Britstops - Any good?

[rookeryview]

Any Britstop experts out there care to pass on their opinion please?

It's pretty cheap to join, so I don't think that's a big issue, but is it any good?

Some say you save £20/£30 a night, but a CS is usually about a tenner, and you often get a toilet at least.
So to the questions;

What proportion are just pub car parks?
Are they safe enough to do a "roof up" stay?
What is the "ambiance" like compared to a camp site?
How much do you spend at the site to cover your guilt? (£Zero answers allowed!)
What proportion have some form of 24/7 facilities, such as toilets and water?
How do they validate your membership on site?
Any other good or bad comments?

Many thanks.

 

[GrannyJen]

Britstops are best viewed as a permissive form of wild camping. You take your chances and rely on your wits and instinct.

For me they are brilliant, they suit my itinerant lifestyle. However not many families want to spend a fortnights holiday shuffling from one pub car park to the next.

I would say that 85% are pub car parks. Safety depends where. Use google street view to check out location and position of car park. Sleepy village parked round the back, yes... fronting the road in downtown Toxteth, no. I have stayed on 30 Britstops in the last 18 months, never had a problem.

You cannot compare "ambience" to a camp site. They are totally different animals.

I spend whatever I feel like and on many occasions very little. Most times I will eat in the pub, have a glass of wine, but that's for my convenience. In Ardnamurchan I could not spend anything as the winter storms had closed the pub. It did not stop the landlady though offering me use of a bathroom, shower and toilet when the power came back on the following day. At a highland visitor centre I bought half the shop up, most times though it's dinner and a glass of something, or if a farm shop some local produce.

Most in my experience do not have 24/7 facilities. They are offering you a free stopover. The joy of a cali is that it is all self-contained and you can take advantage of a free overnight stay.

They mostly validate your membership by you walking in and saying you found them in the Britstops guide. I always ring ahead anyway.

Their value is down to you. Only you know your prospective lifestyle and how you intend to use the cali. For me, often solo traveller, often going somewhere on a whim and a fancy, a desire to explore really off the beaten track places, they are totally brilliant for finding somewhere to pull over at the end of a long day for a chance to freshen up, get something to eat, relax a bit before off again the following morning.

 

[Gavinskii]

It's a great scheme for touring & in principle is very similar to the French Aire system whereby someone is offering you a free place to stay in return for some of your custom.
Some I have stayed at have had free wifi which is great. A few in the book offer hookup and water (often at a small tariff).
I have actually signed up a few new locations and was rewarded with free membership and book this year

 

[TommyT]

I'm keen to start using them myself and have bought the book. Do you ever find capacity issues? i.e. have you ever turned up to find that there was no space left and so had to find somewhere else to stay?

 

[Gavinskii]

I'm keen to start using them myself and have bought the book. Do you ever find capacity issues? i.e. have you ever turned up to find that there was no space left and so had to find somewhere else to stay?

Personally no. But then you just need to use judgement on whether the location is likely to be super popular due to time of year, location, local event, bank hoilday etc. Some of them ask to call ahead others are more relaxed.

 

[GrannyJen]

I'm keen to start using them myself and have bought the book. Do you ever find capacity issues? i.e. have you ever turned up to find that there was no space left and so had to find somewhere else to stay?

No, but I always try to call ahead. Turning up when it's dark, the snow is falling, hungry and tired and to be told "no room at the Inn" is not a good place to be in.

I have never been turned away, even when the pub is closed with no electricity.

 

[IanE]

We've used Britstop just twice. One pub car park and one farm shop car park. We enjoyed both.i think Granny Jen sums it up wonderfully. We will certainly be using them into the future - mostly when we're en route but also for odd one nighters away. We don't have kids with us. Personally I wouldn't fancy using Britstops with children

 

[surfer-rich]

Saw this thread the other day when browsing, new to me but liked the concept so went & joined. The book's just arrived! Looks good, may have to give somewhere a try this w/e