Hi I'm thinking of buying a 5 berth touring caravan I live in Belfast where are good caravan parks on the North coast Magilligan Point Castlerock Portrush Ballycastle I'm also interested in the south of Ireland Sligo Mayo Tralee Dingle etc. Looking for reasonably priced pitches.
Also in the UK can I park in a public car park which is lit by lightning lamp posts and not obstructing any other traffic well out of the way of a main road, can I also use a public car park in the south of Ireland as long as it's not obstructing traffic or causing a nuisance I will obviously obviously be very clean no littering or noise etc etc.
Thank you for any help and information in advance
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Hi deemax. My last trip to Ballycastle was too long ago to be helpful (the handy SeaCat ferry from Troon stopped years ago). But try the Site Search on UKCS, tick what you want (dogs or no dogs, for example) and read the first few reviews for sites with 9 or 10 stars. You can’t go wrong that way.
As for parking a car & caravan in a car park - ok for shopping (you’d have to pay for 2 spaces) but you’d need to check whether free overnighting was allowed by the presence or absence of a No Overnight Parking sign (or similar).
Can't comment on Ireland, North or South, but I wouldn't count on being able to park a caravan in public car parks in England (presumably Scotland and Wales as well)! Many have height restrictions intended to stop anything other than cars as a physical barrier, and no overnight stays rules are pretty common too. I think you might also struggle to manoeuvre a caravan through any car parks that you could get into if they had any kind of bay designation like kerbs and posts - there's a good reason why caravans get directed into the truck parking areas of motorway services, you just could not get them through the car parking areas, aisle are far too narrow to get enough of swing for a sizeable trailer!
Most car park owners are desperate to keep caravans OUT, as the Gypsy/Traveller/Tinker fraternity abuse them by setting up camp in them! It's a big problem here!
You'll also find specific prohibition of parking caravans/campers on a great many seaside/resort street parking areas as well!
Overnight parking of a caravan off a camp site can be tricky, I'd say you are largely looking at places trucks can park up, lay byes and such like, then the truckers often don't thank you for parking in their places as they are forced to stop by law for their rest breaks and obviously need what few places there are! A lay by on the side of a major A road is a pretty unpleasant place to stop in most cases, plenty are like open toilets, and litter and fly tipped rubbish filled, not to mention the endless roar and buffeting of fast moving traffic. Not entirely unknown for the Police to check on what you are doing there as well. IMHO, they are places you stop out of desperation, not considered choice!
Where to stop overnight is a big problem for UK caravanners, most plan their trips with single night stay at a pre-booked camp site to break long journeys. You can stay overnight in the designated caravan parking area (usually truck parking area) on a Motorway Services for a fairly extortionate fee (you get nothing more than a place to park, so no water point, waste disposal etc.), which is inevitably noisy as trucks come and go all night, and probably not secure enough for you want to leave your outfit unattended for visits to loo/restaurant.
I have to wonder why anyone would buy a caravan presumably for holidays and then spend them in a car park!
Why not book into a site where you will have most facilities and often a pleasant view.
DaveS1
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Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Touring North Coast - Northern Ireland
via mobile 15/3/2021 at 12:02pm
