A full week changes the shape of things. There's time to properly unpack rather than live out of a bag, to have a slow day doing nothing as well as busier ones, and to see more than one nearby town without feeling rushed. A week gives room for the weather to turn for a day or two without wrecking the whole trip, since there are enough other days to make up for it. It also tends to work out better value once you compare nightly rates: parks generally price a week more favourably per night than a short midweek stay, since the fixed costs of changeover are spread across more nights.

Booking is the first decision. Parks along the English coast, ours included, typically open the following summer's diary not long after the current season ends, and the best pitches and the specific weeks that overlap with the tail end of one school's term and the start of another's holiday tend to go first. Booking in autumn or winter for the following August gives a genuine choice of week and accommodation; booking in June for the same August usually means taking whatever's left.

The honest caveats matter here more than in any other season. Swimming pools, outdoor play areas and some on-site catering at seaside parks typically close or run reduced hours over winter, and local seasonal attractions, ice cream kiosks, some smaller museums, often shut entirely until spring. Check what's actually open at your specific destination before travelling rather than assuming a scaled-down version of the summer offer; in some cases it's closed rather than reduced. Weather can also affect road conditions on rural approaches to the coast, so it's worth checking the forecast the day before rather than the week before.

It isn't a like-for-like swap with summer, and it's worth being straight about that. Some seasonal attractions, ice cream kiosks and smaller cafes close for the winter altogether, so it pays to check what's actually open at your destination before you set off rather than assuming it mirrors the summer season. The weather is more changeable too: pack for rain and wind as a matter of course, not a possibility, and treat any sunshine as a bonus rather than an expectation.

Read more from Yorkshire coast staycations.

Families with school-age children often find the choice made for them: Norfolk Broads holidays a weekend fits into a long weekend without needing time off work, while a full week usually means using proper holiday allowance and lines up best with the summer break. Retired couples or those without school-term constraints have more freedom to choose either, depending on mood and the time of year.