We're thinking of keeping our caravan in storage at the Caravan Inn in the Costa Brave from next year. Weighing up the costs, we'd save approx £420 in fuel, tolls & the crossing. Storage is €315 per year, plus €50 towing the van to the site each way (a lot of money I know, but I wouldn't need a tow bar on my fleet car, saving me £360 per year). Bit of a no brainer really.
Does anyone else do this, if so, are there any more pros or cons?
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We don't store in Spain, but in France, in the Ardeche in southern France, and our storage is less than half the cost of yours, (180 euros a year) and it costs nothing to tow to site. The site is somewhere we enjoy spending time, but they're equally happy for us to tow it elsewhere if we want to tour.
You'll need insurance of course - check the costs with your insurers. Depending on the company it may cost more or less than you would pay to store at home. Check that your insurers provide 'repatriation' in the event of an accident that you would rather have repaired at home by a dealer you know.
If you don't have a towbar already then how do you tow currently? Of course if you don't have a towbar then you won't be able to use the caravan anywhere other than sites local to your storage depot. We still love touring, so would feel a bit 'stuck' if we had to keep going back to the same site/area each holiday.
It will still cost you to get there, and you will need overnight hotels en-route if you take your own car. I don't know where you live in England, but we generally stay overnight with our son in London, and then somewhere in France, but adding in the cost of even a cheap hotel, and a meal for two people en-route in each direction, will add to your travel costs as it always costs more to eat out than to make your own food in the caravan. If you need more than one overnight stop then obviously costs rise again.
We can also fly down to a nearby airport and hire a car, which if you get really cheap flights and car hire can be cheaper for two people than a ferry crossing, fuel and hotels.
Another thing to think about is servicing/warranty issues. We used to be able to get ours done by a mobile caravan engineer, but he only visits specific sites and now we'll have to service the van ourselves. My husband is an engineer so will be able to manage this himself.
I think you'll find that the savings are not quite as much as you hope once you've factored in the added costs of staying overnight - but good luck. We've been storing ours in France for about ten years now.
In August we have just towed ours down to the Costa Blanca, south of Alicante. We have left it in storage at a wonderful little caravan site. 250 euro a year. No cost to get onto pitch. For two of us it cost 12 euros a night plus a charge for electric for two of us.
Down the next lane is a firm called Monster Movers who charge around 250 euros a year and 25 euros each way to place on a local site. Car hire is cheap from Alicante airport and flights there can be had cheap.
I live in Luton which is only a 2 hour drive to the tunnel. As I work at Vauxhall, I change my fleet car every 6 months & have the option of adding a tow bar for £30 per month, which I currently do.
We usually take it easy driving down to Spain when towing, stopping twice on the way down, so weighing up the costs of 1 night at a Formula 1 against 2 nights at a campsite, it won't be massively higher.
My son works at the local airport so can get us standby tickets to Barcelona, where we can either hire a car or catch a train to within 10 miles of our campsite, and the campsite provides a shuttle service if required. We'd take this option for the week after Whitsun. We'll be driving down in the summer.
The campsite has everything we want from a holiday; large supermarket, restaurant, entertainment, pub & it's directly on the beach. If we every get fed up with it, we'll just move to another site with similar storage facilities nearby.
Thanks for your replies, even though our storage is more expensive, you have made my mind up, Spanish storage it is then.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I would suggest going a bit further south than the Costa Brava.I love the Costa Brava in summer but the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca are MUCH warmer in winter. The Costa Brava gets quite cold from December onwards. On the other 2 costas you can use your caravan all year round. You might find you prefer camping in the winter. I do. Leaving your caravan abroad is a great idea. I live in Spain and leave one caravan in England and one in Portugal. The Spanish for Caravan storage is "un Parking para Caravana". Many campsites offer VERY cheap rates for people who stay for a few months in the winter. You just have to ask for the cheapest rate and say how long you are staying. Sometimes ACSI is best for a shorter stay http://webshop.acsi.eu/en/campingcard-acsi2016.html?aff=1960&gclid=CJrYrPCtqM8CFfIK0wodFJELMA
Hi Val
I no it was a long time ago you posted this. But we are looking for a good site to store our caravan on would you be able to let me no the name of the site you use thank you Jill
We've been storing for ten years, near Angers, indoors and very secure site ... 195 euros a year ... as we love touring it provides a perfect jumping off point for all points Europe ... i.e left to Germany etc or south for Spain ... we have it serviced immediately after pick-up (thirty miles from storage, and usually do our first stop/set-up at my sister in law's farmhouse north of Angouleme.
The formula is great for us and keeps the list of great places to see/stay ever growing.
Hi, we have been storing on the Costa brava for 12 years. know Caravan Inn well, an occasionally use their spares shop. (in normal years) we visit twice a year, and consider that pays for storage costs with the saving on crossing costs, tolls, fuel etc. We store indoors at 480 euro which includes insurance, transport, cleaning. Absolutely gutted that we haven't been able to visit this year.
Quote: Originally posted by Shipmans on 24/8/2020
Hi, we have been storing on the Costa brava for 12 years. know Caravan Inn well, an occasionally use their spares shop. (in normal years) we visit twice a year, and consider that pays for storage costs with the saving on crossing costs, tolls, fuel etc. We store indoors at 480 euro which includes insurance, transport, cleaning. Absolutely gutted that we haven't been able to visit this year.
We've had no trouble with Caravan Inn..... until this year. We managed to get away for a short break but found that our van had been damaged on the rear (UK) nearside. By the looks of it, it was damaged on the transfer last year. They weren't forthcoming about informing us though and had to barter to get the damage sorted. We've also had problems with their cleaning of the van. Their idea of cleaning is sloshing a hosepipe over it. Ends up more dirty & streaky than before. They did compensate by giving it a thorough clean this year though.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We have 2, one in the Loire and one in the Costa Blanc's. Both old vans (2006) and not worth much so we don,t insure them. Storage for both is around 600 euros. Never crunched the numbers to work costs just a matter of ease and convience. Don't bother with a lecture about insurance. We actually know someone who has 3 in storage, Loire, Costa Brava and Blanca.
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: Leaving caravan in storage in Spain
via mobile 23/8/2020 at 2:56pm
