Is it a lifestyle choice?
Yesterday I was chatting to a Motorhome owner on an adjacent pitch. He asked me how long I was staying for and when I replied “two weeks” he and his wife were visibly shocked. They explained that they only stayed from one to three nights on any site and
used their bicycles to get about the area.
For me a site is just a base to explore not just local but sometimes places 20 or 30 miles away.
What I would like to know is; are our differing touring styles typical of Motorhome/caravan users?
Comments
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If it's just the two of us we tend to move after a couple of nights, if we have any grandchildren with us, we stay put and put an awning on to give us more room......
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I think there is a difference between the way motorhomers and caravanners work. This is very much a generalisation, but I think a lot of caravanners will spend longer on a site by using the site as a base, whereas motorhomers tend to move more frequently. I'm sure there are many exceptions to this generalisation, but this is just my observation. So, I guess I think it is a lifestyle choice.
David
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We are caravanners and we mix and match.
Usually in the UK we go to one site and then home, when we go to France each year we tend to use about 3 sites on a 2 week holiday.
This year we cross Poole to Cherbourg and then tour over to roscoff to come back to Plymouth. We use camping cheques and the sites have already been picked, again 3 sites this year
Kev
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neveramsure and dsb i agree with you , thats what i have observed when staying on sites , the caravans tend to stay longer and motorhomers move on quicker , the journey is part of the holiday in a motorhome , yet in a caravan you have freedom of a vehicle
on site , advantages and disadvantages for both , which you dont always realise till you actually do it ,hubby said hed never tow and yet he actually enjoys it now! lol cheers mrs bc:)0 -
I would guess it's more a setting up/hooking up issue that prompts the differing practices, not the actual towing, which is no big deal. Moving every day or two with a caravan would be tedious in the extreme, hence a tendency to use one site as a base and
radiate out from there.Duration on site for me varies but not usually less than five days. Ten or twelve would probably be the maximum before moving on.
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Nevers, that's exactly it. When we caravanned we would stay on one site far longer than we do with the MH. With a cvan you tour out and about with your car in a hub and spoke fashion. The MH lends itself to sightseeing between sites, which is something we
would not have done when towing, so there is no need to stay on one site for so long. We tend to arrive later on site with the MH as the journey from the previous site is a greater part of the holiday then it was when towing. We see more now en route as we
detour and take some minor roads rather than sticking to the more major 'towing' roads. The result is less time needed on one site.Sorry, I've rambled.
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Generally I stay 4 -5 nights over a weekend but that’s so I can get the most breaks in a year with the limited time I can get away due to work. I guess things will change when I retire but that’s a few years off yet.
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We can often book three nights with the caravan to give us two days somewhere although try for a minimum of four nights most of the time. The down sides of a motorhome simply do not appeal to us so stick with the caravan but it is a personal thing and we
are all different.0 -
For our main summer holiday we stay for about 20 days in one place. Once we're set up, awning and everything, we then just use the site as a base for the new to us surrounding area. But as others have said each to his own.
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We generally only stay in one place for up to a week, more often 4/5 days. A couple of years ago we decided to pitch up on one site for 11 nights and explore the area from there. We found that we seemed to be travelling further and further out and back each
day. It seems to work better for us to move sites.0 -
Last summer's caravan tour was 1, 3, 7, 2, 6, 2, 1, 2, 4 nights. With a smallish caravan and little kit we move or stay at will and at short notice - all unbooked because we go abroad . But I can see that people who set up awnings and satellite dishes
and have a lot of kit to pack and unpack will choose travel differently.0 -
This years French tour is 1, 1, 7, 1, 7, 7, 28, and then move on.
The one night stops are just over nighters where we pull on to site, steadies down, food, drink, sleep and on again in the morning.
In the Uk very much the same pattern. Caravan is our base as we explore new areas.
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As we are new to motorhomes we haven't slipped into a routine yet, however we are expecting that we will find ourselves moving on much more frequently than we did in our old caravanning days. Between the caravan and motorhome we sailed, and our holiday
cruises tended to involve a relocation to a new harbour every 2-3 days, so it is a habit that we have become used to.0 -
As we have a caravan we tend to stay up to 8 nights, but generally 5 or 6, on one site before moving on. We like to do at least a couple of walks from the site, one day out on my bike and a bit of touring to N/T or similar properties. We will occasionally
use a site for a single night as a stop off if we are heading to an area far from home. For example on our present trip we stopped 1,5,6,6,5,6,6,6,6,5,5,6,3 and a final 3 before getting home. It is noticable that very few M/Hs stop more than 4 nights on any
of the site's we've stopped on, but perhaps that's because most of the sites we stop on are CLs and not club sites, where possibly they stop longer.0 -
Horse for courses.
In a M/h you can only cover a limited amount of the surrounding area (unless you go in the M/h itself - not exactly conveniant, I suspect) so moving on is the way to see another area.
With our caravan and car we can easily explore a radius of maybe 30 miles.
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When we went to France years ago, we tended to base ourselves on a site for two weeks - similar to what we might do in the UK.
These days, in France we probably don't stay more than 4 days in an area, then move on maybe 50 to 150 miles.
Not sure why we do it different 'over there' compared with 'over here'.
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Thanks’ for the replies and some interesting posts.
What struck me during my conversation with this particular motorhome user was that they would not have the time to see every little bit of the coast in this area which includes some lovely hidden gems.
On the upside for them after they move on they would explore areas further afield which I would have to do on another holiday.
I guess it all depends on what method of lifestyle you prefer and if it works for you.
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A moving day with a van is effectively a day lost from the holiday, as with a 12 metre long rig it is difficult to do much on route. Now we are retired a lost day is less of a consideration, but we are able to stay longer, so we do.
Sorry can't agree with this. We took the awning down last night and packed the car, this morning we left around 9.00 am and by 11.30 we had set up on our new site near St Tropez.
Touring in France is so much better.
P. S sat outside at 10.45 wearing a t shirt and shorts - that's why we travel abroad
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Thanks’ for the replies and some interesting posts.
What struck me during my conversation with this particular motorhome user was that they would not have the time to see every little bit of the coast in this area which includes some lovely hidden gems.
On the upside for them after they move on they would explore areas further afield which I would have to do on another holiday.
I guess it all depends on what method of lifestyle you prefer and if it works for you.
Contrary to Ian's thought, touring around with a MH isn't inconvenient, in our experience, but it does depend so much on the size of the MH. The huge ones will obviously find it more difficult.
Sometimes we don't get to see all the sights but I think it's nice to leave something to see another time.
Yes, we're all different, Nevers.
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"Touring in France is so much better"
That will get some reaction!!!
P.S, sat inside wearing a jumper
I thought I'd just pass on that one, Husky and get back to Nevers' topic.
PPS. sat inside with no jumper
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No reaction from me HD but then the weather has been good here for me in sunny Scotland, 26 or 27 degrees some days.
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PPPS.....Sat inside just in shorts....
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