The Weirdest Sights You’ll See in a Caravan Park
We all love a staycation and with the cost-of-living crisis set to continue, more than a fifth of us are looking to avoid costly flights in favour of a UK-based trip. And we’re looking beyond hotel stays to caravan and camping holidays. In 2022, the market size of the caravan and camping site industry in the UK rose by a third as people in the UK took 16.7 million caravanning and camping trips.
With an estimated 755,000 caravans and motorhomes and 365,000 caravan holiday homes in regular use across the UK, many are buying into this kind of staycation.
If you’re ready to join the caravanning trend, you need to prepare yourself to see some strange sights that are unique to the caravan holiday! Pure Leisure, which offers Lake District lodges for sale, has spoken to caravanners and campers to find out about some of the weirdest sights people have seen during their holidays.
Parking palavers and new neighbours
Reversing your caravan onto your pitch requires a certain level of driving skill and spatial awareness. Unfortunately, not everyone can expertly position their caravan exactly where they need it to be. If this is your first time parking a caravan, get ready for your new neighbours to stop what they’re doing to critique your technique! You can expect an audience of happy campers ready to offer advice about how best to align your caravan with your plot and tips on proper mirror usage.
Difficulty reversing can lead to holiday-makers parking their caravans in weird places, nowhere near the agreed plot, looking as though they’ve been abandoned! Watch out for lacking driving skills amongst your new neighbours and prepare yourself for spirited discussions about wheel placement, tow bar securing and whether they’ve left enough space for the fold-out deckchairs.
Once your neighbours have finished trading parking stories, the discussion might switch to ‘the noisy ones’. There’s usually one group of caravanners who are louder than the rest – if you haven’t met them, it might be you! Instead of complaining about potentially loud music, late-night conversations or happily screaming kids, why not join in? Chatty neighbours can make for great company and many of the people we spoke to have made lifelong friendships through their static and touring caravan holidays!
Crazy caravans
When deciding on which caravan to buy, we have plenty of considerations – do we want a static caravan in one location or a touring option? Many of us will also choose the most spacious option available. But the QT Van takes this idea and does the opposite!
Standing at just 2.39m in length and 1.53m in height, this is one tiny caravan. Named the world’s smallest caravan by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2014, the QTvan features a full-sized single bed, TV, bookshelves and even a minibar! The tiny trailer can be pulled by a bike or mobility scooter, making it a brilliant sight if one arrives in your caravan park. If you’re the proud owner of a QTvan, you’re sure to encounter more questions from your nosy neighbours, so be prepared!
Tent rope trippers
If you’re parked up on a site that also allows tents, the likelihood is you’ll see someone trip over a guy line before your holiday is over.
From small missteps to full-blown faceplants, these ropes that hold a tent upright are a common camping site hazard. To make matters worse, they’re even harder to see at night, especially if you’ve forgotten your torch. Watch out as fellow caravanners and campers go flying across the site after getting caught out by one of these ropes!
The ‘catavan’
With 53% of travellers choosing to bring their pets on holiday, it’s no surprise to see canine or feline campers. What is a strange sight however is a furry friend with their very own caravan.
When a stray cat wandered onto a caravan dealership in Staffordshire, the park employees decided she needed her own mobile home. They developed a bespoke caravan, perfectly sized for the cat, even fitted with its own tow bar and set of wheels! Look out for other pampered pets travelling with their owners at your next caravan site.
A ruined first kiss
Many caravan sites feature picturesque views and sweeping lakes. On the surface, these make for the perfect romantic setting. But as one couple we spoke to found out, they can also be fraught with accidents!
After spending a lovely day together exploring the caravan park and the stunning views, the couple shared their first kiss at the edge of a large lake…only to both fall into the water! The freezing lake put a bit of a dampener on the moment. It all worked out eventually though, as the pair are now happily married!
Canine capers
If you don’t see a pampered cat with its own personal caravan on your holiday, you might see a sports-loving dog.
One caravanner remembers walking past a fellow holidaymaker playing table tennis. Nothing too unusual there, except for the fact that their opponent was a dog! The crafty canine was holding the table tennis bat in his mouth, hitting the ball back towards his owner. If only there were a video of such a brilliant sight!
Goldilocks and the three caravanners
The popularity of certain models of caravan can sometimes lead to embarrassing mix-ups, with people trying to unlock the wrong caravan or knocking on the wrong door.
Things went one step further for one family when they returned to their caravan to find someone else in their bed! The couple had been fishing all day and returned to what they believed was their caravan for some well-earned rest. The two caravans were the same model and colour and the couple didn’t realise they were in the wrong one until the family woke them up!
Caravanning and camping holidays certainly throw up some interesting, quirky and downright silly scenarios – and that’s part of their charm! You might just experience one of them on your next holiday…
Pure Leisure is a national holiday parks provider. Perfect for friends and families, its parks can be found across the UK, from Wales to the Lake District.
In addition to renting spacious caravans, camping pods and luxury lodges, Pure Leisure also sells holiday homes allowing people the chance to relax in the countryside at their leisure.
Discover more about Pure Leisure: https://www.pure-leisure.co.uk/
