Poppy Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Spare you all the details BUT it all went well. We have caravanned abroad before but not for some years. Hymer Van aquitted itself very well and we drove through small villages, large towns, autoroutes up steep twisty hills etc with no problems at all. Comfortable van but a little limited in the lounging areas and we did have some bad weather.We found the France is more motorhome friendly than the UK but more motorhome friendly in some areas than others and we were unable to use some Supermarkets as they had height barriers (many did not though) and that in popular holiday areas many car parks had height barriers.More dog friendly DEFINATELY than the uk.We used camp sites as a)we are also naturist and we availed ourselves of some of the best naturist campsites in the world and b) we like the comfort and convenience. I would say though that club sites (and the better private sites) over here are of a better standard especially as regards showers toilets etc. HOWEVER beat this Soissons municple camp site,(none naturist) set beside the river with a lovely large park and large indoor swimming complex next door. Easy walk into town. Marked emplacements and electric hookups and old but clean and useable shoer block, charged us 10 euros for a night for two adults, one motorhome one dog and an electric hookup!!! Good value or what! Met and interesting 64 year old man and his dog there who were biking !!! (not the dog) from Brussels to northern Spain. We used a mixture of autoroutes and n and d roads. When you are in an interesting area the smaller roads with lots of pretty villages and pit stops are lovely but some areas are just plain boring and if you have a lot of distance to cover the autroutes take some beating (my personal opinion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Poppy - 2007-07-08 10:26 AM I would say though that club sites (and the better private sites) over here are of a better standard especially as regards showers toilets etc. ElizabethI think the UK club sites are of a more consistent standard, but then they are all owned and operated by the same two organisations. The sites in Europe are owned by a mixture of Municipalities, sole private owners and large chains. Therefore, they vary far more.However, I've yet to visit a UK club site with marble wall linings, marble shower and toilet cubicle partitions and even marble washing up sinks, to go the the (Santiago de Compostela in Span) extreme: or one at the other extreme with sordid, dirty, part vandalised, ancient installations dominated by itinerants (Pau in France) - from which we fled 15 minutes after arriving! Ah, the joys of not booking, and having a motorhome! I have to say that with few exceptions we have found sites in France to be generally as good as the UK club sites, few being much better or much worse, Spain generally about the same or better, Portugal ditto but a bit more varied, Italy often poor value (but much more varied in quality with poor maintenance the biggest issue), but with some notable highs and lows and, so far, but on a small sample, Germany consistently better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Well while all the sites we stayed at this time were very good in their own way I still think that the best of the British ones ARE best. We stayed at a 4 star site, 30 euros a night and it was very good BUT the showers for instance were very small and unless you were careful would overreach the shower door. There are other considerations of course. You don't spend your holday in a shower block and there is nothing to equate with the French good municiples in Britain OR thier naturist sites and I loved the more easy going attitude they have over there, you are on holiday after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigal55 Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Poppy - 2007-07-08 7:05 PM Well while all the sites we stayed at this time were very good in their own way I still think that the best of the British ones ARE best. We stayed at a 4 star site, 30 euros a night and it was very good BUT the showers for instance were very small and unless you were careful would overreach the shower door. There are other considerations of course. You don't spend your holday in a shower block and there is nothing to equate with the French good municiples in Britain OR thier naturist sites and I loved the more easy going attitude they have over there, you are on holiday after all.the french and spanish are more relaxed about there toilet arrangements than northern europeans also they don,t seem to worry about pitch demarcation, the closer the better it seems, neighbours are part of there holiday, 30euros? i didn,t realise the french had a no clothes tax,try studland bay in dorset, you can rough camp for free, the sun shone today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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