found out why we go to France (1 Viewer)

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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.
Hold on , we weren't at a popular resort, we have been parked at the back of a village pub or in the middle of a field.
 

Charlie

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A beginners view..

We bought our van on a Tuesday went to Mevagissey on the Thursday. First site we've ever been on. It was great.

Next trip was north to Scotland. Site in the Lakes on the way up was dire...

Next trip was France... Blimey what a revalation ! Everything was not only far far better but significantly cheaper. In short we absolutely loved it.

Sad to say but until the UK steps up a notch our holidays in the UK will be nil.

We did not use an aire once. I have to agree with Scotjimland in so much as all the ones we saw were just car parks... Sorry but having spent a lot of coin on our van I'm not going to park in a blooming car park unless we are desperate.

I agree that to make things add up several weeks must be done in France . Our crossings cost £420 so for a week that would be daft.

Definitely going to join Club Voyage and we will be holidaying in Europe from now on...

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Charlie

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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.

Let me assure you our choises are not made because of cost.

Though lest face facts for many cost or the lack of means more time on holiday. Well for those who have time like many here do.

Cost aside the quality of sites in France we went on just blows the ones in the UK away.

The people in France went that extra mile to help in every aspect. Quite different to the grunts we encountered in the lakes..

Cost will always have a bearing buy the quality is for us vital. Sorry but so far it's not been evident here in the UK..
 

filopastry

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Presently on Camp du soleil on ars en Re (Il de re) 15 euros per night 24/24 ehu 10 amp toilet and shower blocks excellent. Heated pool 25 degrees .... Seperate heated shower rooms (free) Laundry rooms / MH dump cleaning bay washed down twice daily. Restaurant and bar .... Spotlessly clean just does not cover it .... staff multi lingual (don't bother me I speak froggie) Security gaurded out of hours ..... not sure what else I may need (well .... actually I know ... but ..... the wife reads this too...... I loove you hunny)
 

Forestboy

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Even in Croatia sites are leagues ahead of the UK and showers and toilets are among the best we've ever seen.

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madgeD

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Thank you .

For us its a case of when we go over to France Germany etc; we can go for 6 weeks staying at a mix of c.sites and aires, but over here staying on CC sites for 6 weeks not only would be much more expensive! but probably impossible as just turning up is probably frowned on as well. Anyway we will try it next summer and see how it goes. We have been campers since mid 60s so we also have been most places so it will be a case of revisiting I'm sure we will see lots of changes.
 
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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

    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:

I enjoy and appreciate what the UK has to offer, I also appreciate what the continent has to offer, the logic is not just about cost and believe me, I know the value of Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi, the German countryside, the wild coast of Brittany and the atlantic coast, the stunning French/Italian alps etc.etc. I also appreciate the ability to sit outside enjoying a meal or a dring in pleasant weather and a relaxed atmosphere. Of course costs matters but it is not the sole reason for continental motor homing, just a bonus.
 
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irnbru

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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
Are we following each other. Port Grimaud then Annecy. We were there a few days ago:)

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Charlie

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Even in Croatia sites are leagues ahead of the UK and showers and toilets are among the best we've ever seen.
Ere you !! You've started somfink you ave !! Reading your posts has inspired the wife to demand..... Yes demand Croatia is on the list for next year !!!! Course as driver I will have to go along.. :LOL:

Cannot wait ... It's a hard life being the driver (y)
 

Forestboy

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Ere you !! You've started somfink you ave !! Reading your posts has inspired the wife to demand..... Yes demand Croatia is on the list for next year !!!! Course as driver I will have to go along.. :LOL:

Cannot wait ... It's a hard life being the driver (y)

Great (y)
You'll love it just don't go July or August too hot too full.
Start in Rijeka and do the coast road to Dubrovnik one of the best coast roads in thd world and I've done loads.
Enjoy(y)
 
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Yes stayed on some lovely sites in Spain Portugal Germany and France over the years. But when health is not fantastic and the cost of travel health insurance if you can get it, I now stick to UK
Just had 4 nights at lakeside North Somercotes EHU good showers & acre fishing lake £54 for 4 nights. Suited us fine
Used several CCC. Temporary holiday sites £7.50 to £9.00 this year, all with a bus stop within 1/2 mile of sites. So plenty of sites with reasonable costs still in uk
And before someone says you can use your EHIC I would not want the wife worrying while abroad if I should be taken ill, as she has eye problems and unable to drive now.
 
Jan 3, 2008
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Yes stayed on some lovely sites in Spain Portugal Germany and France over the years. But when health is not fantastic and the cost of travel health insurance if you can get it, I now stick to UK
Just had 4 nights at lakeside North Somercotes EHU good showers & acre fishing lake £54 for 4 nights. Suited us fine
Used several CCC. Temporary holiday sites £7.50 to £9.00 this year, all with a bus stop within 1/2 mile of sites. So plenty of sites with reasonable costs still in uk
And before someone says you can use your EHIC I would not want the wife worrying while abroad if I should be taken ill, as she has eye problems and unable to drive now.

That's the great thing about motorhoming it's so adaptable and we can all enjoy it as circumstances dictate. Long may you continue to do so
 

sdc77

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PSX_20150927_220427~01.jpg

6€ a night ..
Nothing like that in the UK..
Esp if you drag the weather into the equation

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mjltigger

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so we just spent 2 nights on a CS... showers and toilets in mobile buildings but all very well equipped and clean / functional.

location was beautiful and convenient for our needs - no idea on public transport but hey, we have a 4 wheels and an engine, what do we need buses for....

we are wage slaves therefore we are weekenders... France is 4-5 hours away, Holland is 6-8 hours away etc etc.. trips to the continent are amazing but we haven't the energy for more than a few trips a year... so the UK is what we have and we live with it.

We stick to places we can get to on a Friday night after work and we enjoy our time in the van. Explore when we can, relax in the sunshine when we can, sit and play cards in solitude when we can't... keep smiling and remember we are funsters.
 

spitfire

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In UK at the moment . Site very nice but also very expensive . Same facilities or less than a good municipal at home but twice the price !

No good morning from other folks on site in fact in many deliberate eye contact avoidance . Might be the French number plate !

In town litter everywhere , charity shops everywhere , louts falling out of the pub at the weekend . Heard passing Wetherspoons ' I could take on you both '

And people ask why I live in France . And before anyone says it is certainly not perfect by a long way but much more pleasant .

It makes me very sad to say this . I worry for my grandchildren 's future .
 

Tincataylor

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Never leave a campsite with your clothes line tied to a lamp post.
We enjoy being in Spain and Portugal in the winter and find that our day to day expenses are very roughly the same as when we are home. OK we are still paying council tax while we are away but the money saved on heating bills pays for the ferry, and we shop for food and eat in the van the same as at home. we use local restaurants as and when we feel like it, again the same as at home.
This year we embarked on a long UK tour of the Lakes, the Yorkshire Dales and the western / northern coast of Scotland and found the daily costs to be roughly similar. We tend to stay on CL's when we require hook up and the majority of them are excellent. When we find we have booked into a dud then we just keep rolling and wild for the night or try another CL. Other than this we just drive for a few miles on a B road and stay in pub car parks. There are some great country pubs in the UK and up to now when we have gone into the bar, had a drink, and asked politely if we can spend the night in the car park and return in the evening for more drinks / food we have never been refused.
As for the weather, it is what it is, we cant change it so we don't worry about it. As for scenery we like Europe and the UK. The scenery in Scotland was world class and if there is one thing we have learnt from our UK tour is that we are lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.
Travelling in a motor home allows us to have the best of all worlds and we find that people who are always searching for "what's best" might just be missing out on what is right under their noses all along.
We will be on the Santander ferry in early December and can't wait to be on the road again for the winter........we knew we were going to like retirement but it has come as a surprise just how much we love it...................

The Tinca's

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Charlie

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In UK at the moment . Site very nice but also very expensive . Same facilities or less than a good municipal at home but twice the price !

No good morning from other folks on site in fact in many deliberate eye contact avoidance . Might be the French number plate !

In town litter everywhere , charity shops everywhere , louts falling out of the pub at the weekend . Heard passing Wetherspoons ' I could take on you both '

And people ask why I live in France . And before anyone says it is certainly not perfect by a long way but much more pleasant .

It makes me very sad to say this . I worry for my grandchildren 's future .

Where I come from we go out of our way to make visitors welcome. A French number plate would mean more effort to welcome and communicate which are the key ingredients to getting along .

Sadly I have to agree with your comments on the sad state the UK is now in. Drunk on the streets should be an instant 250 quid fine. Sadly that's never going to happen.
I just can't muster enthusiasm for holidaying here. Apathy seems the order of the day.

Money ? It's not what we pay its our perception of what we are getting for it .. Last site we stayed on cost £66 for two nights . Ok it was bank holiday weekend but it just highlights the blatant way we are treated.

If Europe cost twice what we pay in the UK we would stump up and go,
 

Teuchter

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I have been caravanning for 32 years but in 2014 I have"gone over to the dark side"
We've been caravanning/motorhoming for about 35 years now and are still "hooked" on it. When working with max holiday of 2 weeks at a time we stayed mainly in the UK and had both good and bad experiences with camp sites - as to the weather again both good and bad (probably a little more bad than good)

Since retiring 12 years ago we now spend much more time abroad in the MoHo the main reasons being those already mentioned ie:-
Weather, availability of camp sites/Aires within walking/biking distance of towns and villages, weather, off road cycle paths, weather, lack of height restrictions, weather, attitude of European town/village councils towards campers etc. etc. and last but far from least TRAFFIC!! or lack of it!

In France we can often travel from The English Channel to the Mediterranean on motorway standard roads without hitting a single traffic jam and most of the time the road is far from busy - in Spain the same applies from Santander to Estepona around 650 miles (we've done both several times stopping off at various places)
In Uk our favourite area for camping is the North West of Scotland around Ullapool area and from Portsmouth (where we live) to Ullapool is also around 650 miles and we dread the first 350 miles!! M27 A34 M40 M6 and it's not until we reach Shap area that we are relatively free of traffic hold ups/stop start conditions!!!

I'm afraid driving in England has become a real pain especially the attitude of other drivers toward Motorhomes/caravans!

However paradoxically there is still nowhere else I'd rather live :) (Ithink)

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OP
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My op was in no way criticism of anyone touring uk or indeed anything to do with the country but having been holidaying on the continent 3 years now it came as a hell of a shock having to plan where you are going to park and paying through the nose for the privilege instead of just driving to where you want to be and park for free
 
OP
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Tonight we are on a cl in a pub car park in Kendal, moved across the country, in the book its in the £5to £6 bracket but he's charged us a tenner, I give up!!!!
Nothing here no water or emptying as I can see, don't know how it gets through ccc rules, and no one here but us.

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Jan 3, 2008
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Tonight we are on a cl in a pub car park in Kendal, moved across the country, in the book its in the £5to £6 bracket but he's charged us a tenner, I give up!!!!
Nothing here no water or emptying as I can see, don't know how it gets through ccc rules, and no one here but us.

He is not playing the game if he has charged a tenner, do you feel like letting us know which pub so we can avoid it.
 
OP
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This isn't a britstop but a proper ccc cs but it is just a gated off part of his car park it is Kendal sheet 97 180 in the big sites book got a CCC sign on the gate and everything edit, actually got the price band wrong its £7 to £9.
 
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SDC77 - where is that please?
Thanks,
Lloyd.

It the Aire de la Mailleraye sur seine, park up and watch the big boats go by and a chap comes and collects the money in the evening

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