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It's interesting how some stories run that people are buying caravans as a cheaper alternative, but those in the know can tell you that it's not so.

I guess it depends how much use you make of it. Due to work commitments (I have to work weekends and my wife works Mon-Fri) the only time we use ours is for three weeks a year max. Add everything up (devalutation, storage, insurance, servicing, bigger car etc - I reckon it costs us about £1800-£2000 a year just to keep the caravan before we even pay site fees. With site fees we're looking in the region of £2,500 for three weeks holiday - that's not really cost effective.

Quote: Originally posted by mickyallsorts on 12/8/2010

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I am going to France for holiday then I am going to bail out of caravanning, it is getting too expensive for me.

We store the van, insure the van pay for a tracker, my 4x4 road tax is just under £500 per year. Even if we go local for the weekend I put a fair bit of fuel in and then the pitch price. All told I don't think its far off hotel prices given that I wouldnt need such a big motor.

Its a shame because in some ways you cannot compare the lifestyle of hotel to campsite but maybe we are in for a rocky ride again with the recession so I might just jump out now.

I will be selling up Caravan and kit in a couple of weeks so let me know if interested (yes I know I have to advertise in the other bit!)

Micky

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Know exactly how you feel, we're thinking of calling it a day ourselves.

I was talking to a site owner who's had a few rallies cancel this year, he reckons that people just can't afford to get out in their vans like they used to.

There do seem to have been a lot fewer caravans out on the roads this year (and that's despite this boom in caravanning that everyone says is happening - I'm not sure I believe it myself)

Shame, but like you say, the costs are just getiing out of control now.

We tow our caravan with a Renault Clio. 40mpg while towing & Road Tax Nil.
It is stored in my workshop so storage fees, Nil.
It has a Tracker on it so the insurance is "cheap as chips".
We use THS so we are never paying more than a Fiver a night.

Caravanning, like any other type of holiday, is just as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be.

so why do they say that camping and caravanning are up by 27% this year.

i would have loved to have gone to france this year but we couldnt aford it . the ferry plus fuel is not worth it . so we went in this country. you dont need a huge car or a twin axel to make it any better . we started with a tent . but we have a smallish caravan and we had the same when we had the two boys . we do have a 05  mondeo estate which i love and it is fine for towing .

just a large awning. bikes, and dont go to sites with entertainment , they cost more. we like nice sites near to the coast but you can make it a bit cheaer. smaller sites.

walks cycle beaches  we never had a lot but we still had fun.

you may regret it if you sell however if you have had enough sell  .

but good luck .

I don't worry about depreciation because we have had the van nearly 4 years and we are hoping to have the use of it for many more years.  We have to run the 4x4 for the horse trailer, but wouldn't need a 4x4 for our lightweight van.

Insurance is £250 a year and site fees aren't too bad with cc.   A week at hillhead in Devon was £248.  Because of work and other commitments we don't get away as often as we should, but enjoy it when we do.

We are planning to use a static in the vendee next whit because it is actually cheaper than taking the tourer.  It would be massively dearer to use a static in the height of the summer though.  I think if you really enjoy touring caravan holidays you will put up with costs etc. 

im sure you have seen this

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=227145&showActive=1&ReturnPage=Active

we started in a tent when my son was 6 months old.

and rather than give up all together i would buy a tent again and i am now one of the old people boring people whos children have flown.

Both me and the other half are retired through ill health , we use our caravan at least 0nce a month for at least 3 or 4 days. We always use EHU and like everyone else (or most) we pay £350 a year storage £250 a year insurance. We dont factor in our Kia's running costs as we would have them to pay no matter what. We only eat the same amount of food as we would have eaten at home , so I cant see where it would be any dearer to use ? ok you have to buy your outfit but once you have it then you providing you look after it you have holidays for life !!!!!!. If running a big 4x4 is proving so expensive to run then downsize to a smaller caravan and towcar, we get approx 39 mpg towing our Avondale dart 525/4. I dont think anyone can complain at that and the most we pay for a site is £20 per night at the most. And we wont get stuck in a foriegn country when the airline goes on strike or the tour company goes bust.As for there not being that many tourers on the road well last week we counted 171 tourers and motorhomes in a 4 mile stretch of the A1.

      ATB Bill

I agree with you that for 2 people it is probably cheaper to stay in a hotel for a weekend, and easier :)

For us as a family of 5 it is certainly cheaper.

Sorry to hear you feel you have to give it up - but do you really ? If you must go abroad with your van it is very expensive, but as Nora said you don't have to. We can't afford to take our caravan abroad either,  but still love having holidays in this country in it. We'd not be able to afford going away without our caravan.

Again agree with Nora - nor do you neccessarily have to have a big caravan & big expensive vehicle to tow it with ! If we didn't have the caravan we certainly couldn't have the short breaks we currently enjoy - think about it carefully ! Maybe you could downsize a bit & rethink how you do things in general instead ?