Caravans

[ethandron]

Ive just noticed that someone has mentioned having a caravan and taking off when and where they fancy. We used to have a touring van but gave up about five years ago and I really miss it at times.
Who has one and where do you go?
We took ours all round Europe and the uk and saw many places we would never otherwise have seen.

[Baldric]

Rolling road blocks, should be banned.

[webbo3]

Wobble boxes.

[bhg481]

We have one. We'll be setting off later in the week and rambling aimlessly round Europe. No pre-planned route; we look t places a decent travelling distance from where we are (usually 250-350 miles), check the weather and off we go. The plan this year is to start off near Amsterdam and then ramble across Germany, maybe going to Croatia, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, depending how time goes.

[New Judge]

"Rolling road blocks, should be banned."

Absolutely agree. I was once travelling to Stratford-upon-Avon and took the "pretty" route up the A44 through Woodstock. Little did I know that the "Caravan Club of Great Britain" was holding some sort of convention at Blenheim where caravan owners congregate for three days to look at each other's caravans. It took be about two hours to travel the few miles from Oxford to Woodstock.

At that time I'd thought of forming the "Anti-Caravan Club of Great Britain". I first (and only) policy would be to see caravans restricted on public roads to the hours of 2am to 4am. :-)

[TWR]

I had no problems with the vaners, it's the drivers that's at fault, some forget they have them behind, some forget their speed limit is 60mph, some have never reversed the things, never think about weight distribution within the van, this will start the swerving, a lot never think about a spare wheel or checking their tyre pressures, lastly, they should go on a half day course how to drive them.

[ethandron]

bhg, please can I come with you? :)
We once ended up in lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, the valley of 1000 waterfalls, got to the top of the jungfrau where we had an ice cream sundae, and up the Eiger on the train. Wonderful, and I do miss all those trips.
Your adventure sounds great, I'd love to be there with you, hope you have a lovely time.

[ethandron]

Because caravans can't speed up and overtake slow vehicles, they're often wrongly accused of causing traffic problems, when in fact it's the slow moving car in front of them.
People who load their caravans wrongly should be prosecuted, it's dangerous and totally unavoidable.

[ethandron]

'avoidable'

[Baldric]

/// I had no problems with the vaners ///

And yet you then go on to list a whole load of problems with them ????

[bhg481]

I agree with TWR - too many caravanners have a van which is far too big for their car, haven't bothered to look up the rules about towing and just chuck stuff in the van without thinking how heavy and where in the van. Our van is narrower and slightly shorter than the car, weighs less than half as much, so it's cars that hold us up, not the other way round.

[bhg481]

ethandron - yes, we frequently amble along following a dawdler and comment "Those behind think it's us holding everybody up. Just wait till they get past us".
We started camping in our early days of marriage, when money was so tight that it was all we could afford; now we camp by choice. We progressed from a small tent to a frame tent and then, about 15 years ago, got our caravan. A few years ago we treated ourselves to a short holiday in a hotel - never again.

[horseshoes]

I wouldn't like to tow a caravan but I would LOVE a big motor home. We hired one a few years back to go to a wedding in Scotland via the lakes. It wasn't cheap though; it was £750 for the week!!! I'd quite like one of the smaller camper van type things too. Tour of all the UK racecourses.

[ethandron]

We had a trailer tent first, then got a small..well, tiny actually..caravan, when our boys were small. Gave it up as they got bigger and teenagerish. 14 years ago, after they left home, we bought another one and had nine years of freedom. Did France twice a year for six weeks each time, as well as Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland. As well as up and down the UK for weeks at a time.
We too hate hotels :)

[bhg481]

We thought about a motor caravan when we bougt our caravan. Very convenient for some people who like to move on frequently but a pain in the neck if you just want a day out and have to put everything away before you go and re-level again when you come back the evening. Many rural car parks have height restrictions and don't even think about multi-storeys. Many people take a motor bike/scooter with them, some even tow a small car, which seems to defeat the object to me. On top of that, if you have a large one, you're driving a "bus" all the time, together with it's fuel consumption, higher toll charges and the necessity for a different driving licence.

[bhg481]

ITS (not it's) fuel consumption - abuse of apostrophies drives me nuts.

[horseshoes]

bhg we did say at the time that the parking was awkward in the big motor home, although not at the lakeside carparks. Town parking was difficult. Driving licence wasn't an issue as husband drives fire engines! Agree about fuel though.

[bhg481]

horseshoes - Round our way (Thames Valley) all the river/canal side car parks have height restrictions to keep travellers out.
Incidentally, many racecourses have a camp site (often in the middle of the course), so your dream might come true.

[TWR]

I did say "I HAD NO PROBLEMS" Then I DID SAY, IT'S THE DRIVERS.

[New Judge]

"We too hate hotels :)"

Yes. Nice spacious comfortable bed. Plenty of room to move. Breakfast cooked and served to you (plates cleared away afterwards). Room cleaned every day while you're out. Nice bar for a few snifters before dinner. Nothing going for them really! :-)

[ethandron]

Nice spacious bed..yes, we had that, and no one else had ever slept in it, our own pillows and bedding to suit us.
Breakfast..fresh bread from local bakery, fresh fruit, fresh coffee. Or when we wanted, bacon butties cooked how and when we liked.
Room cleaned whenever we wanted to, by us, to our standards.
Nice bar for a few snifters...oh yes, we had a fully stocked drinks cabinet/box containing lots of lovely stuff, bought very cheaply, even the good stuff. And no one had to worry about drink driving.
Give me self catering, one way or another, every time ;)