Must haves for extended European tour (1 Viewer)

[Heuer27]

Hi there
New to the forum and in need of some help. As the title suggests ,we are planning an extended eruopean tour (next year) and would like to pick some collective minds.

We have pretty much settled on an A class type of vehicle with a fixed bed in the rear and a pull down at the front as we have a teenager.

Other than that we are not sure what would be regarded as must haves to the vehicle to make the trip as comfortable as possible.

My own thoughts are A/C , a garage , solar panels, sat tv?, decent sized fridge / freezer, gasit and a proper cooker.

Have I missed anything obvious?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Scott.

 

[Zigisla]

and welcome @Heuer27 to the house of Fun. Although I can offer no advice as to what you will need abroad, I can offer you this. You will get all the help and advice you can ever need on this site. You just have to weed it out from the plethora of jokes and leg pulling that will inevitably come along with any sensible answer. That is, if you ever get one of those When you subscribe to the site you will have sooo many more post to get all shows questions in.

 

[bladerunner]

I bought a 60 litre capacity fridge/freezer (or can be all freezer) which works on 240 or 12V. Robust and sits in the garage easily.
Meals pre cooked and frozen at home then oven or microwave lasted 5 weeks. Plus obviously could be good for Hypermarket type shop.

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[MC 55 FUN]

&

 

[Heuer27]

Thanks guys.
It's pretty confusing with all of the options that are available to figure out which are gimmicks and which are really useful. We were hoping to wild camp where possible which is why I thought solar panels and refillable gas systems might be useful.
The pre cooked meal idea is a good one . We love trying new food but sometimes home cooking can't be beaten.
We are buzzing already and it's still only in the planning stage.

 

[Graham and Jane]

to us solar panels are a must and decent batteries. Also refillable gas supply. Campercontact is a great app to download if you have a smart phone. It list many sites, aires parking places etc., very simple to use.

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[Reallyretired]

Unless you're staying on sites with ehu, aircon is not worth having. Its expensive noisy and power hungry and also unnecessary almost all the time. Thermal blinds are very useful though. I'm talking about roof aircon not cab aircon as that is useful while you're on the move.
Solar panels well worthwhile, as long as you're going to get some sun, but probably not needed if you're moving on every couple of days.
Refillable gas very useful as each countries gas bottles are different.

 

[Zigisla]

Although you are going abroad, there have been quite a few threads on here that say they do not use the AC that came with the MH or don't feel the need for it. Additional batteries are a good consideration coupled with the Solar if you intend to Wild Camp for most of the time. deffo on the refillable gas system as you do not have to wait until you have run out before you refill again, so can keep topped up all the time. We use the frozen food option a lot of the time, but again have only been away in the UK and never far from a Pub.
Remember the books and Apps you will need in order to find all those Wild spots and Aires. I feel your excitement to and I'm not even going abroad, just planning Summer leave touring more of the UK.

Don't you hate some people that type faster than you do

 

[Heuer27]

Thanks for the tips guys . Keep them coming

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[DBK]

If you think you are going to need 240 volt electricity to run a hair dryer, for example, then getting a decent sized inverter fitted, one around 2000W, would be sensible. When you have subscribed you should be able to search on here for discussions on all the inverter options. I suggest you need at least 200W of solar too and at least 200Ah of leisure battery capacity.

Difficult to be more precise without knowing where you intend to go and when.

France has lots of free aires, Spain less and in some countries, for example, Croatia, wild camping is illegal though it can be done if you are careful.

 

[Just smiffy]

We have pretty much settled on an A class type of vehicle with a fixed bed in the rear and a pull down at the front as we have a teenager.

Other than that we are not sure what would be regarded as must haves to the vehicle to make the trip as comfortable as possible.

My own thoughts are A/C , a garage , solar panels, sat tv?, decent sized fridge / freezer, gasit and a proper cooker.[/QUOTE



Sounds like what I've recently bought.... A Rapido

And welcome...

 

[Heuer27]

Hi DBK

It's going to be three to four months May-Sept and predominately France , Spain and Italy. The OH will defo want a hairdryer, me not so much. Thanks for the info.

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[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[Richard Birkett]

Your list looks like a good starting point although if you plan to wild camp a fair bit, I would dispense with the aircon, as they mostly need a 230v supply. In fact I'd forget it even if I wasn't wild camping. An ample 12v supply is essential, so I would suggest investing in sufficient batteries. Solar (if properly set up) should help keep up your 12v supply but I would also consider a battery to battery charger to get the most charge whilst moving. If wifi is important to you, consider a booster. For security & peace of mind I would also suggest a good alarm. Regarding the vehicle, payload is everything!

 

[Baldeagle7470]

Hi and a big firstly a bottle opener,some means of heat,after that it's all easy,maybe an ACSI book,unless you are a wild camper.Payload,mm,couple of comfortable but light chairs.

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[DBK]

Hi DBK

It's going to be three to four months May-Sept and predominately France , Spain and Italy. The OH will defo want a hairdryer, me not so much. Thanks for the info.

Communications will be vital for your teenager - so getting the internet probably essential! I've just posted on this thread about the joys of a MiFi: http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/what-internet-hardware-do-most-people-carry.131089/

Im not sure about a satellite TV system. We've got one but hardly ever use it outside the UK as much south of about the middle of France you won't get any UK channels apart from BBC World. Alternatively, you can use a Sky box to get, er, well, Sky Channels. Which you may either like or loathe.

 

[SMB]

Hi Scott and welcome! The layout of the van is important, I wanted a van with a rear lounge as I fulltime so living space was important but that meant no garage, which restricts me carrying large items such as reclining chairs etc. The satellite tv is handy at times but will only work so far down into Europe. I can't comment on AC as I don't have it fitted other than to say I would have loved to have had it in the summer in places like Italy! Solar panels and Gaslow type fitting definitely and additional batteries if possible if using aires or wildcamping a lot. I dont have a large fridge so I keep my beer seperate in a coolbox but it would be on my list for my next van, along with a seperate shower! Other smaller items are things like a spare EHU cable as some campsites have the power box a long way from parking spots, adapters for gas and hookup, the list is endless unlike my pockets unfortunately! I have a battery to battery charger fitted which is handy if you don't want to carry a genny around (or have the space in my case) and an inverter to power up gadgets etc. Hope this helps, I find every year I go away thinking I have everything I need then I meet people with stuff I want and go home with a long list!

 

[Speve]

Get yourself a silver screen cover they not only keep out the cold but are very good at keeping out the heat if you get one with a privacy screen even better well worth the investment.

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[Heuer27]

. So AC is out . Wifi and a reliable source of electricity via solar/ leisure battery/ inverter is pretty much essential.
The list is getting longer .

Thanks for all the welcomes guys.

 

[cliffanger]

Look for an A class with a decent water/ waste water capacity - we were lucky - our 1st (and only) Hymer has -125L water and 100L waste. Not something you think of, but can make a big difference to ease of living! A Humax hard drive - record stuff at home to watch on van when you have no satellite signal! (Please note I had my hard hat on whilst writing that- fending off the 'I hate telly in the MH' brigade). My philosophy is - whatever works for us - is right!

A silver screen - we have external Silver Screens that work really well.

Karcher window Hoover thingy for when you haven't put the silver screen on and the Windows are full of condensation!

You don't need a van with full galley facilities. A tray doubles up as a drainer, and worktop space over an open drawer, you learn to eat differently, so what you use at home you wont use in the van.

Don't buy the first van you look at. Ask questions on this site - and when you think you've asked enough - ask some more. It can be a very expensive mistake if you get it wrong.

Boys know all about the boring outdoorsy things - you have NO NEED to know ANYTHING about black or grey water matters. Us girls know all there is to know about indoorsy things - ask once, ask twice, then ask again!

Last but certainly by no means least - and my Funster Friends will know what comes next....

Have fun and - BUY A UKE!!!!

 

[Reallyretired]

For long terming I would suggest having a separate shower, not a wet room. I cannot function until I have my morning shower and having to dry out the toilet compartment afterwards is not how I wish to spend my time.

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[Photo4x4]

I think that there is a special alarm that you can fit to your vehicle which activates if someone is trying to fill the vehicle with anaesthetic gas so they can rob you - I understand that this is prevalent on the continent!

KH

 

[Just smiffy]

I understand that this is prevalent on the continent!

Yeh.... Happens hundreds of times a day...

 

[Mother Ship]

We now have fitted 2 Fiamma Roof vent fans and found them very effective, solution for wild camping instead of a/c unit.
http://www.fiamma.com/EN/products/comfort/vent/

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[TheBig1]

a vital ingredient to long term touring is getting a van with a very high payload and probably a c1 licence for over 3500kg

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Hi & welcome to Motorhome'fun', the friendliest & most informative forum

Join us and access info/q&a sessions wherever you can access the www

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

First get your priorities right before even thinking about accessories.

Base Vehicle Reliability - you can have the fanciest habitation area with all the gizmos under the sun but if the front end keeps letting you down you're going nowhere.

Payload - if you don't understand payload and axle weights then do some research. A growing number of super-equipped motorhomes have close to zero payload with no capacity to carry anything extra.

Layout - get it wrong and you'll soon be looking for a replacement. It's the commonest reason for people to change their motorhomes. Have you actually tried to use the layout you have in mind?

Once you've got that lot sorted, then you can start looking at extras.

Lots of time in hand so do lots of research and when you done that - do some more.

Enjoy

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[DanielFord]

I am in agreement with what has been said previously. We actually do have habitation aircon, and I can confirm it is a power hungry beast. Our inverter is up to the job of powering it, but not for long, we have 200ah of leisure supply, and the aircon draws 50amps when running with the compressor on. Realistically, when not connected to EHU this will give you 1 hour of aircon until the batteries are at 50% and therefore needing a charge.
That power needs to be replaced, we have 150w of solar on the roof, but even in ideal conditions that is only 12.5 amps coming back to the batteries. So for aircon, if you aren't going to hookup, it is an expensive luxury you can do without.
Inverter and solar however I would say are essential items, there are many items that only have 240v plugs, but are not heavy users of power, laptops for example. In the sunshine we can charge all of our gadgets from the inverter, and the batteries are still receiving a charge from the panel!
If you are worried about power consumption, a battery monitor may be a good investment, they can show you the exact state of charge in your leisure system.

 

[Heuer27]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've got a c1 entitlement so I'm sorted there. We were looking at Hymer , rapido and pilote a class vans. 4 berth
From what I've seen they come predominantly on Mercedes or fiat chassis. I'm familiar with the Mercedes mechanicals but not fiat. Is there anything that we should be wary of with those?

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Thousands of fiat & mercs out there but largest volume of MH on fiat. Merc bit more refined.