prewelli Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi My husband and I are virgin motorhomers and are going to travel thru Spain and France for three months. We have some questions: 1 Any advice welcomed 2.Gas - we have a 7 year old murvi with normalLPG gas connections - we have been warned that it might be difficult and we will have to buy adjusters - can anyone explain 3. Electricity - we have been warned about reverse polarity - how common is it. 4. We know we probably wont have to book in Northern Spain (down to Cordoba ) in April - should we book for the 'costs' in May - June?? 5. We havent booked a return crossing as we dont where or when we our coming back - will this be a roblem as long as we get back before mid july We are 60 somethings having a Gap Year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi, We did more or less the same trip last May-July, but from Calais, and we encountered no problems at all in either France or Spain getting onto a site. But do try aires or even free camp it will enhance your holiday. Just remember basic safety precautions and you will be quite safe. We had refillable gas bottle fitted and they were the best thing we did. It is so cheap you will turn on the gas just to be amazed at how cheap it is when you re-fill! It is readily available in France at nearly every garage/service station. Less so in Spain but then if you fill up in France you will be ok for at least a month, more if you are on sites and can use electric or bbq for cooking. But even so it is available, you just download the addresses from the web, or ask someone! "Reverse Polarity" does exist. I know because we bought a little plug thing to test the hook up points. But even then we noticed no difference when we hooked up anyway! I think it only affects modern computers and equipment like that. Just remember to unplug anything before you put your wet hands in the sockets! To be fair there is more to it that that, but we never had a single problem in either country. To get back we just phoned the Camping & Caravan Club "Clubcare" line and asked them to get us on the cheapest ferry back to blighty a week before we wanted. If you can manage it mid week is cheaper. It was £37.50 to get back and that was on the 14th of July. We had the most fantastic time and were feeling heartily sick as we drove home through France for home! If I can recommend 2 things to see they would be the Alhambra Palace in Granada and the Cathedral d Image in Les Baux, France. Both have web sites and both allow motorhome parking. Having just said that try to be as flexible as you can be and just amble along. People you meet will also recommend places and things to see so give yourselves time to take it all in. Spain is a magnificent country to drive through, nothing like you expect. France is just beautiful and I think the French only leave there to see if the rest of the world is as uncivilised as they think it is! Usually they are right! I could go on, so Bon Voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi, late March last year we sailed to Santander, making for the Costa's, one tip worth thinking about just about 20 miles past Santander is the beautiful Medival Town of Santa Lana Del Mar, there is a good Camping cheque site there and worth a stop, and I am sure you will get a lot of information of other motorhomers on that site doing the same run as you, before the start your journey to the Costas. We found having Camping Cheque's (Gold card) is really useful you will see the adverts in the MMM. Have you got your camping carnet you will find it very useful and saves leaving your passport's at camping sites, Have a wonderful adventure, as Tomo says, I am sure you will get more feed back. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 welcome to the forum I think most drive down through western France, Spanish ferry is expensive, the crossing through the bay of Biscay can be horrendous and the boat can be full off Pi*8 heads on the mistaken belief they are on some sort of mini cruise..... and yes I have done it and would never repeat the experience, Santa Lana Del Mar is a must and Picos de Europe mountains also worth a visit. Gas, probably changing one bottle to a refillable system would be a good idea. Electric, buy a plug in tester for a few quid (any DIY or electrical shop) and you will know if you have reverse polarity. then you can either ignore the fact as many do, or rewire plug on lead or make a reverse plug up for these occasions. most of the time if you try different sockets on site not all will be reversed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 JanetteGas: you don't say how many cylinders, of what size/s, your Murvi holds. However, if you're planning on using camp sites and also their facilities, I guess you'll use around 15Kg of gas. If you can carry two x 13Kg cylinders you should be OK. If not, then you'll have to buy a cylinder in Spain, and may need to get another in France. If you have a fixed regulator in your gas locker, you'll just need to get the "tails" to suit the different cylinder connectors. If your regulator fits direct to your cylinder, you'll need to get the corresponding regulator for each country. Don't get the advertised cylinder adaptors, they are needlessly expensive, and won't overcome the basic problem that each country has different exchange cylinders. The relevant tails, or regulators, are not that expensive. Calor etc can't be exchanged/filled outside UK, neither can Spanish cylinders in France, not French cylinders in Spain etc. Otherwise, do as suggested above, and get a, or two, refillables fitted to your van. Make sure you get the type with a fixed, external, filling point, so you don't get into any arguments about trying to re-fill individual cylinders.Reversed polarity: fairly common, and random. You'll also need a continental two pin plug connector at some sites. Obtainable from most caravan/motorhome accessory stores. For more information, use the search facility at the top right of this forum page. Select "motorhome matters" as the forum to search, type in the keywords "reversed polarity" and set time to "one year". Then just sit down and read. 30 minutes or so later, you'll be the family authority on the subject!Booking: probably not necessary anywhere.Return crossing: shouldn't be a problem. Try to travel back mid-week, and look for a crossing before mid-day.Campsites: not a question you asked, but get a copy of the Caravan Club's Caravan Europe 1 guide. All the entries are submitted by caravanners/motorhomers who have used the sites. There are few places they haven't been, and they tend to "tell it like it is". It really is about the best going, especially for Spain and Portugal. Guide 1 also includes France, so a bumper bundle. It is available to members and non-members alike, and can be ordered from the Caravan Club's website, or over the 'phone. Don't leave home without one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Fully agree with all of the above wisdom. From what I've been told, main thing about reversed polarity seems to be that continental appliances have switches which break both sides of the circuit, so they don't give a monkeys which way round their supply is wired. Our cheapskate kit has "single-pole" switches, so if they're wired wrong way round the body of the appliance can stay "live" even when it's switched off. I carry a mains-tester screwdriver and a short lead with the connections reversed, so I can correct it when I find it. One thing to add about your trip - make sure you call on Bruce and Kathy (aka BGD and Sparkle - Bruce's profile & signature give his website). They get upset if they think people don't love them :'( ! Enjoy yourselves Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Hi, I agree with everything that has been said, the only thing i would add is that the return ferry crossings from France to the UK if not pre booked can be very expensive as we found to our cost, albeit you shouldn't have a problem finding a crossing. Just as an additional bit of information as you are traveling outside of the main seasons you may find the Camping Card ACSI a very good companion as the discounts are very good and it covers all of the areas on your intended trip Hope that helps, and enjoy your trip, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prewelli Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow - Inever expected to get such comprehensive helpful replies - what wonderful group of people!!! Unfortunately we booked the Santander crossing ( horrendously expnsive) before everyone told us about the bay of biscay and how much cheaper we could get crossings elsewhere - Que sera!!! I have got some camping cheques and having looked at the book will ordermore - also have ACSI The Gas question was most comprehensively answered - now looking to see who could fit the refillable gaz bottles quickly and economically. Reverse Polarity - we have purchased a testedand made up a reverse connection so thanks for the help. Finally I dont want to upset Bruce or Sparkle but how do I find them - being very new to the forums and how the profiles work. Again many many thanks if the people we meet are as nice as you we wont have much to worry about. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkmoy Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 We're spending 3 weeks on the Costa Verde in September, travelling via Santander. I have been looking at the Camping Card website but can't seem to find any definition of 'low season'. Does anyone know what this is considered to be in that area? I've also had a look at the camping cheque gold card but there don't seem to be any participating sites on that coast except one in Santander so it doesn't seem to be much use to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Aha - now you've found Bruce (BGD) and Kathy (Sparkle)...... We live in a little Spanish village about 5 kms inland from Altea (which is a town about 10 kms north of Benidorm on the main N332 coast road that runs down through the Costa Blanca). If you've got any more "Spanish questions" let us know and we'll help if we can. Welcome to the MMM Towers Home for the Dazed and Confused by the way......... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac111051 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Hi most things seam to have been coverd, with reversed polarity , make yourself a hookup lead about a foot long and reverse the wiring on the one end ie connect the live wire to the neutral conection and the neutral to the live, then if you get reversed polarity plug this into your van and your hookup into the other end this puts the polarity correct, this is normal practice, never book anything without seeing it first ,only ever book in for one night you can always extend next day when you know what you are getting , take site guides with a pinch of salt , in France we always try to use municipal sites most are cheap and allways within walking distance of the town or village, nothing wrong with wild camping and you would be unlucky to have a problem but we allways feel safer on a site, never bother about getting lost you allways end up somewhere and theres usually a camp site there, allways carry a camping card this saves leaving your passport with the campsite have a great time, Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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