Where are the UK vans?

[Nico]

We are over in France and usually we’d see plenty of UK vans and cars and hear lots of English speaking folks. If we see even one UK registration a day, it’s a surprise on this trip.

We haven’t visited France since 2018 and it’s great to be back but just wondering if there is a distinct change for holidaymakers from home heading over the channel now? Maybe it’s economic and the cost of fuel or the Channel crossing itself? There are certainly plenty of motorhomes here from Germany and Netherlands but mostly they are French.
Not really a problem and certainly one I can’t affect but just wondering…!

Nick

 

[Bolti]

We are touring Spain at the moment. No brits.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Diesel prices ?

 

[Fulham Dave]

Over the course of 12 days we drove / stayed over in Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and only saw one UK van. Been in Croatia for the past month and not seen any UK van's or cars.

 

[bertiebasset]

Could it be that many realise the UK economy is in a poor state and are doing their best to improve it by staycations. We have not been over the water for various reasons during the last 3 years but we have spent months away in the moho.

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[Jim]

No its not covid, the economy or anything else. I've been hearing this for 35 years. It has always been the same. We get off the ferry in France or Spain, get overtaken on the motorway by a few British cars, or vans off the same boat. Then, with very few exceptions, the next time we see anything Brit registered, is back at the port on the way home. The continent is a BIG one.

 

[cyberyacht]

Diesel prices ?

Cheaper there than here.

 

[Bobby dazzler]

Yeah with the discount at the pump in France it's about £1.50 to £1.60 at the minute

 

[Just smiffy]

Too hot in the summer, most go spring and autumn then you have the snowbirds so they won’t go in the summer as it will add to their 90 days over winter…

 

[busby]

We are over in France and usually we’d see plenty of UK vans and cars and hear lots of English speaking folks. If we see even one UK registration a day, it’s a surprise on this trip.

We haven’t visited France since 2018 and it’s great to be back but just wondering if there is a distinct change for holidaymakers from home heading over the channel now? Maybe it’s economic and the cost of fuel or the Channel crossing itself? There are certainly plenty of motorhomes here from Germany and Netherlands but mostly they are French.
Not really a problem and certainly one I can’t affect but just wondering…!

Nick

You should have been in France in 2020,,hardly a motorhome of any nationality..We stayed on a 100 pitch site near Avignon and there were 3 other vans on site..Had the pool to ourselves.BUSBY.

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[Odd-no-more]

I have been touring France and Spain for many years and once we are away from the port it's not often we have seen any British vehicle. Most Brits fly and those who drive spread out

 

[maison]

We toured France in May/June. We also saw few Brit motorhomes but, then again, we tend to avoid “touristy” area preferring the quieter, less visited regions.

 

[Brains]

We have just returned from 2 months/3,000 miles of travelling through Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy.
After Hook of Holland we did not see a single other GB vehicle for 3 weeks.
We then met our first GB motorhome in southern Germany.
Over the next 3 weeks we met three others in Austria and Italy
and then for the last 3 weeks through Germany we saw a single GB car on the motorway and two trucks.

On a number of the campsites we stayed on they said that since 2019 they were typically only getting three or four GB vehicles per season!
On a couple of big sites, we were the first GB vehicle this season, which considering we are well over half way through is surprising
.

 

[peterc10]

It was the same when we were there in March and April this year, Very few compared with previous years at that time.

Having said that it did not stop us bumping into funsters at Tavira and Alvor in Portugal and La Mailleraye sur Seine in France.

 

[jumar]

Got a couple of UK registered vans here on the Galician coast..an odd German , and the rest, including us have Spanish registered vehicles....an increase in numbers over the past two year due to severe weather factors elsewhere, it looks like the Spanish are escaping too.

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[Nico]

Ah. Maybe because we used to do Eurocamp holidays before with the family and be either camping or mobile (static!) homes and it being a UK based company, we’d see a lot of UK vehicles not just on the campsites but also around the towns and supermarkets. It was just a bit if a surprise that in the 25+ years and numerous trips, seeing virtually no UK cars was strange.

 

[Capitanjohn]

it could be the 90 day restriction.

 

[63720]

Hello , we're here

 

[carolyn]

Ah. Maybe because we used to do Eurocamp holidays before with the family and be either camping or mobile (static!) homes and it being a UK based company, we’d see a lot of UK vehicles not just on the campsites but also around the towns and supermarkets. It was just a bit if a surprise that in the 25+ years and numerous trips, seeing virtually no UK cars was strange.

I think that may well be a factor. We did similar for about 8 years maybe longer when the children were young and as you say there were loads of Brits. I know the season did last from Easter until the beginning of September but the bulk of their trade was June/July/August. The children of friends did a bit of holiday rep work during Uni holidays for Eurocamp, glad I heard the stories after we stopped going!

 

[WESTY66]

Over the course of 12 days we drove / stayed over in Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and only saw one UK van. Been in Croatia for the past month and not seen any UK van's or cars.

We were in Croatia last month at Stara Baska on Krk, we didn’t see any brits until Lauterbrunnen where we bumped into a funster who’s name for the life of me I can’t remember, but he bailed me out with his air pump Saw a few brits in Germany and Slovenia but not many on the whole

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[Martist]

There's an Accordo lurking in this photo, but where am I? Hint: diesel £1.35, LPG 50p

 

[drpeej]

We saw very few during 5 weeks in France.

We did find ourselves next to a UK motorhome in Collioure a couple of weeks ago.

We then went into Spain and back into France. A week later we stopped at Cahors and were amazed to find ourselves parked next to the same motorhome. That was about 25% of the Brit vans we encountered

 

[Kups]

We stayed on a campsite at La Flotte on the Ile de Re in late June. Booked for 10 nights, moved on after 9, too many Brits on the campsite! Mind you that site has always been popular with the Brits. Stayed on two other sites on the island and only saw one Brit. No Brit mhs seen on the sites we stayed at in Brittany.

 

[Soycd]

We went to Croatia 2 years ago and Via Michelin calculated the journey, including diesel and tolls at Euro 168 one way. We are off again on Sunday (health scare permitting) Via Michelin calculating Euro 316 this time, one way. That might be part of the problem. Also UK inflation in general will have an impact, people may be thinking of the hideous fuel bills looming this winter and deciding not to travel to save money.

 

[vzac]

We are in Norway seen 2 British Reged wobble boxes, 4 motor homes an 2 motorcycles in 4 weeks.
Saying inflation may be a cause, guess there is no inflation in Germany as 90% vans seem to be German, and there is a heck of a lot of them here. Fuel is similar to UK, camp sites from £13 to £35. But also using many free sites. 90 day is a poor excuss as most people do not go away for that much time. Summer hols start this week so might be a lot more appear in August. Who knows.

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[iandsm]

No its not covid, the economy or anything else. I've been hearing this for 35 years. It has always been the same. We get off the ferry in France or Spain, get overtaken on the motorway by a few British cars, or vans off the same boat. Then, with very few exceptions, the next time we see anything Brit registered, is back at the port on the way home. The continent is a BIG one.

Thats exactly our experience as well.

 

[WillH]

We stayed on a campsite at La Flotte on the Ile de Re in late June. Booked for 10 nights, moved on after 9, too many Brits on the campsite! Mind you that site has always been popular with the Brits. Stayed on two other sites on the island and only saw one Brit. No Brit mhs seen on the sites we stayed at in Brittany.

We were there, and yes, there were a lot of Brits. Far more than anywhere else we visited.

 

[Imala615]

Almost 20 stops and after Gravelines and Watton very few uk vans.

 

[Soycd]

We are in Norway seen 2 British Reged wobble boxes, 4 motor homes an 2 motorcycles in 4 weeks.
Saying inflation may be a cause, guess there is no inflation in Germany as 90% vans seem to be German, and there is a heck of a lot of them here. Fuel is similar to UK, camp sites from £13 to £35. But also using many free sites. 90 day is a poor excuss as most people do not go away for that much time. Summer hols start this week so might be a lot more appear in August. Who knows.

German school holidays are staggered over a few months so could be part of reason for lots of Germans on road. Like you say may pick up next week. It's also more expensive to travel from UK to Europe, Germans don't have to shell out for that rather expensive channel crossing. If you decided to go 'last minute' this weekend through the tunnel you'd be adding another £500-£600. Even booking in advance like we did it was still over £300.

 

[WESTY66]

If you decided to go 'last minute' this weekend through the tunnel you'd be adding another £500-£600. Even booking in advance like we did it was still over £300.

Yea I think the days of cheap tunnel crossings and frequent travel tickets are over, they don’t seem to be be in a rush to reinstate them

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