Advice for first time ‘abroader’
We are considering our first trip abroad in our motor home. We have three and a half weeks in March available. We are including a few days in Limoges to visit by brother. My draft high level plan is: ferry Portsmouth to Bilbao; drive to Barcelona; drive into southern France up to Limoges; drive up to Calais to return to UK. Obviously multiple stops along the way. At the moment we’re not towing a car so will rely on public transport. Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome. Please comment freely but constructively! Thanks in advance.
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That's a good plan and you will find it very easy.
Click Overseas holidays at the top of this page and read the section of Useful Information there.
Organise insurances for yourselves and your vehicle and for breakdowns. Get ACSI guide from Club head office if you will be using campsites, and suitable guide for Motorhome Aires if you will be stopping there - both I guess.
Take adaptors for European gas and electricity.
Book outward ferry now, book return ferry a few days before you need it, don't book any sites in advance at all.
It's as easy as that . Just go. Good luck.
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Although we have taken many holidays in Europe with caravan and tents, we were relatively new to using a MH when we took it to France last September / October. We were therefore new to using the Aires network. However, we thoroughly enjoyed being able to use them, interspersing stops between proper sites. We found the Aires of the Camping Car Park network, particularly good. They are all protected by a barrier and you need to obtain an access card for a few euros before you go. This you charge up on line, which gets you in and pays for your stay. One particular advantage, depending on how well your vehicle is set up for off grid, is that many have 6amp electric included in the price.
Link to Camping Car Park Website.
Edit
Due to multiple server errors it took me a while to compose my post.☹️
Hence the reason for saying almost the same as DD
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Book outward ferry now, book return ferry a few days before you need it,
Hope you don't mind but it depends on your insurance for vehicle and breakdown, ours states that a return ferry has to be booked to be valid.
We always used to just book our outgoing ferry, until I spotted that clause in the insurance. So now book return for around the time we might come back and then adjust it if we need to, works out cheaper than the insurance not paying out if anything goes wrong.
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in addition to the really useful info posted above, ill add the park4night app...
some of the entries are aires (as listed in some other sites) but also some are lovely spots where overnight parking is allowed.
france and spain are motorhoming heaven....its why we keep returning
one more thing....electric bikes are a fantastic way to explore....towns, beaches and wonderful countryside....
enjoy
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Aires are the way forward if you have the right vehicle.
A Solar panel, a good leisure battery (preferably batteries), own facilities (toilet/shower) and a refillable gas system and the World is your lobster.
We have all of those and it's very rare we use hook-up at any time in the year.
There are literally thousands of stopover Aires that cost from around €10 down to multitudes of free Aires.
Many Aires, even the free ones, have their own toilet block and waste disposal points, free fresh water and in March the weather should be reasonable.
We use CamperContact to find overnight stops but the App 'Park4Night.com', as others have said, is also very good.
Any Apps you can download are useful to one degree or another and help to let you relax safe in the knowledge there's somewhere close by to stay overnight wherever you are in France.
You could return on Eurotunnel who allow you to book one way and you can change the booking date and time online without an extra booking fee.
There are a few examples of Aires we have used on my Youtube Channel - www.youtube.com/user/keithchesterfield
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One thing to check before turning up at a site is their dates for opening as quite a few French sites have quite a short season
Sound advice especially in March and in Catalonia. You should be fine in France because there are plenty of Aires but do make sure you keep topped up with water. Aire taps might be tuned off for the winter especially in the North of France.
You won't find many sites open in Catalonia, Spain in March and there never used to be many Aires but more and more are opening. Do check availability.
peedee
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We never use Aires but it makes sense out of the normal opening season. If you want to use sites then it’s worth joining ACSI and get the app. It will tell you the opening dates. We tend to seek out sites next to towns so we can walk in without the need for public transport.
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Oradour-sur-Glane - a very moving experience and a must visit place if you are anywhere nearby.
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