc, using Aires, you need no membership but it does help to know where to look for them.
> Alan


Spot on Alan - that's the key to relaxed "mooching" in my opinion.

If you know you will have no problem finding somewhere to stay it makes the holiday so much more relaxing, especially abroad as in France.

Therefore, see below.

Dave 

.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

We use Caravan Club CL's a lot. Mainly because there are so many of them so you can usually find one where you want to be staying. There is one near my daughter that charges £2 per night 8O 

Some people use the Camping and Caravan Club Temporary Holiday Sites to move around the country. We are members and can see how cheap they are but have not been to any yet. They are held in school grounds and rugby clubs etc all over the country. We have to belong to C&CC to insure our elderly van with RAC otherwise we might not bother.

Love the idea of Brit Stops and have just rung up pubs near us and asked if we can book a meal and stay in the car park. Never been turned down yet


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## thesmiths88 (Nov 30, 2011)

Thank you everyone - if we needed to use a CC CL site and weren't members, are you able to join on the spot?


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## Pard (May 1, 2005)

I'm a member of the CC and C&CC and use their CLs/CSs more often than Club Sites. They can be very cheap if you can do without hook-ups, and you're away from the honeypot locations. _With_ hook-ups, toilets, showers, etc, some prices can seem to approach those of regular sites, but a lot depends on location. Many are neat and tidy and in good situations, usually quiet peaceful retreats, and the owners are mostly very welcoming.

I'd suggest that you try to gain sight of a member's site directory and assess if there are enough of them in areas you want and _when_ you'll be wanting them, bearing in mind about 50% close up from autumn to spring (varying dates), and, just at the time of year when you might appreciate a full-facility site, when the weather cools, there are still all too few Club Sites remaining open.

In Cornwall, where I live - not exactly unknown to off-season visitors - neither club opens a site all year. In the whole of Wales there are just two CC Club Sites open through the winter - Tredegar House Country Park at Newport and Lady Margaret's Park at Chirk. The C&CC Welsh sites remain closed. So, much will depend on how keen you are to camp in mid-winter!

As regards joining on the spot, I think this is possible at C&CC CSs, but not sure about CC's CLs.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

Why not click on "Reviews" and search the MHF map? Nominate a place you might visit and up will pop a map and info about almost every site which exists.

We're in CC, CCC & Britstops - its a case of horses for courses. In total they cost us less than £100 pa (30p per day!) and offer a huge range of resources whilst on the road.

We think CC has the best showers (some are satisfied with their van facilities) and sites in London. CCC offer best weekend value - a District Association rally may cost £5 per night - and THS (Temporary Holiday Site) system - no booking (usually) so freedom. Britstops were good when my clients would pay for evening meals but not for accomodation.

Enjoy - Gordon

PS France has a wonderful system of free/cheap Aires and ACSI is useful for "out-of-season" camping.


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

after about 8 years membership gave up on the c&cc but kept up the cc dont really know why, because i always use tesco vouchers for crossing's, aire's and acsi for sites oversea's ,so dont even use their ferry booking service which was the original reason for joining 
i am a big fan of britstops and wildcamping.co.uk and find that the mhf database gives me a rough route with plenty of stop's that are easily filled in .
i also find this site http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/ very good to build a framework with [never yet managed to follow a plan when camping]


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Dave,

Where is the map you put on taken from?

Aldra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

bump


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi the Smiths
Some CLs and CSs let you join on the spot but not all. They have to keep the miriad of info packs for you as you will get lots of books and stuff especially if you join the caravan club.

I am in both Caravan and Camping and caravan clubs but prefer the caravan club by far and use mostly their club sites. They are mostly very peaceful and convienient some of them near large towns so you dont have to walk and can leave the van on site. I have rarely used the camping and caravan club in recent years.

I do use caravan club Cls and these are by far better than the Camping and caravan club Cs,s

To be honest for the cost of joining (unless funds are limited) i would join just the caravan club for the first year. thier sites are dear by no dearer than some normal camp sites

Phill


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

aldra said:


> Dave,
> Where is the map you put on taken from? Aldra


Sorry Aldra, only just saw your query.

It's a screenshot of my Autoroute pushpins.

If you have Autoroute it's dead easy to install csv files as pushpins. If you look on Archie's Campings website he has a large selection, including the 2012 versions of ACSI and Camping Cheques sites. (With page numbers in the info panel, which is dead handy! :wink: )

We wouldn't be without Autoroute and a GPS dongle. You can see precisely where you are, and can instantly spot (and navigate to, if you wish) any nearby aires, municipals, campsites, ACSI sites etc..

It makes motorhome mooching an absolute dream - especially in France. :wink:

Dave


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

Hi

We belong to both clubs, but if we had to ditch one it would be the caravan club. The deciding factor for us would be the THS that the C&CC provide - they are nearly always near to where you wanna be and they are a cheap alternatives to the club sites which we have never used. Love cl's and cs's and have done a few Britstops too which have also been great. We look forward to using a few more Britstops this coming season.  

Steve


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