Happy Wanderers?
When we were on our way to Le Continent, either waiting for Le Shuttle (delayed) or at an Aire, got talking to some of you motorhoming types. A lot said that they had nowhere booked, one couple were going travelling for a year and had not booked anything at all. have to say, although as a caravanner this was not for me, I was impressed! Is this the spirit that all you motorhomers share, or did I just meet the wild ones?! Have to say did get to chat to a chap who thought wild camping was parking up for the night in council car parks, but that was another conversation!
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I guess the 'motorhoming types' as you call us were talking about staying abroad rather than the UK, Shuttleworths.
David has explained the situation across the Channel but it's a different scenario in the UK. Some MH-ers may well wild camp and not bother booking sites in the UK but the majority organise sites, whether they book or not, in the same way as you would with a caravan.
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I think you will find that most motorhome owners travelling off peak do not book anything other than a channel crossing and even that might be flexible. I think I only ever booked a Continental site three times in the last 16 years, two winter trips and one August peak travelling with grandchildren. There is simply no need at all with so many choices of where to stay and if you were not too fussed, even in peak season, you can always find somewhere.
peedee
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We're caravanners, and in twenty-odd years of caravanning have never booked a site in Europe. We head in the direction of the best weather and just find somewhere when we want to stop - we may stay one night, but if we love the area, the site, and have considerate neighbours, then we've been known to stay for three weeks. We have also 'earmarked' sites that we like the look of, and have spent only one night there, having decided we didn't like the site after all.
We now store our caravan in France - and simply ring the site the day before arriving (or even on the day if we do things on impulse). We arrive and decide whether to stay on site, or to tow off and head somewhere else................... !
Even in peak season, in France at least, there is no need to book unless you want four and five star sites, in popular areas or anywhere near to the coast. However, we have found sites down by the beach which still had available pitches on dates in July and August, and in 2016 spent most of July and August touring in the caravan with no problems.
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We have a motorhome and never book anywhere on the continent, other than the tunnel to get us there (and back). But when we had a caravan we didn't either, so it's not restricted to just motorhomers, as AD and ValDa have also said.
But, if we go away in the UK then we DO book, it's different "over here" to "over there"
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Echo Ina's post in that for those who arent 'Euro Virgins' almost certainly wont bother to book for the majority of tours...(incidently, the EVs generally only do it once as they realise it isnt necessary)...
for one, our tours ar much longer, subject to more changes of direction (for whatever reason....weather, change of scene, change of mind....) and stays at the various stops certainly cant be 'packaged up' into 5 day chunks....places that dont 'do it' are left smartly, those that we love ,a,e us linger longer....
to me, this is the true 'spirit of touring' and to have to pre book and then change those bookings based on our 'linger criteria' wouldnt bear thinking about.
however, as others have highlighted, this just isnt possible in the uk without a little more planning or a load more hassle....
our UK trips are now generally shorter, incorporate fewer destinations and the inevitible booking .......... a necessary evil, but we do still get away for 4-6 days every other week when 'home'....
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Like everyone else, we don't book when we go to France in June / early July because there is absolutely no need. In our first couple of years going to France we did book through the CC and tended to stay in one place for 10 to 14 days but this was our mistake. It was in June in the Dordogne and it rained on every single day that we were there! Had we not booked we could have easily moved on to somewhere with better weather.
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When we caravanned we didn't book either and we have carried on that tradition now we have a motorhome. It might be different in the peak season on some of the very popular sites but as a general rule I would not book unless I had a specific reason for being on a particular campsite. There are a couple of caveats if you decide to try the no booking route, a) on some sites you have to be prepared to arrive early and b) have a plan B!!!
David
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Yes, we have travelled with booking nowt but the ferry but oddly enough, now we are getting a little older I do tend to book ahead - think i'm getting to like the certainty that there is a pitch reserved for me even though I know that abroad I will always get a pitch. We went to Lucerne this summer and after a long drive, it was reassuring to know the pitch was reserved and it was busy in May. Same trip, we returned via Innsbruck and the site was turning people away! As DK says, have a Plan B.
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Gosh, you are cautious !
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Last year when we travelled to France in September we sat on the ferry and look dup the weather reports and only decided where we would go. No bookings and complete freedom. We didn't have any problems in the 6 weeks we were away and just turned up at various sites.
However we have booked sites in Germany on a couple of occasions in May due to the Germans love of caravanning at Pentecost and Whitsun when they are public holidays and bridge 4 nights over a weekend.We were going to "popular" areas and were actually glad we had booked on those 2 occasions as both sites were full.
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