Just come back from California tour with El Monte. Van was almost identical to Fraserway van we had in Canada last year. However, this year we had to buy microwave friendly cups and casseroles. There was nothing in the van suited to a microwave. Insufficient bedding for the mountain areas. Fraserway were a much better set up. Sat nav was limited. Others in the group has their own UK sets and they were much better than the US ones - up to date info being one element. Some of our group had been on an earlier tour woth Road bear - and El Monte were seen as the better of the two. Faint praise! Campsites are very expensive and have limited loo block facilities - 1 shower on some sites. The idea would seem to be- make full use of the van facilities. Prices ranged between 60 and 100 dollars a night. Be prepared for no grass and plenty of concrete. However several had a guard (no guns!)on the gate. The vans all had on board generators. NB single ply toilet paper is compulsory.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I guess that if you are on an organised tour you don`t get a choice of where to camp, but in my experience if you want to experience the real USA then stay away from the commercial "concrete" campsites and stick to National Parks and State Parks etc. That way you can sit around a campfire every night watching the stars, and meeting new friends, and if the commercial prices quoted above by `ldpdmp` are anything to go by you will save money too.
This is why we organise our own trips. I plan our route well in advance, detailing what we want to see en route and where we want to stay. Then I book everything ourselves. I avoid commercial sites like the plague, as I said before sticking to National, and State parks and forest sites. Most of these can be booked in advance, but in quiet times and more out of the way areas it is not necessary. In my planning, I make a note of all the campground co-ordinates for the sat nav. Our Canadream motorhome had a built in sat nav.
I've done a couple of organised tours, and since then we do our own thing. OK we miss out on the group activities, but we get a tour better suited to us, we avoid commercial sites, we can go for as long as we like and the cost is about half of an organised tour.
This summer it cost us about £3500 for both of us for the van hire, mileage charges, extra bedding (we always order extra), hotel accommodation and flights from our local airport via Amsterdam. That was for 5 weeks and nearly 4000 miles.
On top of that was fuel (about £400) and campground fees which came in at just over £300. If you stay on park sites, you tend to use your own facilities, and often eating out is not really an option. This really keeps cost down as eating out in the USA is no longer cheap.
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: RV hire in USA
