Riverside camping pitches at Chertsey Club Site London with camper vans and motor homes

Chertsey Club Site Review: Vanlife Near London

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by

Alex Brown
in ,

When we decided that a visit to central London with a motor home was not an option, we felt sad about having to miss out on showing our daughter some quintessential British culture. After discovering the Chertsey Club Site from Camping and Caravanning Club and adjusting our route, we found an excellent alternative to having to navigate London city centre traffic in a 7m Sunlight coach built.

Chertsey Site At A Glance

  • 📍 Location: Chertsey, Surrey – England
  • 💶 Price: £49 for 7m motor home, 2 adults, per night
  • 🚐 Van access: Accommodates all sizes & towable
  • 🔌 Facilities: Electric hook-up, showers & toilets, WiFi, family room with child bath
  • 🐕 Pet friendly: Yes, dog shower room
  • 🌿 Vibe: along River Themes, trees, totally flat, great access to London
  • 📅 Visited: November 2025

The Experience At Chertsey Club Site London

Arrival: Despite turning up later in the evening and on a Sunday, the lady at reception was wonderfully happy and shared a few light hearted jokes with us. A positive welcome greatly appreciated after having been caught up in gridlocked traffic on the M3 and M25. In under two minutes we were checked in and being led to our pitch. Pulling into the Camping and Carravanning Club site and away from the busy roads felt good.

The surroundings: The space between the pitches was impressive for a site so close to London. While this luxurious amount of space is given at club sites, it isn’t the sort of breathing room I have been used to at most other camping sites I have stayed on. Trees stand large on the grounds, which also backs onto the River Themes. For us, we seemed a safe and relaxing place to park our motor home, where we could then easily take public transport into central London. The closest train stations that run into London Waterloo are Chertsey at 8 minutes by taxi, and Weybridge at 15 minutes by taxi (Weybridge offers a much faster train into Waterloo, definitely recommended).

Facilities and atmosphere: As already mentioned the natural feeling of the Chertsey club site, even though it is situated so close to the capital, was a surprise. The grass is lush and the hard standing pitches are large and easy to back large motor homes into. The electric boxes serving powered pitches are found right next to the pitches, and a number of service stations for drinking water are dotted across the site. The toilets and shower rooms were properly warm, and absolutely sparkling clean. It felt great to hop into a hot shower on a cold morning in November I can assure you.

Highlight: The ease of access to London was what bought us to the area. The club site gave us that peace of mind leaving our motor home in a safe location. We could have walked to the nearest train station in Chertsey, but with a child and the good old English rain coming down, we opted for a local taxi. An hour later we were in central London and ready for a full day of sight seeing!

The people: All staff smiling and I had a nice chat with the guy at reception on the way out. He really enjoys working at the site and had been there for a long time. To my surprise, he told me about the excellent river fishing that the club is known for. The Chertsey Camping and Caravanning site sits right on the banks of the River Themes which is populated plenty of coarse fish including chub, barbel, bream, roach, dace, perch, pike, and carp. I picked up a copy of the club magazine upon departure, which I will enjoy at my next park up.

Good to Know

The Camping and Caravanning Club is a long-standing community of UK campers, vanlifers, and outdoor wanderers. Club membership opens the gate to hundreds of well-kept sites across the UK and beyond, often with a friendlier price tag and a few handy perks — from early bookings to travel tips and member-only locations. It’s a solid option if you’re roaming regularly or like a reliable stopover between wild spots.

I’d advise arriving outside of rush-hour traffic as we were caught in at least 30 minutes of gridlock traffic in Chertsey on arrival. There is an Aldi supermarket right in the town with a full supply of food and drink. The town centre charms with boutique shops and plenty of places to eat.

Back on the club site, you can’t really pick a bad pitch. Perhaps the ones right on the water would be favorable in summer months, but walking around the site is pleasurable in any case. The showers were absolutely clean and the water runs with pressure and at lovely temperatures.

This stay was hosted in partnership with the Camping and Caravanning Club, but as always, our impressions are our own — we only share places we’d genuinely return to.

Chertsey Club Site London Verdict

Our family day in London was made easy with the safe camping spot in Chertsey. Our daughter loved the natural History Museum, as well as listening to the bongs of Big Ben outside the Houses of Parliament. We rode the London Underground as well as the regular train, all of which felt that bit easier knowing that we had a comfortable place to return to that evening and full of new impressions.

The Camping and Caravanning Club site, this being the first one we’d ever stayed on, was a welcomed higher level of comfort when it comes to camp sites. I really appreciated the cleanliness of the site, which includes the chemical toilet facility and waste water station. A camp site which is kept 100% presentable, and one which ticks every box when it comes to needing a place to park and sleep in your motor home or camper van next to London.

We’d look no further than returning to this site at Chertsey when we return to London for our next day out in the city.