We also sold our caravan and went back to a tent, due to the price of towing it! Now we manage to cram everything in the car, its cheaper anyway so we still go where we like for camping. But I do always moan bout the price of petrol, which we never even gave a thought to a few years ago.
Over the past few years we have only been able to go somewhere within under two hours from home - this year this no longer applies, and I had planned three separate weeks on sites three or more hours from home - with the way fuel is going I am seriously thinking of changing one to a site far nearer home.
To be honest petrol has reached the "right" price because people are now starting to consider the cost of the petrol. You should be considering the cost as its damaging the the environment, and using up a valuable resource, people are buying fuel efficient cars and considering if they need to take the journey, thats all good. I dont think it should rise much further as then only the rich could afford to travel by car but at the current prices people are starting to think twice if they need to take the journey and looking at efficient cars, even electric. That has to be better than filling a tank up, zooming off without worry of the cost or damage.
Any day now food prices are going to go up even more, as the hauliers increase their cost to customers, to cover the rises in fuel cost that they face. When you are getting 7 miles to the gallon a few pence on a litre of diesel soon adds up.
This in turn will mean that people have less to spend on things like camping.
Quote: Originally posted by Camping nutcase on 12/3/2012
Any day now food prices are going to go up even more, as the hauliers increase their cost to customers, to cover the rises in fuel cost that they face. When you are getting 7 miles to the gallon a few pence on a litre of diesel soon adds up.
This in turn will mean that people have less to spend on things like camping.
Or it might encorage people to buy locally rather than shipping potatoes round the country or even round the globe.
elanman- even shopping locally you will find that the goods have at some point been shipped by road. We are lucky in that we have local butchers, greengrocers, bakers etc, but there are plenty of places that are not so lucky.
The rising cost of petrol is a concern but will not put us off this year as all our trips are booked. We will be covering a lot of miles this year. I have just sat and worked out the amount of miles.
1000 miles there and back to the Isle of Wight plus whatever we use during our week long stay.
584 miles to Jasmine Park then Knight Stainforth then back up the road to Fife plus any day trips here and there.
These are our 'big' trips that we have planned and I have not taken into account mileage for the other shorter trips. It is quite scary when you add it up. We both work hard throught the year and are fortunate enough to be able to afford this. We may think differently about this next year though.
------------- 2015 Trips
January - Red Squirrel
February - Red Squirrel
March - Gimme Shelter
April - Elie
May - Noah's Ark
May - Riverside, Skipton
May - Blair Castle
June - Braithwaite Bridges
July - The Star
July - Witches Craig
July - Scone
August - Highburn House
September - Gimme Shelter
Quote: Originally posted by daveroughley on 11/3/2012
See some are going to Scotland this year, we are heading up to the Highlands ( never being there before ) from Cornwall making overnight stops along the way at places of interest, fuel will be a huge consideration, but as someone has already said, " you only live once ".
Not really any free.camping up here now. Lots of signs sprung up over winter " no overnight stops ". There's still lots of reasonable sites though. As for fuel costs, that depends which coast your on. The west seems more expensive at the moment and the islands are even worse. I feel for the islanders. Don't let it put you off though. It's a wonderful Place to see with lots to do.
Dave,
Your sympathy is appreciated!! Before I fill up next time, I shall be considering whether I need to do a large shop on the mainland and take the car. With well over 30p difference in price per litre and much cheaper goods in the supermarkets, it may well be worth it. One doesn't want to put people off but reading a lot of these posts, it's clearly a serious issue and with ferry fares on top, we're looking at a huge downturn.
As far as Argyll area is concerned, the Esso at Dumbarton (A82 northbound) is consistently cheaper; Thames in Lochgilphead; Tesco in Oban and Morrisons in Fort William (but currently the Esso on the right just before the Road to the Isles junction was only a penny more). If you're venturing over to Skye - try the Co-op at Broadford - beware no lpg as the garage there used to have. Inverness seemed fairly reasonable when I was up there four weeks ago.
For those coming up from the south - check out the petrol prices at m-way services - Southwaite was £137.9 diesel weekend before last.
TBH, I wonder how much bringing back the old Motorail services would cost? Probably extionate (sp?) now railways privatized but I found them useful in past - especially in lousy winter weather.
------------- " When I die I don`t want my life to flash before me in an instant, I want it to be a 3 hour epic !"
Unleaded up another 1p per litre locally. It is bound to have an effect of people's ability to camp - maybe not so much their main break, but I know for us it will have an impact on the weekends away.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Price of petrol and camping
