C1 licence looking to rent an American RV for first time to France (1 Viewer)

eeyore125

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Hi I am enquiring about rental for an American RV for the first time. Licence holder of a C1 certificate, had it for 32 years. Want to tour France at the end of July for a week. Am a complete novice so will welcome every bit of advice and information given.
 

pappajohn

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Hi and welcome to the fun.....

sorry, but I doubt, very much, you will find an American RV rental company either here or on mainland Europe.

you should be able to rent a european van though.
 

Forestboy

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Forget renting an RV even if you can which I doubt, they're too big and too expensive to run. Rent a nice European instead, smaller size allows you to go anywhere the fancy takes you, campsites wont turn you away and it'll cost a fraction of the price to run.

Dont get me wrong I'm not one of the anti RV brigade, I've owned 3 and done over a 100'000 miles in Rvs but they're just not a realistic option anymore.

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eeyore125

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Space

Would a European Van have alot of space. As that is the thing that is needed. There is a company that does it but the man is very rude and I wouldnt give him a penny, in all honesty.
 

Forestboy

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My 25ft European van has a 1 tonne payload and more storage space than any of my RVs had I even carry a 650 m/bike on board, no trailer no bike rack. Most RVs are down graded for the Uk and have very small payload. Have a good look around before you commit.
 

pappajohn

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well there is one company i found in the uk...possibly the same one you found...Link Removed

But to hire a fleetwood revolution for ONE weekend will set you back an amazing £4.800:Eeek:

at those rates you could buy a decent RV in around 1 week :Doh:

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pappajohn

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got to agree with Brian......France is 4 days long and 2 days wide.

unless you just want to drive and see nothing, then you really need two or three weeks at a time and still wont see the same places each visit
 
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eeyore125

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Loire Valley

What about travelling to Tours in the Loire Valley,being based there and then sightseeing through some of the Valley. Will be travelling from East Midlands, getting the ferry(if possible) to Calais. I have allocated 8 days to do it. 1 day for travelling.

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My 25ft European van has a 1 tonne payload and more storage space than any of my RVs had I even carry a 650 m/bike on board, no trailer no bike rack. Most RVs are down graded for the Uk and have very small payload. Have a good look around before you commit.
MY 25 foot long RV has everything including the kitchen sink
7.4 petrol doing 2 miles/LTR of LPG works out at about £0.50p per mile
not as expensive as some larger rigs
not a rattly as euro vans built to do the job plus more
so i disagree with you on this matter (not that i will fall out with you )

i Would consider to rent my RV if your up for it
PM me :thumb:
 

pappajohn

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What about travelling to Tours in the Loire Valley,being based there and then sightseeing through some of the Valley. Will be travelling from East Midlands, getting the ferry(if possible) to Calais. I have allocated 8 days to do it. 1 day for travelling.
dont know your driving history or where you are in the midlands but Mansfield to Tours is around 580mls......would you really want to drive that far, in an unfamiliar large vehicle on the wrong side of the road, in one day ?

i admire your courage but have you also considered the financial cost ?

an american A class will give around 10mpg (2.2 miles per liter) at around 55mph ( i get 8mpg) so the fuel bill (one way only) would be around £355 plus touring, plus autoroute tolls, plus return trip......probably looking at £1200 for fuel alone plus the ferry cost.


that, on top of RV hire charges, will make it one hell of an expensive trip for just one week.
you could do the same trip in a European van for maybe 1/3rd to 1/2 of that cost.

i'm not trying to put you off by any means, but just pointing out a few things you may not have realised or considered. :thumb:
 

slobadoberbob

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A lot of research needs to be done

Welcome.... You need to do a lot of research. While you will get lots of eli from owners of all types of motorhomes it is not as easy as you may think to hire and take one overseas.

I own an American Winnebago Aspect... one of the smaller yanks and is a B class at 24'9" and I haul a car trailer making me 45' overall. I take it through the tunnel and have done a lot of France and Spain over the years.. Had many motorhomes in the past 20 years plus.

The roads are better in France than here for a start and I have often in the USA and europe covered 600 miles in a day.. not recommended, but can be done.

Cost is the biggest issue. As said by Pappajohn... above.. you have the hire cost, insurance for taking it out of the UK, ferry or tunnel crossing charges. fuel and camp site fees.. not a cheap holiday.

My RV does around 14 to the gallon ..6.8ltr V10 Ford petrol sleeps 4... has all the luxury that many europeans do not have. .. if you read on the site and also look at our sister site www.rvoc.co.uk you will learn a lot about Yanks or RV as they are called.

I would suggest you hire a european motorhome for a long weekend in the UK and see if you like it. Some do not. Go to some of the shows this year and see the American vehicles, talk to there owners, they will show you what is about..

But if I had to give you one single word of advice it would be..... research


Bob

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scotjimland

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What about travelling to Tours in the Loire Valley,being based there and[HI] then sightseeing through some of the Valley.[/HI] Will be travelling from East Midlands, getting the ferry(if possible) to Calais. I have allocated 8 days to do it. 1 day for travelling.


I've 'toured' France extensively (and beyond) in a 36footer .. and believe me, many a time I wished for a much smaller rig.. it's just not practical for sightseeing (unless you pull a toad) .. it will also restrict the places you can camp. All the benefits of a big rig suddenly seem pointless when you can't park or even negotiate small roads.

My advice is rent a European and think max of 25ft ..
 

otis the staffy

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eeeyore as alot of Funsters point out France is a big place we have toured many times over the years the last journey only a few weeks ago and lasted 6 weeks.Our van is 28ft Mach-zone and we carry a 250cc Yamaha to visit out of way places and always stay on Aires.I am not saying that you could not do it in a larger van but it will restrict your choice of stopping places as more places are putting in 3'5tonnes limit and also many are now marked as 6/7 mts.We find the French are quite good during winter months but during summer free parking is all taken early on in the day and God help if you are taking to much room.We also live in Nott's we tend to leave about 10am take a steady drive down to Dover having booked cheap night ferry£69 return.We arrive Dover park beach front in free M/H parking spot,walk dog enjoy supper and relax make sure we enjoy sleep till about 3am,move to boat enjoy brecky arrive France well rested we only drive about 200k to free Aires on coast spend a pleasent day walking dog on beach and town before doing chores water ect settle after dinner to 2 hours T V before settling for night.Up and about 7 ish chores and fed now feel ready to start our journey.Although not everyones way of doing things it works for us.All to often we see or hear folk saying it's our 1st time in France and we are frightened to death well don't be just give yourself time and make sure than you park up by about 2pm as about 3ish is when most places fill.If it's first journey why not stay around Normandy,Brittany ect to get used to traffic etc plenty of places to see and sample the French way of life.Enjoy your trip but listen to others re big vans this is not anti R/V as Mike a friend living in France has had nothing but R/Vs but always goes on large pay sights a luxury I can't afford and don't need.Stay Safe:thumb:
 
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My RV has everything on board far more than European vans , lots of space with the twin slideouts and a payload of 941 kg and at 29ft will still go wherever we want. :thumb: and on LPG mpg equates to 18 to 20 mpg .

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motor roamin

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well there is one company i found in the uk...possibly the same one you found...Link Removed

But to hire a fleetwood revolution for ONE weekend will set you back an amazing £4.800:Eeek:

at those rates you could buy a decent RV in around 1 week :Doh:

Thats Stingray RV john, Itchy feet also do hire, I will wash my mouth out after saying this name Winnebago (coughs wash :ROFLMAO:) sightseer 28-30 foot good payload with a gas conversion = 18 mpg slide outs under 7.5 ton just the job.

Don't forget that £4,800 for a weekend is for a revolution value £160,000 ish.

All the best Rick
 

pappajohn

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Thats Stingray RV john, Itchy feet also do hire, I will wash my mouth out after saying this name Winnebago (coughs wash :ROFLMAO:) sightseer 28-30 foot good payload with a gas conversion = 18 mpg slide outs under 7.5 ton just the job.

Don't forget that £4,800 for a weekend is for a revolution value £160,000 ish.

All the best Rick
well Rick, as yours is 4 years old i reckon £1500 per week sounds a good price....how about it mate :roflmto:
 

motor roamin

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well Rick, as yours is 4 years old i reckon £1500 per week sounds a good price....how about it mate :roflmto:

£160,000 is the minimum at todays value John :Eeek: having said that the insurance would be frightening to rent it I imagine plus to be honnest I don't think 10k would get me to rent mine out though as no would offer 10k we will never find out :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

All the best Rick
 

motor roamin

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This post has made me think if you were to rent your RV/motorhome out A, would you B, what would you want for a weekend.
C, what is the value of your motorhome and what is the value to you.

I doubt I would rent mine out.

All the best Rick
 
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l wouldn't rent mine out. Too personal. Too much hassle. Too much to lose.

Craig

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slobadoberbob

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Since getting posh does not like Winnebago's now

Thats Stingray RV john, Itchy feet also do hire, I will wash my mouth out after saying this name Winnebago (coughs wash :ROFLMAO:) sightseer 28-30 foot good payload with a gas conversion = 18 mpg slide outs under 7.5 ton just the job.

Don't forget that £4,800 for a weekend is for a revolution value £160,000 ish.

All the best Rick

Shame on you Rick... you are starting to sound like John Pengers.. (Mr I hate Winnebago John Pengers).... We will not be able park up near you at this rate...:winky: since he got his super dupa 40' £160k RV he is not the same.... poor lad:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Me? well all RV's are good regardless if they are sub £20K or over £150k ... smallest with no slides to the biggest with quad slides... 20' to 40' .. does not matter, as long as the owner loves them.:thumb::thumb:

But I hate a certain make does not advance the cause of RV's in general.... :Doh:

Never mind Rick .. we will still use your monster for a sun shade over are European size RV (Winnebago). at least I can get on the CC & the C&CC sites.

Have a good one, as they say Rick....


Bob:thumb:
 

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