Today (Tuesday 10th March) I was invited to speak on ABC Radio Adelaide again, on their Travel Talk segment hosted by Rory McLaren, with the topic this time being the pro and cons of peak vs off peak caravan travels.
In some cases you may not have a choice, or may prefer to travel in peak time and there are times when we all have to, including summer holidays when everybody is on the move, and for families it can be when school or work holidays allow it.
The pros of staying at caravan parks at peak time include that some parks offer entertainment, specialty food vans, organised activities for kids and in general, parks can take on a whole village feel, especially if it’s a park you frequent annually. Returning to the same park each year for summer holidays means catching up with friends who have become holiday family, a benefit that far outweighs the cost.
The cons of travelling at peak times include higher prices, more crowds, having to book well in advance and possibly having to stay for a shorter time according to other bookings.
In contrast staying in caravan parks at off peak times can be much cheaper and you’re more likely to get a site of choice for the length of time that you want. It’s a much less stressful time for park staff so they will have more time to welcome you and give information on what the local area has to offer if you need to know.
Off peak times can also mean there’ll be less children in parks and more grey nomads, who are out dodging the crowds at their leisure. Staying at off peak times we’ve even been allowed, and encouraged to spread out over a couple of sites if we wanted to, and off course one terrific benefit of winter travels is the ability to have a campfire.
We love travelling at both peak and off peak times and there are good and bad qualities about each of them, but any holiday is a good one right?
I’d love to know what your preference is and why?
Happy travels
Glenys
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Well, WordPress is not letting me comment. What I’ve tried to say was “Definitely off-peak, or less popular places – I am not a fan of crowds!” Let’s see if this gets through – Beth
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I have to agree, we avoid crowds and peak wherever possible except when school holidays take up all of January (summer time) then we have to grin and bear it. Thanks for persisting even with wordpress not playing properly. 🙂
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Either off peak, or less popular places – I am not a fan of crowds!
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Off peak, Or less popular places – I am not a fan of crowds!
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When I retired from teaching Glen said we were never travelling in school holidays ever again. We’ve been able to keep to that plan most of the time and it’s so much better. 🙂
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Agreed! I used to work at a school too and it was terrific when our kids were school age, it meant we could all get holidays at the same time, but now that we don’t have to worry about that we avoid those times too. 🙂
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This is such a great post, dear Glenys.
I find that camping and travelling in general off-peak is generally superior for avoiding crowds, securing better/cheaper, often quieter spots, and experiencing nature authentically.
Given that I have two little girls in two different schools, I have to minimise absence and keep teachers happy, so we travel during the school holidays.
I often feel paralysed by the school calendar when it comes to planning trips, but we make it work. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
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We’ve all been there, having to work around school holiday times, but now we so look forward to travelling outside of those times and other busy periods. Nowadays we plan our travels around when school holidays happen in each state of Australia. 🙂
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