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We are thinking of hiring an RV in the USA next Spring - has anyone here done it and can they pass on any tips or advice? We are unsure as to whether we should go for the larger vehicle  with fixed beds that will sleep all five (or seven if the in-laws come too!) or should we opt for the smallest berth possible because of the hassle driving such a big vehicle around.

The ones we have been looking at are between 29ft and 32ft long. I know the roads are good in the US and mostly long and straight - but what about a trip to Walmart? How the heck will we park?

Did you also rent a tag-along car for excursions?

How long would you recommend? We were thinking about touring either Florida OR Nevada/California.

Any advice most welcome!!!

Cant help with this one,but had to get rid of the sad face.Perhaps Larry from 'Florida USA',will give you some answers,if he sees this posting.

                                Helen

Yes Helen, read the post 2nite. wish i could give a 100% reply to the ??'s,but nada.. most of the rentals i see on the hiways are a CLASS C motorhome.sleep 4 adults and 2 kids.or vice-versa..couple national rental co.in the US..rent here,leave there.. also i saw a local shop here has about 4 units parked on their lot to rent. lot of RVer's do park at the Walmart stores here. a few cities have overnite no parking rules at the Walmarts.I got ran out of 2 Walmart parking lots last month at Daytonia Beach Bike Week.my Pickup truck with truck camper and motorcycle on trailer not that large.. But the cop told us to leave each time..there are a lot of good gov.and state parks for camping in the U.S...thats our choice..i see there are web sites to exchange homes for vacations, nice if there was one for exchanging RV's for vacations..i'd like to exchange my motorcycle sometime for a month to someone in the EU,  2 motorcycles exchanged, savings of about 4000$$..WOW...... is there a web rule here not to post a site?? if not, site i use for US info.is rv.net...

    Larry. 

Unless you are used to driving something that size I would certainly not attempt a trip to Walmart.

If you drive a truck or double deck bust over here then you will probably manage OK.
A double Deck bus is 33ft long and 14ft high so that gives you an idea of the size of RV you are looking at.

I would have been happy enough to drive one on our Florida trip a couple of years ago as the roads were fine that I saw. But I do have class 1 HGV & PSV licences here.

On that size RV you will probably get air brakes too which can be fun until you get used to them.

Don't want to put you off but you are looking at a BIG vehicle in a strange land! It's quite possible that you would need a HGV license to drive one here in the UK because of the weight. But taxation class & private use may get around that.

my first MH was 34ft. pace Arrow. bought it on a Tues., left for LA and Vegas on Sat..driving it was no problem. drove it in downtown Hollywood.and lot of the freeways. problem i did have was,i blew the motor on the way to Vegas.broken ring tore off the top of a piston.stuck there for 2 days,until a new motor was installed..for a big MH, what is most needed,is a good copilot.. that knows their left from their right when parking at the CG..(site)..on the big interstate hiways, i've seen 40ft MH's. towing a car with a 18ft boat and trailer behind it..talk about guts.. when i watched the Tour de France,i was surprised to see so many,what we call CLASS C's.. park beside the road in the grass with their Sat. dish up.. looks like a lot of EU's have upgraded from the Campervan..next thing you will want is a 40ft Bus conversion..when will all this end ???  hope everyone had a great Sunday.

                                              Larry