mtravel

You are right. RVs must have "bus" and NOT "truck" ones.

The French in France do as they see fit. Like Italian do in Italy, the British in Great Britain, etc. They are at their home. Foreigners in any other country must (I repeat, must) conform to local laws. See for example headlight masks, country stickers, but also insurance, food (type and quantity), etc. What is every attempt (and every suggestion) to cheat the rules if not arrogance ? Instead it seems that your only concerns are the rules regarding pets and insurance in case of breakdown.

And you in Lake Lomond. Do you really think that I am always replying to you ? Poor guy, forget it.

Usual Brit arrogance.

Not just central Paris but (as far as I know) everything included in the Periferique (kind of London Orbital).

More or less you have my same usage (kilometres/year and weeks of use). Between one fill of Adblue and the next I know I have a mileage of around 6,000 kilometres. Which means that if I refuel well in advance I can go on long journeys without any worries. So far I have never had any problems finding Adblue pumps. I have refilled in France, Spain, Greece (they are quite rare here) and also in Scandinavia. Where pumps are quite common. In Norway I refilled at the Esso in Leknes (Lofoten) and at a Circle K on the E39 near Mandal. The Esso in Åndalsnes has a pump too. And then I don't remember how many others. In Sweden I saw them both on the E4 and on the E20 and E45.

Geez. I only use pumps because saving of a couple of bucks/6,000 kms is ridicolous.

Yes, it is. Fiat Ducato 2.3 2020 Euro 6D Temp. After 50,000 kms (up an down from Italy to Norway, Italy to South Greece) I can say average 2ltrs/1,000kms. Always filled at major brands fuel stations (Shell, Esso, etc) but at independent ones too. Up to now no problems.

Iveco, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Mercedes, VW, MAN or even Bedford and OM ? Smile, Max

Well, I have always combined my trips to Scotland with visits to England and Wales. No.1 (2007): Outbound: Canterbury, Cambridge, Norwich, Nottingham, York, Durham. Way back: Chester, Stratford upon Avon, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester - Oxford, Salisbury. No.2 (2010): Outbound: Exeter, East Looe, Land's' End, St.Ives, Glastonbury, Wells, Newgale, St.Davids, Fisguard, Caernafon, Beaumaris, Conwy, Llandudno. Way back: Vindolanda, Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey, Lincoln, Peterborough, Hatfield, St. Albans. No.3 (2019): The longest. Mainly focused on small towns plus Cotwolds and Chilterns. Outbound: Rye, Beachy Head, Seven Sisters Cliffs, Hastings, Brighton, Chichester, Portchester, Portsmouth, Poole, Swanage, Durdle Door, Isle of Portland, Polperro, Lizard Point, Praa Sands, Marazion, St Ives, Land's End, Cape Cornwall , Tintagel, Lynton Lynmouth, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Castle Combe, Avebury, Stroud, Painswick, Cirencester, Bibury, Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water, Broadway, Chipping Camden, Portmeirion. Way back: Alnwick, Tynemouth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Ripon, Scarborough, Finley, Beverley, Stamford, Ely, Chesham, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Canterbury. On the outward journeys to Ireland I visited Warwick and Shrewsbury and on the return journey Windsor. In Scotland I have driven on the North 500 three times (once 100%), visited Skye three times, one Mull, Arran, the Kyntire Peninsula and the largest of the Orkney Islands. I have not been to Bute and, advised against by English friends, Islay and Jura (they said that apart from the distilleries there is nothing. As truly motorhome unfriendly locations I found only Hastings, Brighton, Scarborough and Stamford. While I can understand the first three I don't understand the last one. It's true that I'm not a wild camping fanatic but I've never encountered any problems with campsites even though I've never been a member of neither C&CC nor C&MC. However, see list above (not exhaustive), at least for what my interests are I think I have exhausted the things to see in your three Nations. Max p.s. A friend of mine has just returned from a two month tour of pretty much all of the Inner Hebrides. Previously he had been on the outer ones, on Orkneys and Shetland. But he's someone who likes walking among sheep dropping. I prefer cultural itineraries. Smile.

You may have been driving 4WD for fifty years but you will admit that having both front and rear traction is very different from a simple front-wheel drive like 95% of motorhomes on the market. The three self-locking differentials could provide some help but not even the latest Mercedes Sprinter has them. Maybe the Ivecos but I'm not sure if they have the central one.

You should learn the basics of 4wd driving, I think. Smile, Max

I agree with you but I think DonB was referring to a condition of minimum and not total security. I toured in these countries for a long time in winter and honestly M+S tires (aka Michelin Agilis Camping) were more than enough. I only found problematic situations in Alsace and Limousin but they were exceptions. Never on any trip to Spain. Of course if you climb the Pyrenees in January... Then there is the law. I don't know the Spanish and French ones but for example in Italy it is enough to have two identical tires on one axle. The other may have different ones. Then there are always the snow chains, I know that in the French mountainous regions 3pms tires are/will be mandatory but just have the chains on board (or soxes) and you're free to go.

I do not care. I've been to Scotland three times and I don't think there will be a fourth. Smile, Max

I had customers and teams of engineers in Trieste (Trst in slovenian, they speak sort of Saxon/Hun dialect). Many times I found "bora" blowing more than 140km/h. Happy journeys "east there"...

David, neither harsh nor rude. I don't just frequent this forum and I continue to read requests for suggestions on how to break this or that rule. You will admit that this can be a little annoying. You were never in Schengen, then you wanted to leave the Union. No problem, just don't argue about the rules all the time. You have some ridiculous ones that no continental disputes. Max p.s. Food. Once (by car) we entered California from Arizona. Surprise, there was a real border complete with gates (very similar to those on the highways). The cop asked: do you have fruit or vegetables? Yes, a couple of apples that we bought in a service on the highway. Well, either you eat them before you enter California or I have to confiscate them. Of course we ate them. So ?

Complaints, always complaints. Once the milk without which you can't have breakfast once you land in France. Another is dog vaccinations. A third is the Crit'Air or the over 35 stickers. Now food bought in Luxembourg. But how large is your refrigerator? Please... Nobody forces you to have your passport stamped. Just like no one forces a Croatian policeman to do it. You know the rules, we are preparing temporary places to lock up illegal immigrants. Only for eighteen months... Smile. Have you ever wondered why no european complains about your ridicolous 60Mph highway speed limit ? Or your "variable speed limits" which were never indicated ? But they are rules we follow. Full stop. You have an alternative. Stay on your rainy island. It will certainly not be your absence (just four, I repeat four, English motorhomes seen in 4,500km traveled in Greece) that will cause the Greek economy or any other European country to collapse. Max p.s. At the Slovenia-Crozia customs in Bregana we were weighed. Fixed and non-temporary weighing system. If they had caught you overweight, what would did you have complained about ? That in the UK it is not normal practice to weigh RV's ?

Get into an accident and ask to the flick to say cheeseee...

I could be wrong but I don't remember a Fiamma step. Possibly Ominstor, now Thule.

Talking about Garmin, filenames are case insensitive but .csv and .bmp must have the same name.

Since a while I prepare and load my own POIs on Garmin satnav. First i make an excel file with (for any entry) longitude, latitude and description/comments (up to 128 characters). Then save it as .csv file with filename whatever you want (e.g. POI MAX.csv). In parallel I prepare a 22x22 (or 24x24) .bmp icon. It must be saved with the same already used filename (e.g. POI MAX.bmp). Both files must be put in one directory that for common sense I name POI MAX. Finally I load them on the satnav by Poi Loader free program easily downloadable from Garmin site. Max p.s. similar procedure used for old tomtoms (.csv must first converted in tomtom proprietary .ov2). Icon and file to be loaded in the directory where map resides. NOT SURE if it works on recent tomtoms.

If I remember well, Camping Car Park has a free App. You can also download a pdf (or something like that) with a list of areas with their data, coordinates included. Up to you to extract them in some way, save as .csv file and upload to your Garmin satnav by Poi Loader. Not easy and time consuming but as far as I know the only way. Given that areas constantly increase, I find it quite useless.

Like I did DYI in late eighties on my Arca.

That's why solicitor exist and drive Morelos. Stellantis will say that the behaviour is well descripted somewhere in their marketing stuff. Swift that is a well known issue as stated by Stellantis. Next time buy a Malibu that has a standard "magic button" to switch the appliance from engine to leisure 12V supply.

Geez. Yesterday I could finally find the first Adblue pump overhere (Kastraki, Geece). At a Shell distributor. Should it been considered a good quality provider ? About cost. 3,300km, 6.61 liters for 9.90€. The same itinerary approx required 330 liters of fuel, average price 1.7€ = 560€. Is Adblue somehow impacting the cost of my journey ? Max p.s. of course Adblue consumption depends on engine and style of driving. That's why I pointed out my average itineraries and base vehicle. I confirm one liter every 500km.