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We are due to pick our new motorhome up shortly. We are not fully retired but are now worried that swapping in our caravan that we loved might be a mistake. We got a bit carried away. Tips please to help us with a new way of life......ie how do you deal with visiting towns and parking...
Well it's easy for us as we have a scooter on the back but like anything it's a compromise. I hink it boils down to what you want to use it for. If you want to spend two weeks a year on a campsite then a caravan is a good option. If however you want the freedom to tour Europe or the uk stopping off where eve you feel like then clearl a motorhome is best. This is especially true in Europe. We have been away on our current trip for over four months but our average time in one place is two point something nights. We hardly ever pay for parking overnight an in four months have only used a handful of campsites. We tour in a similar way in the uk but have a few places we often stat at for longer.
I'm sure you will love you new motorhome lifestyle.
______________________________________________________________ Hank the Tank has a website. Follow our adventures at http://www.hankthetank.co.uk
Welcome to MHF!
We're in our 2nd year of motorhoming and wish we'd done it years ago!
To answer your specific question, the parking issue depends on how long you MH is. If you have a huge RV then I doubt that you'll be venturing into town! However if you have a 'normal' sized MH then you just need to do a bit of planning before a visit.
- Don't expect to be able to park in the centre of town
- Use the MHF database to look for 'aires' or MH friendly parking places
- Be prepared to park on the outskirts of town and use the bus or cycle
- Look for Park & ride facilities
I'm sure others will offer further tips.
Bill
P.S. If you are new to motorhoming than pay your Ģ12.50 subs for this site - it's a great investment that will pay dividends!
Parking in towns is the only real drawback to having an MH, but no worse really than trying to park the tugging outfit before you get to the camp site.
Just park further away in Tescos et al, the lazy people always try to get parked by the doors, no wonder they're so damn fat, and there's less chance of some idiot not realising you might want to open your doors after you've done your shopping.
You'll find there are more advantages than disadvantages once you've been out a few times.
Just get out there and enjoy it, don't create problems which either don't exist or might never happen.
Thanks Bill...will check the motorhome database out re parking ...didnt know it existed, that will be a great help.
Kev and Liz, we only asked because friends who dont have a motorhome wont buy one (even though they like them) because of the 'potential' difficulties re parking.
BarryD......yes, I see a scooter would be great. We have a dog.....but our plan is to hopefully do more touring as and when time allows. thanks for advice.
I am sure that you wont regret moving from a caravan to a motorhome as its sounds like your lifestyle is more suited to a MH if you have actually considered it in the first place.
Its usualluy possible to find a space on all but the smallest car parks but you will probally have most trouble right in the town centres so you will find you have to park on one of the car parks on the outskirts. You can also use the park and rides which most big towns worth visiting have.
When you drive onto any car park try and find a space where you can overhang the rear end (of the van silly) over some grass or similar but dont block off a public footpath. If you really need to park somewhere take up 2 spaces and buy 2 tickets.
A lot of camp sites especially the clubs (caravan club and camping and caravan club) have sites near major town centres so you can leave the van on site. So try York, cirencester and lots of cotswold towns, cambridge, warwick, etc. but you probally alrwady know that.
You can also take bikes if you fancy that too.
The rest of it is easy and you will find all the info you want on here.
Barry's post sums it up for us. We rarely tour the UK - we spend around 16-20 weeks a year (maybe more this coming year ) touring France mainly, but also Germany and Italy. We love the lifestyle over there, and the availability of great, free and cheap places to stay. We're taking (push) bikes on the next trip, but we've never had a problem getting to places to see - mind you, we're pretty big walkers. We, too, have a dog who travels everywhere with us.
In the UK, we occasionally visit shows and rallies, although we don't do that every weekend. In our earlier motorhoming days, we did some UK touring, especially in the south-east where we used to live, but now we've retired and living on a fixed income, it can work out a bit expensive for us.
Touring in a motorhome is different to a caravan. For instance, the last Caravan Club site we visited was a few years ago - a beautiful site in the Cotswolds, but miles and miles from anywhere, with no pavements to any of the surrounding roads. The place was designed with caravanners in mind. You can drag a car around with you, but it's not something I would do. As Barry says, a scooter is a good alternative, or, since you have a dog, visit places where you can walk.
Good luck. It's a fantastic lifestyle. We're off soon on another 7 week Tour de France (as it were )
Gerrald and Annie...thanks......yes, we never had courage to tour europe with our caravan but do intend to, and feel excited about the prospect. Your profile looks familiar to me...Im from Essex live in Cambridge.......we are same age......I wonder if we know each other?
Anyhow, thanks for advice, I think we are just a bit overwhelmed at the moment with trying to make life plans!
We returned from our second trip to France during the last week in July. We spent a total of 5 weeks in all.
The longest stay in one place was 2 nights using town aires.
Absolutely brilliant. We stopped by the Loire, the Seine, Biarritz, Normandy coastal aires. The coastal aires around Brittany. We even spent one night in a car park, (town aire dedicated to MHomes), in the centre of Bayeux.
We have stayed for up to seven nights in the UK a few times. We use our bus passes and we have even hired a car, (once).
______________________________________________________________ "Ay up, ow at, oraight I ope"
John (Ex - GG222).
"The pellet with the poisonīs in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!"
As regards parking in towns,it is possible to do as my logic is if white van man can get there then so can I.
I used to be worried about taking the truck into town centres at first but my confidence has grown over time and I am now ok with it.When you get into a tight situation most people are understanding and someone will normally give way.
I try and avoid the busy town and city centres if possible.In a car park the drawback is that you will probably have to pay for 2 spaces if you can't get in a marked bay(assuming there are no height barriers)
We tend to use a site(cl's or cs's) just out of town and then use either bikes or public transport to travel in to the centre.
Another tip is to subscribe to the site,you will have access to a huge database of information and will be able to use the search facility.
______________________________________________________________ cheers Steve
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Spain
New to motorhoming..........tips please
) touring France mainly, but also Germany and Italy. We love the lifestyle over there, and the availability of great, free and cheap places to stay. We're taking (push) bikes on the next trip, but we've never had a problem getting to places to see - mind you, we're pretty big walkers. We, too, have a dog who travels everywhere with us.
Waving in memory of Peter and Fiona
Fighting with Mavisīs MESO WARRIORS 
