Europe In Our Motorhome

Wednesday 16^th August 2017 – Blackhorse Farm Caravan and Motorhome Club Site

This will be our final post on this blog.

We are now the proud owners of a new Carthago Motorhome and have set up a new blog to record our travels in our new van.

Below you will find a link to our new blog

http://europeinourcarthago.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/blog-post.html

Monday 5^th March 2017 - Falesia Motorhome Parking Algarve, Portugal

N37°05’25” W8°09’37”

We left Benidorm on Monday 26^th February heading for the Algarve, we stopped overnight at a shell service station on the A92 about 45km before Serville. N37°16.189’ W5°30.099’

On Tuesday we stopped at the Repsol Services about 100km before Portugal to fill up with LPG, this place is also ok for an overnight stop N37°20.908 W6°25.392’

We arrived in Portugal at about 9.30am, our first stop Lidl at Villa Real to do a bit of shopping. The car park was a bit crazy. Over a dozen motorhomes, mostly French, many who looked like they had spent the night there.

We called in at the Manta Rota aire but it was completely full, we decided that we would head for the Motorhome parking at Falesia. We were very lucky they found us a spot to park and after 2 nights we moved onto a pitch with electric hook up.

The Algarve is so busy we think we will probably stay here until we are ready to start our journey back to the UK. We are excited about going back as we should be picking up our new Carthago Motorhome mid May.

Falesia Motorhome Parking Algarve, Portugal

Falesia Motorhome Parking Algarve, Portugal

Sunday 27^th November 2016 – Villasol Camping, Benidorm, Spain

We arrived at the campsite at about 9.30am, the site wasn’t as busy as we expected and we have a nice flat pitch. There are a few other British motorhomes parked near to us so Paul has plenty of people to talk to.

We had a renunion with the 3 couples we worked with at Barny this year who were all in Beni and have met up for a tapas afternoon with a group from motorhome fun.

The weather hasn’t been great but the forecast is looking a bit better. There is loads to do here even when the suns not shining.

Villasol Camping, Benidorm, Spain

Then The Rain Came

Saturday 26^th November 2016

We set off just as it was getting light, we had a long drive today and decided to spend the night in a picnic area just off the A7 about 160km from Benidorm.

We were parked far enough from the road so the traffic noise not a problem, but early morning the parking area got very busy, lots of cars pulling in, turning around and flashing their headlights!

Paul went outside to investigate and came to the conclusion that we had parked in a place that was being used for dogging.We packed up and left earlier than we had planned.

Friday 25^th November 2016 – Heading for Benidorm, Spain

We have been at Falesia for more than 2 months and have decided to head into Spain. We have booked a pitch on Villasol Camping in Benidorm, we have booked 90 days to get the cheaper rate of €15.50 per night.

It’s about 880km to Benidorm. We set off mid morning planning to look for an overnight stop the other side of Seville.

We stopped overnight at a service station about 200km before Granada.

Monday 12 September 2016 – Falesia Motorhome Parking Algarve, Portugal

N37°05’25” W8°09’37”

We were pleased to find that some of the N125 has been resurfaced (bits of it still feel like your van is going to be shaken apart) they have also added quite a few roundabouts.

We called into Lidl at Albufeira on our way here.

N37°05.689’ W8°14.982

We have found that it’s an easier drive to the Aire from Lidl than from the N125.

When we arrived it was good to see that the same guys are running the aire. There were a few spaces free and we have a nice pitch.

It costs €8.50 a night to stay here, that includes EHU, water and wifi.

We usually don’t arrive here until November, the town and the beach are much busier in September. Most of the vans here are staying for just a few nights.

At the moment by lunch time the aire is full.

It was nice to see the same people running the aire, we have to make sure we have a cold beer for Jack the Dutch guy when he stops by in the afternoon.

Falesia Aire

Lidl at Albufeira

Falesia Aire

Falesia

Sunday 11^th September 2016 – Repsol Services A49, Spain

N37°20.926’ W6°23.375’

Today we drove over 1000km and spent the night at a the first Repsol Service Station after Seville about 100km from the Portuguese border.

We arrived just as the sun was setting, it’s been so hot today we decided it was better to be driving with the air con on than being parked up in the +30°c temperatures.

We parked with a few lorries, no water here but the fuel station sells GPL.

Repsol Services A49 Spain

2nd Repsol Services A49 Spain 2nd

Saturday 10^th September 2016 – Zumaia Motorhome Parking, Northern Spain

N43°17.562’ W2°14.852’

We travelled about 900km today. When we got to Bordeaux the traffic was terrible, the A63 was closed and we ended up on the A65 and D824 to get back on the A63 to cross into Spain.

We arrived at Zumaia at about 7.30pm, we have stopped here before but always in the winter when there have been at most ten vans parked here.

There must have been 100 vans parked up, mostly Spanish families. We did wonder if it may have been quieter parking next to a refrigerated lorry at the A63 services but were so tired even the screaming Spanish toddler on a small bike didn’t stop us form sleeping

The parking is on an industrial estate next to the river, it’s free and has water and a service point.

Zumaia Aire

9^th September Friday 2016 – Lezoux Aire, Limousin, France

N45°49.617’ E3°23.152’

We had a longer drive today, about 340km to a free aire at Lezoux not far from Clermont-Ferrand.

The aire is not far from the A89 toll road and is in a large car park at the Samian Pottery Museum, there is a motorhome service point, no charge for parking or water.

It’s very hot again today, over 30°c and there’s not much shade here.

There is a Carrafour supermarket about 10 minutes from the aire.

Lezoux

Samian Pottery Museum

Thursday 8^th September 2016 – Dole Aire, Eastern France

N47°04.402’ E5°29.157’

We left Baume-les-Dames early and stopped off at the Super U supermarket to do some shopping. Tonight we are staying at Dole, only 1 ½ hours driving today.

We are parked in a large car park next to the water park, there is a service point at the entrance to the car park. There is no charge for parking or water here.

It’s a quiet spot next to the river but no river views, not far from the A36 and ok for a one night stop.

Dole

Dole Service Point

Dole

Monday 5^th September 2016 Baume les-Dames Aire, Eastern France

N47°41.714’ E7°01.202’

We arrived at the Aire just after 10am, it’s a 6km drive from the A36.

When we arrived there were lots of motorhomes leaving, there Aire is next to a canal in a quiet location. It’s €9.70 per night to stay here, that includes water and an electric hook up (our first time with electricity since we left the UK). There are showers and toilets here and a place to wash your dishes.

There is a Super U supermarket and fuel station with GPL 5 minutes walk from the aire. There are washing machines at the supermarket.

This is a very popular Aire, by 2pm it was almost full. Many motorhomes arrived later in the day to find there was nowhere to park.

We like it here and have decided to stay for 3 nights, a lady arrives at about 6pm to collect the parking fees, we think she likes you to pay for one night at a time, Paul paid for 3 and she got rather cross with him, she had to write out 3 tickets and mark our pitch off on 3 copies of her sight map!

Baume les-Dames Aire

GPL Stop

Baume les-Dames

Baume les-Dames Aire

Baume les-Dames

Baume - Les - Dames

Baume Dames les

Baume Dames les GPL

Sunday 4^th September 2016 – A36 Motorway - Aire de Andeot , France

N47°41.714’ E7°01.202’

Today we were heading for a stellplatze at Stockack not far from Lake Constance, we arrived there fairly early, it’s €12 a night to stay here, next to what we think was a motorhome dealer (it’s Sunday so it’s shut). The stellplatze looked a bit uncared for and we think you have to get water from the campsite opposite which was quite a walk.

We decided not to stop here and entered the co-ordinates for an aire in France. We were travelling on the A36 toll road, because it’s a Sunday many for the parking places on the toll road are completely full of lorries (lorries are not allowed on the French roads on a Sunday), the parking places in Germany were also full as we approached the French boarder.

The drive today has been very scenic, along the shore of Lake Constance then through the mountains on the way to Freiburg.

We found a place to stay overnight on the A36 in France as we would not arrive at the Baume-les-Dames Aire until early evening. We try to arrive by 2pm as we are a large motorhome will have time to find another place to stay if there is not a suitable place for us to park. There are no services or fuel on the motorway aire, just toilets, we spent an uneventful night parked with a couple of lorries.

French Border

Stockack Stellplatze

Friday 2^nd September 2016 - Fussen, The Romantic Road

N47°34’57” E10°42’11”

Our first trip out on the bikes today, we cycled about 5km to the fairy-tale castles of of Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. The cycle paths are all mostly off road and fairly flat, it’s very hot again today so it was very pleasant riding through the shaded woodland. As you get closer to the castles you catch glimpses of them through the trees.

We left the bikes at the bottom of the mountains and walked for about 20 minutes us a tarmac road that winds around the mountain and leads you to the base of the castle. There is no traffic on this road just people on foot and the horse pulled carriages that for €14 each will take you to the top. The walk is not that difficult and is mostly in the shade of the forest but half way up €14 didn’t sound like such a lot to pay for a ride!

The views from the top are amazing and the castle looks like something from a Disney film.

Thursday 1^st September 2016 – Fussen, The Romantic Road

N47°34’57” E10°42’11”

Last night we had torrential rain and a massive thunderstorm, it was still raining this morning at 8am when we walked over to the service centre. We were so pleased that they had a replacement for the diesel cap that Paul left in Luxemburg, it cost €20, that included the key barrel to match the other locks on the motorhome.

We set off just before 9am for Fussen which at the bottom of the Romantic Road, about 1 hours drive from Isny.

There are two stellplatze here both very close to each other, we are staying on the one nearest to the main road. They both cost €14 a night plus €2.50 for EHU. There is no charge for water. You pay at the Sports Studio opposite, you can get free wifi there and they are very helpful.

There is a small repair and accessories shop on this stellplatze and they have a good selection of spares. (I was pleased that they didn’t have a diesel/water filler cap having waited in Isny for two days for the service centre to reopen!)

There are 3 supermarkets less than 5 minutes walk from the stellplatze, we have walked into the town, it took about 20 minutes. It’s a lovely town, surrounded by mountains with lots of street cafes and restaurants and a surprising number of shops selling traditional Bavarian costumes.

The sun is out this afternoon and its really warm again. There are lots of cycle paths here and tomorrow we are going out exploring on our bikes for the first time on this trip.

Fussen Stellplatze

Sports Studio

2nd Stellplatze

Fussen

Tuesday 30^th August 2016 – Dethleffs Factory Stellplatze, Isny

N47°42.112’ E10°03.090’

It was very hot again today and we had a long drive. We encountered lots of hold ups on the A6 & A8 motorways, lots of road works and a few accidents.

When we arrive in Insy we went to the Service Centre first only to find that it is closed for the last 2 days of August as they are stock taking before the start of the new financial year on 1^st September.

The factory is also closed while they complete the stock take but the stellplatze is open.

We have paid €6 to stay here for 2 nights, when we stayed here in 2011 it was free for Dethleffs owners. If you are getting work done at the service centre they will stamp you parking receipt and you can get a refund.

We will call in at the service centre on Thursday morning and are hoping they can get a replacement diesel cap for us. We are hoping to move on to Fussen.

Dethleffs Service Centre

Dethleffs Factory

Isny

Monday 29^th August 2016 – Worms Stellplatze

N49°38’4” E8°22’30”

We stayed at Sankt Aldegund for a week, the weather has been amazing, a bit too hot to be honest, we have now added an air conditioner to the list of must haves on our next van.

For the last two days we have been parked next to Chris and Audrey, a lovely couple from England. Great company and had such a good laugh with them. We hope to bump into them again sometime.

After saying goodbye to our neighbours we set off to fill up with LPG and do a bit of food shopping at Globus.

It’s very hot again today and we didn’t want to drive all day, we are parked in the stellplatze at Worms. There is room for about 20 motorhomes, the parking is fairly flat, there are a few electric hook ups here, €1 for 4 hours, there are no other services here. €5 for one night parking.

The entrance is a bit narrow for large motorhomes.

The parking is just a couple of minutes walk from the Rhine (no river views). There is an industrial port area on one side of the stellplatze which isn’t very attractive but the walk along the river towards the bridge is very nice.

There is a fair opposite the stellplatze, not sure if it’s a permanent thing. We have been for a wander around it, there are lots more food and beer stalls than rides.

We found a motorhome service point while we were out, it’s nearer to the road bridge over the river off a side street. Not easy to find and not well designed.

We are going to head for Isny tomorrow.

Worms Stellplatze

Worms

Worms

Worms

Motorhome Service Point Not On Stellplatze

Monday 22^nd August 2016 – Sankt Aldegund Stellplatze, Mosel, Germany

N50°4’44” E7°7’52”

We have decided that Monday is a good day to move, the Mosel is very busy but people seem to be stopping for a few days then moving on. There are so many stellplatze on the Mosel you should always get in somewhere, we try to be parked up by mid day.

We called in at Globus on the way to St Aldegund, did a bit of shopping and filled up with LPG and diesel.

We were heading for the stellplatze at Neef but we spotted this one at St Aldegund.

Our motorhome is parked about 10m from the river with a wonderful view from the cab. After a couple of days of showers we are back to blue skys and uninterrupted sunshine. The temperature has been over 30°c.

It costs €7 a night to park, electricity is an extra €2. Water is free here so no hunting around for a 10 cent coin when you want to fill up your water container.

This place is quieter than the place at Neef, there is a railway line on the opposite side of the river which can be a bit noisy. At Neef it runs directly behind the stellplatze.

There are not many shops (plenty of places to buy wine) here but we stocked up with food and drink at Globus. There is a small well stocked supermarket opposite the stellplatze that sells fresh milk and bread.

Just along from the stellplatze there is a snack bar, nice food and cold beer.

Not sure how long we will stay here, maybe a week then head further south as we are planning a visit to the Detheleffs factory in Isny.

Sankt Aldegund

Friday 19^th August 2016 – Zell Stellplatze, Mosel, Germany

N50°1’0” E7°10’33”

We got an early start today, emptied our waste water and filled up with fresh water at the service point at Enkirch then headed for the Globus supermarket near Zell.

Globus Supermarker – N50°01.643’ E7°09.431’

Globus is a large supermarket with a petrol station which also sells LPG. There is also a Lidl and Aldi here.

We are staying on the stellplatze at Zell for 3 days, it’s really busy on the Mosel but there are so many places to park you should always be able to find somewhere to spend the night. As a last resort there is free motorhome parking at Globus and they don’t mind if you overnight there.

The Zell Stelplatze is on two levels the top part had metered electricity. It costs €7 a night to stay here, the EHU is €1 for 2kw.Water is €1 for 100ltr or €0.10 for 10ltr.

A man comes round at about 8pm to collect the parking fees. Motorhomes are also parked on the grass on the opposite side of the road.

We are parked at the front of the lower level with a nice view of the river. It’s a bit noisier here as we are nearer to the road.

Zell is a lovely town, lots of pavement cafes and wine shops, there are plenty of cycle paths and footpaths around here, the walk along by the river is lovely.

A bakers van calls in at 9pm, nice rolls €0.40 each.

Paul has made friends with a couple from the Netherlands who have been round for coffee. They have a really old dog that gets pushed around in an electric cart.

Zell

Globebus

Zell

Monday 15^th August –Stellplatze, Somewhere on the Mosel Germany

We left the UK on the 7.20am Eurotunnel, had a long, hot drive through France, Luxembourg and into the Mosel Germany.

We were very tired when we arrived, spent our first night on a Stellplatze at the Trier end of the Mosel but we’re not sure which one!

Paul has unfortunately left the cover to our diesel filler at a filling station in Luxembourg. Diesel was only €0.94 but now we have to go on a search for a replacement cap.

Urzig Stellplatze

Stellplatze

Tuesday 16^th August - Enkirch Stellplatze, Mosel Germany

N49°59’5” E7°7’12”

We both slept well last night, the weather is gorgeous, sunshine, blue sky and just a breath of wind.

The Stellplatze is €8 per night or €7 if you stay for three nights. €1.00 for 80 to 100 ltrs of water. You can get wi-fi from the tourisum office in the town €1.00 per day.

We have paid for 3 nights, our water filler cap it the same as the diesel filler so we have swapped it over, our water filler is currently covered by the top from a tin of drinking chocolate.

We are going to chill out here for a few days.

Enkirch Stellplatze

Enkirch Tourist Office

Enkirch

Sunday 14^th August 2016 – Blackhorse Farm Caravan Club Site

We have just spent a lovely couple of days in Bournemouth celebrating Lynne’s sons wedding and are now at the Caravan Club Site at Blackhorse Farm ready to get on the Eurotunnel tomorrow morning.

We are planning to be out until early April 2017, not sure where we’re going, watch this space!

Blackhorse Farm Caravan Club Site

Europe In Our Motorhome

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Sunday 14 August 2016