height barriers / no motorhomes allowed signs

[handyman]

away for 3 weeks there, travelling from siena, florence, pisa, up the coast into france, then along as far as cannes, then up to the french alps and home.

 

The entire italy area and all coastal areas had a stupid amount of height barriers and 'no motorhome' signs. Everywhere, absolutely everywhere :-(

 

Then, at our coastal base in Biot (campsite accross the road, handy), the only few 'unprotected' areas on the coast, there was what looked like a massive motorhome showroom.........but was in fact, people holidaying for free on the coast in a carpark.

 

Could this be why it was a complete pain in the rear parking the van anywhere, till we got to the alps?

[handyman]

the () bit above should have been............'railway station across the road from the campsite, handy'

 

 

So, 65 views and no opinions............i presume this means the problem has been caused by the 40K van so cant afford a campsite gang?

 

[Mr. Grumpy]

I you want to see height barriers go to Ireland. During a 3 week tour we found almost every beach, tourist site and car park with 6' height barriers, even Land Rovers could not get in. We asked the TIC why? The answer; to stop travelers! In our 3 week trip we saw one travelers camp consisting of 5 vans. Why? Cause they are all over here.

At the moment there are hundreds of travelers caravans parked at the side of Cumbrian roads (Appleby Horse Fair) many of them for more than two weeks, have the police moved any of them, what do you think? If I tried it how long before they moved me? 24 hours if I was lucky.

Rant over!

[Mel E]

Part of the problem in Italy may be that the motorhome is the vehicle of choice there. Caravans are much less popular - I assume because of the prevalence of mountains - so family leisure travel tends to be by motorhome, rather than just for the over 50s as in the UK.

 

So there are huge numbers of motohomes, few aires, etc., so car parks are taken over. I have never liked it personally, since I believe it gives a bad name to the whole motohoming community in the eyes of the general public, who don't underatnd the whys and wherefors.

 

Mel E

====

[ROON]

Not been abroad in mine so can't comment on the situation, but I do know that I get really annoyed when I think that all these communities that object to travellers/visitors are the ones who without us, sadly, would probably go under in today's economic society. It is a reflection of today's fast moving climate.

 

I know it must be frustrating to have the beautiful place that you live 'cluttered' for want of a better word by tourists, (and I DO empathise with these people), but surely the answer is therefore to make suitable areas available for them to stay or park...

[Basil]

ROON - 2008-06-03 12:24 PM

I know it must be frustrating to have the beautiful place that you live 'cluttered' for want of a better word by tourists, (and I DO empathise with these people), but surely the answer is therefore to make suitable areas available for them to stay or park...

 

They do, they are called campsites!

 

Bas

[Tony Jones]

You mean like the UK one we stayed at on Thursday?

The one which charged us £14 a night for a patch of loose gravel, with nowhere to empty our grey water tank, and then wanted another 20p for each shower, or use of wash-up sinks?

Are those the kind of places UK communities "provide" for us to use?

 

And what about the times we DON'T want to stay overnight, just explore a town, buy a couple of meals there, spend some money in its shops ... but can't do any of that because all the carparks have height restrictions.

Is that part of normal UK "provision" too?

 

Or are we supposed to spend our holidays actually ON a campsite, not going anywhere else?

 

We're off to France again as soon as the wife's school breaks up. Wonder why?

 

Tony

 

PS If I understood the original post correctly, handyman found some places in France with signs prohibiting motorhomes. Don't know about Italy, but in France those signs are probably illegal themselves, according to many of their own "Camping-Car" magazines. Height barriers are legal, because they're only about the actual size of (any) vehicle, but banning motorhomes per se probably wouldn't stand up in a French court. But I think I'll leave that battle for the Camping-Caristes to fight.

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

While in Italy last year in the towns we visited I found that central car parks normally prohibited motorhomes but a little further out there was always suitable parking. A better situation then in this country.....

[handyman]

in siena, all the central parking had 'no motorhomes' signs up (without height barriers) then just ticket you 74 euros as a parking ticket if you park there. The only central place to park there was a bus park, which charged motorhomes 20 euros to park for 24hrs.

 

In florance, the big viewing area (next to the central campsite) had the same thing. It had loads of cars in it, all the people getting out, viewing the city, then leaving, in the same way we would have done.

 

Why they cant just have a time restriction, and enforce it, is beyond me.

 

 

 

And to change the subject a bit...........what about the prices of the campsites in italy 8-) 8-) 8-) 32 euros a night on average 8-) 8-) 8-)

[MOTORHOMER]

Hello

 

 

The trouble with campsites especially in France Germany ,Spain etc they cram the units to such an extent you cant even open your driver / passenger doors should you need to say in an emergency. We are on an campsite in Germany at the moment We were parked at a sensible distance from the unit a car & caravan that was next to us. Normal price for mhome 2 persons & electric would be 19 euros We have just had another unit pull in between the two of us and it is so close we cant open the driver door or even our lounge area window. His habitation door right opposite our driver door. He can just open it. This is a great safety issue but the campsite owners dont seem to care. This is an acsi site qualifying for the 14 euros a night. Expensive ground rent. Now I know why we mainly use aires stellplatz etc. Not the cost but the cramming in.

 

Motorhomer

[ROON]

That sounds like a nightmare? Do they not have Health and Safety laws like ours abroad ..... talk about claustrophobic *-)

[Tony Jones]

NO-ONE has health and safety laws like ours Joy. Here I sometimes think we use it instead of a religion. >:-)

[malc d]

MOTORHOMER - 2008-06-07 6:15 PM

 

Hello

 

 

The trouble with campsites especially in France Germany ,Spain etc they cram the units to such an extent you cant even open your driver / passenger doors should you need to say in an emergency. We are on an campsite in Germany at the moment We were parked at a sensible distance from the unit a car & caravan that was next to us. Normal price for mhome 2 persons & electric would be 19 euros We have just had another unit pull in between the two of us and it is so close we cant open the driver door or even our lounge area window. His habitation door right opposite our driver door. He can just open it. This is a great safety issue but the campsite owners dont seem to care. This is an acsi site qualifying for the 14 euros a night. Expensive ground rent. Now I know why we mainly use aires stellplatz etc. Not the cost but the cramming in.

 

Motorhomer

 

I haven't camped a lot recently in Spain or Germany, but have often been to France and rarely come across sites crammed as you describe.

Many have pitches marked out with hedges, even on municipal sites.

Are you referring to sites in cities ?

(...I've very little experience of them - I don't normally 'do' cities)

 

 

:-|

[rupert123]

MOTORHOMER - 2008-06-07 6:15 PM

 

Hello

 

 

The trouble with campsites especially in France Germany ,Spain etc they cram the units to such an extent you cant even open your driver / passenger doors should you need to say in an emergency. We are on an campsite in Germany at the moment We were parked at a sensible distance from the unit a car & caravan that was next to us. Normal price for mhome 2 persons & electric would be 19 euros We have just had another unit pull in between the two of us and it is so close we cant open the driver door or even our lounge area window. His habitation door right opposite our driver door. He can just open it. This is a great safety issue but the campsite owners dont seem to care. This is an acsi site qualifying for the 14 euros a night. Expensive ground rent. Now I know why we mainly use aires stellplatz etc. Not the cost but the cramming in.

 

Motorhomer

 

Not sure where you went but we have just returned from five weeks away. mainly in Germany but also camped in Switzerland, France. Average price paid 12 Euro,s and certainly no over crowding anywhere. most sites not up to C. Club standard but certainly no real complaints, in two showers and toilets could have been cleaner but otherwise fine.

[Brian Kirby]

MOTORHOMER - 2008-06-07 6:15 PM Hello The trouble with campsites especially in France Germany ,Spain etc they cram the units to such an extent you cant even open your driver / passenger doors should you need to say in an emergency. We are on an campsite in Germany at the moment We were parked at a sensible distance from the unit a car & caravan that was next to us. Normal price for mhome 2 persons & electric would be 19 euros We have just had another unit pull in between the two of us and it is so close we cant open the driver door or even our lounge area window. His habitation door right opposite our driver door. He can just open it. This is a great safety issue but the campsite owners dont seem to care. This is an acsi site qualifying for the 14 euros a night. Expensive ground rent. Now I know why we mainly use aires stellplatz etc. Not the cost but the cramming in. Motorhomer

I appreciate you are having a bad time on one site in Germany but, just as one swallow does not a summer make, one bad German site does not establish a pattern.  Choose your sites with a bit of care, is all I can say. 

Some owners will cram them in, but you have a motorhome so, if this happens, go elsewhere and say why you are leaving. 

We have camped all over France for in excess of 30 years and never encountered such conditions on a site.  Can't claim a lot of experience of Germany, but when we have used German sites they have been well run, and well laid out, with adequate sized pitches. 

One site in Italy became very tight for one or two nights, but it was peak season and near Venice.  One recently visited in Budapest was rather chaotic in allocating space.  But even these were not as bad as you describe.  

Otherwise, having over the years visited several hundred sites across France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, I have only ever encountered the conditions you describe once - on an Aree di Sosta at Matera, Italy.  The van that parked so close to us was Italian, arrived at about 11:30 PM, and was one out of a total of three vans in an area the size of two football pitches.  Why do they do that?  :-)

[maggyd]

Having never been abroad in our Van yet we will be going shortly What do you suggest ? do we walk round the site before we book in and have a good look? its a bit late once you have paid isnt it. :-S were going to be mostly in Germany so I hope we dont find the one that has just been mentioned.

[malc d]

maggyd - 2008-06-07 10:34 PM

 

Having never been abroad in our Van yet we will be going shortly What do you suggest ? do we walk round the site before we book in and have a good look? its a bit late once you have paid isnt it. :-S were going to be mostly in Germany so I hope we dont find the one that has just been mentioned.

 

The Caravan Club Europe 1 campsite book includes comments from members who have stayed on sites, which is a useful guide.

Other than that we have always found Alan Rogers site books very accurate in their descriptions ( of sites they have visited).

Also, you can always stop outside and have a walk around the site before going in.

 

If still unsure, just pay for one night and then you have the option to leave.

 

I wouldn't worry about this too much and certainly don't let it spoil your expectations.

 

;-)

[rupert123]

maggyd - 2008-06-07 10:34 PM

 

Having never been abroad in our Van yet we will be going shortly What do you suggest ? do we walk round the site before we book in and have a good look? its a bit late once you have paid isnt it. :-S were going to be mostly in Germany so I hope we dont find the one that has just been mentioned.

 

Just got back form Europe and we spent two weeks in Germany, mainly Mosel, Rhein and Black forest. We find German campsites good on the whole, on all but two English was spoken. Have a quick look round especially the toilet/shower facilities, no one seems to mind and I get the impression it is normal to do this.

[JeffersonCampervan]

The only times we have experienced that kind of cramming-in was when an event was on - once Documenta in Kassel & once the Weinfest in Bacharach. Then we were happy that they shoehorned us in, otherwise we could not have stayed at all! Otherwise, under normal circumstances, we've found German sites to be great.

[Brian Kirby]

malc d - 2008-06-08 10:19 AM

maggyd - 2008-06-07 10:34 PM Having never been abroad in our Van yet we will be going shortly What do you suggest ? do we walk round the site before we book in and have a good look? its a bit late once you have paid isnt it. :-S were going to be mostly in Germany so I hope we dont find the one that has just been mentioned.

The Caravan Club Europe 1 campsite book includes comments from members who have stayed on sites, which is a useful guide. Other than that we have always found Alan Rogers site books very accurate in their descriptions ( of sites they have visited). Also, you can always stop outside and have a walk around the site before going in. If still unsure, just pay for one night and then you have the option to leave. I wouldn't worry about this too much and certainly don't let it spoil your expectations. ;-)

But please note, Maggy, for Germany you'll need Caravan Europe 2, as volume 1 does only France, Spain, and Portugal. 

However, I endorse Malc's comment re these guides, they are excellent value and although some of the directions etc quoted are a bit wayward, and some of the comments are more relevant to caravanners than motorhomers, they provide highly pertinent assessments of what the sites are actually like to stay on, because all the comments come from people who have actually stayed on the sites.  The guides are available to members and non-members alike, but the non-members do pay more.  Contact the Caravan Club HQ in East Grinstead for more details. 

All the other sites guides rely on roving inspectors, some of whom seem to me to do little more than check there actually is a campsite at the stated location!

[maggyd]

Brian Kirby - 2008-06-08 8:57 PM

malc d - 2008-06-08 10:19 AM

maggyd - 2008-06-07 10:34 PM Having never been abroad in our Van yet we will be going shortly What do you suggest ? do we walk round the site before we book in and have a good look? its a bit late once you have paid isnt it. :-S were going to be mostly in Germany so I hope we dont find the one that has just been mentioned.

The Caravan Club Europe 1 campsite book includes comments from members who have stayed on sites, which is a useful guide. Other than that we have always found Alan Rogers site books very accurate in their descriptions ( of sites they have visited). Also, you can always stop outside and have a walk around the site before going in. If still unsure, just pay for one night and then you have the option to leave. I wouldn't worry about this too much and certainly don't let it spoil your expectations. ;-)

But please note, Maggy, for Germany you'll need Caravan Europe 2, as volume 1 does only France, Spain, and Portugal. 

However, I endorse Malc's comment re these guides, they are excellent value and although some of the directions etc quoted are a bit wayward, and some of the comments are more relevant to caravanners than motorhomers, they provide highly pertinent assessments of what the sites are actually like to stay on, because all the comments come from people who have actually stayed on the sites.  The guides are available to members and non-members alike, but the non-members do pay more.  Contact the Caravan Club HQ in East Grinstead for more details. 

All the other sites guides rely on roving inspectors, some of whom seem to me to do little more than check there actually is a campsite at the stated location!

Thanks Brian Ive just paid for my Europe 2 so we should have it in a couple of days :-D being C.C. members does that mean we get a discount?I think we will have to install a bookshelf for all these books we now have. *-)