Do we need additinal transport to enjoy motor homing (1 Viewer)

[Robertdrinkswine]

Well we have done it....
After all these years as a caravanner we have gone to the other-side..
We have purchased our first Motor home.
Now the big question.....
can we enjoy it without additional transport or do we have to go the extra and include a motor scooter to enjoy or can we rely on push bike and public transport at home and in France.
Please advise
Robert & Maureen

 

[Allanm]

We used to take our bikes with us, but now we take the dogs, we drive somewhere and walk, then drive somewhere else, etc. Good exercise and we still get to see everything.
We did think once to get a van that we could tow a car behind, but that just seemed like having a caravan in reverse!

Allan

 

[old-mo]

Couple of pushbikes,,,, or a small light two seater scooter....

Little 125 or similar... But watch your Kerb Weight... :thumb:

PS..... And welcome... :thumb:

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[funflair]

Hi Robert and Maureen

Well it depends, when we had the caravan we used to park up and then cycle so never used the car, the change to a motorhome has been quite painless.

When we are away in good weather we are out on the bike and when the weather is not so good we can still go for walks or we overnight near public transport.

So it quite easy to manage without the car or scooter to get around and indeed it can be quite relaxing just parking up and not driving, take the bus and you can have a couple of glasses of wine with lunch:thumb:.

Martin

 

[Robertdrinkswine]

Do we need additional transport

Thank you for your reply Allan
we are not in a financial position to even think of towing a car.
What sort of sites do you use to get the best of enjoying both the site you are on and visiting the surrounding area.
Robert & maureen

 

[Coolbeanz]

:welcome: we just take our bicycles but then we are big fans of cycling

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[Granjan]

We probably don't have as much motor homing experience as most but we do know what we are like.......we took the decision to buy a large M H because we like the internal space, we don't want to just drive all the time .... In the past we have driven and driven and driven far too much .... we decided that instead we would take a different tack and look at the detail more, walk around, cycle, kayak and get fitter and hopefully live longer!

Drive somewhere stop a couple of days explore then move on. Needs a bit more foresight for shopping etc but thats not a bad thing probably much healthier than jumping back in the car and off to the take away.....to be honest we were just getting fatter and lazier.

Only one day so far when weather just too bad to get out and we just went to pub for a nice sunday lunch and then had a drive in the MH!!! Wouldn't want to faf about with a tow car but suppose it might be different if you full time and stay in one place for a long time or if you were ill or had a disability.

Depends on your situation....... Looking forward to cycling to the villages and markets in the summer.

Might very occasionally hire a car but don't mind local transport or the odd taxi
Think it would be cheaper to do this than have a tow car on the back all the time. just my thoughts.

 

[Reallyretired]

We are too idle to cycle, and our dog can't ride a bike.

In UK we tow a small car but we don't stay in the UK much anyway. Anywhere else we usually find parking is no problem (we are 26ft) and then we walk. We find most places we want to visit either have an aire convenient, or else we visit between aires as we seldom stay more than 1-2 nights anywhere.

Now I have my shiny new bus pass I may give that a go sometimes, pity you can only use it in UK.

 

[pappajohn]

its a personal choice.

If you want to see places far away and remote then a scooter would be ideal.
More local/a few miles then bicycles are fine.
Public transport is ok but only runs on designated routes....which may be nowhere near where you want to be.....so then its all down to shanks pony to finish the journey to your chosen destination.

Personally, if i dont have extra transport i dont go anywhere off site....but then im bone idle

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[RandallC]

This is a bit of a dilemma that we are facing. Spent many years in tents, folding camper, caravan and motorhome.

Whilst we cycle extensively it was handy to load the bikes on the back of the car and explore further afield from a fixed base.

Now a bit different in that the fixed base is no longer fixed and tend to spend much shorter stays at any one place. So not a problem other than a supermarket run can be a bit of an effort.

However planning to carry a 125 scooter as parking the MHF particularly in uk towns has it's moments.

 

[pneumatician]

The simple answer is no you don't.
If your van is 6m or less you will have few problems at least that has been our experience over the last thirteen years. (sometimes our height is a problem)
However we do on occasion take bicycles or one of the three motorcycles we own.
Little one 110cc goes in the boot or one of the bigger ones on a trailer.
Why take the motorbikes ?
Simply because there is little pleasure riding in the UK these days and riding abroad with usually little traffic pleasant country roads, gorges, the Alps, Pyreness and Massif Central, few cops and hopefully sunshine takes a lot of beating.
If I needed to take a car I would buy a caravan and a Chelsea Tractor.

 

[camocam1]

We try and select sites in the area we want that are
Near a village / town that you can walk into if you want
Always take the push bikes so can cycle if need be
Also look for one on a bus route
But if all else fails then we just take the MH and never had an issue with parking

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[PaulyP]

Disabled wife therefore need to tow a car, lots of people have different needs so it's all down to personal choice.

 

[andyman]

We use a 7mtr motorhome like we use a car. Sometimes you may need to park a bit further out than you would with a car. In 6 years we have used the bus twice, and park and ride 3 times. Try Grahams motorhome parking for suitable car parking

 

[JeanLuc]

Bikes and public transport are good. In France, and many other overseas countries, the availability of camperstops (aires) in towns and some cities makes visiting very easy. If we want to visit a large city that does not have a handy aire we usually visit by train.
In the UK, campsites (including CS/CL sites) are generally badly located for visiting towns and cities. For example, whoever in the C&CC thought that calling a site 'Winchcombe' makes sense when it is about 7 miles out in the sticks, or 'Oban' which is even further from the named town, must be on another wavelength to most of us. So in the UK we tend to use a bus.

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[busby]

Cycle cycle cycle...Before i started using one 11 years ago i could hardly walk..Now i can walk and ride miles. Couple of years cycling did me more good than 10 years at the hospital seeing specialists....BUSBY

 

[Ed Excel]

Quite a few winter campers in Spain, who have larger motorhomes, higher a car for trips out.

 

[Bluemerle]

I mostly walk or cycle. It makes you focus on your shopping if you have to carry it back in your rucksack.

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[4matt]

We are in our second year of MH ownership after many years with a touring caravan. We found the transition hard, being that we like to explore the outer reaches of the country and finding 'Hide away' sites is our main pleasure these tend to be miles from anywhere, however we have just modified our holiday expectations and now plan a route from site to site so we get to see just as much as we did before but get to try lots of sites.

So I agree with most that you do not need other additional transport. This is especially true if your MH is 6m or under...

 

[bluemog]

Electric bikes

We migrated from tugger to MH 2 years ago and faced the same dilemma when some of the sites and wildcamping spots were miles from anywhere,

Solution? Electric bikes have been a major boon for us allowing us to travel up to 50km (not in one go I hasten to add!). This has given us the freedom to go to virtually any site confident that we can sightsee to our hearts content and get a little fitter into the bargain. I try to pedal as much as I can but when the going gets tough ................ I bottle it, twist the throttle and before you can say "Home James" we're back at the MH.

Simples!:thumb:

 

[spitfire]

I can agree with everyone it depends on personal preference and health.

Short trips and visits to the UK we just take the van. In the UK especially as it is bad enough with the van never mind with a trailer !!

For long winter trips we take the trailer with our motorbike . It allows us to visit in a radius of the site and it is fun ! At home the bike gets less use as too busy with chores and too hot in summer.

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[Allanm]

Thank you for your reply Allan
we are not in a financial position to even think of towing a car.
What sort of sites do you use to get the best of enjoying both the site you are on and visiting the surrounding area.
Robert & maureen

Lots of good info here from everyone, we rarely travel in the UK at the moment, although we have a few plans for later in the year but we will be visiting family, so parking / visiting places will not be an issue.

In France, we almost exclusively use Aires picked from the "All The Aires" book ( Vicarious Books) . They are generally in or just outside towns and villages. In bigger towns and cities, there is generally convenient parking and you will see lots of motorhomes taking advantage of the large car parks.
This means of course, that we don't even need to think about travelling other than bu foot. I am sure there are places that we will miss out on like this, but theres always something more to see.
If we like the area a lot, we may stay another day or two to do more exploring, but we don't travel much between stops, so its not all driving.

A lot of people travel down to the sun for winter, and in that case, I can see the value of tow cars, scooters and bikes and a good public transport system

Best thing to do is try it and see what works for you.

Allan

 

[slverdreamers]

Transport with motorhome

Thank you for your reply Allan
we are not in a financial position to even think of towing a car.
What sort of sites do you use to get the best of enjoying both the site you are on and visiting the surrounding area.
Robert & maureen

Hi I think it depends on individuals, we had a large motorhome so put a scooter the back, great fun, we are hopeless on bikes, then Pete got ill so put car behind, which reduced the fun, too much like caravan in reverse.
So just sold large motorhome and ordered a small 6 metre which we hope we can get most places, if you circumstances change things have to alter.
Enjoy yourselves

 

[Minxy]

Hi Robert & Maureen, welcome to the Fun house!

Your MH appears to be around 7.4-7.5m which is a BIG beast! You will certainly need to use some other form of transport otherwise you will do a lot of walking! Bicycles are by far the easiest, and cheapest, to use - if you've already got them then all you'd need is a rack (look at Ebay etc as they can be much cheaper that way, especially if you can get a good second hand one, or in private ads). If you haven't got bikes then see my notes lower down about our experience of the different types.

We used to have a 7.3 MH and found that trying to find a parking spot near to where we wanted to visit could be a real pain, so we used to park up a little way out, maybe half a mile or so, and then cycle in. It also meant that we could get round larger placed much easier than doing lots of walking, not only quicker but less tiring too, so we made good use of our bicycles. Even when we went to a smaller 6m long MH we still used them a lot as we enjoyed riding around and seeing more things in the same time, also I find cycling much less tiring that walking (I could cycle for miles and miles but walking does me in after about a mile!) so am able to see more before having to call it quits. We even cycled round Paris! We were staying at the Bois du Boulogne campsite on the outskirts of Paris and rather than use public transport, we cycled in, saw loads of the attractions, many more than we would have on foot, as we were able to cycle easily from one to the other without spending a long time walking instead, so were able to get much more out of our short visit (we were only able to spend 1 full day there). If we had been using public transport and walking round we would have needed at least 2 if not 3 days as there's no way I could have done so much walking.

As an aside, these are our observations on cycle types: we have had mountain bikes with front fork suspension and rear frame suspension (the big rear 'piston' sort) which weren't the most comfortable things for 'normal' riding as they tend to 'bounced' too much, so changed to standard frame ones with front fork suspension and seat post suspension instead of rear frame suspension - this makes it a lot nicer to ride them as there is no 'kangaroo bouncing'; they also have quick release wheels too so when we had a MH with a low garage it meant we remove the front wheels to reduced the height and make it easier to put them in. We also have a couple of folding bikes (they've got 20" wheels and are 7 speed which is a necessity really) which we've used many times too which we're put seat post suspension on as we got use to the comfort! We use the most suitable bikes depending on what MH we have at the time and what we plan to do on our trip. Currently with our PVC the folding bikes are best as we can store them inside under the bed or put them on the rack if we're likely to be using them a lot (of if we've been to car boot sales etc and the camper is stuffed to the gills with stuff we've bought! ). However, if we were intending to do more riding around, we'd take our standard bikes instead as they'd still go on the rack as we could remove the front wheels to transport them in the van too if we wanted.

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[ludo]

Electric bikes

We migrated from tugger to MH 2 years ago and faced the same dilemma when some of the sites and wildcamping spots were miles from anywhere,

Solution? Electric bikes have been a major boon for us allowing us to travel up to 50km (not in one go I hasten to add!). This has given us the freedom to go to virtually any site confident that we can sightsee to our hearts content and get a little fitter into the bargain. I try to pedal as much as I can but when the going gets tough ................ I bottle it, twist the throttle and before you can say "Home James" we're back at the MH.

Simples!:thumb:

I have to agree with the electric bikes. We use them all the time when in France or Spain. They are great. :thumb:


We have had 2 pairs of electric bikes. The first were full size but the ones that we have now are folding ones with 20” wheels and they are great! Light, fast, powerful and just as easy to pedal as a full size bike. They have about 45 – 50 k range on a full charge. If you want to double the range, just buy a second battery and lock it onto the carrier. They are 36v (this is very important, 24v is not powerful enough for us), and have a 250 watt motor and go like the clappers. :thumb:


In use we have 3 choices. Use them as ordinary bikes with power off. Use them just to assist pedalling. Or, use them like a motorcycle and just sit there and twist the grip.


We prefer electric bikes to other forms of transport for the following reasons:


1. We don’t have to wear a heavy motorcycle helmet in the hot sun. Just a light cycle helmet, if we bother at all.
2. They do not have number plates so we can park anywhere. If we go to a market, for example, we just chain them to the nearest secure post! Shopping goes straight in the panniers.
3. We can have a glass of wine or a beer if we want without worrying about the dreaded breathaliser.
4. It’s very unlikely that we will be caught for speeding.
5. We don’t have to pay for road tax or insurance.
6. We don’t have to pay fortunes to have them serviced.
7. We don’t have to worry about MOT’s.
8. We don’t have to buy petrol/diesel but simply charge them up on EHU.
9. Tyres and tubes cost next to nothing, as do other spares.
10. Easy to store, in the van and at home.
11. Cheap to buy.
There are many more benefits, exercise for example, the list is endless.

 

[hdvrod]

motorcycling plays a big part in our lives so we always take it with us on its trailer,we use the MH as a base and the bike for exploring and days out.

 

[Trikeman]

We mostly take our car on the back of our MoHo.
As we have a dog with us, the little 107 is invaluable. We park the MoHo up for a few days and just shoot off wherever we want, when we want and the little 107 will go anywhere. We like country areas/pubs which have narrow roads, small car parks, low bridges etc etc etc so the car is brilliant.

The 107 = £20 per year tax, 60+ to the gallon, £100 per year insurance , a service £90 and the Wife uses it for everything and every day when it's not on the back of the MoHo.

We have bikes and sometimes we take them but the Wife is not too confident and the dog tried to take his trailer to bits the last time we used it so the toad ticks all the boxes for us.:thumb:

We are off to Scotland shortly and we have booked ourselves into three sites, 3 nights at each and the MoHo will be a base, and from there we will go into the highlands and coastals in our little car, quick and not getting stuck all the time on some really narrow roads. Park the car up and we walk and climb to our hearts content. Cornwall, absolutely brilliant for shooting through the holiday traffic.

Just another twist.

Lovely.

Trikeman.

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[MitchandJenny]

2 "tatty" old bikes on the back rack.. They look like scrap, so haven't been stolen (yet).. Very handy in France for riding along massive promenades etc.. which would take hours to walk.. Also good to get into those pretty little towns and villages, then just chain them to a fence and wander around.. PS.. you can always clip the TomTom on the front to go on more adventurous routes AND find your way back to the van after.. As already said, it gets you "moving" and keeps the fitness up.... Enjoy your travels.. Mitch.. :thumb:

 

[robnchris]

Hiya,

Well you have asked the big question and reading through the thread have got loads of information to mull over.

We have just downsized after owning an Autotrail Arapaho, just shy of 29" on a Tag axle so not the easiest to park in town or get in and out of some of the supermarket go-cart type entrances.
People asked did we tow a car, why would we was our answer, by the time you added up the cost of a tow bar, a suitable trailor or "A" frame not to mention the cost of the car and extra running cost you are into 1000`s of pounds.

So when we want to get around further afield off the bus routes we just hire a car, use it for however long we want it theen send it back, you don`t have all the hassle that goes with towing and owning an extra vehicle.:thumb: