motorhoming in europe?

Up until June this year I would have said no - however I spent three weeks during the summer with the wife, kid and inlaws (never again!!) in a motorhome driving around Norway.
The country is AMAZING, the views stunning, the weather was fantastic for the first two weeks, and the last week it rained (although still warm)

Campsites are a-plenty, and the Norwegians are really friendly. Have a load of travel docs and campsite stuff I can post to you if you want mate - send me a PM if it interests you.

Jamie,

I have toured extensively in France and also visited N Spain, Holland and Switzerland with my kids in our camper. Happy to let you have details of some good sites and places to visit.

I think I know you so if I catch you at the game today I'll introduce myself. Otherwise drop me a PM and we can catch up shortly.

Rick

Thanks guys

I am certainly interested in any info. Norway sounds nice scott as well as france / spain. I will pm you all with contact info and would appreciate any ideas info you have.p.


Ricardo- yes come and introduce yourself. It would be a pleasure to meet you.

Dave - I have room in the glovebox, I can put a seat in there for you?

Jamie jokes like this are OK


Dave - I have room in the glovebox, I can put a seat in there for you?

but you are making people think I'm some sort of midget mate

I had a nice pm tonight from someone who served me petrol today, wanted to say hello but was not 100% sure it was me, until I drove off in my car.

In his pm he said



And believe it or not you were bigger than expected!


Mind you he did not say which way

Well, I've done a bit of travelling in Europe recently. I managed 9 countries in 16 days. I went down through the centre of france down through the massive central. Then went across towards Italy via Provence and the Cote d'Azur, then the Italian Riviera, down into Tuscany then across Umbria to visit friends in Le Marche. On the return journey it was back up past Bologna, the Ferrari museum at Maranello, past Lake Garda and through the Brenner Pass into Austria and Innsbruck. Then it was into Germany and then Switzterland to visit a mate in Schaffhausen. From there it was back up through Germany past Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne and Leverkusen. The final leg was up throug into Holland to stay with mates in Utrecht, before getting the ferry back to blighty from Ostend!

Most motorways were a pleasure to drive on apart from the Italian ones. The roads are ok, its just the idiots that drive on them. If you take the motorway down through the centre of france its mostly free as well (well from Clermont Ferrand to Montpellier anyway). But the Route National and the D roads are amazing to drive on anyway. I can recommend the town of Bourges, The road from Le Puy en Velay to Les Gorges du Tarn is unbelievable. Its a good job I have an old BMW because if I had an Impreza I would still be grinning like an simpleton at a swimming pool.

Elsewhere in France, Clermont Ferrand and the Puy de Dome are worth a visit. The Le Puy de Dome is this big volcanic mountain which you can actually drive up for 5 euros. The views from the top are great. I would also spend more time in Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and the amazing Mont St Victoire next to it. I didn't have time to see Les Gorges du Verdon but it's known as the Grand Canyon of France.

Italy is an amazing country apart from the idiots on the Autostrade. I was ok doing 80mph but with a motorhome you might find it a bit unpleasant. The trouble is that there are not many decent alternatives to the motorways in Italy. The SS (Superstrada) roads are sometimes well maintained but they are mostly (especially near Perugia and Assisi) as bumpy as a off road track. But this hardship is worthwhile I think. The four regions I've visited the most are Tuscany, Umbria, Le Marche and Abruzzo. The Appenine and the Sibilini mountains are stunning as the best thing is that there's hardly anyone around!

One option I was going to do from Italy was to take the Ferry from Ancona to Split in Croatia. Another option is to take the ferry to Greece and then drive back up through Serbia and Croatia into Slovenia!
There are two decent Ferry booking websites which detail a lot of whats possible and whats not.

www.directferries.co.uk/
www.ferrysavers.co.uk/

Spain is apparently very nice to drive around in. There's also the option of getting the ferry to Morocco which would be cool.

I did a blog of the last road trip.

berthasitalianjob.blogspot.com

Next years Road trip is from London to Amman in Jordan. Only one slightly iffy country (Syria) to drive through. Although I could make it more complicated going via Lebanon or Israel. Its a shame that you can't drive through Algeria and Libya because I would love to drive through the whole of North Africa!!