Anyone own a motor home?

[Cinderellas]

Originally Posted by Gingerlife

Have a look at a you tuber called Wandering Bird, they travel all over Europe in their motor home. They are also currently in the process of downsizing theirs and have done a vlog on the pitfalls of owning too large a vehicle especially when driving abroad, covering everything from the cost of road tolls to fuel.
It may just give you something to think about that you hadn't considered before.

See more...

That’s great thank you I’ll tell DH to get on YouTube and watch it as he’s doing the research 😂😂. My worry is that he won’t want to do long haul holidays anymore when he gets one, don’t want to miss out on Florida 😳

[Gingerlife]

Originally Posted by Cinderellas

That’s great thank you I’ll tell DH to get on YouTube and watch it as he’s doing the research 😂😂. My worry is that he won’t want to do long haul holidays anymore when he gets one, don’t want to miss out on Florida 😳

See more...

We have a caravan and said we would do one year in the USA and the next in Europe with the van. We haven't taken the caravan abroad once in 12 years and only tend to do short breaks in it whereas Florida still keeps calling us back! So you never know you may end up the same way 😉

[dizzymcfarlane]

We have one. And have had one for 3/4 years. Love it. As do our Labradors. We go away for weekends and as I work shifts, we go during week as well. We are 40 mins from coast so love going there. It’s not stopped us going abroad. We are off to British Columbia this year for a road trip for three weeks
We are lucky enough to be able to store ours on our drive and use it all year round. Ours has a fixed bed Feel free to ask any questions

[Guest]

we own a old VW splitscreen campervan, also a caravan

Now when people ask me about motorhomes, i always ask " can you drive well " as if you are using it over here, the coast is a tough drive, around where we surf ( cornwall and Devon ) we always see big motorhome drivers unable to get down lanes, they then hold up the traffic for hours, one time down Croyde, the guy couldnt get his van past a parked car, so stopped, made a cuppa and waited, we couldnt go anyways, sat for over 1 hour

[400ixl]

Parents had them for about 10 years, recently swapped to a caravan due to not being able to walk as far where having the car is more convenient.

Layout is definitely the No1 priority you need to think through. Along with how many people will be using it.

A good forum to join is motorhomefun.co.uk where you can get lads of advice.

One of the perks we used the motorhome for was visiting Disneyland Paris. You can park a motorhome in the carpark (they have a designated area) and stay on site. You can use the coach drivers facilities for toilets and showers, you just don't get an electric hook up. If you have an annual pass then staying is free (otherwise its just the normal daily parking rate). When DD was younger we got over 30 days in DLP within a one year annual pass.

When looking at which make / model to get, look at the axle weight and what license entitlements are required to ensure you have them. Bigger heavier vans need different groups.

Consider drive away awnings if you are not going to be towing a car (and be warned about A frame legalities if you are). Awnings can be a pain to put up, the newer air frame ones are quite good. Some have a wind out sunshade which are easier to use.

In Europe Aires sites can be very convenient, but unbookable. They are usually on the edge of small towns and can have no services through to power and water.

vicariousbooks/ do some good guide books for Aires sites. They also do the ACSI card which gives good discounts on thousands of sites across Europe and can pay for itself in a few days.

As people have already mentioned, you have to consider the route you are going to take. Having a sat nav with lorry mode is a good thing to have as it can prevent a lot of the issues.

Highly recommendable way to see Europe. We did many weeks doing camp sites, aires and even wild camping. Will probably look at getting one again at some point in the future.

[Cinderellas]

Originally Posted by 400ixl

Parents had them for about 10 years, recently swapped to a caravan due to not being able to walk as far where having the car is more convenient.

Layout is definitely the No1 priority you need to think through. Along with how many people will be using it.

A good forum to join is motorhomefun.co.uk where you can get lads of advice.

One of the perks we used the motorhome for was visiting Disneyland Paris. You can park a motorhome in the carpark (they have a designated area) and stay on site. You can use the coach drivers facilities for toilets and showers, you just don't get an electric hook up. If you have an annual pass then staying is free (otherwise its just the normal daily parking rate). When DD was younger we got over 30 days in DLP within a one year annual pass.

When looking at which make / model to get, look at the axle weight and what license entitlements are required to ensure you have them. Bigger heavier vans need different groups.

Consider drive away awnings if you are not going to be towing a car (and be warned about A frame legalities if you are). Awnings can be a pain to put up, the newer air frame ones are quite good. Some have a wind out sunshade which are easier to use.

In Europe Aires sites can be very convenient, but unbookable. They are usually on the edge of small towns and can have no services through to power and water.

vicariousbooks/ do some good guide books for Aires sites. They also do the ACSI card which gives good discounts on thousands of sites across Europe and can pay for itself in a few days.

As people have already mentioned, you have to consider the route you are going to take. Having a sat nav with lorry mode is a good thing to have as it can prevent a lot of the issues.

Highly recommendable way to see Europe. We did many weeks doing camp sites, aires and even wild camping. Will probably look at getting one again at some point in the future.

See more...

Thank you some great advice! Will take everything you’ve said into account. There is so much to think about. Thanks all for the replies really appreciated 👍