Do you drive around in your van when you are away? (1 Viewer)

[Ja63]

We are about to set off on our second trip in our new motorhome....2 nights in Llanidloes at a riverside park

Apparently it is a 20 minute walk into the town which we will do (although we may need to get a taxi back as we are taking our two dogs and one of them is a rescued old dog who has pretty mangled feet from living in a cage for years...so she can't walk very far).

Generally though, wherever we go, we will probably prefer to use the motorhome as transport to go offsite returning to the site each afternoon/evening.

So, 2 questions...firstly, does anyone else do this or is it a pain having to pack everything away each day and then set it all back up on return. Secondly, should we/can we reserve our pitch or should we just return and accept that someone else might've nicked our nice spot in our absence? The site we stayed on last time gave us a numbered pitch so presumably no-one else would set up there because they wouldn't be given that number......do all sites have numbered/allocated pitches, in which case this won't be a problem for us?

Just wondering what you all do?

 

[Charlie]

I wouldn't judge others for their choices but for me this is why I wouldn't go back to tugging

I heard the members of parliament are a load of tuggers ?

 

[Judge Mental]

Public transport, walk or push bike.

Plus a kiddy trailer on bike for dogies

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[Gin Palace]

Pitch and use electric bikes much more fun and easier to Park!

 

[ianandkath]

never move off site.
too long and wide for most town centres anyway

 

[Ja63]

Well, we just returned from our two nights in Llanidloes

First full day, we walked into town as it was only a half hour walk and the weather was pleasant. Returned just after lunchtime so enjoyed the afternoon at the site, relaxing.

Sunday morning, we left the site to go to Élan Valley and then on to Clun. Beautiful weather, no problem driving or parking anywhere. Stopped off at the Élan dams, sat down by the river in Clun with a cuppa and a scone, then trudged up the hill to the castle ruins. Had a wonderful day, saw some beautiful places and chatted to some lovely people.

Returned home an hour ago, exhausted but very happy with our first proper weekend away.

Many more to come.........

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[Charlie]

The main reason we bought our van an Auto Sleeper Kemerton was so we could park in town centers and do so with relative ease. So far this has been easy to do. We do this as my wife has very limited mobility . If this was not a factor I would buy a big comfy Motor Scooter as I have a full bike licence.

What Im saying here is surely it depends on the size of the vehicle ? I mean some of you have palaces on wheels so that I think is thr trade off.

We love our wee MH but we have nothing to compare it too as its the first one we have ever owned. OK for us the compromise is space but we haven't struggled in any way and I can park it with ease...

Its just a big van really .

 

[Trikeman]

The main reason we bought our van an Auto Sleeper Kemerton was so we could park in town centers and do so with relative ease. So far this has been easy to do. We do this as my wife has very limited mobility . If this was not a factor I would buy a big comfy Motor Scooter as I have a full bike licence.

What Im saying here is surely it depends on the size of the vehicle ? I mean some of you have palaces on wheels so that I think is thr trade off.

We love our wee MH but we have nothing to compare it too as its the first one we have ever owned. OK for us the compromise is space but we haven't struggled in any way and I can park it with ease...

Its just a big van really .

But a beauty all the same........

Enjoy.

Trikeman.

 

[CWH]

The main reason we bought our van an Auto Sleeper Kemerton was so we could park in town centers and do so with relative ease.

We started with a 7-&-a-bit metres but find we have loads of "wasted space" so will be down-sizing at some point. I think your Kemerton looks fantastic - can't believe how good the bathroom is, and the amount of workspace!

Its just a big van really .

Aren't they all!

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[Taff015]

We tend to use our bikes. As far as Llanidloes is concerned campers are welcome to stay overnight free in the council owned car park in town. It is quiet, spacious and you can park overlooking the Severn. It's council policy thoughout Powys and I see it taken advantage of regularly in Welshpool, Newtown, Llanidloes, and Builth Wells where the car park goes down to the banks of the Wye.

The actual signs say "campers can stay free 1 out of 7 nights" although you won't have any trouble staying 2. The caveat is to stop travellers and those that take advantage.

Dick

And quite often the river Wye comes to the Car Park!!!!

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes, use it all the time. Never use sites though.

 

[Wildman]

we live on the move when on holiday as I cannot walk far so drive almost everywhere. But the don't use sites and rarely stay more than one night wherever parked up.

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[jonandshell]

Confused here!

What are these 'site' and 'pitch' things which people refer to?

 

[pigginchilli]

We have just returned from our first weekend away in our Mohican, went shopping and took up 4 parking spaces in morrisons! We were so very happy but our private landlord says our van is an eyesore and needs to be parked away from our house, so the excitement may be short lived

 

[jonandshell]

We have just returned from our first weekend away in our Mohican, went shopping and took up 4 parking spaces in morrisons! We were so very happy but our private landlord says our van is an eyesore and needs to be parked away from our house, so the excitement may be short livedView attachment 77420

If it ain't in the tenancy agreement........

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[pigginchilli]

If it ain't in the tenancy agreement........

We have nothing at all in writing, its a tied farm workers house.

 

[gus-lopez]

! We were so very happy but our private landlord says our van is an eyesore and needs to be parked away from our house, so the excitement may be short livedView attachment 77420

Does he own the road ? If not tell him the second word is off.

 

[Jabberwocky]

So far we take the van out, if I wanted to leave it on site I'd have bought a caravan, but then we tend to roam far during the day, we will walk to the local pub and eventually we will buy some bikes. We bought a van big enough for the 2 of us and a dog to be comfortable but with an eye on being able to park it in town centre and English heritage/national trust car parks. We are still finding our feet with the MH so our way of travelling/overnighting will change over time.

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[jonandshell]

We have nothing at all in writing, its a tied farm workers house.

Arrrrr, Oi seeee!

Would this outfit appeal to his better nature?

 

[Bailey58]

Like @GeriatricWanderer we plan ahead and walk or use buses from the site if we wander locally. If we go any distance, to a National Trust property for instance whilst trying to justify the vast expense of our membership, we check the parking beforehand but never had a problem in the past. Oh and we leave a number plate staked on our pitch, if it is a Caravan Club site your pitch number is logged in the office when you collect the barrier/toilet block key so as far as newcomers are concerned it is "reserved" for the duration of your stay.

 

[Big Nick]

Reading these comments makes me wonder if some may be better served by a caravan rather than a motorhome?

We got our motorhome to tour around with and mainly park off sites and generally be more free and mobile than a caravan would allow.

If you are predominantly basing yourself on a site surely a caravan and a car combo would make more sense?

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[Ja63]

Reading these comments makes me wonder if some may be better served by a caravan rather than a motorhome?

We got our motorhome to tour around with and mainly park off sites and generally be more free and mobile than a caravan would allow.

If you are predominantly basing yourself on a site surely a caravan and a car combo would make more sense?

When we were deciding what to buy, we did consider a caravan but finally settled on a motorhome because we plan to use it mainly in Europe for our main holidays, want to be able to use Aires etc and will be touring round rather than based on a site. In between 'proper' holidays we want to use it for weekends away in UK and that's all we have done so far as we've only owned it for about 9 weeks.......it's really just the UK weekends that my post is referring to

We've stayed on sites so far because I don't feel comfortable about wild camping in motorhome-unfriendly-UK (and we haven't yet sorted out a generator/ inverter so we can manage without EHU)

In Europe, it seems that many sites outside of towns or areas of interest run a shuttle bus or have a train or bus that stops right by the site......we haven't stayed at any UK sites that are as well served yet.

We seem to have reached the conclusion that we may change my car for something smaller to tow when in UK, but I'm not sure because I don't really want a smaller car. We wouldn't bother towing it when on the continent because it doesn't seem to be necessary

 

[CWH]

In Europe, it seems that many sites outside of towns or areas of interest run a shuttle bus or have a train or bus that stops right by the site......we haven't stayed at any UK sites that are as well served yet.

You can find plenty of UK sites with bus stops right outside the gate; when we use sites we try to find those well served by buses or within walking distance (for us) of what we want to see or do. If you're using CC or CCC (or other organisations) these are indicated in the book/ website descriptions.

eg last week in Derbyshire, we were on the CC Belper site: bus at the gate into Belper (£2.50 return for me, Him Indoors goes free), train on to where we wanted to go (£6.80 return for the pair of us without railcards). Then off for a fantastic walk. Lovely pub meal, then back to Belper for grocery shopping & home to the MH. We love travelling by bus & by train, you get to see more of the area, no hassle about parking & no parking fee, we see it as part of the day out not as just "travelling" so our day's enjoyment is extended to include travel time. Not so keen on the shopping though .....

Lake District - the Mountain Goat bus service runs all over the place, from eg villages likes Hawkshead (well served with campsites!), from the Windermere ferry, and from car parks, and dogs go free.

Glen Mor on the banks of Loch Morlich - bus on the doorstep to Aviemore in one direction, Cairn Gorm in the other.

Researching public transport can be fun! (I know, I should get out more ..... only been away 151 nights so far this year)

 

[CWH]

If you are predominantly basing yourself on a site surely a caravan and a car combo would make more sense?

Staying on a site isn't necessarily BASING yourself on a site - you might just want somewhere secure to park the MH for a night or two while you go exploring, or a one-night-stand on the way to somewhere else.
eg our 3-month tour of Scotland (our first trip, so not very confident about wilding) - while we did just one night at Jedburgh on our way north (we knew the area from back-packing days), we did 2 or 3 nights on most sites as we wanted to tour but also to get a flavour of the different areas. We stayed at Glen Mor for longer as there's so much to do around there.
And sometimes it's nice to get back to the MH in the evening to a big drying room for your wet weather gear and a toasty warm van.

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[Reallyretired]

In the uk we tow a small car but on the continent we tour so only one or two nights anywhere and either stay in the place we want to visit or visit it while on the way to somewhere else. In a motorhome there should not be much to pack up anyway. Put outside furniture away the night before, just rotate seats and open blinds in the morning and drive off. (Unplug ehu if you've had it of course)

 

[Charlie]

Reading these comments makes me wonder if some may be better served by a caravan rather than a motorhome?

We got our motorhome to tour around with and mainly park off sites and generally be more free and mobile than a caravan would allow.

If you are predominantly basing yourself on a site surely a caravan and a car combo would make more sense?

1 when touring abroad I aint pulling a caravan. I want to jump in and go. Not fanny around with winding down steadies and all that mularky.
2 I hate caravans... Sorry and no disrespect I just do .....
3 I want to hop along at the national speed limits not dawdle getting in everyones way
4I hate caravans... Sorry and no disrespect I just do .....
5 I don't want to be called a tugger....
6 If someone Gave me a caravan I would take it into field and set fire to it
7 I hate caravans... Sorry and no disrespect I just do .....

With utmost respect I and many others choose to purchase motor homes for a multitude of reasons. There really is no validity in telling us we have made the wrong choice. The fact some choose to drive about when away is down to personal choice and the same applies to towing cars or motorbikes on trailers..

Can anyone tell me about them Aframe fings ?












Im off to hide now.......

 

[Big Nick]

I'm not telling you to do anything Charlie, merely posing a question

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[DanielFord]

To answer the original question, we generally pitch the motorhome, and use public transport at our destination. However, we visited the Isle of Wight not long ago, and we trundled all the way around the island in the van visiting various attractions.
Most places in Europe seem to have a far better public transport network than us, so wouldn't even consider moving the van once it is pitched. But over here in the UK, we haven't had too many issues with using the van as a run around as well as a bedroom!

 

[RidersofRohan]

No problem parking in most places, and so much more convenient as you have your "home" parked wherever you are. I love sitting on the step with a cuppa enjoying the view. As for taking time to "pack up and go" Really? I bet if we were next door to you on site we could be packed up and off by the time you had walked to the bus stop let alone waited for it to turn up.
In winter we intend doing some city breaks so would expect to use public transport more, but cycling is not for us.
Each to their own.

 

[Dave K]

I think it would help if there was a list of car parks suitable for MH's so that it would give the option of driving off knowing you'll find somewhere reasonably close to where you're heading, we made the mistake of trying to get into Newquay to find parking once, we did eventually but most car parks seemed to have height restrictions, and narrow roads...

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[RidersofRohan]

We used Parkopedia to find a suitable car park in Windsor and Newquay this year, most times we just turn up. My frustration is with signage, you see a P sign, turn off and then are confronted by a height barrier. I am tempted to write to DfT to ask them to make councils show height restriction on any signage. It would make sense and be a lot safer, also it might cause some councils to question just where larger vehicles can park.
My view is our PVC is the same as any other van and they need to be able to go anywhere to deliver etc so we should too. Those who have 8 metres plus have given themselves a nice comfy existence but suffer other drawbacks as a result. Surely motorhomes are to get about in and tour, if you are touring you have to be able to stop where you want otherwise there is no point going!