Overnight stops in France
We will be spending this September in France and Italy on our first caravan trip overseas. As we may be stoppng overnight on occasions just to get our eight hours of sleep in, will it be necessary to unhitch the van?. I seem to remember someone talking
about drive through pitches.
Alan
Comments
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On motorway service stations overnight you can stay hitched up - but on campsites it's probably about one in twenty in France where there's enough space to do that, but in Italy I never found any. Have a good holiday.
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There are a few sites where you can 'drive through' a pitch' but it generally because there is no one on the adjoining row! I don't think any sites have designated drive-through pitches, so you can't guarantee it anywhere you go.
However, we find that if you have a minimal set-up routine, ie arrive, unhitch, level, steadies down, electric in, kettle on, table and chairs outside in the warm balmy evening, then it's the work of only minutes to set up. If however, you do as our neighbours once did - put up their awning, and lay the carpet, hang the curtains, etc., then it will take a lot longer. We thought they must be staying some time. They were up before us the following morning and taking down their awning again.........!
Good luck, and enjoy your holiday.
Have you got an ACSI Card to help you find open sites, and get a discount on those which accept the card? See www.campingcard.co.uk for details.
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I'd say leaving it hooked up only saves you 10 minutes if that, if we leave ours in that state the van is pointing downwards at the front meaning I need to put the rear of the car on blocks to level the van up so time you've done that you've gained little.
As mentioned team work claws back time and we have our own routine as I'm sure most couples out there have and there's no need for us to say "you do that and I'll do this" we just know what to do.
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We have a routine too! We decide on the easiest access, most level pitch - usually involving a walk around the site. Then we drive to that pitch, unhitch, engage motor mover and move into places, levelling up ramps as needed as we go (experience tells
you which way the pitch slopes without a level), then we both level the van front to back - me with the spirit level, him winding the jockey wheel up or down. He does the electric and the steadies, I go inside and get out the step, then the table and chairs,
set them up outside, switch the fridge on and fill the kettle from the water tap, then I plug in the kettle and make a cuppa. Then we both sit down, and that's us done.We no longer bother with an aquaroll or waste - we just use the site facilities for washing up, teeth brushing and showers - so that saves time too.
In the morning it's much the same, in reverse and we have it down to a fine art these days.
If we're overnighting in an Aire then we leave the caravan hooked up and just manage with whatever level it ends up at!
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I agree with Val. Keep it simple. We always have some water in a plastic jerrycan for making tea - also useful for stops in laybys en route, If there's a tap on your doorstep you can fill the van sink with the washing up bowl and have a bucket under the
van waste pipe. Don't bother with levelling blocks for overnighters - just get the van level fore and aft. With our van we sleep crossways with our heads on the higher side.0 -
I suppose one of the advantages of a motorhome is that overnighting is relatively simple. Whether you can remain hitched up might depend on the size of the outfit. The Dutch, who often have smaller caravans, often remain hitched up if they have a reasonable sized pitch. Whilst not common there are a few campsites with drive through pitches. The problem is whether they are in the right place. Where abouts are you wanting to stop?
David
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