Planning 7 months across Europe - Help!!!
Hi all,
I am new to the forum, but have already started gathering loads of useful hints and tips on caravanning in Europe.
We are new to caravanning also - bought our first van last year...(Lunar Quaser 544)
However, we are planning an ambitious 7 month trip across Europe leaving this April, and need as much help and advice as you can give! 
We' are me, my wife (both late 30's), and my 2 daughters (aged 9 and 6).
We have a rough route planned, covering Spain, Southern France, Corsica, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany (i.e. avoiding places would go on a 2-3 week holiday in future).
I welcome your help:
- General useful hints and tips - Things to do before I go, when we are there, and also what not to do!
- Must see places (ideally family friendly, but not necessarily!)
- Guide to the best sites, and ones to avoid.
- Help on 'Wild Camping' - advisable? Where is best / where to avoid?
- Anything else you can suggest, especially any practical advice to a relative newbie!
(note: I have the basics covered I think(!) Camping Key, ACSI, Caravn Club Europe books, Caravan / Breakdown / Travel / Car Insurance, Solar Panels)
Really look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
Thanks
Matt
Comments
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Don't be a slave to your plan. Be prepared to stop in places you find you like rather than driving ever onward to keep to your schedule. I doubt if you will do the whole 13 countries route, but never mind.
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Welcome Matt, firstly I think you need a moderator to come along and close your post in the new to caravanning section and get replies to this section only as it is more relevant to your request. There is so much advice that could be given but I think
you should perhaps start be checking through the Club's Your Stories section for the overseas travels where you will find lots of stories from members who have travelled overseas. I have posted almost 100 myself and have used that area as a big resource for
our travels, which were new to us 3 years ago. Also reading blogs that was mentioned on the other thread, some members have their own blogs and you will find them mentioned on here too. The other thing is ignore the search facility for this web site and use
Google instead adding Caravan Club to the search term and you may well find specific things on our forum easily where a forum search is almost useless. Once you have read all then you can come back to ask more specific questions. Good luck. Regards, Roy0 -
First, the key is flexibility rather than a rigid timetable. Takes the pressure off and allows you time to enjoy the good bits and move on quickly from the bad bits,
Second look at your route and the weather/season/climate. Might be better (and perhaps quieter) to do the Scandinavia, northern German, Poland in the summer. Do France Spain in the spring and finish in Croatia or southern Italy when the sea is warm.
Third: Check insurance for both car and van, and for the house if it is left empty. Get MOT before you go and be prepared to have car serviced abroad if necessary.
Fourth: Check your bank credit and debit cards for charges for foreign transactions and switch as appropriate to free ones. On a two week holiday a few charges might not matter much, but over 7 months these might run up to three figures.
Finally have a look at our blogs here, particularly "adventure before dementia" and the first one, "round Europe with a caravan" We have had two separate 12 month trips abroad
with our caravan, the first within months of buying our first caravan. The trips had the odd low patch, but overall thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.0 -
Definitely use summer to see Scandinavia......but why are you missing out Norway? Much more scenic than the rest of Scandinavia!
Krone is very low against the £ at the moment, so prices work out more reasonable than previously.
For spending abroad, you want the Halifax Clarity Credit card. You can use it to draw cash too, or get a fee free debit card from a few other banks.
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Thanks for all the advice so far. The other thread (duplicate) is closed, so this will one will be used.
I will take the time to check out the blogs mentioned.
Halifax Clarity Card - yep, mine arrived yesterday(!), and have signed up for a Norwich & Peterbourough current account
Insurance - yes, proving to be tricky to find for 180+ days but have found Car Insurance and Breakdown with AA to be best value, even though still £££!
All thoughts or help much appreciated!
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The thought of planning such a long tour must be overwhelming - we're spending 5 weeks in Europe in the summer and organising it has been brain-scrambling!
My advice has been to break the trip down into sections to make planning more managable. Decide where you want to be at what time of year - for example, Hungary in August temperatures can hit 40c, in November you could be snow bound!
The first thing I would do is plan your start and finish. Especially the start. Plan some specific destinations otherwise you'll just look at the map and panic
As for wild camping, I think, in a caravan, you might find it difficult. Check stelplatz and aire details carefully to make sure caravans are permitted. Also keep in mind that you might turn up to one and it's full, especially over the summer months.
Finally, for a child friendly destination, have a look at Legoland near Munich - it has a campsite attached! Sadly you've just missed their earlybird offers but it's still much cheaper than the Windsor site. We've booked a two night campsite stay with
a two day park ticket and it only cost us €126 for the four of us.Happy planning!
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Hello Bessytourer
This is not a complaint but I am wondering how you are able to take the children away for so long. If you home school how much time has to be spent daily on educational activities and did you need permission? I am asking this as an interested parent of two
boys.0 -
No need for permission, is there? The children will leave the school they are at when the family goes overseas. When eventually they all return the children will re enrolled at school - might even be at a different one.
Sensible parents will do lots of educational activities with the children while they are away, but no one will check how much time they have to spend every day. I once knew a 12 year old who helped sail a yacht across the Pacific, did her turn on the night-time watches, and in the days before GPS became skilful in navigating by the stars. Bright girl, not handicapped by her time away, and she later did a Ph.D at university. .
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Hi all,
I am new to the forum, but have already started gathering loads of useful hints and tips on caravanning in Europe.
We are new to caravanning also - bought our first van last year...(Lunar Quaser 544)
However, we are planning an ambitious 7 month trip across Europe leaving this April, and need as much help and advice as you can give!
We' are me, my wife (both late 30's), and my 2 daughters (aged 9 and 6).
We have a rough route planned, covering Spain, Southern France, Corsica, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany (i.e. avoiding places would go on a 2-3 week holiday in future).
I welcome your help:
- General useful hints and tips - Things to do before I go, when we are there, and also what not to do!
- Must see places (ideally family friendly, but not necessarily!)
- Guide to the best sites, and ones to avoid.
- Help on 'Wild Camping' - advisable? Where is best / where to avoid?
- Anything else you can suggest, especially any practical advice to a relative newbie!
(note: I have the basics covered I think(!) Camping Key, ACSI, Caravn Club Europe books, Caravan / Breakdown / Travel / Car Insurance, Solar Panels)
Really look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
Hi all,
I am new to the forum, but have already started gathering loads of useful hints and tips on caravanning in Europe.
We are new to caravanning also - bought our first van last year...(Lunar Quaser 544)
However, we are planning an ambitious 7 month trip across Europe leaving this April, and need as much help and advice as you can give!
We' are me, my wife (both late 30's), and my 2 daughters (aged 9 and 6).
We have a rough route planned, covering Spain, Southern France, Corsica, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany (i.e. avoiding places would go on a 2-3 week holiday in future).
I welcome your help:
- General useful hints and tips - Things to do before I go, when we are there, and also what not to do!
- Must see places (ideally family friendly, but not necessarily!)
- Guide to the best sites, and ones to avoid.
- Help on 'Wild Camping' - advisable? Where is best / where to avoid?
- Anything else you can suggest, especially any practical advice to a relative newbie!
(note: I have the basics covered I think(!) Camping Key, ACSI, Caravn Club Europe books, Caravan / Breakdown / Travel / Car Insurance, Solar Panels)
Really look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
ThanksMatt
We have visited a good few of those countries over the past 12 years with the caravan have a look here you might pick up a few tips and campsites
here.DianneT
ThanksMatt
Write your comments here...
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I'm 3 months into a trip my advice would be to forget the plan. More important to enjoy each day than be driven forever onwards to achieve self imposed goals.
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Thanks for all your great advice. I think the biggest take away is enjoy the journey, and not try to fit everything in! A big challenge for me as I love to plan holidays well, so will need to sit back and chill a lot more!
Marz - In terms of school, is as simple as completing a form to say you are taking your children out of school, and then re-enrolling them around a month before we return (as eurotraveller suggests). We have done loads of research in terms of what we can
do with them while we are away, and the school have been really supportive.We are also lucky they are really switched on, bright girls who I am confident will not struggle at all. Also, I believe it will give them a lot more education that 6 months at primary
school!0 -
For Corsica book a ferry as they get very full in summer and have limited space for a caravan, we went in 2014 and loved it, plan to stay in 2 or 3 places around the Island as getting about is tricky with so much traffic, better to move sites then explore
that part of the Island, we took Corisca/Sardinia Ferries.0 -
Bessy
I was just wondering if you have planned for gas usage while away .
The fittings are different to here .
You can buy them in UK ie. Amazon etc.but not sure if different countries need different bottle fittings .I do know that in Spain you now need a Spanish address to register for a gas bottle.
It is something worth checking as in some countries electric can work out more expensive than gas
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Thanks for the advice MichaelT
Thanks JPOSH - Can anyone give me advice on gas fittings bottles?
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If you want to use less gas, then my advice would be to buy a two ring electric hob (in Argos sale can be had for £14.99 - and other places for even less - ALDI or Lidl for instance), and a mini oven. We have a Logic (currently unavailable, unfortunately but other makes and models are available). We have cooked for six using just two rings and an electric oven, turning on rings alternately to heat up and carry on cooking on the residual heat.
You will still need various different adaptors, but having an electric alternative will mean that you can save a lot of gas use - and cook outdoors in the sunshine if you wish. We set ours up outside, on the caravan folding table.
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Bessy
Do you use propane or butane ?.
It's not the gas but the pigtail from the bulkhead regulator .if you use propane then you will need a pol to butane adapter. Google. hamiltons gas products .part number b1301. If butane no problem. Anyway once the bottle end of the pigtail on the same site
search GAZ 1 . this is to fit the now modified pigtail to a camping Gaz 907 bottle .probably the most widely available bottled gas in Europe but horrendously expensive and is 2.75 kg .good for emergencies only .the two parts I have recommended should cost
no more than £15 for the pair.Before ordering give them a ring tell them what countries you intend visiting .and they should have what you need .
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Bessy
Do you use propane or butane ?.
It's not the gas but the pigtail from the bulkhead regulator .if you use propane then you will need a pol to butane adapter. Google. hamiltons gas products .part number b1301. If butane no problem. Anyway once the bottle end of the pigtail on the same site
search GAZ 1 . this is to fit the now modified pigtail to a camping Gaz 907 bottle .probably the most widely available bottled gas in Europe but horrendously expensive and is 2.75 kg .good for emergencies only .the two parts I have recommended should cost
no more than £15 for the pair.Before ordering give them a ring tell them what countries you intend visiting .and they should have what you need .
Write your comments here...ok update on what you need for France just the part b1301 propane pol to w20 adapter.
This will then fit the majority of gas bottles on sale at petrol stations .Not sure about other countries yet
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Ok
Final a update .
If you are using propane at the moment then
The b1301 adapter will sort you out for the majority of if not all the western European countries but only for the propane bottles. Butane is not as standardised so not an option.
So I would suggest buying the GAZ 1 camping gaz adapter along with b1301 and all eventualities will be covered .
Only problem you will have is learning the word propane in all of the languages you encounter .
Good luck and keep us posted
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Gas is probably your biggest problem because it is difficult to see how you can go seven months without a refill, even with maximum use of electricity. A gas BBQ I would list as essential and if you use your oven then a slow cooker may be a good alternative.
Depends on your lifestyle. Camping Gaz is the only one that you will find throughout Europe but not sure about the availability of the larger cylinders. Have you looked into refillable?Take everything you would need for a shorter trip but consider also, torque wrench (check wheel nuts every 500 miles or so), battery charger with international plug adapter, electric drill and tyre pump (heavy duty).
Another vote here for Halifax Clarity. Set up a standing order for monthly payments. If you draw cash, go into your bank account and transfer money over to avoid interest payments.
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Thanks all.
JPOSH - We use Propane, so will loo at the adapter you mention. brilliant advice, thanks
KjellNN - Gaslow looks great, will take a good look at that too
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We invested in Gaslow system on our motorhome, whilst it is a big initial outlay you can save on refills at about a third of the cost of Calor and have the flexibility to top up at any autogas filling station. We wouldn't be without it.
on a separate note who has motorhomes/ caravaned in Corsica. What are the likely problems with roads etc
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