Seasonal Pitches

What is a seasonal pitch?

A seasonal pitch is where you pay a fee to site your caravan on a caravanning/camp site for a fixed period of time.

Most seasonal pitches run from March until October, but increasingly, there are now sites that are open all year.

I have found that personally for me, seasonal pitches are great. Once you have sited your caravan for the season, that is it. No more towing your caravan for miles upon miles, using extra fuel etc.
I personally have a 26ft caravan, which the wife refuses to tow, with the size of the car and the caravan, it is the length of a large lorry. Now that I have sited it for the season, she and the kids can go and have a weekend or weeks break during half term/ end of term (without involving me towing the caravan), whenever they wish to without the hassle of having to tow it to its destination.
When searching for seasonal pitches for your caravan, there are a number of factors that you need to take into consideration:

1.
Not all sites have all year seasonal pitches. Depending on whether you wish to use your caravan all year, most sites only run between March and October. Outside of these months, you will have to arrange storage, at additional cost, for your caravan.

2.
On the sites that do run all year, you will need to check what facilities they have available on-site, especially during the off-season time. It’s nice to have a local shop/bar/etc. But even so, most sites do not open these during off season times, so ensure that there is somewhere local for these facilities.

3.
If you are to site your caravan all year, does the site have hard standing pitches? In the UK winter months, as we know, it can get very wet, so a hard standing pitch would certainly be recommended for the winter months.

4.
Does the price you pay for your seasonal pitch cover all costs, such as electric? Some sites split their seasons into two, summer and winter. Whereas the electric is included in the summer seasonal pitch fee, it may well be an additional cost during the winter months when the caravan is occupied.

5.
Ensure that your caravan insurance, supposing you have some, covers your caravan when you leave it unoccupied on your seasonal pitch.

6.
Does the site allow you to keep your awning up on your caravan for the entire season? Some sites will only allow you to keep your awning up as long as the caravan is occupied, whilst others allow you to keep it up all year. This in itself can give you issues. Should bad weather hit, whilst the caravan is vacant, your awning may take a battering by the unpredictable English weather. Ensure that the location you site your caravan is easily accessable to you regularly so you can keep an eye on your awning - I've already lost one awning due to this. Also, if you can, get friendly with your caravan neighbours who may be able to help you out should bad weather hit whilst your caravan is unoccupied. A good set of storm-straps for your awning is essential if you are considering leaving your awning up all season.

All in all, if you are not into touring as such, I can heartily recommend getting a seasonal pitch on a very good site, and getting the most use out of your caravan as you can without the hassle of getting it there.