Since EHU came included with our pitch, we opted to rent a fridge this year for 4 euro a night, which wasn't particularly cheap but turned out a godsend considering the brilliant weather we had this time. It was a full size fridge which also gives you the extra work surface in the tent. We could't have squeezed a mini cooler in the car anyway, let alone a fridge.
We also took a back pack coolbag with us which was great for picnics and supermarket visits - really had to shop around to find one in UK although the French supermarkets stocked loads of them!
------------- Johnny Hamster
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Quote: Originally posted by lizex on 12/8/2007
We went for years buying ice and freezing coolpacks, but over 2 weeks we found it worked out cheaper to get an EHU and rent a fridge.
Liz
This is our solution as well. We always choose a site that has fridge rental as we just dont have the space in the car for a 3 way fridge and a coolbox is not cold enough for the South of France. More and more sites are offering fridge rental for anything from 3 to 6 euros per night. Most bring a domestic larder fridge to your pitch but at one site it was a bank of fridge lockers near reception, about the size of a 3 way fridge, with a key for which you paid a small deposit. If a site you like doesnt mention fridge rental on their website it is worth emailing them to ask.
if you rent a fridge - do you have to provide the cables etc (we don't have EHU), but noticed the sites I am looking at in france do have fridge rental, which would be really handy as we are camping with a toddler.
If we have to provide cables - what would we need to get - and how much would this roughly be?
thanks
Ange
------------- May BH - Cotswold View - 3 nights - Done - FAB!
May Half term - South Lytchett Manor - 7 nights - Done - FAB!
July - 1 week in North Devon @ Warcombe Farm
August - 1 week in the Lakes @ Park Cliffe
if you rent a fridge - do you have to provide the cables etc (we don't have EHU), but noticed the sites I am looking at in france do have fridge rental, which would be really handy as we are camping with a toddler.
If we have to provide cables - what would we need to get - and how much would this roughly be?
thanks
Ange
------------- May BH - Cotswold View - 3 nights - Done - FAB!
May Half term - South Lytchett Manor - 7 nights - Done - FAB!
July - 1 week in North Devon @ Warcombe Farm
August - 1 week in the Lakes @ Park Cliffe
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
You would need a UK EHU lead with 25m cable as a lot of French sites have the EHU on a shared bollard that could be a couple of pitches away. You will also need a continental adaptor available from camping shops as not all French sites have the standard blue Euro Sockets that our EHU fits into. You may also need a Shuko adaptor which is the reverse of the adaptors we take to foreign hotels for plugging in hairdryers etc, available from Maplins. It allows you to plug in a fridge with 2 pin european domestic plug into a standard 3 pin socket on your EHU. We have one of these although each site we have rented our fridge from has loaned us one with the fridge. The pinned topic at the start of this section explains a lot about EHU abroad so it is worth reading that as well. It seems a lot to buy as the lot will come to around £60 but you have them for many years to come.
My fridge this year came with about a 3 foot long cable, had to ask at reception for a 3 pin to 2 pin adaptor to plug into the site EHU, then bought a continental extension cable for about two pounds from the Supermarket.
Try halfords 35ltr Fridge for about £65.00, plugs into a 12v socket in the Car, you can then buy adaptors to plug to convert to standard plugs( dont forget your european adaptor) :-)
I currently have a Combicool cab-40 but find it takes up too much space in the boot when travelling. We just kept it in the awning for drinks. So looking at getting rid and buying one of the Halfords 35 Ltr coolboxes. Have you used the Halfords coolbox in hot weather and if so, did it keep the drinks cold??
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We have one of those beer tent, glass door types of fridge. This year in the south of france its really struggled!! Wine and beer bought room temp took a good day to chill to acceptable temp. We wondered if making a sort of four sided cover out of that silver bubble wrap stuff that you use on the front window of cars would have helped as sometimes the sun shone directly on it depending on what time of day it was. Food was fine in it - just the drinks were the prob!!
Hi, yeap I`d say a fridge is essential in France. We`ve been several times and we use an Igloo, its front or top opening depending on how you want it and you can keep it going on the way there as it comes with an adapter for the ciggie lighter in the car, ours was about £100 but they have come down in price in the last year or so. Any good camping shop should stock them or check out suppliers near you online.
It stocks my wine, hubbys beer, kids drinks plus all the meats cheeses butter yogurts etc I`d highly recommend it.
Enjoy your trip
Midge
We've just returned from France where it got pretty warm and our coolbox kept everything great, cool beers and wine. We bought a cheap one (£40) from Towsure plus all the adapters for ehu and it worked absolutely fine in the van and tent.
We've just returned from France and we took a Halfords coolbox and a small fridge.
We got a small electrolux fridge as a present in our first flat and it is still going strong 23 years later! It was very very useful. The coolbox struggled a bit on really warm days, but otherwise worked well.
James
------------- Everything comes to he who waits
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Just returned from France and used an extreme cooler. Did a good job even on the days it was well over 30 degrees - need to add ice every few days so need to ensure you are staying somewhere you can buy ice (or I think you can use freezer blocks and most campsites provide facilities for refreezing these). Kept all drinks ice cold and no worries with food. I just wish we had bought 2 smaller coolers instead of 1 70QT one - one for drinks and one for food, as we spent more time getting alcohol out than food! and the food kept slipping into the icy water so although it was stored in plastic containers to stop it getting wet it was a bit fiddly.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: help with keeping food chilled!!
