Which way round to park in caravan sites?

[OxCal]

Hi all

I am feeling a bit embarrassed asking this - but which way round should one park on a caravan club or similar site? I have heard they have rules about whether one should park nose in or nose away from the peg - but with our Cali's having the opening (and awning) on the driver's side, should one park nose in instead of backing in so that one faces the 'correct' way away from one's neighbours? Are the warden's generally bothered? Has anyone ever been asking to turn their vehicle around?

In which case, if it needs to be nose in, does this hit my thinking about buying the Khyam tailgate awning on the head as we would not actually be able to drive away from it without reversing 'over' it?

Probably a bit of a stupid question... but would be grateful for any thoughts!

We are total newbies and took deliver only a week ago and have not had any outings yet (and have only ever stayed on a Caravan site once before, when we hired a Cali to try out in June).

Thanks a lot!

 

[Californiaman]

The Cali is a bit of an oddity what with having the door on the wrong side compared to most vans. That said, the bit about keeping to the peg is more about safe spacing from a neighbour rather than being about the direction you park in as such.

I tend to try to keep the opening consistent with whatever the neighbours are doing. With my usual preference to be keeping the open door aiming towards the south (or the scenery) If in doubt, ask the wardens. We have stayed on lots of Caravan sites and I've never yet stayed on one where they are particularly bothered. You do occasionally hear horror stories of aggressive wardens moving people but I think that is often more to do with the attitude of the camper that anything.

 

[Meoncoast]

Never been told which way to park, I go with view and wind directions etc, I would not want to be forced into such rules and move on if a site was that regimental "STALAG 13" is not why I camp

 

[OxCal]

- does not sound like I need to worry then - and the tailgate awning therefore also still in the running!

Great!

 

[inthemidnighthour]

Hi
stayed on several caravan club sites this year and most do have a white peg with strict rules of placement of caravan and car in relation to this peg.Saying this i park in the middle of the pitch ignoring the post and have never been questioned at all, we have parked facing out and facing in depending on the slope of the pitch but have never parked sideways on.
It is all to do with the outfits being at least 5m apart in case of fire.
stayed at caravan club site at buxton over half term week a couple of weeks ago , and obviously out in cali every day and parked probably different every day as it was dark on our return
i wouldnt loose any sleep over this as havent come across an awkward warden yet !!

dave and lisa

 

[OxCal]

Thanks a lot Dave and Lisa!

I love your idea of parking in the middle - that would never have occurred to me

I had wondered though about the fact that most others on those sites have two chunky lots of wheels (caravan as well as car) and we of course will have only one.

I am very pleased to hear no one seems to worry about it - and did not realise the main reason to keep things apart was a safety one.

Thanks again!

Susanne

 

[slowcoach65]

I park however Mrs slowcoach tells me, life's much easier that way :lol:

 

[Californiaman]

Parking to the peg typically leaves space for a caravan with an awning on one side and a car on the other so, it is pretty much in the middle. But, as above, nobody really seems that bothered!

 

[Yelekreb]

I've had an officious C&C warden at Rhandirmwyn get very exercised about all of this. 'Fire regs' they say. But given that the nearest other tent/van etc was over 50 feet away, I think the were probably missing the point....

 

[NZCol]

I had a question about how i parked ours at Faskally in Pitlochry. The bloke wandered past and said "I see you have decided to flout the parking rules" to which i laughed assuming it was some sort of local joke or something. But no, he wanted me to park a certain way - bearing in mind there were 3 other caravans on a site that i could see the curve of the earth on I just kept laughing. He gave up eventually because the van was levelled and chocked, roof up and mid-baby feed ! We were parked nose in as the sun was going down on the drivers side !

 

[OxCal]

I like the look of those pitches where you have a hedge on each side - at least you know which bit you are supposed to be in - I don't really understand why, if you had a caravan, they arrange it in a way that you face out onto someone else's car - surely if anything you would rather face out onto your own car... Not that we have this problem now of course!

Hmmmm - there are clearly differences depending on what warden you get - I just did not want us inadvertently breaking Cali etiquette and bringing shame to the community we have just joined!

:crazy

Oh, and yes, there is the slightly more selfish consideration about the feasibility of the tailgate driveaway awning - we saw the Khyam one at the NEC last month and really liked it....

 

[Californiaman]

I've not seen one of these tailgate awnings before. To be honest, I think you would struggle to make use of it at a lot of caravan club sites as there doesn't tend to be a lot of space at the back of the pitch. Brilliant for on camping and caravan club sites though.

 

[DavidofHook]

We had an officious bloke tell me to move in the driving rain on a very exposed Caravan Club site in Devon. I was parked across the pitch, well away from any adjoining caravans, roof up, electricity connected, seats reversd etc.
I explained that I was positioned so that the driving rain would not blow into the side door but he still insisted. He was unable to explain WHY he wanted me to move (except all the others were parked like that) I refused to take him seriously and eventually he wondered off.

Later we met in the loo and he apologised! Even the worst of them have a good side!

I now try to avoid Caravan Club sites.

After some 50 years of camping, 11 with the Cali, this is the only case ever we have ever had so, like a good steak, it is rare. I would not worry too much about it.

 

[OxCal]

We just joined the Caravan Club. Unfortunately I tend crumble in the face of authority... But I will see if I can muster the laughing it off approach if I ever happens, it will do me good I am sure!

 

[Californiaman]

At the end of the day, the wardens are doing a job and they have rules/guidelines that they have to adhere to. They must get loads of hassle from some of their customers - I know I couldn't do it!

If in doubt, speak to them. Tell them about your outfit and they will 95% of the time have some good advice based on local knowledge etc.

I am a big fan of the Caravan Club in general.

 

[OxCal]

Great, thx Californiaman. We had a good guest experience at the Caravan Club when we hired a Cali in June so decided to join now we have ours. As you say - if we ask for advice I am sure it will be a good start. There are always the end of line pitches where it works well with our outfit facing the other way to everyone else...

 

[aileron346]

I think it's a good question and I've wondered it too. Some sites do require you to park a certain way.. (nose outwards I think). I've always assumed that this was to allow a bit of side privacy for everyone... If that's the case, the continental caravans and Calis would be best parked nose in.

If however it's all about looking uniform and neat then I suppose they might still want you nose out...