found out why we go to France (1 Viewer)

Feb 16, 2013
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We have been out in the van 5 days now around Whitby, first night,near York britstop, to steak meals £24, next night went to serenity camping but couldn't find anyone and it was £22 just for the night so left and went to another britsop a mile away and had 2 meals for £18, result, then we have been on a ccc cl for2 nights at goathland £14 a night , now in another britstop, just cost us £30 so best part of £100 for 5 nights, could have been on the tunnel for that and saved all the hassel finding these places, better food better adventure , better everything for less,be a while before we do any touring here again.
 
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Feb 16, 2013
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Miserable old sod! Says me sat on the banks of Lake Annecy with the sunshining and a glass of wine. He he.
Saying that we will be in Whitby by next week
Best of it is,used to love the area, well still do I suppose but the cost and faffing about is horrendous compared to aires and the French roads, and cheap wine and decent food.
 

Allanm

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£100 for 5 nights? We can stay on aires in France for 6 months for less than that and have a weeks worth of restaurant meals for 2 and still have change for 20 Rothmans........

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9

9526

Deleted User
Currently sat in 24 degs, on the edge of a beautiful village/nature reserve - total cost 2 baguettes and a coffee (y)

Making our way SLOWLY up country, can't wait for October UK stylee :eek:

3 months frog side for an average of €10 per night - no wardens, no people guarding pitches with bloody windbreaks, brilliant weather, free kidney stone by pass stent (thank you Carcassonne Hospital)

Bring on January's return shuttle ;)

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scotjimland

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We also love France but going for a week it would work out a LOT more expensive.. certainly more than £100

.. ferry and fuel would cost more..

Free aires are great for stop-overs, but many are little better than a supermarket car park... they cannot be compared with a proper site or CL.

that's comparing a steak dinner with a cheese sandwich ..

if we must compare at least compare apples with apples..

Aug, high season, we had 10 days in Wales..

cost of CLs = £101 .. all in lovely locations, hard standing with grass, all with plenty of space to put an awning up and have a barbie..

1st site .. 1 night at £5
2nd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU
3rd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU

CL
DSCF1944.JPG


CL
DSCF1948.JPG


CS
DSCF2018.JPG





An aire
DSCF1608.JPG
 
OP
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Feb 16, 2013
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We also love France but going for a week it would work out a LOT more expensive.. certainly more than £100

.. ferry and fuel would cost more..

Free aires are great for stop-overs, but many are little better than a supermarket car park... they cannot be compared with a proper site or CL.

that's comparing a steak dinner with a cheese sandwich ..

if we must compare at least compare apples with apples..

Aug, high season, we had 10 days in Wales..

cost of CLs = £101 .. all in lovely locations, hard standing with grass, all with plenty of space to put an awning up and have a barbie..

1st site .. 1 night at £5
2nd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU
3rd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU

CL
View attachment 77290

CL View attachment 77291

CS View attachment 77292




An aire View attachment 77293
We also love France but going for a week it would work out a LOT more expensive.. certainly more than £100

.. ferry and fuel would cost more..

Free aires are great for stop-overs, but many are little better than a supermarket car park... they cannot be compared with a proper site or CL.

that's comparing a steak dinner with a cheese sandwich ..

if we must compare at least compare apples with apples..

Aug, high season, we had 10 days in Wales..

cost of CLs = £101 .. all in lovely locations, hard standing with grass, all with plenty of space to put an awning up and have a barbie..

1st site .. 1 night at £5
2nd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU
3rd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU

CL
View attachment 77290

CL View attachment 77291

CS View attachment 77292




An aire View attachment 77293
Fuel we have used would have got us a hundred miles into France, ferry would have been 80 odd, Aires in the middle of towns you want to be in cls css usually in the middle of nowhere, not knocking it , we have had a good few days, but money wise no comparison and wouldn't go to France for a week except Xmas markets

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OP
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Feb 16, 2013
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One thing we liked although it's been criticised is the park and ride at Whitby, easy to get to , plenty room, bus into town £3.30, half price with your bus pass.
 

Forestboy

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Each to their own I say.
Personally doing less and less in the UK far too expensive far too many rules enforced by anal jobsworths and crap weather.
But then I'm lucky I can get away when I want for as long as I want.
My son and daughter in law have very limited time so stick to UK and love it.
As long as you enjoy your time away thats what matters
 

madgeD

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We also love France but going for a week it would work out a LOT more expensive.. certainly more than £100

.. ferry and fuel would cost more..

Free aires are great for stop-overs, but many are little better than a supermarket car park... they cannot be compared with a proper site or CL.

that's comparing a steak dinner with a cheese sandwich ..

if we must compare at least compare apples with apples..

Aug, high season, we had 10 days in Wales..

cost of CLs = £101 .. all in lovely locations, hard standing with grass, all with plenty of space to put an awning up and have a barbie..

1st site .. 1 night at £5
2nd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU
3rd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU

CL
View attachment 77290

CL View attachment 77291

CS View attachment 77292




An aire View attachment 77293


You wouldn't have the co-ords for them sites would you SJ ?

We have decided going abroad is too much driving for us now ! but like others have said it can be very costly when compared to abroad. Mind you we have just had a short break in Scotland stayed at 1 Cl £10 1 camp site £19 and 1 free night at Jedburgh !! Im sure we will soon get the hang of these C.Ls been in CC for 15 years and hardly used any sites and never a C.L.

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Jabberwocky

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I'm glad I'm not at the point of choosing where to go based purely on cost, we will go to France at some point and eventually for reasons other than you need to go through it to get to the rest of Europe.

But avoiding the UK just because of price seems a bit shortsighted, there are some wonderful places to see in the UK, going elsewhere just to save a few quid seems daft to me.

Peoples decisions on so many things now seem to based on what's the cheapest, OK none of us has money to throw away but cheapest does not mean best, occasionally you need to pay to get something worth having.
 
OP
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Feb 16, 2013
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I'm glad I'm not at the point of choosing where to go based purely on cost, we will go to France at some point and eventually for reasons other than you need to go through it to get to the rest of Europe.

But avoiding the UK just because of price seems a bit shortsighted, there are some wonderful places to see in the UK, going elsewhere just to save a few quid seems daft to me.

Peoples decisions on so many things now seem to based on what's the cheapest, OK none of us has money to throw away but cheapest does not mean best, occasionally you need to pay to get something worth having.
Not many places in uk we havnt been though, nearly everywhere we go is a return visit.

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Allanm

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We also love France but going for a week it would work out a LOT more expensive.. certainly more than £100

.. ferry and fuel would cost more..

Free aires are great for stop-overs, but many are little better than a supermarket car park... they cannot be compared with a proper site or CL.

that's comparing a steak dinner with a cheese sandwich ..

if we must compare at least compare apples with apples..

Aug, high season, we had 10 days in Wales..

cost of CLs = £101 .. all in lovely locations, hard standing with grass, all with plenty of space to put an awning up and have a barbie..

1st site .. 1 night at £5
2nd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU
3rd site.. 4 nights at £12 inc EHU

CL
View attachment 77290

CL View attachment 77291

CS View attachment 77292




An aire View attachment 77293


I think we've been here before......

Quend, about 70 miles south of Calais...
13956630154_a8a87fee08_z_d.jpg

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Jan 3, 2008
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Yes but we have to eat out in lieu of the parking, in France it would be free aires. And a cheese sandwich

We just did three weeks in Wales which was the first time we stayed in the UK for years. We used Britstops and thought they were brilliant, at least the ones we stayed at were. Incidentally you do not have to buy a meal in pubs you stay at, although we did because we were too lazy to cook. You could just have had a beer and that would have been all you needed to buy.

I would rather pay for a decent pub meal with free overnight than pay for a Club site for around the same price though. At least you get something for you money.

We are off to France in the morning for a month and I expect we will spend a lot less than we did in Wales.

Have you looked at the Caravan Club sites which do not have any toilet block etc, they are £12. per night which I thought for the UK was decent value, some CL's were dearer.
 

Langtoftlad

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I really don't understand the logic the pro-continent contingent use as their argument, I really don't.
Apples & Pears.
  • Time & distance
  • Like with like
    Yes but we have to eat out in lieu of the parking, in France it would be free aires. And a cheese sandwich
    Actually, you don't have to eat/buy and not all Aires are free. In any case, not all of us would choose a cheese sarnie over a pub meal.
  • Some of us actually enjoy & appreciate what this country has to offer, its not all about what is the cheapest - if MH'ing was only about cost... explain those who go to "expensive" destinations such as Scandinavia?
Knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing...

:cool:

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9

9526

Deleted User
I'm glad I'm not at the point of choosing where to go based purely on cost, we will go to France at some point and eventually for reasons other than you need to go through it to get to the rest of Europe.

But avoiding the UK just because of price seems a bit shortsighted, there are some wonderful places to see in the UK, going elsewhere just to save a few quid seems daft to me.

Peoples decisions on so many things now seem to based on what's the cheapest, OK none of us has money to throw away but cheapest does not mean best, occasionally you need to pay to get something worth having.

Hmm not sure anyone's suggesting France is better just because of cost.

For me it's just better for motorhoming full stop

Costs are definitely lower with........
Access to Aires/France Passion etc.
Wild camping more achievable and accepted
Virtually no car parking charges
Current exchange rate

The weather is better
The roads are better
It's less crowded
The people are generally more polite (bonjour to everyone stood in a queue in shops for instance)

The scenery is equally, if not more impressive than the UK with 4 high mountain ranges, Atlantic and med coast, lakes you can swim in without H&S man dragging you out, deeeep gorges, vast vineyards etc etc

Sure we have the Scottish mountains, the Cornish coastline, Lincolnshire potato fields, and some ponies in the new forest - but Scotland's always raining, the Cornish just want to rip you off (£6/day to park in a shopping area?) Lincolnshire contains Skeggy, and I don't particularly like ponies.

Of course my UK para is tongue in cheek, but the UK is years behind the continent with regards to motorhoming and is doing very little to catch up.

We do use CL's when "home" though

We all like different thing, that I accept - we like motorhoming on the continent (y)
 

Forestboy

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Not about cost for me although significantly cheaper in most of Europe with the exception of Germany.
Its about freedom and attitudes of people in campsites towns villages. In the UK you are made to feel unwelcome and treated like a Itinerant.
Take Croatia where we are now people are pleased to welcome you glad you visit and spend a few quid. No petty rules and regulations no anally retarded moron enforcing said rules either.
We also travel by motorbike and its so refreshing to use in Europe where again you are made welcome the exact opposite of the UK.
We love the UK its home but the more we travel the more we realise how far behind the rest of Europe we are and how much freedom we've lost. We seem to have stood still or even gone backwards in the last 40 years. Worst still we accept the petty rules because its rammed down our throats from birth. The UK has become a very negative place I think.
Still home though but certainly no Great in Great Britain anymore.

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Oct 5, 2014
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What folk forget is that France is three times the size of the Uk with a third of the population, therefore land is cheap and towns need to widen their client base and possible spenders, Allowing you to stay on an aire is cheap for them and they hope that you will spend money there. Whereas land here is expensive and at a premium . Land owners therefore are unwilling to let motorhomes have a free holiday at their expense. I think £100 for 5 nights is good value at a very popular resort.
 
OP
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Feb 16, 2013
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It's not the cost as much as being ripped off, the last couple of nights we have been in a farmers field in goathland with just an earth closet in a wooden hut, ccc, which remember we have already paid forty odd quid to be in it, four vans there at £14 each , that's £56 a night he's getting for next to nothing, and the field was big enough for at least twice as many, he never even came to us, but left a message to leave £14 a night in the box on the gate.
Nice work if you can get it.
 

filopastry

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What folk forget is that France is three times the size of the Uk with a third of the population, therefore land is cheap and towns need to widen their client base and possible spenders, Allowing you to stay on an aire is cheap for them and they hope that you will spend money there. Whereas land here is expensive and at a premium . Land owners therefore are unwilling to let motorhomes have a free holiday at their expense. I think £100 for 5 nights is good value at a very popular resort.
France is four times the size of the UK with almost the same population little but important points

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