Campsites, aires and wild camping
We rarely pre-book and we mix everything from full facility campsites to a clifftop with no one else on it. How we decide where to sleep.
Campsites or wild camping: which do you prefer?
Ask the family and you get different answers, which is the honest truth of it. Steve would pick a wild spot or an aire almost every time: the freedom and the views are the whole point of carrying your house with you. The boys would vote for a campsite with a pool, and Lyndsay values a proper shower block after a few off grid days. So we mix it: wild stretches broken up with campsite stops, and everyone gets their version of the trip.
Full guide: Aires explained
How do you find overnight stops?
A mix of the community apps everyone uses and, genuinely, the people we meet. We rarely pre-book. Some of our best stops have come from a conversation on a pitch or a tip in the comments, and we let recommendations bend the route rather than driving past them to honour a plan. The apps are brilliant for shortlisting, but read recent reviews rather than the star rating, and always have a second option within half an hour for the times a spot does not feel right.
Where is the best place to camp in the UK?
For us, Scotland, and it is not particularly close. The north coast gives you scenery that stands up against anywhere we have driven in Europe, wild camping is legal there in a way it is not in England and Wales, and the NC500 delivers again and again: we have done it more than once, including in winter and in the electric campervan. Full campsite by campsite detail is in the NC500 guide.
Full guide: NC500 campsites and stopovers
Can you get around campsites asking for a minimum stay?
The honest answer is that you do not get around it: the minimum is their business choice and it is their field. What actually works is picking up the phone rather than relying on the booking engine, because sites will often take a one nighter for a gap between bookings, especially off peak or late in the day. And if the answer is still no, that is what aires and the community apps are for. There is nearly always a one night option within a short drive.
What about pub stops?
One of Britain's great motorhoming institutions. Plenty of pubs will let a van stay the night in return for nothing more than you having dinner and a couple of drinks inside, which is the best value arrangement in the hobby: they get custom, you get a safe stop and a good evening. Schemes exist that formalise it, but the principle is simply to ask, park considerately and spend properly at the bar.