First Trip to Europe

Hello,

Well, we have done our 3 week trip to Europe and had a great time. The advice provided on the forum was really beneficial so thank you all for your help. We did not get to Portugal. we travelled down through France and then spent time on the Northern coast of Spain. We came back over the Pyrenees II never new there was a desert in Europe). We had a couple of issues, one was my lack of mechanical knowledge, but a quick visit to a garage sorted that out. It turned out the people that last serviced the van did not reset all the counters so we were getting some misleading warning messages. It also turned out that the breakdown cover we took out did not cover camper vans which was crazy as the issued the policy with the details of the van and took our money. After an argument they refunded the money and we took out a new one through our insurers. The only other issue was with the SatNav, we used google which does not take into account the size of your vehicle so we had some difficult times where we had to pull in the wing mirrors, breath in and hope for the best but all turned out ok in the end.

Once again, thanks everybody for your valuable advice.

Nick
 
njward said:
Hello,

Well, we have done our 3 week trip to Europe and had a great time. The advice provided on the forum was really beneficial so thank you all for your help. We did not get to Portugal. we travelled down through France and then spent time on the Northern coast of Spain. We came back over the Pyrenees II never new there was a desert in Europe). We had a couple of issues, one was my lack of mechanical knowledge, but a quick visit to a garage sorted that out. It turned out the people that last serviced the van did not reset all the counters so we were getting some misleading warning messages. It also turned out that the breakdown cover we took out did not cover camper vans which was crazy as the issued the policy with the details of the van and took our money. After an argument they refunded the money and we took out a new one through our insurers. The only other issue was with the SatNav, we used google which does not take into account the size of your vehicle so we had some difficult times where we had to pull in the wing mirrors, breath in and hope for the best but all turned out ok in the end.

Once again, thanks everybody for your valuable advice.

Nick
Click to expand...

Glad you had a great time. Its always a learning curve. Love the Pyrenees and will be down that way later in the summer.
 
njward said:
Hello,

Well, we have done our 3 week trip to Europe and had a great time. The advice provided on the forum was really beneficial so thank you all for your help. We did not get to Portugal. we travelled down through France and then spent time on the Northern coast of Spain. We came back over the Pyrenees II never new there was a desert in Europe). We had a couple of issues, one was my lack of mechanical knowledge, but a quick visit to a garage sorted that out. It turned out the people that last serviced the van did not reset all the counters so we were getting some misleading warning messages. It also turned out that the breakdown cover we took out did not cover camper vans which was crazy as the issued the policy with the details of the van and took our money. After an argument they refunded the money and we took out a new one through our insurers. The only other issue was with the SatNav, we used google which does not take into account the size of your vehicle so we had some difficult times where we had to pull in the wing mirrors, breath in and hope for the best but all turned out ok in the end.

Once again, thanks everybody for your valuable advice.

Nick
Click to expand...
Even a navigation app that permits you to enter vehicle weight/dimensions relies on highways data, essentially any regulatory and posted restrictions. One often encounters narrow roads that have no width restriction. I use Trimble's CoPilot navigation app. Others favour different apps. There was a long thread fairly recently about Magic Earth, but that uses OpenStreetMap, which I distrust, and will therefore not consider it until @Canalsman has used all the roads in UK and France that I might use and fully updated OSM accordingly. :)
 
r4dent said:
31 EU adapter for EHU cable
32 Polarity test plug
33 Polarity reverse cable
34 LPG fill adapter (if using refillable)
35 Lists
a) speed limits for each country (solo & towing if applicable)
b) fuel prices by country.
c) medication / allergies
d) UK contacts (including GP)
Click to expand...
I agree about the LPG fill adapter, if you use refillable. All the others on your list (apart from medicines) are either not needed or are locally available if needed.
As for a polarity reverse cable, you have to wonder why anyone would care.
 
r4dent said:
31 EU adapter for EHU cable
32 Polarity test plug
33 Polarity reverse cable
34 LPG fill adapter (if using refillable)
35 Lists
a) speed limits for each country (solo & towing if applicable)
b) fuel prices by country.
c) medication / allergies
d) UK contacts (including GP)
Click to expand...
Geek said:
I agree about the LPG fill adapter, if you use refillable. All the others on your list (apart from medicines) are either not needed or are locally available if needed.
As for a polarity reverse cable, you have to wonder why anyone would care.
Click to expand...

So much easier to get them in UK than trying to buy them in a shop where no one speaks English .

As for the polarity tester / reverse cable I have stayed on EU sites with the wrong polarity.
As well as helping protect electronic equipement these can save your life.
Some older UK vans only have single pole protection, this does not mix well with reversed polarity.
 
Thanks for the info. Hoping to visit West coast of Ireland. Will try and have a look or ride on the steam monorail at Listowel and then maybe relive times nearly 60 years ago fishing around Cavan. Happy days
 
Well you have now.🙂. It's a bit different to the normal preserved lines.
Tried to see it many years ago but did not get that far. It may not actually have been running then, so not worth the detour.
 
Have known about it for years, since my parents first took us to that part of the country about 60 years ago.
It didn't show more than a trace of remains then, so it would be great if it has been restored to some degree.
I remember loving the idea of having to have passengers sitting on each side of the monorail to balance the carriage and the problems of trying to send a cow to market and balancing it's weight on the opposite side.

Davy
 
njward said:
Hello,

We have been campervan owners now for about 5 years and have travelled extensively in the UK. We are now planning our first trip to Europe, probably France, Spain and Portugal but very loose plans depending on the weather and how we feel.

could I get some advice on what we must have for then van and what people would recommend to help us on our maiden European tip.

We have a Peugeot Boxer conversion.

Thanks

Nick
Click to expand...
Corkscrew....................Bottle opener,the only 2 essential items................................
 
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