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A static caravan is bigger inside than most people expect from the outside. Most units have a separate living area with a sofa and television, a kitchen with a cooker, fridge and the basics you'd find in a small kitchen at home, and two or three bedrooms depending on the size you've booked. It's closer to a small, self-contained holiday cottage than anything resembling camping.

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.

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.

If your trip is about a relaxed, self-catering base with room to actually live in for a few days, a static caravan holiday at one of our parks is worth a look. If it's about a compact, everything-sorted stay in the middle of things, a hotel is the better fit. Most families find the caravan route suits a coastal or countryside staycation particularly well, simply because there's more to come back to at the end of a day out.

Cost works differently too. A self-catering caravan Tingdene Holiday Parks means you control your food spend, cooking most meals in rather than eating out for every one, which suits a longer stay or a bigger family group where restaurant bills add up fast. A hotel bundles more into the room rate but gives you less choice over how you spend each day.