Each site will say at booking or on their website.
The 2 *Clubs* (re Devon / Cornwall) are consistent UK wide: off by 12:00, in from 13:00. Independent sites: 11:00 is common & so we work to that.
You wanting to stay on past noon might mean another family is parked on the road, waiting to start their own holiday.
Quote: Originally posted by Pixie_Hez on 27/4/2025
If we want to stay late, we just book an extra night and then leave as late as we want.
Same here you can then leave when you want. If you are on a pitch which is already pre booked by another person then you will have to be off. As you would not want to arrive after a journey,and find someone still on your pitch
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
As Pixie and Fiona said, if you don't leave around midday, you are stopping your pitch being used by another full price paying user.
However, it's always worth asking the site if your pitch is free the next night.
We have sometimes asked if we can vacate the pitch as usual, then leave the car on site and take advantage of going on a walk/going into town/use the swimming pool. That is almost always acceptable.
Some weekend bookings, especially for Bank Holidays, start on Friday evening and last until Sunday evening (so 3 nights really).
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
I would ask a site if I could leave later than their normal check-out times, and am prepared to pay extra for the privilege.
If it is not busy as in the pitch is not needed straight away, the site would normally say yes with no extra cost.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
The flip side of this - we had a pod booked recently, arrival time from 3:00 pm. The owner emailed to say we could arrive whenever we wanted as no one was in the unit. So we were in by 10 am, which made a big difference to our day.
The site 'rules' often state clear the pitch by 10 or 11am, some are as late as 11.30am or midday, but if you ask the manager/warden they will often give you a little leeway for free, some sites will allow late departure for an additional fee. No consistency on that I'm afraid, varies by site, and often the manager/warden on duty. Departure times are tied in with earliest arrival time, with can be as early as midday or 1pm, so flexibility can depend on incoming bookings and site capacity.
Personally I won't book sites that want you off pitch by 10am, it's too early to pack up my caravan all by myself, even if I do a lot of the tasks the day before, I think it's inconsiderate to fellow campers to be making the unavoidable noise before 8.30am, so really insufficient time to do what is essential and can only be done last minute.
There are legitimate reasons for wanting pitches clear by a certain time, some obvious, like pitch maintenance, others less so like ensuring outgoing and incoming traffic don't meet head on in narrow site entrances and approach roads, perhaps more applicable to caravans and MHs because of their size.
It can cause problems for the site if departing campers are tardy, my last trip in Nov last year found me arriving to find the pitch I was supposed to be on (the only 'vacant' pitch) was still occupied fairly late in the afternoon. I'd had a lousy long journey that took far longer than it should and all I wanted to do was pitch the caravan, get something to eat, and crash out. I had to wait an hour or so (with my car & caravan partially blocking the entrance) whilst the errant MH camper packed up and vacated. The CAMC Wardens were lovely, made me a cup of tea and kept me entertained with tails of 'numpty campers' whilst we waited, and they arranged for an extra day on pitch cost free as compensation for my trouble. Maybe a message in there, be nice to the wardens and they may be nice to you! I could have ranted and raved and berated the wardens (as perhaps was my right), but I didn't and we all benefited from it. By comparison, grumpy, moaning tardy MH camper got short shift!
As to your Devon/Cornwall site timings, it often helps to actually talk to sites personally. The standard rules and automated booking terms are partially to stop liberty takers, reasonable requests can often be accommodated.
Some sites have restricted access, and they would restrict traffic leaving the sites so as to avoid clashes with incoming traffic.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 29/4/2025
Some sites have restricted access, and they would restrict traffic leaving the sites so as to avoid clashes with incoming traffic.
DK
Yes precisely, that is why C&CC sites say leave by 12:00, don't arrive before 1pm. It makes perfect sense. We went on one of their sites in 2023 where that was particularly important. There was a very narrow lane up to the entrance, and it was difficult to even pass someone on foot, so imagine meeting a car and caravan coming the other way! It would cause chaos!
A CAMC caravan/camper/MH only site I stayed on last year in the Lake District had pretty blunt "New arrivals - Go away and don't return until after 1pm" sign at the entrance in the mornings when site was busy!
It was made perfectly clear in all the site details and booking paperwork that you would absolutely be denied access until after 1pm, and rightly so, there was no 'parking' area on site if you couldn't get on pitch, there was no off site parking nearby, for some miles in fact, that could take a Caravan or MH on the narrow approach lanes where you could loiter.
And the site had to be quite stringent about getting departing guests off site and away by the stated departure time if it was fully booked for that day, if not full, they were more lenient, but still keen on ASAP, as incoming guests could pick their own pitch, but that's compromised if tardy folk are still there long after normal departure time.
And you really didn't want to meet caravans and MHs coming the other way on the narrow approaches! - one of you was going to be reversing some tricky lanes for some distance! The classic good reason for no overlap of arrival and departure times.
Tied into the departure time is the matter of cleaning the toilets. CAMC and CCC close the toilets at 10:00 or 10:30 until 12:00 for cleaning, by which time you must be off site. Means queues for showers before lockdown. Sometimes there’s a family / disabled loo to use before you drive away, but not always.
I find independent sites often do not close the toilets & showers for cleaning, and are far more flexible about the timing if they do: afternoon cleaning is common (few people shower at 2:30), or between the 12pm off and 1pm on.
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: Later check out
via mobile 27/4/2025 at 8:37pm
