Steep learning curve - made it! (1 Viewer)

[Welshmandownunder]

We bought our Chausson 610 Welcome in March, tried a few weekends around the UK (cotswolds in the snow) and then we headed to France! Couldn't believe how wonderful it was to be on the French roads - not scary at all!
We soon found that there is a lot to learn on these vans but having ironed out most of the problems, mainly down to our lack of experience, we soon relaxed into the lifestyle. How great to wake up and then decide where to go, or not go at all.
We tried some Aires and preferred them to campsites even forgetting the financial side.... amazing locations and great friendly people sharing experiences (and the odd drop of wine). Of course, Ile de Re and even Amboise took some beating when it cimes down to campsites but we succeeded several times.
We are now planning a winter break to Spain abd Portugal in Feb/March and would welcome advice on the best guides fir Aires or Stopovers....there seem to be a lot all offering the same thing. All The Aires was our bible in France but is it as good in Spain etc?
Thanks to Steve and Jane, who we met in Pounce, for putting us on to MotorhomeFun!

 

[wigster]

 

[Welshmandownunder]

Yes, we have enlisted the help of a lot of willing motorhomers...all nationalities and languages! Fantastic mobile community

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[Baldeagle7470]

Hi and enjoy the forum.

 

[MC 55 FUN]

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[The Dudess]

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[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[EX51SSS]

 

[WynandJean]

Hello and welcome from West Midlands.

To get the most from the forum you will need to subscribe. It's well worth £15 and will allow you to continue posting as well as letting you into areas that non members can't access.

Wyn

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[hilldweller]

All The Aires was our bible in France but is it as good in Spain etc?

Not by a long way. We never found a Spanish aire anything like the French ones. The Spanish aires book led us up some real back roads to places infested with kids and their footballs and not where we chose to stop. That does not mean there are no good ones but what we found were just scrappy bits of carpark in scrappy bits of towns.

Your other problem is it seems Spain is full right now, you may have to be very flexible in where you stay.

No matter, it's got to be better than winter in the UK.

Another one comes to mind, Seville. It paints a picture of an aire a short walk into the city, perfect we thought, we get there it looked like the corner of a scrap yard. Find a spot amongst the junk, we chose not to. To add to injury the traffic made the M25 look really good.

 

[Hammie]

Welcome this is a great site. My lack of experience had me asking on the site why my loo wouldn't flush when not on EHU, very embarrassing when having changed the fuse etc. It turned out to be the operator who had switched off the 12v panel?? Doh!

 

[Encantador]

Thanks to Steve and Jane, who we met in Pounce, for putting us on to MotorhomeFun!

Hi, that will be us then.....lol.

Glad the rest of your trip went well. Ours took us to a French Doctors a French dentist and finished at the local A&E on the way home, but luckily nothing too serious.

We used campsites in Spain last year as we had heard that the Spanish aires system is nowhere near as good or as plentiful as the French one. A lot of campsites/aires in northern Spain will be closed in Feb/March, so a bit more planning might be worth considering.

Steve & Jane

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[TerryL]

Agree the aires in Spain are nowhere near as good as in France, but in it's defense the Spain & Portugal aires book does give you a reasonable idea of what to expect and you can then avoid the worst ones - we've stayed on some really nice locations. (In Seville the Marina aire is much, much nicer with a good bus service into the centre.) But as there are nothing like as many, you need to do a bit of planning and maybe use something like Campercontact as well.

 

[buttons]

Hi and Welcome......

 

[jumartoo]

Spanish Aires are improving all the time. Some of the so-called Aires in books and on apps are really free-camping areas used by many during the winter and shouldn't really be advertised! We are slightly biased because we live next door to an excellent private aire but here are a couple of free Aires we've used in Spain.

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[sdc77]

Hi and welcome @Welshmandownunder .
I too would suggest you subscribe to be able to fully engage with the wealth of knowledge on here. it's really worth it
As for guides to Aires we almost exclusively use the camper contact app ("motorhome parking" on Android). there is a free version and a Web based version too.
And if you're really stuck just ask on here.

 

[Welshmandownunder]

Hi and welcome @Welshmandownunder .
I too would suggest you subscribe to be able to fully engage with the wealth of knowledge on here. it's really worth it
As for guides to Aires we almost exclusively use the camper contact app ("motorhome parking" on Android). there is a free version and a Web based version too.
And if you're really stuck just ask on here.