How easy is it to travel through Europe in a Motorhome. (1 Viewer)

[Tcodd]

Hi
Hi to you all.Just wondered if I could get some advice from the people that know.
Me and my wife are looking at getting a m/h.Then when time is ok with covid.
Traveling around Europe for about 3 months.
We have two big dogs.which we will take.
Just wondered how easy it is.my main concern is finding places to stay in walking distance to towns beaches.Is it worth towing small car.we are both very new to this.so any advise would be great.
Many thanks Tim

 

[ivorantony]

Wellcome, if you use the search facility there are numerous articles on this,
But basically plenty of aires in Europe normally near towns and coastal areas so you shouldn’t have a problem when they allow foreign travelers back into there countries,

 

[marchie]

Hi
Hi to you all.Just wondered if I could get some advice from the people that know.
Me and my wife are looking at getting a m/h.Then when time is ok with covid.
Traveling around Europe for about 3 months.
We have two big dogs.which we will take.
Just wondered how easy it is.my main concern is finding places to stay in walking distance to towns beaches.Is it worth towing small car.we are both very new to this.so any advise would be great.
Many thanks Tim

Welcome Tim & Mrs Tim! We too are new to motorhomes [still looking for one!], so people with more knowledge will be along shortly to advise! Elaine and I have toured France sa campers, trailer tenters, folding caravan owners, and latterly as Touring Caravan owners. French Municipal Sites [originally owned by the Municipal/Local Authority, but many have now been privatised] offer sensible stay prices [often with free/reduced rates for the Municipal Swimming Pool], and are invariably situated within the proverbial spitting distance of the Town Centre. We love Amboise, Chauvigny, Montoire sur le Loire and Montmorillon and lots more! Post COVID, you will have a great time! Who knows? We may have actually found a motorhome ourselves and be following you down the road!

Steve & Elaine

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[Kups]

Good luck!
For dog friendly beaches there are several websites you cna find, but the Spanish resorts have introduced bans on many beaches for hygiene reasons and many of these are year round so be warned. Example info: https://www.travelnuity.com/dog-friendly-spain/
There's a whole new proceedure for taking dogs into/out of the EU which I presume you are aware of.
Towing a small car is a whole discussion in itself as there appear to be differnt interpretations of the acceptable/legal way to do this. Plenty of discussion online if you search. I could be ironic and say "buy a caravan" rather than tow a car, no offence. We just use electric bikes, buses and feet to move around our chosen campsite. We don't use Spanish aires, too crowded and dirty.
Use Campercontact for your overnight stop locations. https://www.campercontact.com/en
It's excellent and kept up to date.

 

[Reallyretired]

We only once towed a small car to France. We found it more an encumbrance than a help.
We have never had problems finding somewhere near where we want to be or not been able to park our 7.6m motorhome.
France is a big country and so is Spain but with much smaller population.

 

[David and Sally]

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[Lenny HB]

Europe is so easy, it's the UK that's a pain to use a Motorhome in. France is Motorhome Heaven, Germany a close second, Spain & Portugal pretty good as well.
Never a problem finding places to stay near towns and beaches.
Don't even think about worrying about it, it's so easy, there are links in my signature to a lot of my trips.

 

[Jake Royd]

Jut off-topic a little bit:-
It seems that Holland does not have Aires or their equivalents and all places to camp are paid for ie. no free places?
Is this correct

 

[Four of us]

We have travelled all over Europe with our two dogs and had very few problems finding appropriate places to stay. Sometimes, to get a location with good dog walking, we stay further from towns or beaches, other times everything is available. We use a mixture of campsites and aires and usually stock up on food shopping every 3 days or so, so that if we find a really good spot we don't have to move on sue to shortage of supplies.

In general we find mainland Europe much easier than the UK as it's generally far less crowded...

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[suavecarve]

A picture paints a thousand words.

Welcome to a maps.me of available places in europe.

About 60 per cent are free in europe and if you have 2 hands you can count the uk ones.

Different world over there

 

[Lenny HB]

Jut off-topic a little bit:-
It seems that Holland does not have Aires or their equivalents and all places to camp are paid for ie. no free places?
Is this correct

There are quite a few Aires in Holland now.

 

[Jo662]

Europe is what Motorhomes are made for,especially France.

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[ChrisSue]

Download Park4night or similar. Lots of Aires are an easy walk to the town though they do tend to charge. I think the last time we stayed at Dieppe Aire it was €12 for 24 hours. 10 15 minutes walk into the town. And that is just one example

 

[Sundowners]

Sweden is an incredible place to motorhome--- wildcamping is so easy and safe--- a huge amount of places have long-drop loos,good to empty cassette BUT no chemicals---- been twice in recent years but not used a campsite.
At the other extreme in europe we loved Portugal so much we now live here!!!
Sad thing is that because of suspected bad behaviour by campervan wild camping is totally banned---- but portugal like most of europe has a good amount of aires and campsites---- sweden and Portugal have really good quiet roads------- so there is your 3 months trip to Sweden and through europe to Portugal
Because we take it for granted I forgot to mention that most Europeans are incredibly friendly---- especially Swedes and Portuguese--------
When you have got into your trip you will wonder why you even asked about doing it!!
Now all we need to do is wait and dream until it is safe to travel after covid it will over soon
(We hope!!)

 

[Potty]

Jut off-topic a little bit:-
It seems that Holland does not have Aires or their equivalents and all places to camp are paid for ie. no free places?
Is this correct

A search on Campercontact brings up 7 free aires with overnight and water/waste facilities, 131 free but no facilities.

We have toured with two dogs and rarely had problems. France in particular is very dog friendly. Aires by rivers and canals usually have paths that are ideal for dog walking and you will find far more poo bag dispensers than in the UK.

Parking in most towns is much easier than here, which makes sight seeing easier.

Unless you have a large van, a car really isn’t needed.

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[Tcodd]

This has been really helpful.Cant wait .
Thank you all for your kind help.
Thanks Tim and Michelle

 

[ChrisSue]

This has been really helpful.Cant wait .
Thank you all for your kind help.
Thanks Tim and Michelle

Trust us you will love it.

Actually it might be worth You Tubing Wandering Bird or Bus and Beyond

 

[The Wino]

We have travelled a fair bit around France no problem at all personally I would go for a slightly smaller motorhome so its easier to find spots to park near to attractions rather than a huge one and a towcar. Our last trip was Northern Spain. I wouldn't go again while we have a dog it's not very welcoming hardly any bars etc allow dogs maybe it's different on the costas.

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[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[The Coops]

Jut off-topic a little bit:-
It seems that Holland does not have Aires or their equivalents and all places to camp are paid for ie. no free places?
Is this correct

There are free aires in Holland use the campercontact app but if you have to pay its only a few euros and most have electric as well

 

[MITHRANDIR]

There's a publication called all the aires, for france, spain, portugal, Belgium, netherlands by vicarious
they certainly don't cover all by any means, but i think they are invaluable
Park4night, campercontact among others
Motorhoming in europe is a breeze, much much much easier than the uk, i know it may seem daunting but you will soon catch on, my advice, learn a few simple phrases in different languages, worth the effort and in my experience goes a long way.
It really is easy, and very very pleasurable.

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[Tcodd]

Thanks for everyone s advise.we will start looking for a motorhome in the Autumn.we would like something big enough for 4 people 2 dogs.And big enough to do a 3 month trip to Europe.
Will have about 40 k.
Is that an ok budget.
Any advise on best type model.what size is big enough but not to big.
Thanks Tim and Michelle

 

[suavecarve]

Thanks for everyone s advise.we will start looking for a motorhome in the Autumn.we would like something big enough for 4 people 2 dogs.And big enough to do a 3 month trip to Europe.
Will have about 40 k.
Is that an ok budget.
Any advise on best type model.what size is big enough but not to big.
Thanks Tim and Michelle

Your first consideration has to be weight

In order to advise better, do you have C1 on your driving licence ?

 

[Tcodd]

Yes I do

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[Langtoftlad]

Your first consideration has to be weight

Second consideration... is subscribe for full membership.
Worth every penny for a novice motorhomer.

 

[MITHRANDIR]

You do realise you are probably going to get 100's of "you want one of these"
so your choices are A class or coachbuilt, PVC in my view won't be big enough.
I would go for an A class, and 40k will buy you a decent one, but with so many variations in layout i don't think i can help you without more info on what you prefer, layouts and whatnot, are a very personal thing, as for size i would say something around 7-8 metre or thereabouts.
As for makes, hymer,rapido,dethleffs,rollerteam,burstner,carthago, to name a few, all well respected.

 

[suavecarve]

Second consideration... is subscribe for full membership.
Worth every penny for a novice motorhomer.

£40K purchase and £15 for shed loads of information and access to the New buyers Guide and the ability to do more than 1 more post.

Its a no brainer.

I would suggest, when you join, to start a thread, but not yet.

Something along the lines of New purchaser seeking advice.

Within the thread, lay down what you think you want and why. State your budget, your licence requirement, where and how you will keep your motorhome, kids ages, ages, dogs, hobbies, pushbikes, european adventures or UK or both, whether you want to pay for accommodation or not, whether you prefer overhead beds, permanent beds, lounge or diner or both, garage, LHD or RHD, used (probably) or new, buying in this country or abroad, is milage an issue, do you want it fully loaded with solar, LPG satellite, mifi, awning, alarm, does the other half drive, inbuilt satnav, how many leisure batteries.

Once you have an inkling about what you think want then possible to look at motors that fit the bill.

My first suggestion is whichever van you get, look at it as a bedroom, look at it as a kitchen, look at it as van that the amount of people who will be in the van on a wet day. Thats where captains chairs make the most of space (imv)

But your main consideration will be weight. Think 1000kgs + of payload for 4 of you

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[Tcodd]

Thanks yes I will join up so much to learn.
Thanks for advice

 

[A S R]

France is absolutely superb for motorhomes! Completely the opposite to the UK. Nearly every town or village has a campsite / aire. Try to avoid August though. It’s when the french traditionally have their holidays and you’ll struggle to find somewhere to stop. I went in September ( 18 months ago ) and had almost every night at my first choice stopover. There are facilities for fresh water and toilet emptying at most. It may cost you 1 or 2 euros to access them though. Pick somewhere nice, pitch up, crack a cork or two, get your sun loungers out and relax! Perfect.

 

[bexleyjohn]

It’s a doddle. Have travelled all over Europe, firstly (over 30 years) with a caravan and now (last 5 years) with a Motorhome. Fabulous holidays with no major problems. Such a pity we are so far behind in the UK!