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being relatively new to 'vanning, we are considering opting for a seasonal pitch, ( too late for this season ,i know), but as we normally take the tin tent out 4 or 5 times a year ,would it really be worth the expense of going for a seasonal pitch as the 'van would be off site almost as much as it was on it,

only benefit i can see is that the 'van would already be 'sited' for spurr of the moment breaks (which don't happen that often anyway due to work commitments).

what do you think ? would you ,do you , or wouldn't you bother, left to my own devices i wouldn't bother ( i can think of a lot of other stuff to spend £1000+ on) but the OH is really interested

When I first got my van I considered a seasonal pitch as I had never towed before and was rather nervous!

I plucked up the courage to tow and am so glad that I did.
Apart from the steep cost involved in having a seasonal pitch, I think I would soon have become bored staying on the same pitch all the time.
I thoroughly enjoy staying at different sites and also love rallying with the CC - this is something I couldn't do if the van was stuck on a seasonal pitch.

You don't have to travel far for "spur of the moment breaks" - one of my favourite sites is just 25 minutes from my home but could be anywhere!
So far, I have a total of 35 nights planned in the van this year, with at least another 8 to come (I hope!)

It's down to personal preference and what suits your individual circumstances. We have put our van on a seasonal pitch, this was for a number of reasons. We were new to caravanning last year and our 1st trip out ended in disaster as we were involved in an accident an the van was written off. We purchased another van but everytime we went out the kids were upset an very nervous an so was the wife.

Decision time was get rid or pitch it!! This works very well for us its only 45 mins away from home, everything is set up so can just go for the night without hassle. I work away at times so the wife an kids can still use the van if i am away.

We have got rid of the big tow car an got a little run around for the wife which has already saved us £500 in insurance an road tax costs (i have a big co car so could tow if needed by having bar fitted)

We will get more use and nights away than what we would towing. The site is great an the kids love it. I appreciate it would not be everyones cup of tea but it suits my family which is the most important thing for me

I think a lot depends on when and where you intend to use the van. We both work full time and work shifts so getting away for weekends is very limited. Instead we book weeks away and this year will in total be away for 49 nights, made up of breaks between 6-10 nights. I think we are spending around £1000 this year and will be visiting 6 different sites from Devon across to Norfolk. I am still getting used to towing but am more relaxed now and slowly getting comfortable with it.

For us spending £1500 on a seasonal pitch wouldn't be worth it as we are unlikely to use it for many weekends and the OH would still want to visit other areas so I would still end up towing. Instead we pay £360 to store our van and then have the freedom to visit any site we want. I still think we can go whenever we want as setting up the van (minus awning) really doesn't take long as during the season we leave the van in storage ready to go minus fresh food. So in total our storage fees and breaks for 2012 will still work out slighty cheaper than a seasonal pitch, although I appreciate I still have to pay for fuel. I think you also need to add up how many nights you would use a seasonal pitch and then divide the annual fee by it to see what this works out per night.......this might swing you one way or the other if money is a factor.

Good luck

Darren

thanks all for the input, i think i'm on a loser ,as the OH normally gets here way, after reading the posts so far ,guess it may not be so bad on a seasonal pitch

We toyed with the idea of a seasonal pitch but like you say it's expensive so we did the next best thing and use the C&CC storage, it's on our favourite site 45 minutes away, we pay £210 for the season then per night when we're there.

Last year we did 45 nights which in total including storage fees cost £750, way cheaper than a proper seasonal, we also had no guilt when we took it off site for a couple of weeks to the seaside as we weren't losing anything.

At first we thought it'd be a pain having to set it up each time but we keep it fully stocked so only need to take fresh undies, we've got it down to a fine art now, I go into the office to pay etc while hubby fetches it from storage, we choose a pitch and all we need to do is level it, plug it in and fetch fresh water, it takes less than half an hour from pulling on site to being sat down with everything done. 

It's also nice being able to have a different pitch each time, as the year progresses different pitches become preferable because of the position of the sun, our favourite pitch starts off getting full sun in March but by July it's in shade until late afternoon. It ensures you never get bored of the view from your window too as it's different each time.

Also if you don't like your neighbours you only have to put up with them for a few days and not the whole year!

I'd say the main downside to not having a seasonal pitch is the fact we can't have an awning up permanently, although some seasonals don't allow it anyway, we've bought a Fiamma sun canopy that's up in literally 2 minutes so we can leave the bbq & chairs out and not worry about them getting wet.