First trip abroad
Looking to travel abroad Jan/Feb to seek out some better weather. Never travelled abroad in the MH before. Any tips or advice appreciated. I.e best ferry crossing, things to take, what not to leave behind etc. Thanks in advance.
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Best ferry crossing to where?
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Impromto trip just to get away from the English weather. Is it better to travel to France or maybe direrct to Spain or even Portugal?
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To get to sunshine forget France other than driving through it. You will have to go to Spain, at least south of Valencia or preferably Alicante or Portugal. Which is the best way to cross the sea will depend on where you live and how good are your sea legs and how long is the trip. We prefer to use the Chunnel and take our time driving through France but this might not suit you.
peedee
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At the risk of being a killjoy, to go to the far south of Spain, which is where you are going to have to go to get decent weather, is a heck of a trip for someone who is asking for the most basic knowledge of what to take.
We came back from our first trip to Spain a couple of weeks ago and the weather in the north, where we had to go to get our ferry, was worse than we had at home.
As far as which ferry, that depends on what you are comfortable with in terms of how much you are willing to pay and how good you are on a boat. I was seasick the whole way home. The Bay of Biscay can be pretty rough.
Can I suggest that you read all through the previous posts on going to Spain/whether to drive through France or get the ferry direct, as there is a lot of good information in them. We certainly learned a lot even as very experienced caravanners to France. Then perhaps if you are still set on going you will have some specific questions to ask.
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We’re on our way down to the Algarve at the moment. We use the tunnel because I’m not a good sailor and we have a dog. We came over on Tuesday and have done about 3 hours driving a day and are now at Salamanca going into Portugal today, arriving at Praia da Luz tomorrow. The weather was wet for a couple of days but definitely improved on Friday and we were on site with the van door open it was very mild.
Its our second winter trip and I didn’t have a clue last year. If you can get through France, you’ll probably just need stuff you’d take in the UK in spring, but it can get cool at night so you’ll need a warm jacket. Having said that, I believe it can be wet in the Algarve, when we arrived last January it was torrential rain.
Also bear in mind that ferries at this time of year can get cancelled. We were talking to someone yesterday whose ferry to Spain was cancelled and the next one they could offer was 14th January. They eventually got on one to Caen but then had the long drive down.
Go, and enjoy it, it’s an adventure.
Nora
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For a very first Motorhome trip abroad I would wait until Spring. For a two or three week break from UK winter weather I would fly to somewhere far nearer the equator than Spain.
Flights to Thailand cost the same as the ferry to Spain and take half the time. Accommodation there can be had for the price of a UK caravan site. The weather really is better.
Motorhomes are not the only way to go but good luck whatever you choose.
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....but 'jan/feb' could easily mean 8 weeks away.....
one thing you have going for you is that ypu have a MH and travelling through france/spain there are thousands of aires to stop at, one in virtually every town/village.
just keep your fuel, water and gas topped up and youre away.
have a look at campercontact website, perhaps download the app, for a few pounds you get all the stopping info youll need.
if you go for it, have a great trip.
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Hi MH2,
Bear in mind that a lot of the popular sites in SE Spain are fully booked in Jan/Feb by the regular snowbirds. We go to the Valencia area early Feb for a couple of months but we are booked up. Other people on here should be able to advise about site availability further South.
BillC
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