9 Ways To Get A Cheap Caravan Holiday Park or Lodge Park in Summer 2021

8/3/2021

As you may have gathered from a flurry of excitable news reports, the demand for UK staycation's has gone up this year. A lot of the cheapest grade of caravans and lodges are getting booked up quicker, meaning you might pay more than in previous years.

However, don't write off getting a good deal at a UK caravan holiday park or UK lodge park just yet.

There are plenty of tips, tricks and loopholes to save yourself hundreds of pounds on a holiday park.

Can you get a discount at a popular resort such as Devon Cliffs Holiday Park?

1. Discover hidden holiday homes

So, you've decided which holiday park you want to stay at and your dates are fixed thanks to the August school holidays and other inconveniences. Unfortunately, the cheapest caravan left is showing as £2000, even though it's just a 'standard' caravan rather than anything fancy.

Before weeping in a corner or selling the children's toys, try this trick.

First, go onto Airbnb and search for the nearest town to the holiday park. You can't search for the exact holiday park, but if I was searching for Haven's very popular and highly rated Devon Cliffs holiday park I would search for Exmouth which is the nearest town.

Second, choose the 'map' option on Airbnb and move it over the area of Devon Cliffs. You might need to do a bit of detective work to find smaller resorts but big holiday parks are quite obvious from above.

You'll find that there are several caravans and lodges available for hire which aren't listed on the official websites (click here to see what I mean, or see the screenshot below)

These are caravans and lodges which have been sold off to private owners who then rent them out. At a big holiday park there will be several to choose from and owners set their own prices so it’s often much cheaper than going through the official website.

You can also see the exact location of the caravan you are booking as well as photos and reviews.

In some cases, I've seen privately owned caravans available for hundreds of pounds less than those on the 'official' website. Of course, you are booking with an individual rather than a big company so read the smallprint carefully.

Airbnb screenshot of Devon Cliffs holiday park

Screenshot from Airbnb: when we checked there were 12 privately owned caravans available at Devon Cliffs Holiday Park

2. Book a holiday park in the last week in August

Most people avoid holidays during the last week of the school summer holidays because they want to buy a new pencil case and sew names into their jumpers.

That means that there’s a big drop off in demand for the last week in August/first few days of September - and much better prices. We looked at Haven's Perran Sands in Cornwall and found a difference of about £600 between the first and last week in August for a family holiday.

The downside is darker evenings and a slightly reduced chance of good weather.

3. Fill up a caravan

As things stand, you will be able to travel with whoever you want from June 21st 2021. Of course, this might change but you could save yourself hundreds of pounds by sharing an eight person caravan with friends or relatives.

In some cases, we’ve found it is more than £1000 cheaper than hiring two caravans for four people. It’s certainly cosy in a caravan’s kitchen but you’ll be able to afford to eat out more often.

4. Arrive on a Friday or Monday

Lots of holiday parks let you choose which day you arrive and bump up prices for Saturday to Saturday holidays.

A Monday to Monday or Friday to Friday holiday during the summer holidays is often about £100 cheaper with the big name holiday park companies.

Policies vary - Away Resorts let you arrive on any day of the week whilst Haven and Park Holidays both offer arrivals on Monday, Friday and Saturday.

Away Resorts whitecliff bay on the Isle of Wight

Away Resorts holiday parks such as Whitecliff Bay on the Isle of Wight are usually cheaper if you arrive on a weekday

5. Check the holiday park offers pages and last minute deals pages

Most big holiday park chains have an offers page where they have some last minute bargains and other discount codes to entice you in.

Check out the offers pages for:

6. Head North for the cheapest holiday parks

In our price comparisons, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Scotland’s holiday parks are generally cheaper for something similar in Cornwall and Dorset. The saving during the peak season can be pretty significant – in some cases similar parks run by the same company cost nearly twice as much in Cornwall as they do in Scotland.

Craig Tara is one of Scotland's biggest holiday parks

7. Try Center Parcs Europe

If you've got your heart set on Center Parcs then you can expect to pay a serious whack during the school summer holidays.

However, once travel restrictions are relaxed you might like to look at Center Parcs in France, Germany and the Netherlands. They are run as a separate company but have a lot in common with the UK resorts, such as excellent swimming pools/waterparks and lots of onsite activities.

There's also a neat trick where you can save an extra few pounds by booking via the French version of the Center Parcs website rather than 'CenterParcs.eu'. For some reason, the prices vary depending on which site you use, even though the holiday is the same.

The quality of Center Parcs in Europe is inconsistent, so do some research such as reading our guides to the best Centers Parcs in France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium.

To get you started, check out these four Center Parcs in Europe which score well with customers:

Center Parcs Le Bois Aux Daims in France
Center Parcs Het Meerdal in the Netherlands
Center Parcs Park Bostalsee in Germany
Center Parcs De Vossemeren in Belgium

European Center Parcs resorts are often much cheaper, particularly if you book via the French website

8. Don’t pay for facilities you won’t use

Some holiday parks are jam packed with facilities such as swimming pools, sports courts, fishing lakes and even ski slopes. But others just offer cheap accommodation and a small shop for buying your cornflakes. If you just want a base for exploring or won’t use shared facilities (which will probably have restricted numbers this summer) then look for the more basic resorts and head down the beach.

Meanwhile, Haven give you the choose of a simple 'Haven Stay' holiday if you just want accommodation or a 'Haven Stay + Play' holiday if you want to use all the facilities.

Check out our guide to the cheapest caravan holiday parks in the UK for starters.

Will you use the facilities, or do you just want a cheap location for days out?

9. Read your cancellation rights

Finally, I feel I should include something about cancellation policies as it's hardly a bargain if you end losing your money.

You might assume that every holiday park works to the same rules and cancellations. Unfortunately that's not the case, so read the small print to find out what happens if you are ill or if the Covid restrictions change. Or perhaps you might just feel less comfortable about travelling for a holiday than you did when you booked.

To give you an idea of what some of the bigger holiday parks are offering, have a look at Haven's Coronavirus Guarantee and Park Holidays' Cancellation Policy.

Images are from Haven, Away Resorts and Center Parcs Europe

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