If the park has a clubhouse, pool or entertainment programme, these are usually optional rather than something you're expected to take part in every evening. Plenty of guests use a park purely as a comfortable, well-equipped base and spend most of their time out and about along the coast or countryside nearby, coming back only to sleep, cook and relax.

Day trips are where staycation budgets often quietly slip, so it's worth planning a mix rather than assuming every day needs an admission ticket. A coastal walk, a free stretch of beach, or a wander round a market town costs nothing beyond fuel, and mixing these in with the odd paid attraction keeps the week varied without every day carrying a ticket price.

Space is often the deciding factor for families. A static caravan Tingdene Holiday Parks UK gives everyone a bit of breathing room, somewhere for the kids to watch television while the adults have a cup of tea in a separate area, which a single hotel room rarely manages without someone being under everyone else's feet.

There isn't one single answer to how far ahead you should book, because it depends heavily on when you actually want to go.

Get the full picture at dog-friendly caravan holidays.

The first thing to check is whether you can move outside a Friday-to-Friday or Saturday-to-Saturday week. Many parks release short breaks, three or four nights rather than a full week, and these tend to have more late availability simply because fewer people search for them. If your dates can flex by even a day or two, you'll usually see more choice.