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We ditched a traditional Christmas to go camping

Holiday parks and campsites have seen an uptick in bookings as Britons escape the stresses of the festive season – and forgo the cost of a big family dinner

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Helen Ali and her husband are spending this Christmas camping on the roof of their car (Photo: Helen Ali)
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For many UK campers, pitching a tent or parking up a campervan or caravan is a summer fling, with winter reserved for warmer accommodation options.

However, camping providers have seen an uptick in interest for winter trips – including over Christmas.

Around 2,000 holidaymakers using Pitchup.com are spending part of their Christmas break at one of the sites listed through the platform. As of mid-December, bookings for nights between 21st and 26th were already up 23 per cent on the same period in 2023 – with 80 per cent of those reservations for tent pitches, or for pitches for touring caravans or motorhomes.

While some accommodation prices might be sky-high over the Christmas period compared to other times of year, campsites seem to fluctuate less. On Pitchup.com, a week at Haddon Farm Grove campsite in the Peak District between 23 and 30 December starts from £168 per pitch. And while the campsite isn’t showing availability for peak summer time, Whim Farm Caravan site, which is nearby, is a similar price (£175) for a week in mid-August – of course, prices may rise closer to booking.

It’s a slightly different story for Lovat Parks. Its founder, Raoul Fraser, says a static caravan on the company’s Padstow site would cost around £1,000 for seven days in December, compared to £1,500 for the same holiday home in July or August. Like Pitchup.com, Fraser says Lovat has seen a rise in the number of people booking to stay in its static caravan parks over Christmas. Its parks offer facilities such as shops, dog-walking areas and playgrounds.

“One example is our park in Padstow, which is 80 per cent full for this week (over Christmas),” he told The i Paper.

“We started Christmas breaks last year at this park and it has been a lovely surprise just how many people have taken it up.

“We provide real Christmas trees in the main reception, and in every static holiday home that our customers have booked, and a themed welcome pack with mince pies and local treats.”

Frosty reflections, New Forest, UK
Being in the countryside – such as the New Forest – is among the motivators for some campers (Photo: Getty)

Several caravan owners from the Lovat Park in the New Forest are planning to stay over Christmas and meet at a pub nearby for Christmas Day lunch.

In west Wales, caravan, camping and glamping site Bargoed Farm has seen bookings for the two-week festive period up 17 per cent year-on-year.

In line with Pitchup’s figures, it’s not just glamping and static caravan sites that have seen Christmas bookings grow. Stephen Powell, owner of Coco’s Wild Camp in Powys, Wales, says he has had more enquiries this year than ever.

Why are more people choosing to camp out for the festive season? According to Pitchup.com’s figures, 79 per cent of bookings for the period are for two adults, which could suggest a desire to escape the pressure of large family gatherings. That is part of the joy for Helen Ali, 41, who is no stranger to escaping for the festive season with her husband and dog, having spent last year in a converted bothy – a traditional shelter in remote areas in Scotland.

This year they’re taking things one step further, camping in a roof tent on their Land Rover Defender – in Norway.

“When we got our Defender, one of our bucket list items was to drive to the Arctic Circle in winter,” she says. “We both have enforced holiday from work over the Christmas break, so we like to make the most of the days off. It’s also good to escape the chaos and just spend time together as a couple doing what we enjoy.”

SCOTLAND, August 2019: The Guirdil bothy at the western coastline of the Isle of Rum, a small island at the West Coast of Scotland (Scottish Highlands).
Guirdil bothy on the Isle of Rum, Scotland. Bothy stays are increasingly popular (Photo: Joerg Angeli/Getty)

As well as being quieter than some family Christmases, camping is often cheaper than a hotel or a self-catering stay in a cottage, or similar accommodation. It can be a cost-effective route to getting away at a notoriously pricey time of year, or can provide an affordable place to stay near someone hosting Christmas, if there’s no room at the inn.

Meanwhile, a rise in enquiries from full-time “van-lifers” – people who live a nomadic existence in a campervan to save money and travel – suggests they’re looking for somewhere to park safely and cheaply for the festive season, says Powell.

“I think a lot of free park-ups – places allocated for campervans to park overnight without a charge – have been stopped, so people are looking for places to park up that’s cheap, but not just a car park.”

Sue Girard, 68, is among the people spending Christmas in a campervan. The combination of wanting to do something different for Christmas and enjoying a cheap break are motivators for her camping trip with her friend Jo.

The pair – Sue in her partially converted campervan and Jo in a tent – are heading to a pub campsite in Herefordshire where they plan to pitch up, open some presents with a Buck’s Fizz, and enjoy Christmas dinner in the pub.

“My family are still a bit shell-shocked that I’m going camping at Christmas,” says Sue, who is a mother of five and grandmother of two.

She usually spends Christmas at one of her children’s houses, but after a family-focused year in which they took a multigenerational holiday to Turkey, she decided to pursue her dream of camping at Christmas.

“I’ll be 69 in February, and I’ve always wanted to do it. Jo and I both love being in the outdoors – we went on a five-start holiday in Cape Verde, and we said we’d rather be camping.

“The cheapness is also a motivation – I’m retired, so I’m on a limited income.”

Her break has cost £50 for two people and her dogs, which stay for free.

While Sue doesn’t tend to host Christmas, some people may be choosing to camp, rather than hosting their extended family. Research by retail analysts at Kantar suggests that the average cost of Christmas dinner for a family of four now sits at £32.57, thanks to rising food prices. For a bigger family – or friends and family – gathering of 12, the cost would be more than £130. And that’s before drinks, presents, decorations, heating and all the other expenses of hosting over the festive season.

A different way to celebrate, an escape from the festive frenzy, or a long-dreamed-of trip – there are many reasons behind the growth in Christmas camping. And pitching up doesn’t mean giving up on celebrations: the Christmas spirit will be alive and well in campsites across the country this week.

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