Bank holiday weekends behave the same way on a smaller scale. Even outside the main school holidays, a bank holiday weekend pulls in extra demand because it gives everyone an extra day off without using annual leave, so these particular weekends fill up faster than an ordinary one either side of them.

A hotel stay suits a different kind of trip. If you want your meals cooked and cleared away without any thought, and you'd rather not do any washing up on holiday at all, that's a fair trade for a smaller room. Hotels also tend to sit centrally in towns and cities, so if your break is built around walking to restaurants, shops and evening entertainment on foot, that convenience counts for a lot.

If you've never stayed in a static caravan before, it's worth knowing roughly what you're walking into, because it's usually a pleasant surprise rather than anything to be cautious about.

Confirm exactly what's included in your stay versus what costs extra. Bedding, towels, a welcome pack, use of the pool or clubhouse, these vary considerably from park to park and even between different unit types on the same park, so it's worth getting a straight answer before you book rather than after you've paid.

Before you book any UK Tingdene Holiday Parks Limited park, a handful of straightforward questions can save you from an awkward surprise on arrival.

Footwear deserves more thought than it usually gets. Bring proper walking shoes or trainers for dunes, coastal paths and pebble beaches, sandals for round the caravan and the pool if your park has one, and something you don't mind getting wet for rockpooling or a paddle. Flip-flops alone rarely survive a full week of coastal walking.