Caravanning is the new villa holiday, according to Visit Britain, which has reported that one in five Brits will be staying in a caravan this year. Caravanning specialist Haven Holidays adds that it alone expects to carry 2.5 million people.

The reason, of course, is money. Stay on a big caravan park and the activities as well as the accommodation are affordable - bicycle hire, football coaching and swimming lessons cost £5 per session. There are children's clubs, swimming pools, spas and restaurants on site at the posher parks - or you could go for a quieter, more back-to-nature one. They're all in locations associated with the archetypal British holiday - the North Norfolk coast, Bournemouth and Poole, Devon and Cornwall, Yorkshire and North Wales.

You don't have to stay in a caravan - there are mobile homes, tents, chalets and at Perran Sands in Cornwall, traditional yurts. Before the main summer season, expect to pay under £200 for a family of four - a bargain. Visit www.haven.com.

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