UK touring - Do you need to book in advance?

if your tour includes weekends in decent weather then my answer would be 'no' its not easy just to turn up on a whim and expect a pitch....many will have booked months previously....anyhow, im not sure the club grasps the concept

you certainly wont be able to feel a sconfident about leaving things till later in the day, as you might have on your previous excursions...

If you were a caravaner then yes it would be best to book. Even with  a MH (who can turn around easier and wild camp) I would say yes. Its difficult to predict in June which sites will be full and which won't. Certainly at weekends you will struggle to find a free site. The Lakes is very popular even off peak. Have have a look at the search and book for the sites you're interested in to see how it is now. Some weekends may be full already. Some sites without EHU or toilets may have more space as they are not as popular.

I would book - certainly in the Lakes. Scottish sites are often full at that time too. School holidays in Scotland start several weeks earlier than in England.

I'd rather be certain of a pitch than take a chance as I fear the days of touring and turning up on spec are long gone. It can be different in a summer of foul weather, mind.

Don't forget the huge CL network ,that would probably have space for you ....

Don't forget that schools in Scotland break up at the end of the 3rd week of June, so sites up here will be busier then and possibly will also have an impact on the english/welsh sites too. At that time of year I wouldn't chance it like we do over the water. Winter is about the only time you can tour properly in this country (that's if you can find any open) 

If you are willing to chance it then CL's will be your friend, we often when on our return from over the water just book 1 site ahead at a time using the 'Late availability' for the weekends or CL's, if you are a member of the other club then you will have more choice of course and could use THS's

If  you  have  the  Dates  of  your  holiday  already  to  hand

Acorn,  then  book  your  Club  sites  asap  then  spend  your

time  browsing  for  information  round  those  areas  At  least 

that's  what  I  tend  to  do.

Should  you  find  an  area  without  CC  sites  you  can  check

out  the  CL  network,  or  even,  heaven  forfend,  Commercial

sites    !

A B M

Thank you all for your replies.

I suspected this would be the case, but thought I'd check just in case we could get away with it, as it is more fun  we don't want to waste precious holiday time trawling round for a site though.

Thanks also for the heads up about Scottish school holidays, we hadn't even considered that.

So the CLs - do they tend to be less booked up at all times in your experience?

Thanks ABM, our posts crossed. We may we resort to doing what you suggest.

This is always the tricky bit, the world is your oyster...sort of...and then you have to narrow your ambitions down to a manageable area to explore 

Regarding CL sites - there are so many to chose from. At the end of June some will be full, some will never be full. It will depend on the area and facilities offered. If you did decide to use CL's I would suggest a thread in the CL section asking for recommendations for your areas. 

Good advice Vanbirds68, thanks. I'm slightly ashamed to say, despite several years club membership, we've never really tried out CLs! For various reasons..but something we'll look into more this time.