Message Forums

We've drove to Spain before but never towed that far! Does anyone think we should maybe stick to France for the first trip abroad in our caravan? Them tolls can be expensive and we'd need overnight stays etc...

If your well prepared, money wise, then do what you want to do, I mean if you want Spain then just go and enjoy and don't let anyone talk you out of it. Someone else's experience maybe different than yours....I say go for it, chill out and have a good time, rush nothing...

Jackie...

We took our van to the South of France this year towing for the first time out of the UK, although we have toured France, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland in recent years with just the car and staying in mobile homes. I would say go for what you feel you are comfortable with. I wanted to take the van to Lake Garda in Italy this year (we have been twice before not towing). Like you I though perhaps we should stick to France for the first trip. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in France, if I had the choice again I would have chosen Italy. I found towing on the continent even more relaxing than at home and it was fantastic touring on the autoroutes. Anyway it's Italy bound for me next year.

One final point, I took out the European breakdown cover with the Caravan Club for 'peace of mind' even though my car has never let me down and I think it is essential you do not try to penny save on this. I went for the top cover with the CC and although I did not need it, I saw a few UK, French and Dutch vans on the edge of the autoroutes over the holidays with car problems. In fact the English chap next to me on our site in France had his nearly new Voyager break down on the way down. It was in a local dealer, his caravan had been taken to the site for him by the recovery people so that he could continue his holiday, whilst the car was being repaired. 

Just a thought and I know it's quite expensive, but if you want to go to Spain you can get a ferry directly from Portsmouth.

Mike

I think it depends on how long your on holiday for and how much driving you want to do each day.

We went for 3 weeks earlier this year (first time with the van), drove through France into Spain (did about 260 miles/day), really enjoyed it.

When we bought our first caravan, back in the mid-eighties, we took it out for a test run at a site not far from home, then went off on holiday to Tuscany in it! To, be fair, we had towed a folding camper before, so it wasn't a complete novelty, but I don't think the distance as such is the real issue. Just remember to break the journey (as you are obviously planning to do) and don't get to fixated on covering a huge distance in a day.

You don't say when you are planning to go. French campsites tend to have a fairly short season, so outside of the Easter -September period, you may not find it easy to find good overnight stops. As for the tolls, I have to say we consider them worthwhile and certainly we find being able to maintain a steady speed on an autoroute is less expensive in terms of fuel than stopping and starting though towns and cities. But if you prefer to avoid the autoroutes, N roads are usually pretty good.

We are planning to go next summer in May for two weeks.

Thanks for all your replies.

PS Has anyone ever been to Castell Montgri? We went 3 years ago in a static but not with the tourer. We love it there, it's great for the kids ! That's why we want to go back to Spain.