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Hi, My daughter and I are going on a road trip this summer. Our route is as per the map. Can anybody give advice on campsites, discount schemes, restaurants, routes and any information in general that will help us. Thank you. Marius
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Best Fall Destinations in Europe for Outdoor Adventurers
ourtravelchecklist posted a blog entry in Our Travel Checklist
We love this time of the year when the fall foliage colors emphasize the beauty of the nature. There are many scenic outdoor destinations in Europe which you should discover especially during the autumn months. Below you’ll find our TOP 3 – Best Fall Destinations in Europe for outdoor adventurers in 2018. Read more on our blog: Best Fall Destinations in Europe -
After 2 and a half years, we are on one of our first holidays, in Vieste, Italy. We have visited 14 countries so far and have a load more to visit as we reach our half way point in our planned travels. So who are we? MrsT and I decided, after much deliberation and a 5 week trip around France to see if we could survive without battling too much, to sell our three bedroomed end of terrace house, just outside of Poole, Dorset and follow our dream of visiting as many countries as possible, or at least until the money runs out. The first year 2014, took us to Portugal for Christmas, the second 2015 to Spain and last year we spent Christmas in Sicily. to follow our dreams and keep up with what we are doing, please visit us on www. thomsonstravels. co. uk One of the many Greek Temples we have visited (400BC) since we arrived in Sicily
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First of all, I would like to say hello to everyone in this forum. I became a member just because I love the idea to become a "motorhomer" although I am a bit lost how to do it. I know the first step - buying a motorhome, however I just wanted some information about everything to bear in mind in terms of cost, driving, parking, legal regulation. . . before doing that. I am currently based in Liverpool and I will move on down south to Tonbridge in a couple of months, so I hope to find some people who love and are involved in this kind of life over there. Thank you very much for the opportunity given in "Caravan Talk" in order to become familiar with this sort of camping and travelling.
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Our Grand Plan is to downsize on the house front and go Part time, full time touring in the Knaus. and by that I mean spend a week or two at home to repair and recharge etc and then shoot off in the Knaus for 3 weeks or a month before returning to the "Ranch" to check the mail and do any repairs etc. Your views, ideas, hints tips and opinions will be gratefully received. Admin comment: See this member's full post here
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Also found under Le Manns on Thomson's Travels _______________________________________________ 9th & 10th November 2014 We woke to the sound of rain, which quickly passed, leaving everything damp! After breakfast, we sauntered around readying ourselves for the trip to our next campsite near Le Mans. The trip down was uneventful and longer than necessary, the reason being was that we either took the péage (Toll Roads) or the free roads, we took the free roads, saving ourselves €30, however it took 4. 5hours instead of 3. .. The free way is always best! The campsite, Camping Le Pont Romain was closed for lunch when we arrived, so we waited outside reception for an hour and a half until 15:30hrs when the staff returned. The pitch we chose was chosen, as much for convenience, as for position. We were able to make use of mains water and drainage as well as electricity at 16 Amps. All looked Hunky Dorey, sparkling toilet blocks and solar heated showers, bread ordered on the day delivered to the site the next morning, time to start relaxing and getting in to French mode. .. We awoke the next morning to wall to wall sunshine and off to the solar showers. .. what a disappointment, it had obviously been cloudy and night!!! Loads of water and residual heat from yesterdays sunny intervals. So, after croissants & bread and Camembert for breakfast, we made tracks for the Super U in the centre of Le Mans. Filling up with diesel at €1. 19 a litre before we went in to do our shop, was the highlight of the day. On the return to the campsite, we detoured in to an E. Leclerc to buy a decent iPhone 5 cable, as all the cheap ones I'd purchased through eBay had stopped working! That afternoon we walked in to the local village of Yvré-l'Eveque via the Roman bridge. The village was clean and deserted, kids in school and parents at work, apart from a couple of people in the village 'Aire de Repose' who had found a way to 'do it' in a car!!!. Off tomorrow morning. .. Lesson Learnt: 2 nights is not long enough to visit anywhere!
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In this blog I am going to try and tell you the story of my wife's (MrsT) and my trip of a lifetime. There will be links to our blog, where you can read many of the stories I'll be posting on here and others, which I will be missing out, Before this trip started, we had had 20 years of taking the kids to France for the usual 2-4 week summer holiday. To begin with with tents and Eurocamp, then with a Lunar Clubman (the one with a boat roof) until we reached the point where we had a brand new 2010 Bailey Pegasus 554 waiting to show us how she would cope. We did a short trip to settle our nerves then. . . we took the plunge. Follow the full blog at www. thomsonstravels. co. uk _________________________________________________ After a few short months of indecision, the house went on to the market and within 2 days a buyer found. 3 weeks later, we were living on our drive waiting for the money to be paid in to our bank account, and finally, a very short 5 weeks from start to finish, we were on our way around the UK visiting friends and relations as we prepared ourselves for a trip of a life time. As we haled from Poole in Dorset, it seemed silly not to wave farewell to the UK from our old favourite cross channel port. In doing so managed, for the first time in 16 years of caravanning summer holidays in France, to become violently sea sick! Ah well, a lesson hard to forget! We arrived in France at a goodly time and drove to our first of many campsites, in Coutance on the 7th November 2014. The campsite, unbooked as most of our campsites have been, was easy walking distance from the town and, like many municipal sites in France, close to the town's football and sports facilities. After a much needed bottle of wine and a good nights sleep, we were ready to explore.
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Planning a trip away is a great way to while away the winter nights, looking at those photographs of summer days on a beautiful campsite or the surrounding area lifts the winter blues no end, I love using google earth and the internet to research areas and especially for us who love to fish the French rivers its an invaluable tool from which you can just about pick your fishing peg and your pitch, AA route planner again can afford you a near military style organisation that allows all periods in between to be totally the opposite " chilled out and relaxing " we plan to spend the future years seeing here there and everywhere we can from the UK to all of Europe so much more planning to come, would love to hear fellow caravaners thoughts and plans for future trips over the coming years, month's, weeks .
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Hello to you all, we are new to the forum, in the process of planning our trip of a life time, and tackling the many road blocks that seem to want to get in the way. I am looking for some help in finding a specialist broker or insurance company who can provide caravan and tow car insurance to suit our circumstances. The ones that I have contacted so far have said we do not meet their insurer's criteria. We are Kiwis (NZ), however I also have an EU passport. We live in Australia currently. I did live in England about 20 years ago for six years. We will be on International Driving Permits, which should allow us to have a combined car/caravan weight of up to 4,500kg. We wont be able to obtain UK DL as we won't have passed residency criteria. We plan on buying a LHD drive car and a caravan in England, taking this to Europe and touring around for a couple of years. We will have a UK base (my sister) and can register the car to her address. So. .. any assistance with who to talk to about insurance or how to make our plans more insurable, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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I would dearly love to get in the van and head to warmer / sunnier climes from around mid December for 2 to 3 weeks (depending on how far we go and how long it takes etc etc). Is it worth going all the way to Europe for that length of time and at that time of year? Where would be a recommended place for decent-ish weather? Country and suggested sites very welcome. .. Is taking a ferry with a caravan going to require us to remortgage the house to pay?? Any and ALL advice and suggestions welcome Ps: If it helps with some context we are a family with 2 young kids (5 and 3) so somewhere family friendly please!
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Ok, so we emerged from the Stena Hollandica thursday morning after a very pleasant and carm crossing overnight and made our way across Holland (via a dealer in Arnhem ) and onto the 2014 caravan salon the next morning. What a show ! And what a refreshing change from the UK examples here at the NEC twice a year, about 8 massive air conditioned halls, bright airy and clean. Most of the major manufactures had either a whole hall or at least half a hall to themselves. Each stand was a mix of motorhomes and caravans and at no point did we feel it was overcrowded or that were about to be pounced on by a dealer asking us the same quizzing question. The fellow visitors were soooo polite and we were treated with a hallo or guten tag or a conversation if they found out were were English on occasion. It was noticeable that the set up is so different, a manufacture sets his stall out, brings along 80% of the vans it offers, mainly the top sellers and it is a basic spec with a few choice extras. By visiting a stand you find out exactly what you want, there is usually a list of dealers and none of them hassle you . You can then either ask questions and confirm a price or just move onto another hall after being invited for a coffee and cake. The is Unlike the NEC where you find the same van over and over again on either a manufactures stand or a big dealers stand where the price varies by £££££ if it has a microwave or deluxe velour upholstery option fitted or not. You find yourself going backwards and forwards looking at the same van trying to workout what the difference is. Often finding the same van just renamed for a dealer with some localised name at the same price. It felt like we were in a car dealership or proper trade shows and made a refreshing change. I had identified 4 or 5 models that we wanted to take a look at, all with a fixed bed and nice seating area. These were: Klaus 450 FU, Adria 462PU, Dethcleffs C,Go and C,Trend 475 FR, Wiensburg 450FU, Burstner 450TS. All with this layout.
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My current pet insurer Mark & Spencer has increased the cost of cover for my five year old dog, our maximum foreign trip length at the moment is five weeks. I have found alternate policies but they have a max of 30 days. Any thoughts please
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We have just had our annual caravan service here in France and the thought crossed my mind that other caravanners living in France and/or Spain or who store their caravans over here, might like an English speaking, well qualified engineer who is also authorised for warranty work. www. EuroCaravanServices. com have serviced our caravan for a few years now and I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone who has a caravan. They travel to you and Clive does, in my opinion, a very thorough job. Happy travelling, Roger
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I'm planning a trip to France and I've been looking at Red Pennant breakdown and recovery but I already have Premier B&R with my car insurance which includes caravan and European cover. Does anyone have experience of Saga B&R in Europe in particular, as far as I know this is operated by Greenflag so any experience of them would also be useful. Thanks in advance
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Please forgive if this is a silly question - newbie here!! We have just bought our first caravan - a second hand Elddis Typhoon - from a well know local dealer. Whilst buying it I was very clear that we intended to take the van to Europe (specifically the Netherlands) and he assured me that everything would be fine. I asked about the electrics (Heaters, fridge, charging the battery etc) and he said that everything would work fine. A bit of research now has med me a bit suspicious. Pretty much everything in the van states that it works of 220/240 volts. The battery charger says 198-250 volts. SO If I plug the van into 110 volts in Holland will ANYTHING work? I guess I can survive if the battery stays charged but I am getting really worried now. Any advice gratefully received. Regards Mike Wright
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Travelling to Europe to escaper the cold/chase the spring down?! Our European travel guide is an essential read to help keep you safe on the roads and advise you of any differences in the law in countries such as France, Belgium, Switzerland and more. Read more about caravanning in Europe Do you have any tips of your own? Post them on this thread to help those exploring new corners of Europe in their caravans. -
Any recommendations as to the best European map. I'm looking for the large sheet type which I can spread on the floor and plot routes and make plans. A map with clear details is preferred as some of them have so much info it is difficult to focus!
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I am completely new to European caravaning. But taking the bull by the horns we are planning a trip to Switzerland in August. My problem is I need somewhere to stop on the way down through France. Vicarious Books told me today that 'Aires' are off-limits to caravans and by EU law I must use camp sites, is this true? Can anyone recommend a decent campsite near Nancy as I reckon this is where we will stop overnight on the way to the Vitznau site near Lucerne? Any good tips for first time European caravanning?
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We are a small family looking to travel Europe for 6+ months in 2012. We have two children, who will be 2 and 3 when we depart. Having spent 2 months travelling France in a Renault Scenic / Tent when our eldest was just 8 months, we are comfortable with budgeting and planning our journey. What we do need advice on however, is caravans! We used to have a campervan (1984 Talbot Rambler), but for the purpose of this adventure we feel a caravan will be best to offer more mobility in terms of setting-up camp, and being able to to use the car more freely. We're looking to purchase a 2nd-hand caravan during Nov-Jan, with a budget of about £4,000. Additionally, we will need a larger car as our 2002 Renault Scenic (1. 9 diesel) would struggle to pull a 4-berth. We've probably got a budget of around £2,000 for a car! (Not much for either, I know!) Having looked round a few caravans, our preferred layout is sleeping area at either end, with the kitchen in the middle (we feel this is the best layout for the kids to settle without disruption at night-times. Such include Elddis Avante 475, Abbey Vogue 516, Hymer Nova 530 (all 2004 models + out of our price range!). I've split my questions into four sections: caravan, car, insurance, considerations. . and would be extremely grateful of any advice. Recommended caravans? Purchase from dealer or private? If dealer, is it best to pay more for an extended warranty? Recommended cars? Minimum car weight? Is diesel best option? Best to have a car no older than 10 years? Would you do this journey in a car with more than 100,000 miles on the clock? Insurance: Typical costs? Limitations on insurance for 6 month or more? Can I get EU cover for a car older than 10 years? Any other considerations? Massive thanks, Lee (firmanfamily)
