Caravanning abroad
I would appreciate tips and maybe encouraging words.
Comments
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It is a different kind of fun. I think the biggest difference is motorhomer's tend to flit from site to site, or is that tour, a bit like a road trip. With a caravan you stay on sites longer.
Colin
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We had a MH for about 20 years after having caravans for about 12 years. Went back to a caravan, main thing was MH over the magic 3.5T and OH getting near the magic age of 70!
Went to France with the caravan again and found it better in some ways but not others. Yes, great to have a car when on site, for shopping, going somewhere and taking the bikes to cycle somewhere else away from site etc. But in the end we decided to go back to a MH as we don't stay on any site for longer than a week, the travelling itself with a MH we find easier and quicker than towing, parking up en route is usually easier with a MH as well. Plus setting up and moving off is much quicker too. So we've gone back to a MH.
But saying all that, there is no right or wrong, it's what suits you. Aires are indeed another consideration and although we mainly use sites, the option is there should we need/want it, which is very useful too.
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Motorhome or Caravan ? Well for us after we retired the decision soon became neither of them. We started going to other places further afield and doing other things, so trains, boats and planes took over our travels. And in France we had multi generation family holiday houses - for 10 or 12 of us - without quarrels.
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I live on the Continent and, for the reason given in post #2 I wouldn't consider swapping my caravan for a motorhome. Although it's a five day journey for us to get to our destination in southern Spain, once we are there and stay there for a few weeks we're glad to have the car. The radius of places that we can go to visit is so much larger than if we only had bikes or even a motor scooter. Besides, we don't have to think twice about popping down to the shops to get some much-needed but forgotten ingredient in the middle of cooking for lunch. Just get in the car and drive down there, even if it's pouring with rain (although that's not too often).1
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As a caravanner, I’ve only taken the caravan over to France once, many years ago. I didn’t find it any hardship at all. If I wanted to pull in for a break, there were plenty of lay-bys. Yes, you don’t have the ‘get up and go’ aspect, but when I get myself in gear, we can be offsite easily in 15-20 minutes, so even overnight stops aren’t really an issue, not for me anyway. As others have said, having your own transportation makes getting about easy. Yes, I guess with a caravan one has to do a bit more planning, but from what others here have said, sites aren’t usually full, except for popular tourist areas, during peak season. I guess it can be summed up with one word, mindset. One tip, if you can, take off the jockey wheel before the crossing, we smashed ours coming off the boat (ramp). Yes, it was up.
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We toured abroad with our current twin axle van from 2008 to 2017, and between 1977-1984, and 1999-2007, with our previous vans. In that time we have been to at least 16 European countries, from North Cape in Norway to the south tip of Italy.
Never had any problems with turning, stopping or finding sites. We rarely booked in advance, we mainly used the ACSI card scheme as we travelled mostly in low season, being home in July and August to look after the garden and the house.
We have given it up now as insurance had become an issue due to age and various conditions, and because we had taken on grandparent duties by looking after our 2 younger grandchildren 2 days per week in school term time.
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We came fairly late to caravanning and most of our early touring on the continent was with a small baggage trailer and tents. When we moved on to a caravan we did take it to France and enjoyed the experience. However, it wasn’t huge. Our second van was a much larger Bailey Unicorn and we didn’t enjoy touring in France with that at all. Moving onto a Motorhome we really enjoy our touring and the ease with which we can move on. Also the vast number of Aires normally means there is somewhere to stop where you want to visit. Provisioning can easily be done on route at a convenient supermarket. Clearly everyone is going to have different views, what suits one will not suit another.
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Encouraging words? To paraphrase "It was the best of times" Full Stop.
We toured France extensively with various caravans for 25+years until we exhausted it. Mainly out of high season so very few sites booked in advance.
Drawbacks? There are always some. It's harder to stop en route to sightsee/walk/cycle than with a M/H but we tended to stay on site for anywhere between 4 and 7 nights to explore with the tow car.
As @Freddy55 says above, your mindset will be the acid test.
We loved it and are now enjoying a different mindset with our camper van.
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I think whether you are retired or not helps with which touring mode is preferred. If you only get a couple of weeks a year to holiday a year with the odd weekend thrown in then a caravan is probably the best bet. For retirement and continental touring I remain firmly in the motorhome/campervan camp as being the better option.
peedee
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Great replies from all of you, thank you so much.
We are retired and in no rush, we have no family to take care of or rush home to either so that is easy. I think we should try a trip with the caravan which btw is only a small two berth Hymer Nova. I have definitely been encouraged to give it a go either late this summer or early May next year. We enjoy staying on a campsite for several days at a time and I hadn’t really thought that if early enough in the season there is no real need to book ahead so that’s good as I prefer just turning up and staying if the place looks nice.0 -
https://clubtogether.caravanclub.co.uk/post/quote/409740/Comment_878864
Your comment surprises me a bit, as I would say it's the other way round. Before retirement, when one has less time, one is on the move more and there the motorhome has its rightful place. Since retirement, however, we stay at one site much longer than before and that's where the ability to be mobile immediately with the car is really of benefit.0 -
Assper other comments, it depends what you want to do. We walk and cycle (Ebikes as it happens due to knees mainly) so for us, a suitable caravan (with A frame bike rack) and separate car (and bike rack) works best - no stashing away every morning if a good walk or cycle is a few miles away. But if simply touring, sightseeing without regular walks / cycles / climbs, then a M/home may be best. We happen to book as I want to make sure it is worth going somewhere with a number of walks and cycles outline planned for each stop. Whatever you do, you will find a way of making it work for you to at least some degree.
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Having been caravaning with parents when younger, we found Spanish campsites to be very well-equipped for caravans. Having the car meant we could leave the caravan on site and explore nearby towns and beaches with ease, especially in places like Andalusia where those narrow streets would’ve been tough in a motorhome or caravan.0
