Harbour

Harbour car parks make some of the best overnight stops in the UK, and the combination of waking up to the sound of halyards, the smell of salt water and a view of working boats is genuinely hard to beat. The best harbour stops tend to be in smaller fishing villages rather than the larger coastal resorts, where parking restrictions are tighter and the atmosphere is less commercial.

Many harbour car parks operate on a pay-and-display basis that stops running in the late afternoon, creating a window for a free or low-cost overnight stay. The key is arriving after the day visitors have gone – usually from 4pm onwards in summer – and leaving before the morning rush. Checking for overnight restriction signs before settling in is always worth doing, as enforcement has increased at some popular locations in recent years.

The fishing harbours of Cornwall, the east Yorkshire coast, the Scottish northeast and the southwest Wales coast are particularly good for this kind of stop. Places like Mousehole, Staithes, Pittenweem and Aberaeron have that combination of genuine working character and manageable parking that makes harbour overnights work well.

A practical consideration worth noting: harbours are tidal environments and the noise level changes depending on the state of the tide. A high tide against a stone harbour wall at night is noisier than many people expect, while low water tends to be quieter. The smell of exposed mud and weed at low tide is also worth factoring in, depending on how sensitive you are to it.