Hi all,
Does anyone have any experience with 30+ft motorhomes? We are thinking of buying one and wonder whether it's would be a problem camping on the continent? Will it be too big? Or will we have to pay for a double stand?
Thanks
Hi, As already stated it will be a problem albeit not insurmountable, however, I would certainly recommend that you book ahead when travelling as a lot of campsites can't handle that size vehicle either, and even if they can they may not want to?
I have noticed recently on another forum that one or two of the RV owners have started to down size to European sized vehicles, I don't know why, but I think the rises in fuel costs could well have something to do with it.
Having said that some of the RV's are really fantastic vehicles and if I could afford the fuel I could well be tempted myself,
Best of luck with what ever you purchase
There is a RV owners club forum, where I think you will find a lot more information on that type of vehicle www.rvoc.co.uk
You won't be charged double on aires but on campsites you may only find you can get on the 'super' pitches as offered by some larges sites which of course cost more. Plenty of large motorhomes are about in France. But fact is, the larger the vehicle, the more forward planning you need to do. In popular tourist areas motorhome aires are packed Jul/Aug & you may struggle to find space with any motorhome but outside those periods you should be ok.
Some tourist areas of France have very narrow roads but fact is coaches & heavy trucks use these roads & so do large motorhomes. Truck drivers are well used to getting out of tricky situations in heavy traffic on narrow roads & if you get in this sort of situation you just have to sort it out. Size of the motorhome is no bar to stop you touring on the continent, you just have to be able to handle that size of vehicle in any situation.
The good thing about France is that it is very motorhome friendly & usually nobody objects to you overnighting on town carparks or any spare patch of land really.
Ours is just 30' and we've been turned away from sites in the UK and I overheard someone at the NEC saying they'd had trouble in France this year in a van smaller than ours (other peoples conversations are far more interesting!) Having said that with a bit of planning it's been a really good summer spent in it!
Thanks everyone. This really is a conundrum as it will be our home. We are giving up our rented flat and going to tour all over the continent.
Re the fuel, Pete is thinking of converting it to LPG, which will save on the fuel costs.
Thanks Tentz for the tip re parking in France, and Pete says the same thing. If those huge trucks can get around the Black Forest, then he should be able to in an RV
I'm afraid it will also be the same in Italy, you say thinking of converting to LPG, is the camper petrol???? i would have thought that size it would have a big(at least 10 cylinders) diesel which cannot be converted to LPG. By the way we toured around in europe for a whole year, but it was not in a yankey, we were very happy with our at the time choice of a rapido 6.35 metres coachbuilt. Never had any problems in many campsites as far down PUGLIA in Italy, and as far as Albufeira in Portugal.
Hi, I wish you well in your endeavours, sounds like a great plan.
Assuming that the vehicle is petrol and you can get it converted to run on LPG. Don't do a straight Litre of Petrol = a Litre of LPG as it doesn't, LPG is weaker than Petrol when used as road fuel you need to add at least another 20% onto the cost of a Litre of LPG to make it equiverlent.
Thanks, yes it does make sense. I also looked up a good website on LPG and we have decided not to go that route. Also, rethinking getting a huge RV. Thanks to Wineciccio for the info as we definitely want to travel around Italy, also Greece and Turkey where I know a bigger rig is a problem. Thinking now of a smaller vehicle with perhaps an annexe to extend the living qtrs. My problem is that I am disabled and won't be able to manage climbing up to the overhead bed. Still researching though so everyone's input has been very helpful. I love this forum
i use a mini artic and a twenty foot artic trailer . been using it for 12 yrs now . hardly ever have problems . total length is 33 ft. gets just about anywhere . living in your motor home isnt as easy as it first seems driving licence registration . insurance all need an address . mot and taxing needs to be done every year in uk . its possible now for eu police to track your vehicle on the computer . there are many ouit there but lots are having problems that they havent thought through.
think hard about things .
Thanks, yes we realised that and will be using our son's address as we will stay with him for about a month every 3 months or so to have a break from travelling.
I am doing a lot of research and believe me we are thinking about nothing else. It's hard to think of all the angles. That's why this forum is so helpful
hi all, just an update.We won't be living in it full time - it hadn't registered that it's illegal. (Mind too full of other things is my excuse ) We found an older model 4 seater Auto Trail Cheyenne with a U shaped lounge that suits us. We can't wait to have our first trip. We should get in in about two weeks.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: 30+ RV
By the way we toured around in europe for a whole year, but it was not in a yankey, we were very happy with our at the time choice of a rapido 6.35 metres coachbuilt. Never had any problems in many campsites as far down PUGLIA in Italy, and as far as Albufeira in Portugal. 
) We found an older model 4 seater Auto Trail Cheyenne with a U shaped lounge that suits us. We can't wait to have our first trip. We should get in in about two weeks. 
