Winter Caravanning: keep it simple

My wife and I have a small fixed double bed caravan in which we have spent the depths of the last four winters in various places in the Alps.  This is a wonderful way to escape the dark of north British winter days and also there is so much to do in the snowy, sunny Alps.  We have met many people from continental European countries, especially Germany and Holland, but remarkably few from Britain.  We assume that this is because most British people think it must be a difficult complicated matter to keep warm and comfortable in these conditions.  We have found this not to be the case provided that you do not want to make it complicated.  We cannot call ourselves experienced caravaners but thought the remarks below but be useful to any other Brits thinking of doing the same as us but unsure of what is involved.

Travel

As you would expect getting a place for the caravan on a ferry is not a problem in the winter months.  Nor in our experience is the drive across Europe to the mountains.  The main roads are no more likely to have snow and ice problems than those in Britain and on the whole any snow is efficiently dealt with.  However, finding somewhere to stop for the night can be a problem as there are few sites open in winter in the lowland areas.  Nevertheless inspection of the Caravan Club book will give you sites a reasonable distance apart.  Do not expect all the facilities offered in the club book to be available.

In most mountain areas you are required to carry tyre chains and winter tyres are either highly recommended or required.  In Germany for example, German registered cars must have winter tyres.  Foreign registered are not required by law to have them but if you are involved in an accident without winter tyres you may well find things difficult.  We use four winter tyres on our 4x4 Skoda Octavia estate.  This combination has enables us to tow the caravan in all the conditions that we have met without difficulty.  These conditions have included quite steep snow covered tracks on campsites.  My suspicion is that the winter types have contributed more to this lack of difficulty than the four wheel drive.

This winter was particularly cold with the lowest night temperature falling to -23.5^oC.  In these conditions the diesel waxed to give starting problems on a couple of occasions.  I had filled at a local station on entering the mountains but, despite that, I suspect was sold diesel only suitable for down to -15^oC.  In future I shall take a winter additive to put in the last fill before the mountains.  These claim to protect the fuel to -22^oC or lower if required.

We have a mover.  This is invaluable in icy conditions.  We decided to buy it after very nearly getting into serious trouble turning the van by hand on an iced terraced site.

Heating

Ordinary modern British caravans seem from our experience to be quite well insulated. If following the “keep it simple” model additional insulation is not required.  Floor level is the cold spot which can be alleviated by the addition of some cosy rugs and wearing of high sheepskin slippers.  It is tempting to block off the vents in the caravan but all the authorities warn against this because of the risk of causing excessive condensation.  I must admit that we have locked off some, but not all, vents as the number do seem excessive on a winter night.  An electric blanket is a simple but very effective source of luxury.  In fact we consider it essential.

Will gas or electricity be the main source of heat? The gas must be propane as butane will not flow at alpine temperatures.   If you have the common Truma heater, you will have to use gas to get the caravan warmed through as electric heaters just do not have enough power.  Having got the caravan to a comfortable temperature with gas (which does not take long even on the coldest night), how you maintain that temperature will likely depend upon where you are.  In France a 10 amp electric connection in winter will cost 7 -9 Euros and so if you are connected you will want to use the electricity having paid that much.  We were easily able to keep the caravan comfortable with the electricity but we did use a separate fan heater rather than the Truma on electricity.  In Austria and Italy the winter electricity is usually metered and at 60 – 70 Euro-cents per Kwh works out even more expensive than the French fixed rate.  If you are relaying on gas for heating you might use 2 -3 kg of gas per day.  Therefore it is not feasible to take all the gas for the trip from Britain with you.  Access to a local gas supply is essential.  Gas can often be obtained at the mountain campsite or more cheaply from supermarket filling stations.  Some sites are visited by a gas company who will fill continental cylinders but are not allowed to fill calor cylinders  Adaptors from British to Continental systems can be obtained by contacting Socal89 Limited (http://www.socal.co.uk/).  You should take a metre long pigtail connector from cylinder to the bulkhead regulator as the cylinder you obtain locally is unlikely to fit in your gas locker.  If you have not been able to obtain a calor to continental adaptor, it is worth considering taking a spare pigtail which can be cut and a local connector substituted for the calor connector.

Truma sell extensions for the flue in case of deep snow on the caravan roof.  This is probably not necessary if you are living in the caravan because the snow around the flue will be melted.  Nevertheless, we have one as a precaution.

Will you be able to heat the caravan sufficiently to keep the water and drainage flowing?  There is no chance of that with our van because the water pipes run at floor level along the outside wall.  We drain the water system and bring in the water by plastic jerrycan.  If using the waste water system collect the water in a soft bucket which can be emptied when frozen.  The cassette can be flushed with the appropriate solution kept in a large jug.

Awning or Porch?

There is no doubt that an awning makes life more comfortable in winter.  On a snowy night it is good to be able to take off coat and shoes under cover before entering the caravan.  The awning needs to be to the winter standard as it may well have to bear the weight of 10 or more cm of snow.  Also the material of the walls and especially the windows must not crack at -20^oC.  Do you need an awning or will a winter porch suffice?  Our first year we took an awning as we thought that we would need space to store boots, skis and so on. However, we found that mountain winter campsites provide heated rooms for skis, boots and indeed for drying clothes.  Some even provide a room and bench for waxing skis.  Having a full size winter awning was not worth the strain on our marriage endured by its erection.  We now live in harmony with an easily erected winter porch.

Where to go?

Although there is a shortage of sites open in the winter months in the lowland areas of the continent, there are many sites to choose from in the mountains.  We have been to Rasan, near Bruneck, in the sud Tirol, Innsbruck and La Clusaz near Annecy (twice).  You are spoilt for choice.  If you decide to try this version of caravanning, we hope you have as good a time as we have had.