Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site

[theonecraw]

Has anybody stayed at the Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site? What were your impressions and how easy was it to get into Central London?

We usually stay well away from towns in very rural locations as we like the piece and quiet and there's nothing more enjoyable than a country walk stopping off at a few local pubs on the way, but thought we would try something different this upcoming weekend. We intend to go into Central London on Saturday and have a wander around the parks with the dogs. More for a change of scenery than anything else.

Would be good to hear what others thought of the site and the commute (via public transport) into the city...

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

We've stayed at CP CC site loads. It's brilliantly handy for central London BUT I have to say the major advantage is the number 3 bus which stops 2 mins walk from the site - never had to wait more than 3 minutes for a number 3, and the longest it's taken is 40 minutes right into Piccadilly. Not very useful if you have a dog though.

Greenwich Park/Blackheath is just a 15 minute drive from the site though which would suit a dog.

The other plus is that you get great TV reception as the CP broadcast tower looms above the site!!

 

[Bellcrew]

Has anybody stayed at the Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site? What were your impressions and how easy was it to get into Central London?

We usually stay well away from towns in very rural locations as we like the piece and quiet and there's nothing more enjoyable than a country walk stopping off at a few local pubs on the way, but thought we would try something different this upcoming weekend. We intend to go into Central London on Saturday and have a wander around the parks with the dogs. More for a change of scenery than anything else.

Would be good to hear what others thought of the site and the commute (via public transport) into the city...

We stayed there in the late 70's in a Holdsworth T2 for about 3 weeks, easy trip into the centre on the bus, ancient history I know but they were happy days.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Interested in staying here sometime also....

Can't dogs travel, with owners, on the bus also? They can here in Northern Ireland, with Translink/{Public Bus & Rail etc. Maybe some restrictions during peak-times.

 

[theonecraw]

Interested in staying here sometime also....

Can't dogs travel, with owners, on the bus also? They can here in Northern Ireland, with Translink/{Public Bus & Rail etc. Maybe some restrictions during peak-times.

I did some research and it looks like they are ok on the buses as long as they sit on the floor and ok on the tube as long as you carry them on the escalators. Should be a fun and interesting trip.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I did some research and it looks like they are ok on the buses as long as they sit on the floor and ok on the tube as long as you carry them on the escalators. Should be a fun and interesting trip.

Thanks for this!

Mine's a Jack Russell Terrier, so will be carry'able on the escalators etc..... However, he'll not be impressed, as he likes to be "independent" so might win an award for the saddest face on the tube network, which would be quite the accolade.

 

[GrannyJen]

Interesting reading about the number 3 bus!

It links together all the key places in my childhood, starting with Gypsy hill (incarceration in a home ), through Brixton nick (taken into custody ), Loughborough (secondary school), Vassal road (primary school), Kennington park (Home) IWM (my last academic appointment and where I hung out as a kid) Horseferry road (first job) to the Troc at piccadilly circus (regular haunt).

Goodness, memory lane by bus .... how winsome

 

[GrannyJen]

Interested in staying here sometime also....

Can't dogs travel, with owners, on the bus also? They can here in Northern Ireland, with Translink/{Public Bus & Rail etc. Maybe some restrictions during peak-times.

Dogs are regulars on the tube,

Also regulars outside a station, sat on the pavement with a tin-rattling person

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

I forgot - there's also the overground train from Crystal Palace railway station (an easy 20 minute walk from the site) into Central London (if they're not striking that is). We changed somewhere (Clapham Junction I think) to get out to Kew Gardens for the day which was great.

BUT caution - they do NOT take cash on the bus. I'm pretty sure they take contactless + certainly Oyster cards.

I don't know about whether dogs can travel or not, just couldn't remember seeing many!!

 

[WelshGas]

I forgot - there's also the overground train from Crystal Palace railway station (an easy 20 minute walk from the site) into Central London (if they're not striking that is). We changed somewhere (Clapham Junction I think) to get out to Kew Gardens for the day which was great.

BUT caution - they do NOT take cash on the bus. I'm pretty sure they take contactless + certainly Oyster cards.

I don't know about whether dogs can travel or not, just couldn't remember seeing many!!

Oyster cards or Contactless Credit or Debit cards.

See the TFL website for further information, timetables etc:

I think the Nos 3 bus route is one of the Night Buses.

Crystal Palace Park is on the doorstep for walking the dogs.

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

The no 3 is a day bus (it might be a night bus also). It's the most frequent bus to catch into central London form the site.

 

[Amarillo]

I think the Nos 3 bus route is one of the Night Buses.

N3 is the night bus - a slightly different route to the number 3, extended to Bromley.
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/crystalpalace-a4-010812.pdf

Crystal Palace railway station is on a spur of the outer Circle Line, run by TfL.

It is also served by Southern Trains to Victoria and London Bridge when their drivers are not striking.

Crystal Palace is an odd place, with parts of it in five distinct London boroughs: Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon and Bromley.

 

[Bramco]

Anyone know of any sites to the north east of London that are OK and near the transport links?

Thanks for the map Tom, very useful.

 

[LindaF]

Crystal Palace was the first site we stayed in when we got our van - got her on 18th December 2013 and stayed in the Crystal Palace site early January 2014. Did 2 nights and got the bus into city centre. Got a pitch opposite the toilet block so it was very convenient. We had minus 2 temperatures overnight but had a topper and the thermal windscreen cover plus the heating so we were really comfortable. Would definitely recommend the site and think we are due another visit

 

[LowMan]

Has anybody stayed at the Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site? What were your impressions and how easy was it to get into Central London?

We usually stay well away from towns in very rural locations as we like the piece and quiet and there's nothing more enjoyable than a country walk stopping off at a few local pubs on the way, but thought we would try something different this upcoming weekend. We intend to go into Central London on Saturday and have a wander around the parks with the dogs. More for a change of scenery than anything else.

Would be good to hear what others thought of the site and the commute (via public transport) into the city...

Not wishing to divert the thread too much, but have you considered AbbeyWood CC site (South East of London).

We use it regularly. Good base for when we're attending Gallery events or gigs in central London. Only 30 mins out of Canon St on the train with a regular service. The site is really peaceful too...as long as you don't mind the resident Fox family stealing your unattended Crocs

 

[Hannick]

We've stayed the on a number of occasions and an Uber into central London is about £18.00. We've also walked to the train station. A perfectly nice site with the occasional Caravan Club officialdom, e.g. strimming the grass at 8am while we are trying to sleep!

 

[Amarillo]

Not wishing to divert the thread too much, but have you considered AbbeyWood CC site (South East of London).

If you draw a line between the two sites (Crystal Palace and Abbey Wood), I live close to the mid point of that line.

If I were to choose between the two, I would go for Abbey Wood. A 5 Minute walk to the railway station, two trains per hour to London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross with a journey time of 30 minutes. Change at Lewisham for the Docklands Light Railway or trains to Victoria. Come 2018 it will be even better with 2 Thameslink trains per hour direct to Blackfriars, St Pancras and Luton Airport and it will be the eastern terminus for Crossrail, with regular services to Canary Wharf (11mins), Farringdon, Bond Street (25mins) and Paddington. By 2019 there will be a crossrail train departing every 5 minutes with a direct service to Heathrow.
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/abbey-wood-station/

 

[Loz]

A perfectly nice site with the occasional Caravan Club officialdom, e.g. strimming the grass at 8am while we are trying to sleep!

Ha ha, our friends Jim and Lisa are the wardens there, he looks like Al Murray the pub landlord and ex army so I expect that was him strimming at 8am

I'll mention that to him...

 

[LowMan]

....strimming the grass at 8am while we are trying to sleep!"

8am..that's when we're just getting back in from partying isn't it?

 

[Lewis]

8am..that's when we're just getting back in from partying isn't it?

I did wonder about curfews and attitudes towards late night returners. Anyone with any experience of getting back in the early hours (say 3) and any issues with site owners/wardens? Would be frowned upon on most sites I'm sure but I'd hope a site that markets itself as good for London entertainment would be more open minded.

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

It's down to personal preference of course, and whilst both Crystal Palace and Abbey Wood sites offer good transport links to central London, we always get that good vibe "we're on holiday" feeling when we stay at Crystal Palace. We don't get that same feeling when we've stayed at Abbey Wood.

 

[Hannick]

No problem at all with walking in during the early hours in our experience. We get the cab to drop us off by the entrance and we are very aware of our sleeping neighbours so are very quiet.

I'm sure bowling up late, loud and noisy would go down like a lead balloon though, but then if you own a Cali you're not like that are you?