Camping and Caravanning Club

Is anybody a member of the Camping and Caravanning Club on here?

I'm tempted to join up as there is a local site that offers discounts when you're a member. I think it's after around 4 nights then it's paid for itself.

Does anybody know if they have a good selection of sites? Any opinions either way?

It seems a no brainer to be honest.

I was given a membership for my birthday last year, thought it would be useful for breaking up longer journeys etc but in the whole year we only stayed at one Club Site (Cheddar Mendip Heights) so I didn't renew this year.

I've been a member since 2009. The sites I've been to have been generally good, but I never read the monthly mag that gets delivered and any discounts are available to us by being a club anyway. So ... horses for courses really. I always use www.ukcampsites.co.uk regardless to check the reviews.

The Camping and Caravanning Club descriptions of their sites tend to be a bit short on their webpages. They don't give enough detail imo. Good that you can book most of them online though.

I've found that the popular sites get booked up really quick so you need to plan in advance. I also got told by one of the wardens covering a site that people book the site early and cancel at the last minute. So if you were looking for a site in particular it is worth phoning even though it may say it is booked.

We've been members for a couple of years as there are a few sites that we use fairly regularly. It's ahndy being able to book online and a deposit is paid at this point. The monthly magazine can have some fairly decent articles, but it depends on your background/interests as there is a big focus in caravans and tents (other family memebers caravan and tent, so we find this bit fairly interesting!)

I suppose you have to work out if you will recoup the cost of the membership at the reduced site prices, if so then there's no harm in having a monthly magazine about caravans!

Scooby joined last year and we booked around 5 or 6 sites through out the year
Found the site staff very helpful and the campers on them very friendly
We re-newed membership this year
Rooby Roo

I enjoy their monthly magazine with its camping news, reviews and detail of meets. They send e-mail information and are a source of contact about holidays abroad. The sites we have used have been excellent.
However, quite often the C&CC site is too far away to fit with our target of parking the camper and walking to the local amenities.
osg

We're members and we've used their sites a few times.

We have been members of both the Camping & Caravan Club AND the Caravan club for years. When we are camping with family who have tents (I know, where's their bus?!) we use the C&CC. But when camping on our own, we'll use the best site/location for where we are going. For example, the Caravan Club Cheddar site is excellent, with great facilities and is actually in Cheddar. The C&CC site has fewer facilities with more pitches and is 5 miles outside Cheddar.

Generally we prefer the Caravan Club sites. They let you choose your own pitch rather than leading you to one they want you to have. The facilities (toilets/showers) are usually better, newer, and more plentiful, and ironically the Caravan club sites are normally cheaper than the Camping & Caravan Club - no I don't understand that one either?

The problem with both clubs is that camping just keeps getting more popular, and it's sometimes difficult to get into the site you want when you want to go.

If you generally camp outside the school holidays there are savings to be made using the ACSI and Camping Cheque schemes - well worth a look, with savings of up to £10 per night on general camp sites in the UK and across Europe.

To ad to what Roobarb has said about ACSI

If you have an ACSI card you can use it instead of leaving your passport at reception in most camp sites in Europe. Also the ACSI iphone or ipad app is pretty good if you have WiFi (btw pronounced Wif ee on the continent) or 3G the Alan Rogers app also works off line quite a lot in Europe.

Perfect, thanks for all of the feedback everyone. I don't mind booking in advance and away from school holidays so should be fine.

I didn't realise there was a monthly magazine like the Caravan Club, that'll go down well with my girlfriends mum. She always used to love reading them.

I think we will end up making the money back through savings so it's got to be worth it for 12 months to see how we get on

Thanks again

Have been a member of the camping and caravan club for many years and have always used their sites. They are always kept in a good condition and have good facilities. Most of their sites allow non members to camp for a higher charge, but there are a few that are members only. You also get access to their cirtificated site, for which you need to be a member. A certificated site is supposed to be up to 5 caravans and does not need a council licence. Obviously the facilities are more basic but very cheap. Out of season you can find yourself with out any neighbours, which i alway enjoy.
We are also members of the caravan club, which we joined 2 years ago also. Their facilities and sites are of an equal standard, if not better at times. Allthough we dont seem to use them that often. Their certificated sites generally dont have toilets and showers, as all caravans have these, which is not so good for us campervan people.
Both clubs have got rediculously busy over the summer months in recent years, however for the cost of membership i think it is well worth joining one at least.

This month's Camping Magazine has an offer whereby if you take out a subscription they'll throw in membership of the Camping & Caravanning Club.

Noticed that there's an article by Martin Dorey about touring round the UK. Haven't read it yet but there are a couple of pics of his red camper out and about.

Thanks Matt, I'll definitely be joining up

Big thanks to lostlogik too, I think I might do it through that magazine. Two things for the price of one then (well, almost ).

So my renewal has just come through for April onwards. Renewal is £40 - that's a tank of petrol for the 500. I think I'm not going to renew, I haven't used any of their sites over the last year and when I was looking for a place to go this Easter I found better by UKCampsite.co.uk. Sorry C&CC.

We suspect others will eventually follow your example in the current climate
Paying for membership of anything may need to be re-considered for some!
That is why this club is great - no fees and the best access to all you need to know
Plus it has a great bunch of Volks!

We didn't renew ours either. We stayed in one C&CC site last year and one of our hirers did too, but even then its just not worth it.

Indeed and I've just been asked by our parent club the ABVWC how many members we currently have so they can send me a bill for our membership. Our membership to the ABVWC primarily provides us with the all important Public Liability Insurance so we can attend shows together - a requirement stipulated by a lot of show organisers these days.

It's our advertisers who foot that bill for us, so if we can support them, everyone's a winner!

Interesting to follow this thread - we joined 2 years ago and we have booked various clib sites with mixed opinions, although most are of a high standard and the on-line booking facility is useful.
The magazine isn't particularly relevant though.
I'd always assumed we'd struggle to book club sites without a membership, but I guess not?

UKCampsite.co.uk all the way KC.

Ah yes - we used to use this for reviews (as the C&CC reviews were at best non-existent and sometimes were just a rant about people being up after 6pm...).

Got a couple of iPhone/iPad apps I use for campsite research too, we use a Kombination when planning a trip.

Quote :

Kombination

Just had an e-mail promoting 'campsitechatter.com', haven't had a proper detailed look yet, but may be of interest.

Looks interesting. Particularly if you're a dog fan. Lots of hounds in those pictures!