Venturing abroad for the 1st time

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tackle man
  • Start date Start date
Hi Tackle man, Just another thought, perhaps when you decide on when & where you will be going & from , you could post on here and ask if anyone travelling at about the same time might let you tag along with them for the first night just to give you confidence. I'm sure you won't need it but just a thought, we aren't going over till next September
 
chaser said:
What a very polite new funster, thanked everyone personly, much appreciated , thanks.
How many times have we had newbies come on here , ask a question and bug.....off never to be heard of again after so many people have tried to help .
You are welcome tackle man, (y)(y):)
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Gosh!! :blusher::blusher::blusher:
 
yodeli said:
You beat me to it! I think exactly the same!
I tried a few times to help my best and sometimes (not too often though) the person never turned up again!
Quite comforting to see that some do appreciate !
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I've had it happen to me too. The world is made up of all sorts like liquorice allsorts ... I pick out the ones I like and leave the others in the bag! :smiley:
 
FIDGET said:
Hi Tackle man, Just another thought, perhaps when you decide on when & where you will be going & from , you could post on here and ask if anyone travelling at about the same time might let you tag along with them for the first night just to give you confidence. I'm sure you won't need it but just a thought, we aren't going over till next September
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Good idea Fidget, thanks (y)
 
Tackle man said:
Hi Clive, thanks for this advice, very useful! (y)
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Trust us, once you have been over for the week the worst bit of the journey is from the ferry \ tunnel home and you really do think WHY DID I COME BACK :love:

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hilldweller said:
Go for it.

If you go with a group you achieve nearly nothing, you're buying a crutch.

Get on a ferry to Calais or Dunkirk. Head to Bruges. Find the main train station and next to it is an Aire. Park on air, enjoy Bruges. Pay at the pay on foot machine. Back to ferry.

Simples.
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Do you mean bus station? I don't recall an Aire being near train station.

Rob
 
hilldweller said:
Go for it.

If you go with a group you achieve nearly nothing, you're buying a crutch.

Get on a ferry to Calais or Dunkirk. Head to Bruges. Find the main train station and next to it is an Aire. Park on air, enjoy Bruges. Pay at the pay on foot machine. Back to ferry.

Simples.
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I was going to suggest something similar. As your based in East Sussex how about a long weekend to test the waters. Easy 30 minutes on the tunnel from Folkestone and than just over an hours easy drive to Brugges or Ypres.

Aires available in both places pretty central and plenty to see back via the various hypermarkets etc in Calais.

The Christmas markets will be starting shortly in some of the local towns including those two so that could a good trial for you.

We are also based in East Sussex, had our first 2 month trip about a year ago and then brought the 10 trip passes on the Eurotunnel and have been back 4 times already this year for various time lengths.
 
orridge said:
I was going to suggest something similar. As your based in East Sussex how about a long weekend to test the waters. Easy 30 minutes on the tunnel from Folkestone and than just over an hours easy drive to Brugges or Ypres.

Aires available in both places pretty central and plenty to see back via the various hypermarkets etc in Calais.

The Christmas markets will be starting shortly in some of the local towns including those two so that could a good trial for you.

We are also based in East Sussex, had our first 2 month trip about a year ago and then brought the 10 trip passes on the Eurotunnel and have been back 4 times already this year for various time lengths.
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Hi Orridge, thank you for further info.
(y)
 
We would like to repeat a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have taken the time to pass on your tips and experiences. The information on this thread is extremely valuable.
We hope to meet many of you in our travels!
Very best wishes to you all!
Dave & Irene :):)(y)(y)
 
Yeah, again it's not the best thing to be in convoy , especially in France , you have enough things to look for without wondering if your mate will get through the lights or where he turned off but what we find when we do go with friends which is ok when you park up, is decide where you are heading for then make your own way there, if you stay together , ok , but if you lose them , no worries you will meet them somewhere, saying that we will be doing the xmas markets in December and if you wanted to tag along for the first day , you are welcome
 
Hi, We tagged along on our first time over there ( about 10 years ago) with a friend , we used a set of 2 way radio's cheapo's from maplins , also set satnavs to same destination, never had a problem,
 
Thanks for your kind offer chaser.
We are booked for North Yorkshire close to our son and family for the build up to Christmas.
We will be looking to next year for our first journey to France. :)(y)(y)

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FIDGET said:
Hi, We tagged along on our first time over there ( about 10 years ago) with a friend , we used a set of 2 way radio's cheapo's from maplins , also set satnavs to same destination, never had a problem,
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More good advice!
Thanks Fidget. (y)(y)
 
We have only just arrived home after spending 6 weeks just in the Normandy area of France. This was only our second trip across the channel, the last one a year ago down to Spain.

I am by nature a worrier! I asked loads of questions on this great forum and received loads of great advice. I tend to worry about 'everything' and then do it and then think..."that was easy"...like on this trip filling up the LPG (or GPL as the French call it), it turned out to be easier in France than at home! (better designed applicator).

Be assured, it is very easy indeed. France in particular is so very motorhome friendly and the Aires are a total joy and so very to use. There are already lists about books, maps etc so I won't repeat them.

If you want to 'dip your toe' I could not recommend Normandy more. It's a lovely part of France and if you enjoy your History the tributes, museums and beautifully maintained cemeteries are a wonderful tribute to our fallen hero's.

Go and enjoy...

Dave and Ginny.
 
davidandginny said:
We have only just arrived home after spending 6 weeks just in the Normandy area of France. This was only our second trip across the channel, the last one a year ago down to Spain.

I am by nature a worrier! I asked loads of questions on this great forum and received loads of great advice. I tend to worry about 'everything' and then do it and then think..."that was easy"...like on this trip filling up the LPG (or GPL as the French call it), it turned out to be easier in France than at home! (better designed applicator).

Be assured, it is very easy indeed. France in particular is so very motorhome friendly and the Aires are a total joy and so very to use. There are already lists about books, maps etc so I won't repeat them.

If you want to 'dip your toe' I could not recommend Normandy more. It's a lovely part of France and if you enjoy your History the tributes, museums and beautifully maintained cemeteries are a wonderful tribute to our fallen hero's.

Go and enjoy...

Dave and Ginny.
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Thank you Davidandginny.
More good info to think about.
(y)(y)
 
Le Crotoy

Everyone has there favourites and this is one of mine. Its simple to get to, 45 minutes on motorway (toll) from tunnel or an hour or so on the D roads. Huge basic aire 5 euros a night. always busy but always find a spot. Small town which has excellent sea food restaurants a 5 minute walk from the aire. Great for cycling, we often cycle round to St Vallery Sur Somme. Its a great place to start as you know your well and truly in France but your an hour from home.

We always stop at the huge Auchan at Boulogne off junction 31 of the A16 (before its a toll) cheap fuel and loads of everything. http://www.boulogne-guide.co.uk/shopping/auchan-hypermarket.html

I have also been over Normandy and love the place. We are heading to the Ill de Re next year.

Steve
 
laser101uk said:
Everyone has there favourites and this is one of mine. Its simple to get to, 45 minutes on motorway (toll) from tunnel or an hour or so on the D roads. Huge basic aire 5 euros a night. always busy but always find a spot. Small town which has excellent sea food restaurants a 5 minute walk from the aire. Great for cycling, we often cycle round to St Vallery Sur Somme. Its a great place to start as you know your well and truly in France but your an hour from
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Completely agree with Steve, we stopped here just a week ago. If you like your Moules and Frites this is the place!

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This is an update to let those kind people who have advised us with our plan to venture into France.
Firstly, This entire thread has been saved and is on my desktop for easy reference. There is a lot of advice here, Thank you all again!
We have been away motorhoming in this country several times since my first post on this thread but now the new year is with us it is time to start looking at possibilities for 2015.
I have just ordered, "Go Motorhoming and Campervanning" and "All the Aires France North and South." from Vicarious Books. The very efficient lady on the phone was very helpful with her advice.
The first book should arrive in a few days which will whet our appetites for when the Aires books come after release from the printers.
I will update this thread when I have further info to give.
Happy New Year to all

Dave & Irene (y)(y)
 
Firmly in the just go camp! Believe me fretting and worrying about " what if's" will fade into insignificance once you get on the road....

Holland not that exciting to be honest, Amstedam worth a visit if you go there though..plenty to see and do, lovely atmosphere. Just have a wonder around France, you don't have to go far initally, until you get used to it, then you can venture to warmer climes if that floats your boat :)

Using a mixture of municipal sites and Aires, camping is cheap in Europe. A sat nav loaded with all campsites and Aires helps easy navigation and relieves stress....if you have any specific concerns just ask.
 
Some great advice for you so far. I would just explain out first trip into Europe in 2010. We made the very expensive mistake of booking sites through the Caravan Club. We did not really know too much about the aires system then and now we only use sites every two weeks or so for laundry facilities.

We found that sites we had booked through the CC for say £25.00 per night would have only charge around £20, had we just turned up and even less with ACSI membership, also that apart from hight season it is rare thy can't fit you in. If you join ACSI you get great discounts in sites outside peak season and he handbook is earth its weight in gold.

We worked out that booking that first trip through the CC probably cost us over £400 more than going independent, it was a long trip though, three months.

Now that we mostly use aires we found a two month trip usually costs around the £400 mark and that includes paying for official sites. That first trip was around £1200 via the CC.
 
lots of advice and the first is don't delay, you WILL regret it.
Language not a problem that we have found shop in Lidl or Aldi and you see the same products you are used to, just a bit cheaper or better quantities. France has aires everywhere, some even with free electric hookup, we spend 3 weeks at a time in Europe and have never used a paid for site oor needed to. That leave a lot more cash to but local produce, cheese and wine at anytime and gorgeous fresh fruit when in season. We avoid tolls simply because the small villages are too pretty to miss. Traffic is almost non existent compared to britain so no worries there and a card on the dash with an arrow pointing to the kerb makes sure you don't get it wrong. Turn it over when you get home just to remind you to change sides, hee hee. All in all it is relaxing and easy going with lots to see and taste.
 
Hi Tackle man, As Roger (wildman) says don't worry or plan too much, we been over a few times, I must say it is so easy and m/h friendly , a lot less traffic except in major towns and cities. Aires range from nice lakeside /Riverside spots to glory fide car parks, you will find that in some aires they park as in car parks a bit close at times. Having said that I prefer France to the UK so much more reasonable because of the aires and municipal c/sites, personally I would go in may June or early July or sept, as August gets V busy. Get a sat navigation that supports gps refs as some aires can be difficult to find.
Terry

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Great thread and so motivating for another newbie who can't wait to go over to France!!
 
Got some great ideas/advice from Tacklemans post thanks to all We're off to France in May/June as first time MH's. Done it before when we caravanned but looking forward to a new adventure. We have Dover/Calais booked then haven't a clue where we'll go. 2015 all the aires book ordered and the new van has satnav. Wish us luck
 
SteveG said:
Got some great ideas/advice from Tacklemans post thanks to all We're off to France in May/June as first time MH's. Done it before when we caravanned but looking forward to a new adventure. We have Dover/Calais booked then haven't a clue where we'll go. 2015 all the aires book ordered and the new van has satnav. Wish us luck
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Good Luck Steve! Have a safe trip and please report back. (y)

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