How much is (cycle) camping these days?

[Kim]

Fantastically Dutch that it doesn't have so much as a wheelbender to support the bikes...

Yep the sorts of people making use of these facilities are the sort that think it's OK to use a kickstand on a train...

I did that once, because reasons.  It ended in an expensive case of metal fatigue.

[Cudzoziemiec]

And that all the bikes are extremely similar in colour, shape, size, even down to the luggage and the shape of the lights.

What is "the attitude associated with ANWB"?

[quixoticgeek]

And that all the bikes are extremely similar in colour, shape, size, even down to the luggage and the shape of the lights.

What is "the attitude associated with ANWB"?

ANWB bikes, usually a matching pair of his and her bikes purchased from the ANWB store (think if AA or RAC did highstreet shops that also sold bikes). Often not cheap, but not especially great bikes.

J

[Cudzoziemiec]

RVers temporarily without their RVs...

[Kim]

The BRITISH equivalent would probably be a older couple dressed as space lemons on low-end 20" folding [e-]bikes.  (I encounter these a lot on one of my regular routes: They set off for a pootle from the Wythall Caravan Club site, and soon encounter either  a) The A435  or  b) The Hill  where they stop and work out what to do next.)

[Cudzoziemiec]

If they've got e-bikes they'll presumably ride up the hill using lots of voles and a little bit of leg at a glacial cadence. At least that's what I often see. (And good luck to them. They are after all Getting Out There and hopefully even enjoying it.)

[Kim]

If they've got e-bikes they'll presumably ride up the hill using lots of voles and a little bit of leg at a glacial cadence. At least that's what I often see.

Yes, the electric ones tend to make it to Ye Pubbe, which as regulars will attest, is on the other side of The Hill.

[Cudzoziemiec]

And I'm sure they enjoy Ye Pubbe and perhaps the refreshment emboldens them for the descent of The Hill.

Dragging us back on topic, how much is a bike and small tent at the Wythall Caravan Club site?

[Kim]

And I'm sure they enjoy Ye Pubbe and perhaps the refreshment emboldens them for the descent of The Hill.

Dragging us back on topic, how much is a bike and small tent at the Wythall Caravan Club site?

No tents allowed!  But you might get a good deal on a lightly-used bike if you hang around the A435 roundabout.

(At least with the Caravan & Mootorhome Club the clue's in the name.  It can be quite awkward when there's a small farm site in a useful place that's obviously very caravan-centric, but unclear as to whether they actually allow tents.)

[Cudzoziemiec]

So the Caravan Club is a third thing. Not the Caravan and Motorhome Club (obviously) but also not the Caravan and Camping Club.

[andrewc]

It looks like the Caravan Club is now the Caravan & Motorhome Club. Some of their sites will take non member cycle campers as well.  I've stayed at the one outside Winchester twice.  £20 a night.


https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/southern-england/hampshire/winchester-morn-hill-club-campsite/


 

[Kim]

No, the Caravan Club re-branded as the Caravan & Motorhome Club a few years ago.  I was being unclear.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Oh, so they used to discriminate against motorhomers too? Well, at least they're on the path to toleration and acceptance, albeit slowly and reluctantly.

[Cudzoziemiec]

/s and  just in case it really needs stating.

[mzjo]

I've encountered this sort of thing at a couple of continental sites (everything from payment lockers to a weatherproof box with a gadget shelf and a load of sockets).  Yet to see similar in the UK.

It seems like a good idea: Avoids the problem of people leaving things plugged in in the wash blocks, and more useful for small-tent-campers than electric hookups.  It's also just the thing for e-bike users.

Increasingly in .NL I'm seeing campsites with dedicated e-bike charging setups. Such as this one on a site I stayed on in Zuid Limburg a couple of years back.



https://www.campingaandebeemden.nl/faciliteiten-camping-zuid-limburg/

It was a nice quiet site, I paid €18 euro per night. Looks like it's now about €22. Very much aimed at people who aren't a solo cyclist.

J

Very nice idea. One that might very well catch on in France, given our love of e-bikes (although over here it's just as likely to be provided by a well-intentioned local authority with an eye on the domestic tourists - and paid for by a generous aid from the EU!)

And I'm sure they enjoy Ye Pubbe and perhaps the refreshment emboldens them for the descent of The Hill.

Dragging us back on topic, how much is a bike and small tent at the Wythall Caravan Club site?

No tents allowed!  But you might get a good deal on a lightly-used bike if you hang around the A435 roundabout.

(At least with the Caravan & Mootorhome Club the clue's in the name.  It can be quite awkward when there's a small farm site in a useful place that's obviously very caravan-centric, but unclear as to whether they actually allow tents.)

And if you turn up with a baby caravan (folding or rigid) behind your bike?

[grams]

And if you turn up with a baby caravan (folding or rigid) behind your bike?

Do those exist in the real world? I’ve always assumed they’re Instagram bait that no one drags further than round the block.

[Regulator]

...

And if you turn up with a baby caravan (folding or rigid) behind your bike?

Somewhere there exists a photo or two of me with a trailer tent behind my recumbent...

Round here you'll average £20 a night just for a tent.

[Kim]

...

And if you turn up with a baby caravan (folding or rigid) behind your bike?

Somewhere there exists a photo or two of me with a trailer tent behind my recumbent...

This one?

[andrewc]

Round here you'll average £20 a night just for a tent.

Cambridge C&CC site was £8.65 per night when I stayed there last May.  1 cyclist in a small tent.

[mzjo]

Round here you'll average £20 a night just for a tent.

Cambridge C&CC site was £8.65 per night when I stayed there last May.  1 cyclist in a small tent.

Thanks Andrew but not my quote 

[andrewc]

I was responding to Regulator,  who lives in Cambridge.   I think he included you as a quote.

[bobb]

Just booked my first night for when I arrive in Scotland at the end of the month. 10 quid. Looks really nice too!

Compare that with my mini tour last month (Suffolk/Norlfolk) where I paid £16, £20 and £20 for the three sites I stayed at.

To be fair, my choice was limited to what was open so early in the season and the 20 quid places were really set up for caravans/small motor homes.

I don't really mind. Some of these campsites are probably only just about viable businesses. You'e not going to stay open long charging a fiver a night in 2023...

[quixoticgeek]

The occupants of the only caravan on this campsite that was occupied have gone home. I have an entire campsite to myself.

I'll find out when they eventually ask me for some money how much it costs to have a campsite to yourself for 5 days...

J

[quixoticgeek]

Four nights of a whole campsite to myself. €70.

J

[mzjo]

I need to put up the bill for our camp last friday. Two people, two tents and croissants delivered to our site in the morning by the site manager 19.60€. I left him the 40c change. A lovely bloke and a very nice site for those who don't demand all entertainment supplied pre-canned (here you make your own; sad that petanque boules weigh too much to cart around cycle-camping). Camping Le Penfaut, St Vincent sur Oust, Morbihan (Brittany), for those cycling the Brest-Nantes canal.
They also have a marquee with benches and tables and a shed with gas stove, microwave and fridge alongside for the lightweight campers. We were glad of that on the saturday morning, breakfasting while it rained!