Club 80-90 Forums

Me and the mrs have been looking to take our camper abroad. where would you recommend for a first trip off shore?

That's a open question. France is nice and where the ferry lands. What sort of stuff do you like? Castles, Food, Wine, Mountains, Beaches, etc. Europe is a big place with lots of stuff to see and do. How long have you got?

yeah fair point, not really after anything in particular. Just somewhere to chill out prob a 5 day trip or so? Ferry prices seem quite reasonable (dover to calais with P&O). But dont really wanna be too adventurous on our first attempt!

check out ferry prices with norfolk line dover-dunquerk normally cheapest. The netherlands has some nice places (away from amsterdam) but its a 4-5 hour drive from dunquerk in a camper or if you go with stena line harwich to hook of holland its 6 hours on the boat.

You need European recovery insurance but many firms will not cover the older vehicle. in some cases and particulrly where you have no agreed value they will decide that your recovery to the UK costs more than their percieved value for you vehicle and then you are on your own. I speak from bitter experience.
Cheers
Wolfie

gwynny wrote:yeah fair point, not really after anything in particular. Just somewhere to chill out prob a 5 day trip or so? Ferry prices seem quite reasonable (dover to calais with P&O). But dont really wanna be too adventurous on our first attempt!

We were the same on our fist trip abroad so we found a nice campsite in northern france and had a nice time chilling out we used speed ferries Dover to boulogne( 50 mins and cheap)the campsite was less than 1hr from ferry and had great facilities http://www.fermedesaulnes.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have few ambitions as to where you wander but would like to see a few different countries go Dover>Dunkerque and stay in the North West, there's France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Luxemburg within a few 100 miles. If you're more ambitious the world's your oyster

Try Vicarious Books ... 'Camperstop' http://www.camperstop.co.uk/index.htm and the French Aires Book http://www.go-motorhoming.co.uk/all-the-aires.htm are invaluable alongside perhaps the Alan Rogers campsite guide http://www.alanrogers.com/guides/europe

Either pre-book or (as we prefer to do) wander free and turn up where and when you wish.

Have a great time, Ian.

I would agree with Ian..Camper Stop book is invaluable and to add to that, the same company can supply a downloadable program (for all the most popular Sat Nav systems) that you software install, that makes finding all these stops an absolute doddle.
Norfolk Line DEFINATELY....
Good Eupean cover
A whole load of general spares...the useful ones like: Gaffa tape/insulating tape, jubilee clips, nuts/bolts/screws, wire, terminals, bulbs, fuses, a few bits of hose etc as well as an assortment of hand tools.
Martin

Yeh i agree France is a good start, like England but with more dogshit. Or for a little less dogshit but more prozzys try Amsterdam . Or maybe you have a big handlebar mustache and are fed up of people laughing at you and spitting in your face in Blighty and have a thing for waring your jersey over your shoulders so Germany might appeal to you.

Sorry i couldnt help it hehehehe....


jed

I'm planning on a 2 week camping trip to the France seaside, some time in September.
I have a 1 year old so am looking for dry weather, clean beaches and calm warm sea.

Has anyone been to the west coast at that time of year? Is it any good, and what's the weather like then? Or is the south coast much better at that time of year... hopefully as the school hols are over by then, its not too busy / expensive ???

The west coast appeals because its closer but going south means I get to drive over the Millau Bridge:

http://www.wadias.in/site/arzan/blog/Mi ... 52_asw.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi ... /img/1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ambivert wrote:I'm planning on a 2 week camping trip to the France seaside, some time in September.
I have a 1 year old so am looking for dry weather, clean beaches and calm sea.

Has anyone been to the west coast at that time of year? Is it any good, and what's the weather like then? Or is the south coast much better at that time of year... hopefully as the school hols are over by then, its not too busy / expensive ???

The west coast appeals because its closer but going south means I get to drive over the Millau Bridge:

http://www.wadias.in/site/arzan/blog/Mi ... 52_asw.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi ... /img/1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WE were there in september last year weather was good but not to hot but we found that a lot of the campsites were starting to wind down for winter with half the facilities closed and some with luke warm showers etc

dsa wrote: WE were there in september last year weather was good but not to hot but we found that a lot of the campsites were starting to wind down for winter with half the facilities closed and some with luke warm showers etc

cheers, which part of France was that?

http://www.freewebs.com/ababyonboard200 ... france.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jed