month in Europe

clutch

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We are setting off on our maiden journey in to france with our motorhome in August for a month.
We were planning on driving into Germany and driving down the Rhine to Black forrest.Then on to Switzerland Austria then on to Lake Garda in Italy,back north through France.
My concerns are will the campsites be very busy in August, will we need to take our Lap top and book ahead or will we be ok to travel on the speck.
Does anyone have any recomended sites or places of beuty you can recomend.
We joined ACSI Camping Card with loads of sites but not sure what to expect.
Any advise much appreciated.
 
hi. my past experiances of august is you possibly wont get a space on a site. i tried m,bike camping a few times and ended up putting the tent up on grass verges or sleeping in bus and park shelters. august is a crazy month abroad . seems every man woman child dog and their grandma is on holiday. best of luck but wild is the only way .if you are in a camper its much easier ,its so busy you can just about park anywhere.
 
Europe

You will probably find that you will not be able to use your ACSI card in high season.
There are plenty of Stellplatz in Germany we use the Bord Atlas to locate them,
Austria is very difficult to wildcamp and campsites are expensive but very good.
Be carefull of using the motorways in Austria unless you have a Vinette or Go-Box- depending on the weight of your van.
And if you are planning on going into any German Citys you will need an Umvelt sticker which you can get from any main dealer garage.
There will be lots of more Knowledge along soon.
Have a good trip
Sue
 
Ref ; Germany , get a pen n paper and give me a call on 01942 879655 and I can give you some really special places to stay (free or very cheap) whilst in Germany.

john
 
Stellplaetze

clutch said:
We are setting off on our maiden journey in to france with our motorhome in August for a month.
We were planning on driving into Germany and driving down the Rhine to Black forrest.Then on to Switzerland Austria then on to Lake Garda in Italy,back north through France.
My concerns are will the campsites be very busy in August, will we need to take our Lap top and book ahead or will we be ok to travel on the speck.
Does anyone have any recomended sites or places of beuty you can recomend.
We joined ACSI Camping Card with loads of sites but not sure what to expect.
Any advise much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I'm new to this forum but if you are travelling through Germany,France,Austria and Italy all these countries have parkups for campers (no Caravans) mostly with dump ,water and leccy gratis or small money why buy a motorhome and then go on a campsite? need help finding them stuff google ask me !
 
France

Hello
I live in France-currently in the Dordogne, previously in the Midi Pyrenees. You will find plenty of beautiful places to stay, even small villages offer parking/overnight sleeping areas with water discharge drains. look for the "campervan over a drain" sign! I often see a motorhome parked up in a supermarket car park--no one round here seems at all bothered by that.

Dordogne: Camp by the river in Bourdeilles, (free) walking distance to the castle.
Brantome, Ditto but walking distance into the "Venice of the Perigord"
Grand Etang de La Jamaye-camp (free) by the most beautiful lake-free showers, loos, canoes.
These are all less than 25 kms from my home.

In the Pyrenees head for Lac Bleu and up to the mountains if you can--stunning.

Yes, August is busier than other months but there's plenty of space.
Enjoy your trip-sounds wonderful.
 
Vicarious Books have several publications. All the aires-France (and other countries) or Camperstop Europe covers everywhere with enough detail to be useful. Neither has them all even in France, but between them covers everything.

If all else fails, find a lay-bye or quiet back street or cemetery and stealth camp (which isn't much different to what is supposed to be done in Aires. If you want to camp, go to a campground.

If it is the busy season, you just need to forget about really busy aires and go for the smaller villages and get there after lunch to get a spot. I'm continually amazed by the number of MHs that come in way after dark looking for a place to stay.
If the town has a central square or market place and it is not one of the large towns with council rangers or police, you can usually just park in a normal parking spot provided you heed signs forbidding camping on market days. (learn the days of the week in the language, plus indicators like interdit, or verboten)

Never pass up an opportunity to fill with water and dump your tanks and cassette - especially if it is gratuit/free/kostenlos/gratuito - because if you do, you WILL regret it.

------------------------

BTW, unless this is a once in a lifetime trip, I would suggest you pick a very much smaller area for your maiden voyage.. One month isn't a long time and for instance just in France - say along the Pyrenees Way, there are areas where you only need to travel 20km before finding another magical spot to stay. Personal choice that may not suit you.

How about here - free camping, free dump and water, nice lake to fish in 200m away, lots of walks, shops 400 metres away

IMG_0706.JPG


NO electricity though, but since you are talking about aires, I assume you are set up to cope
 
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Go Box? Vignette?

I haven't heard of these. France and Italy I have paid tolls occasionally, at motorway booths. In Switzerland, on one motorway route, I was charged a small amount at the border. On another motorway entry, nothing.

Is there a good thread on them somewhere, or a good site to read about Go Box and Vignette? We don't usually use mways, but occasionally we do.



Polly
 
Pollik said:
Go Box? Vignette?

I haven't heard of these. France and Italy I have paid tolls occasionally, at motorway booths. In Switzerland, on one motorway route, I was charged a small amount at the border. On another motorway entry, nothing.

Is there a good thread on them somewhere, or a good site to read about Go Box and Vignette? We don't usually use mways, but occasionally we do.



Polly
Click to expand...

These are a sort of prepaid toll system with one fixed charge applying to light vehicles and the other a per kilometre system for heavy vehicles (how heavy is your MH?) The system also applies in Switzerland and if you get caught on motorways without the stickers you will wish you had one. Generally available at the border and at selected outlets.

I believe you can avoid paying for them as in all cases there is a minor road you can take to bypass them. Fine if you are not in a hurry.

Friend recently wrote re Swiss system

> Regarding the toll stickers that allow one
> to travel on the expressways in Switzerland. Are they absolutely
> essential to get around or can we use the normal roads to get around

No, you do not need the sticker, as long as you do not enter any road marked with a green sign showing either the highway logo or a car logo.
The two green signs for 4-lane-highway and mini-highway (= 2x1 lane). Behind those green signs you need the sticker, 40CHF until next January.

Green in Switzerland is in this respect equal to blue in France.

Around the cities you have to choose your way in order to pass around those green highways. But the green roads are signed ahead. As far as I know, you always can chose another way before getting in there.
Click to expand...
 
Tony Lee

Thanks for your advise i think i am going to take your advise on the not traveling that distance.
Can you advise on places and ares to visit in the camper,we have done the vendee and Carnac in a caravan,we realise the south of France will be manic so we are looking for somewhere nice and warm nice beeches and pretty also ,advise much appreciated ,by the way we have a 5 year old boy to entertain too . Barry
 
Also Going

Hi clutch

We are also looking at the same journey to Lake Garda, first time in motorhome to Europe but been plenty of times in car.
Reading the replies, seems we will have problems finding place to stay whilst over there in Italy. We thinking of going on spec and spend little time on campsites, prefer to wild anyway.
 
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