Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site (REF : CRY)

I stay regularly at Crystal Palace and it is a very well run site. The summer crew of wardens are excellent and are always friendly and on hand to help. Lets hope that the local council see sense and allow it to stay open next year.

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We stopped here 4 nights and used this perfect location to visit various attraction in London. We used the trains and underground which were accessed from Crystal Palace Station a 10 - 15 min walk away. Site was clean and well layed out, even though there is non stop traffic in the area we never heard any road noise. Yes we would stop here again as its a perfect location.

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very friendly and helpful staff. We stayed just 1 night on the grass pitch. They have hard standing too. Large site but quite private. A 10-12 minute walk through the crystal palace park get you to the overground trains. To Covent garden is a 55 min journey. Uber to the campsite is £30-35. Hopefully this site stays open for longer

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We've recently returned from an 8-night stay at the site and thoroughly recommend it. We last stayed some 6-7 years ago and the site is as beautiful as ever with friendly, helpful wardens to guide you on your way. It's an ideal base for exploring London with the No.3 bus on the doorstep taking you directly to Trafalgar Square, with other bus and train services enabling you to easily access other parts of the capital - day and night. Whilst we there, we took the opportunity to visit every location on the London Monopoly board to see the hidden side of the capital, as well as experience the sights and sounds of Greenwich, Primrose Hill and Camden, Spitalfield and Borough markets and a West End show! Returning back to the site on an evening, you escape from the hussle and bussle of the city to a mini oasis, patrolled by a local urban fox and on our pitch, a equally confident raven. It's a real shame the site is currently under threat of closure and trust this decision can be reversed so that it can be enjoyed by many more people in future years. Crystal Palace site is a real gem in the CMC site portfolio and credit to the wardens for keeping it in such great shape. Steve R

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I enjoyed a five night stay here taking in the spring bank holiday weekend. The wardens were lovely and very kind in giving assistance and information, including good advice about a problem I had with my motorhome engine, which thankfully was resolved after a call to the AA. The site is pleasant enough if somewhat dark and confined and a bit cramped in parts – but one would expect that for a site inside Greater London. It is of an age that gives it a somewhat careworn appearance, but, as continually under threat, one cannot criticise the club for being careful about money spent here. The toilet block was perfectly sound but, once or twice, mid-afternoon, it was unusually dirty and messy, no doubt due to thoughtless users rather than any negligence over cleaning. Indeed, the conduct of some patrons here left a bit to be desired. Loud music, late night chatting, and more than the usual comings and goings, at all hours! An urban site – convenient as a place to stay rather than being there for the site’s sake – is possibly the reason or perhaps I was just unlucky. There are lots of sources of noise apart from people! Traffic, obviously; aircraft circling overhead before going into Heathrow; a shrill morning chorus in the large and abundant trees around the site. None of this much of a bother to me – if anything the birds were the most intrusive (but that’s not a complaint)! Those easily upset by traffic need to get as far down the site from reception as possible. However, this can be tricky as pitches are allocated here - not sure why, but maybe as the site is confined and a long queue could be an issue. There are good pitches and not so good pitches on any site and that is certainly true here; so, if I arrived when there was a choice, I would be unhappy with a duff pitch. Anyway, as it happened, I had a good pitch, so I was alright Jack! The site is good for access to London; the recommended No. 3 bus is an interesting, if tedious, journey. I preferred the train (even though I have a bus pass) and it is an easy walk to Crystal Palace station – or a bit further to Penge West. Comparisons are often made with Abbey Wood; Crystal Palace has the benefit of the park, and is nearer to central London, but otherwise my vote is for Abbey Wood which is a much bigger less claustrophobic place to be, has quick access to London from Abbey Wood station, just ten minutes walk, is quieter, despite the proximity of London City Airport, is much less stressful to reach from the M25 and has plenty of places to visit in the area apart from central London itself. For Crystal Palace I left the M25 at the M4 and then the south circular from Chiswick and this took two hours from leaving the M25 (at about 11 am)! Still, an enjoyable and happy stay.

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