for an ad-free Fetcheveryone experience!

Fetch Camper Vans

99 watchers

forest plodder May 2024 2:19pm, 13 May 2024 2,548 posts	Quote Pin forest plodder Thanks Dillthedog. Still hope to go there (and do the parkrun). The Tredegar NT site also appeals. The benefit of England is that we get free bus journeys for exploring further afield. Shame they aren't valid UK wide
Big_G May 2024 3:58pm, 13 May 2024 3,486 posts	Quote Pin Big_G We are off to Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany in a few weeks, with a stop off in France for a couple of nights on the way back. We know NL very well, and the reason we're going to Luzembourg is to see a friend, and the city does look very nice too. Main thing we'll be doing in Germany is exploring the Black Forest, and probably we'll be basing ourselves in Freiburg, which looks very nice. We've found a site with miles and miles of what seem to be runnable trails right by the site, so that will be good if I am doing some running by then, and it also is an easy walk into the Freiburg. Also hoping to get a couple of different parkruns in - one in NL and one in Germany. We've sorted the paperwork to get the dog back into UK (although my OH is a vet, we need to see a vet before travelling home), so it's coming together. Van has MOT and service before we travel, so all being well we should be good to go.
Mandymoo May 2024 4:20pm, 13 May 2024 18,950 posts	Quote Pin Mandymoo That sounds fabulous - we are thinking of Luxembourg and Germany on the way back from Annecy is September
Ally-C May 2024 4:32pm, 13 May 2024 5,613 posts	Quote Pin Ally-C I’ve only driven abroad in Ireland & South Africa 😀
Rosehip May 2024 5:47pm, 13 May 2024 31,977 posts	Quote Pin Rosehip too much UK left to explore yet, 'abroad' will have to wait until Husband retires. In a car park in Tintagel tonight, OK for £5. Does anyone know any good cheap/free parkups down here? Have all the aps but Fetchie recommendations would be good too
GimmeMedals May 2024 8:48pm, 13 May 2024 26,987 posts	Quote Pin GimmeMedals I don't know of any, Rosehip. We always stay on sites in Cornwall. But I'm keen to hear of any, so we can extend our September visit.
forest plodder May 2024 9:15am, 14 May 2024 2,550 posts	Quote Pin forest plodder Trip sounds great Big_G I'm keen to try and fit in an overseas parkrun during a campervan trip, so we'll have to go somewhere other than France! I'm afraid I can't personally recommend anywhere in Cornwall Rosehip. Good to know Tintagel worked out well.
Big_G May 2024 9:59am, 14 May 2024 3,487 posts	Quote Pin Big_G Rosehip, I’m lucky as I am able to do both UK and Europe. I love the UK but crossing to Europe on the ferry feels like a proper adventure somehow. I keep on saying to OH that one time, from NL, we should actually go north rather than going south back to France/Germany, as I fancy Denmark, possibly a ferry to Norway etc (never been to either Denmark or Norway). To get into southern Denmark it’s about 5hrs from her parents place in Zwolle, so doable. We’d need 3 weeks at least though, which we can manage if we wanted to do it. It’s difficult to explain, but getting on the ferry in UK and getting off in France feels special to me every time. Brittany Ferries have a slogan along the lines of ‘your holiday starts here’, and I really feel it does. I also want to go Plymouth to Santander, but we can’t do it all, and that’s a long ferry journey. But in UK we’ve had some great trips - lakes, Scotland, NI, weekends away in numerous places, overnight before races. I live in Devon so don’t tend to use the van much in Devon and Cornwall although I am going to a gig at Eden Project in June so we’re using the van for that. Forest plodder, last year I did three European parkruns from the van - Milano Nord, Dreiländergarten and Sonsbeek. All great but Dreiländergarten was memorable, mainly because of the location. If you look at this map, it’s in Germany but basically right on the border with Switzerland and France, which both don’t currently have parkrun, so although a small event (40 finishers when I did it on a clear, summer’s day), it was an interesting mix of people.
cathrobinson May 2024 10:32am, 14 May 2024 12,561 posts	Quote Pin cathrobinson For those who have converted vans themselves, how easy is it to get the V5 changed, and is insurance a pain?
RunningRonnie May 2024 10:52am, 14 May 2024 3,114 posts	Quote Pin RunningRonnie Almost impossible to change the V5 now. You need a permanent high top, graphics on the side and some other stipulations before they will consider it. It doesn't make a lot of difference though, as DVLA state that it is purely to allow the police to recognise the vehicle in traffic and does not affect insurance or speed limits. I do wonder what average speed cameras use in order to determine what speed you should be doing (ie 60 in a non-converted van, but 70 in a motor caravan). Insurance is easy. I went with a specialist broker who understand the conversion market. They just took a note of all of the conversions that are on the van. There are a bunch of them out there.