Espana Discovery. (1 Viewer)

[slverdreamers]

Has any one used these,thinking of joining for this year. We are travelling over from Santander to Marjal in March going to meander a bit on the way. Then travel up into France keeping to the Med side for a few weeks.
We have looked at the site and there seems to be places where we want to go. Have had French Passion, but found the sites difficult to find, especially when towing a toad, not taking it this year.
Regards

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

We are members-but havn't used it -yet. Hope to do so this trip.
With France Passion we have failed a couple of times to locate the one we were looking for-but have,so far,managed to find an alternative.I do wish they would use Co-ords in the book.
Mike

 

[spannermanwigan]

Has any one used these,thinking of joining for this year. We are travelling over from Santander to Marjal in March going to meander a bit on the way. Then travel up into France keeping to the Med side for a few weeks.
We have looked at the site and there seems to be places where we want to go. Have had French Passion, but found the sites difficult to find, especially when towing a toad, not taking it this year.i
Regards

Here is latest info from Vicarious books Re their guides for 2012

we bought and used both France passion(excellent) and Espana Discovery Spanish version(Poor) in 2011,insufficient members in the Spanish version and very regional most of the entries being in the coastal zones around Valencia to Alicante or in the Wine growing areas to the North east, Hopefully there will be more this year.

All the Aires France we found excellent

All the Aires Spain and Portugal was limited in its content but useful it would appear that there has been a substantial increase in entries however for 2012 this should improve its
usefulness.:thumb:

regards
Steve

Dear Subscribers

We have several new guides in stock and we are taking a discounted pre order for the 2012 France Passion guide. We have just come back from a long inspection trip in Spain and Portugal and found some surprising changes since our last visit in 2008. If you are at ExCel on the 15th you should come and laugh at Chris who is giving an Expert Talk at 11.30 about choosing a motorhome.

CONTENTS
ACSI DVD
France Passion discounted pre order
Bord Atlas stellplatze guide
Caravan Club Europe guides
Staycation tour
Due in soon
ExCelling ourselves
Spain and Portugal latest situation
6 percent discount code PREorderFP expires on 5th of February.

ACSI DVD
11.99 buys you comprehensive details about 500 UK campsites and 8100 European campsites. Every campsite listed was inspected in 2011 and every year before that. The reality is that this database of information lists enough campsites that you will probably not need another campsite guide.

FRANCE PASSION discounted pre order for March delivery
As is normal at this time of year you can pre order the next edition of the invitations guidebook at a discount. The normal renewal price is 22 pounds until the 18th of February, as can be seen on the renewal PDF.
www.france-passion.co.uk/2012_early_renewal.pdf
We have listed the guide at 23 pounds but you will pay 21.61 once you apply the 6 per cent online discount code PREorderFP

BORD ATLAS stellplatze guide
Germany has an excellent network of motorhome stopovers and Bord Atlas makes it easy to choose the best ones for you. Despite being written in German, this guide is simple to use. There is an English key for the symbols used and directions are no problem if you use a satnav that takes long and lat coordinates. Our listed price is 22.50 but you will pay 21.15 once you apply the 6 per cent online discount code PREorderFP
https://www.vicarious-shop.com/Bord-Atlas-2012-German-Stellplatze-reise-mobile-guide.html

CARAVAN CLUB EUROPE guides
The 2 annually updated guides have been replaced with 3 biannual guides. The French guide lists approximately 3500 campsites and costs 14.50. The Spain and Portugal guide lists 598 and 119 campsites respectively and costs 7.99. The Northern European guide lists 3364 campsites spread between Sicily and Nordkapp and costs 15.99. Remember to apply the 6 per cent online discount code PREorderFP
Staycation tour
Why not tour the most diverse country in Europe, the UK. All you need is Sea View Camping and the Cades campsite guide and you will have all the information you need. Buy these two guidebooks together and you automatically save 2 pounds and you can apply the 6 per cent online discount code PREorderFP making the total price 16.73.

DUE IN SOON
The following guides are not listed due to the lack of accurate delivery dates.
CamperStop Europe is due in February.
Fatore Amico is due in February.
New guides are arriving daily so keep checking online at www.vicarious-shop.com

EXCELLING OURSELVES
We are not exhibiting at Excel but Chris will be giving a talk at on the 15th at 11.30am. The subject is choosing a motorhome and Chris will be reflecting this against the theory of motorhoming. There will be a panel of experts on hand to answer your questions including Rob Ganley Practical Motorhome editor and journalists Jo Vaughn and John Parsons. It would be great to see you there and answer any obscure questions not already answered in Go Motorhoming and Campervanning
www.vicarious-shop.com/Go-Motorhoming-and-Campervanning-9780956678119.html

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL latest situation
Meli and Chris have just returned from an extensive research trip where they inspected 155 Aires in Spain and 76 in Portugal. This represents a big change since 2008 because there were only 91aires in Spain and 47 in Portugal as published in the current All the Aires guide. The new guide will be published in April.
Portugal had just implemented a new electronic toll system for half of the motorways and it was suffering major teething problems. The good news is that there is no need to rent an in cab box, the bad news is the pre purchase system was complicated, inadequate and there were only a handful of outlets. We quickly discovered that there were a lot more roads with the electronic toll than was printed on the official leaflet, and there are still a lot of traditional booth payment tolls on the rest of the motorway system. According to the official leaflet, you should be able to find out more at www.viaverde.pt and www.estradas.pt We were surprised how much road improvement had been completed in Portugal as just about every road had been resurfaced and a lot of road widening and straightening had been done. This is just as well because the motorway tolls are expensive and rural Portugal is so charming that you really should drive along the minor roads.
Motorhome campsites are popping up along the Spanish Mediterranean, technically these are Aires but they feel more like a campsite, and most had toilet blocks and electric hookup. Spanish road building has continued at a fast pace and you will have to make a point of not driving on the free dual carriageways if you want a leisurely tour. We were amazed at the differences between the Mediterranean coast and the rest of Spain. We urge you to drive away from the coast and discover the real Spain.

6 PERCENT DISCOUNT CODE
Type PREorderFP in the Promo box at the checkout of www.Vicarious-Shop.com and 6 percent will be deducted off the order total and will be displayed on the final page. Discounts are only applicable to orders placed online and no discount will be applied retrospectively. The PREorderFP discount code expires on 5th of February.

Happy Camping, Chris, Meli, Caroline and Lauren

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[slverdreamers]

We are members-but havn't used it -yet. Hope to do so this trip.
With France Passion we have failed a couple of times to locate the one we were looking for-but have,so far,managed to find an alternative.I do wish they would use Co-ords in the book.
Mike

Hi,
Notice you have already joined the above. We want to travel end March/April, do you think we will be okay with the 2012 one don't want to but the 2011 just for a few days in March we land Santander 19th March.
Also are the individual details in English when we click on the map it all comes up in Spanish, and our Spanish is very very basic.
Really want to use it but want to make sure its usable.
Info would be great.
Regards Peter

 

[Larrynwin]

If no toad can I suggest you put bikes on the back, they extend your range from walking and especially in France on the aires which are generally located close to villages and towns.
We are in Spain at present and have hired cars in preference to a toad and it has been worth it albeit a touch pricey.

 

[slverdreamers]

espana discovery

Hi We have bikes, but not sure how far we will get with them Peters quite disabled. thought of hiring cars at times, and are staying at Marjal for quite a while. I emailed them and they run buses to various towns not sure how often. We just couldn't face the hassle with the toad, so much negative publicity re Spain. We used to have a scooter but Peter can't drive it anymore. Just fancy the Espana discovery for something different, don,t like wild parking with a 28ft motorhome.
regards

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Road Runner]

If no toad can I suggest you put bikes on the back, they extend your range from walking and especially in France on the aires which are generally located close to villages and towns.
We are in Spain at present and have hired cars in preference to a toad and it has been worth it albeit a touch pricey.

Just as well you saved your pocket money when you were a boy then Larry

 

[s7ev0]

Hi silverdreamers,

I have a copy of the 2010 Espana Discovery guide (that I used for research for Brit Stops!) and it has written directions to the sites in English. I haven't actually used it, so can't comment on how accurate they are, but GPS coordinates are also supplied. There are simple maps at the start of each region showing the hosts in relation to major roads, as a guide.

Symbols are used to show what type of host it is (vineyard, farm, restaurant, etc.) and what facilities are available (water, shade, hook-up, etc.), and in my copy 34 hosts speak English (out of 70), so I don't think you'll have a lot of trouble.

Having said that, for us half the fun in using France Passion was driving off the beaten track to find the hosts, and enjoying half-mimed conversations with the owners!

Hope that helps,

Steve