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The Caravanners Thread
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Shirley Knott (U14164156) on Sunday, 23rd May 2010
Has there ever been a thread to do with caravans/camping?
O/H and I like the quiet life - walking, bird-watching etc., and we find a caravan gives us the freedom to stay where we want, usually in lovely surroundings.
Would love to hear from fellow caravanners - tips where to visit etc.
However, if this thread slips down the mayo I will fully understand that ML reflects real life - most people don't like caravans!
B-T x -
Message 2
Posted by Silver Jenny (U12795676) on Sunday, 23rd May 2010
Bumping so Westie might see this one. She and her OH travel a lot and I think it is in a motorised caravan.
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Message 3
Posted by Shirley Knott (U14164156) on Sunday, 23rd May 2010
Thanks, Silverjenny.
Hello westie - are you out there........ -
Message 4
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Sunday, 23rd May 2010
I'm here! Someone elsethread directed me here.
We graduated from tents to a Conway Cruiser which is a sort of collapsible caravan, but as soon as our two daughters didn't really want to come away with us regularly we got a small VW campervan. We had the first one for ten years and have had our second one for five years. It has an insulated plastic roof and a diesel blow heater so we can camp throughout the winter. We try to get away for about six weeks three times each year.
We chose a small campervan for the ease of touring and have got braver and braver and are gradually picking off Italy/Sicily. We have just finished the S of Italy now and I am quite glad really as we never felt particularly safe there. We are retired and are going to use our other two ferry crossings this year to explore France which is very camper/caravan friendly.
We love birdwatching and the camper makes a wonderful bird hide ... it has a sliding side door. We tend not to use campsites when touring preferring the freedom to roam, but I would imagine with a caravan you possibly use sites? In this country we use both the big camping clubs and their basic campsites in fields etc. Certified Locations/Certificated Sites, but I expect you know all about them.
Anyhow, enough waffle from me for tonight ..I'll be turning into a pumpkin any minute! -
Message 5
Posted by Shirley Knott (U14164156) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Ooh thanks for replying, Westie!
We were campers for many years and had fantastic, cheap holidays with the kids, but upgraded to a caravan three years ago and it's the best thing we ever did.
We've never taken it abroad - we're both still working long hours so we're restricted mostly to weekends. Scoot off on a Friday night, usually to the Lakes, Yorkshire Dales, Borders area which are within two hours from us.
Recently went a bit further afield to Woodstock in Oxfordshire - lovely.
We are members of the CC and we love the CLs - nice and quiet and usually more spacious than the larger sites, when you are sometimes crammed in.
My daughter is a VW campervan nut, and she says if she ever gets married she's going to the church in a V-Dub!
Happy camping! -
Message 6
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Westie, do you have any recommendations for Brittany? We keep meaning to go but need someone to recommend somewhere to start with - otherwise we just look through maps and guide books and get overwhelmed. We like peaceful, low-key places, preferably coastal and not very sophisticated.
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Message 7
Posted by Dapply (U2437462) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Mon, 24 May 2010 10:37 GMT, in reply to Morganish in message 6
I love caravanning.
We have had 3 caravans so far and really enjoy going off for some peace and quiet. We love the quiet and the convenience and Viva the Caravan Club is all I can say.
The dog(s) can come with us and Desti used to get so excited whenever we were packing to go away, she wouldn't sleep the night before and only when the caravan was hooked up she would happily go to sleep. -
Message 8
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Morganish, we have really enjoying thinking back about our holiday in Brittany so thanks for asking. OH sat with the map and dictated most of this to me, so apologies for a rather disjointed post, but we hope it is helpful. We love France, the markets, the villages, the food, the relaxed feeling and sense of community.
We have had just one camping holiday in Brittany, back in 2002. We took Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Caen (wonderful food on the way over but too rough on the way back to face the restaurant .... sadly). We spent a week passing through Normandy. Caen, cliffs near Arromanches, Port-en-Bessin (pretty harbour), Bayeux, Balleroy (dramatically sighted chateau) Cerisy (forest and abbey), St-Lo, Granville, Avranches, and finally Mont St Michel.
We then spent about four weeks in Brittany hugging the North coast quite closely with a few short detours inland. By the time we reached the NW tip our time had run out and we scampered home. What had taken four weeks on the way, took about six hours on the main roads, seeing the villages that we had enjoyed so much whizzing by!
We found Brittany very friendly towards campervans and wild camped nearly every night, in fact so far as we can remember we only went to one campsite which was a beautiful one on the coast near Cancale with good cliff walking nearby. The rest of the time we were able to stop nearly every night near water beside the sea or an estuary. There were plenty of official Aires where we could have stayed, but we only used them for water and emptying the looo. There are of course many campsites and if we had needed to use them we would have referred to the CC book (unless we saw one we particularly like the look of first).
Of the many places that we enjoyed the following stand out in our memory:-
- Dol-de-Bretagne, a very attractive French town with a cathedral
- Cancale, oyster fishing town
- Beautiful rural coast between Cancale and St Malo
- St Malo, memorable fortified seaside town, much battered in the war but restored.
- A lovely estuary between St Malo and Dinan
- Dinan which was one of the prettiest towns we saw
- Moated castle, Chateau de Hunaudaye
- Fort la Latte, dramatic castle on a headland
- Moncontour, another very attractive small inland town
- St Brieuc, a cathedral town
- Coast between St Brieuc and St Paimpol, many delightful bays and good cliff walking
- The Abbey of Beauport, near Paimpol
- Beautiful rocky coast north of Paimpol, especially the fishing harbour at Loguivy de la Mer
- Treguier, another attractive cathedral city
- The stretch of granite coast between Treguier and Lannion is perhaps the most famous part of North Brittany but we were not so impressed by it perhaps because it is overhyped.
- Le Yaudet, a tiny seaside hamlet/village West of Lannion where the church contains an extraordinary altarpiece of Mary in a bed with Jesus and God the Father sitting at the foot of it. The bedclothes were real bedclothes. There were ship models hanging throughout the church which isn't uncommon in seafaring places.
- Morlaix a very characterful town, one of the largest in western Brittany. Situated in a steep valley with moored yachts right into the town, old wooden houses with spectacular staircases (one staircase was good enough to have been transported to the V&A in London) and an excellent art gallery.
- The group of "Parish Close" churches SW of Morlaix (St Thegonnec, Guimiliau, etc) with remarkable granite sculptures in the churchyards, and even more remarkable sculptured altar pieces as well as fabulously ornate carved wooden font canopies in the churches.
- Penze where we camped twice in a carpark beside the harbour. Both times we saw a kingfisher in the morning and on the second occasion we awoke early to find ourselves surrounded by the high tide!!!!!!!!!
- From Lannion westwards the coast became progressively less spectacular but wilder and, to our eyes, lovelier with so many delights there isn't space to list them! If you can time a visit to Brignogan-Plage to coincide with a high spring tide you won't forget it. Eventually we reached the dramatic cliffs and estuaries of Finistere where our journey ended!
We mentioned the art gallery at Morlaix which we certainly would return to. Others that we recommend were at Caen (one of the best in France) and St Lo, both in Normandy, as is the Bayeux tapestry of course. Also a small gallery at Lamballe featuring a local painter. If we were to make the same journey again we would definitely stop at the town hall in Avranche which is reputed to have one of the best collections anywhere of mediaeval manuscripts, mainly from the Abbey of Mont St Michel.
While visiting churches in Brittany we enjoyed looking out for statues of the favourite local saint St Yves who was a medieval lawyer who was apparently good to the underprivileged, and also much colourful modern stained glass. Of the churches that we visited we would mention two south of Paimpol: Kermaria, notable for it's medieval frescoes of the Dance of Death, and a ruined round church at Lanleff. An absolute must (on the hour, certainly at mid day when we were there) is a church stuffed full of clocks at Pleudaniel which is west of Paimpol. I wouldn't want to be there at midnight!
One more .... at Lambader west of Morlaix with a wonderfully ornate wooden screen.
And another ... the pilgrimage church at Le Folgoet.
Because we enjoyed the coast so much we didn't visit as many ancient monuments as we might have done. The ones that stand out were Cerisy and La Lucerne Abbeys in Normandy, Mont St Michel of course and the Chateau de Kerjean, south-west of Roscoff.
Another place we would return to is the botanical garden at Caen, especially the glass houses. -
Message 9
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Monday, 24th May 2010
BrickTrain, I love the idea of your daughter going to her wedding in a VW :0) I remember years ago joking with OH that in the event of civil war he could keep the children and house and I'd go off in the camper and live happily ever after!
I think camping in either a caravan or motorhome is the only way to travel and we get a sense of freedom that just isn't there in a hotel/B&B type set up. Also, my OH has rather dodgy mental health and so it is wonderful to be able to retreat into our own home on wheels and put the kettle on. If he's not well we pull up the drawbridge and sit it out, though he is usually well whilst we are away. Each evening he clarifies what we hope to achieve the next day and logs it into the GPS which we find invaluable for these touring holidays. We now have points on the map marked for where we stay each night, whether the bakeries are good, where water/springs are for fresh good water, where we can empty the loo etc.
As we wild camp most of the time it is great to have the spot on the side of the mountain road marked on the gps and a voice saying "You have reached your destination" .... it means we can drive on later into the evening knowing just where we will stop.
OOoooh I want to go away! -
Message 10
Posted by Dunlurkin NL (U2675855) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Brick Train, cross-threading, but why don't you bring your caravan over to Holland. AFAIK there are plenty of sites - the Dutch are great caravanners - and distances are relatively short for day trips by car if you want to leave the van behind.
Dunlurkin -
Message 11
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Monday, 24th May 2010
... and no problems finding a level pitch :0)
We love Holland and have been twice. The first time we toured around in the campervan using a small tent for one of our daughters. We went to sleep in a wonderfully flat field and were aware of a rainstorm in the night and woke up to half an inch of water lapping around the tent .... we got our daughter up very very carefully so noone knelt on the sewn in groundsheet as otherwise the little tent would have filled up with water!!!!!!!!!!! -
Message 12
Posted by Dapply (U2437462) on Monday, 24th May 2010
Mon, 24 May 2010 17:55 GMT, in reply to westie westsussexbird in message 11
We went to visit some friends yesterday who were caravanning near to us (well about 1/2 hour away) and I am really impatient now to get Elddis (that's his name....sad aren't we?) out and hooked up.
Trouble is I have to wait until the middle of June as I am busy with a craft exhibition until then.
Mind you I can go and rummage about in Elddis and tart him up a bit.
We haven't been out in the caravan for over 2 years since Mr D became ill, and now that he is al better we are just raring to go. -
Message 13
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Monday, 24th May 2010
You must really be excited at the prospect of going Dapply. Looking forward to it is part of the whole I think. Being able to take the dog was part of the fun. In our doggie days it wasn't possible to go on to mainland europe with a dog so we mostly camped over here, and hired a cottage if we wanted to be in France.
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Message 14
Posted by Shirley Knott (U14164156) on Tuesday, 25th May 2010
Dunlurkin, that's a great idea.
We often get good offers through the post from the caravan club for ferry crossings. Usually out of school holiday times - September is usually on offer. We prefer to avoid school holidays now anyway, now that we don't have to stick rigidly to them!
We had planned to go to Germany this month (not with the caravan) and for various reasons, we have had to cancel and we're gutted.
I'm now seeing a little trip to Holland in September! Not too far for the first trip abroad with the caravan. Being in the north-east we're not too far from Hull for the north sea crossing, which we have done a few times.
Now, where are the caravan site books......
B-T x -
Message 15
Posted by Dunlurkin NL (U2675855) on Tuesday, 25th May 2010
BT,
although I know very little about caravanning, I know quite a lot about this country and this area in particular (not a million miles from Europoort).
I also very much enjoy helping people to get the most out of a trip to Holland, so sing out if you want any help/info.
Dunlurkin -
Message 16
Posted by Shirley Knott (U14164156) on Tuesday, 25th May 2010
That's very kind of you, Dunlurkin, thanks!!
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Message 17
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Monday, 31st May 2010
I'm just bumping this to get it up my list to remind me to check if Morganish has seen my post/response about France.
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Message 18
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Friday, 18th June 2010
bump!
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Message 19
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Friday, 18th June 2010
Morganish, feel free to bump this up if you want any clarification.
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Message 20
Posted by Dunlurkin NL (U2675855) on Sunday, 4th July 2010
Having seen your name elsethread, BT, and having been reading all sorts of dire warnings in the paper about not overloading caravans, checking tyres etc. in preparation for the school holidays which kick off with a vengeance next week, reminded me of this thread.
I hope your holiday plans are proceeding well.
Dunlurkin -
Message 21
Posted by Lili Bolero and the band played on (U10534540) on Sunday, 4th July 2010
I am not, and never have been a Caravanner. I think it looks quite a nice way to spend your leisure time, but today I have been frightened witless on the M5 by caravans slalom-ing across the carriageway. I'm very thankful to deities that we got home in one piece!
Just wondered - if this happens to you when you are driving, are you aware of it? The drivers in question seemed completely oblivious of the chaos they were nearly responsible for. (Everyone trying to get into the fast lane to avoid them...) -
Message 22
Posted by Halliana (U2407863) on Friday, 16th July 2010
2 months and I've only just seen this thread.
I've been camping since I was a child and then got my OH into caravans which even now 40 years later he still thinks as slightly 'roughing it'. However he does like the freedom of going where we like, when we like.
I like knowing 'who slept in the bed the night before'- not having to get dressed up just for breakfast at some unearthly hour before 8 ish, slouching about until I'm ready etc.
We are members of both the Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club using the regular sites and 5 caravan only, certificated sites which can be a field or even someone's garden.
We have a small caravan and a large car so towing is no problem.
Lili Bolero was saying about caravans 'slalom-ing'.
This usually hapens when the caravan is badly loaded, driven too fast, or plain inattention by the driver and yes, we've been on the M5 and seen it.
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