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Topic: First Campervan trip to Europe

CobbCamper

14/4/2015 at 2:25pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Custom Peugeot Boxer SWB van conversio

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Hello
We’ve had a dream of spending a family summer holiday touring round in our campervan. Unfortunately we never seem to manage more than 3 nights (UK weekends) at a time. Anyway on the spur of the moment we went ahead and booked the Hull-Rotterdam ferry for a 23 night trip. We leave on the day our 4 year old breaks up from school on July 17th.

Our rough plan is to follow the Rhine towards the Black Forest with maybe a mid holiday stop at LEGOLAND Deutschland. Our van isn’t big enough for the luxury of a shower, although I will be adding an emergency porta potti for this trip.

Anyway, we would welcome any advice/tips on camper kit, campsites, places to go/see/do, routes, food and so on.

Initially I’m hoping for advice/recommendations on the following-
-Recommended European breakdown cover?

-Is it worth booking all campsites in advance given the time of year we are going?

-Recommended guide books for Germany/Rhine/Blackforest/Holland or campsite listings

-Recommended campsites near Rotterdam for arrival and departure days.

-Best place to stock up on Belgian beer on our way back to the ferry?

-Recommend small packable sun canopy for the side of the van (we have a 6mm awning strip on the van already)

Thanks in advance

Ian

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blueexpo97

14/4/2015 at 2:34pm
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Breakdown cover here.

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Berriow

14/4/2015 at 2:39pm
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Hi Ian. Welcome aboard.

Read through the long, long thread near the top of this page headed Advice for continental first timers, then come back to us with any small points which aren't covered

Good luck.

strangler

14/4/2015 at 7:59pm
Location: Happy Valley!
Outfit: Howling Moon Safari Dome 2.5

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Too many sites for suggestions sorry, but for really good deals on beer, find a 'Trink Gut' store in Germany - www.trinkgut.de - there are a few around Moenchengladbach and one I know near Aachen. Both places you may pass on the way back to Rotters. You can probably find them stored in your sat nav so they should be easy to find.

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feeblecat

15/4/2015 at 7:43am
Location: Scotland
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I cant advise on particular sites but apart from the first time abroad which was all planned we used to get the ferry with no real destination in mind and just drove. I did loads of research in advance and have a rough idea of a couple of areas we wanted to visit in a particular direction. For example, the last time we went we had an idea we wanted to visit Southern Germany so headed in that direction from Dunkerque via the Mosel, another place I wanted to visit. Once at the Mosel we got talking to a couple who recommended Bavaria so went in that direction instead of the Black Forest. After some time in Bavaria we decided to pop into Austria for a few days and on the way back took a right turn into the Czech Republic for 5 days before heading back through Germany.

It was the best holiday I've ever had. Campsites in France and Germany are plentiful and we never booked in advance - once or twice we looked at what sites were nearby on our satnav (Archie's Campings POI) and phoned ahead en-route for availability. Mostly we just turned up. Of course you may not want to do that if you have children, perhaps phoning ahead a day or two before would be better.

This system worked great for us as we found after our first planned trip we sometimes didnt want to move on to the bext booked site or wanted to move somewhere else but were restricted due to deposits/advance payments made.

Our plan is to camp abroad next year again as we've not done so for 3 years (flying holidays instead - prefer driving and camping) and I dont think we'll even plan which country we're going to till we get off the ferry!

Very long-winded post - sorry!

We didnt have a 4 year old but we took our dog (similar in terms of what you have to consider lol). Frequent breaks and campsites near water (rivers/lakes/sea) and shade were key considerations. We used a Quechua tarp tied to the Bongo campervan with guys and attached to any tree/post available or pegged down. Best bit of kit ever.

Post last edited on 15/04/2015 07:50:31

bbwales

15/4/2015 at 8:16pm
Location: North Wales
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Hi,
There is a website 100 places to visit in Germany, it is part of the German tourist board site well worth looking at. I stayed at a site in Schiltach a couple of years ago and the site was great with a superb restaurant on site.
Bob

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Retired and living the dream touring Europe

CobbCamper

16/4/2015 at 10:40am
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Custom Peugeot Boxer SWB van conversio

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Thanks for all the info!

feeblecat you have inspired us to book less in advance and leave more options as we travel. I just hope in high season we don't have any problems. We have already booked a couple of sites at the beginning and LEGOLAND deutschland in the middle.

I think I found that top 100 site bbwales, cheers.
http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/top-100/germany-travel-attractions.html

I'll look to add www.trinkgut.de shops to my satnav strangler, thanks.

Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!

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