A coastal caravan holiday suits anyone who wants the beach to be part of daily life rather than a single day trip. Mornings can start with a walk along the front, afternoons can be built around a paddle or a spot of rockpooling, and there's usually a working harbour, a promenade or a string of small seaside towns within easy reach for lunch. Coastal parks also tend to sit near longer coastal footpaths, so if you like a proper walk with the sea in view for most of it, this setting delivers that without much planning.

Getting three generations away together takes a bit more planning than a standard family trip, but a holiday park set-up handles it better than most people expect.

See the details at Tingdene Holiday Parks.

Choosing between a static caravan break and a hotel stay usually comes down to one question: do you want your holiday to feel like your own space, or do you want everything done for you?

Off-peak months help enormously too. School holidays and the height of summer are when demand is tightest, so a late booking in May, September or October usually has far more choice than the same search in late July. The weather isn't guaranteed either way, but a coastal or countryside break in early autumn can be genuinely pleasant, with quieter paths and shorter queues wherever you stop for lunch.

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.