motorhome and away

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UK touring
European Touring
UK campsites
Europe Sites & Aires :
2005	2006
2007	2008
2009	2010
2011	2012
2013	2014
2015	2016
Touring Europe Tips
France an Introduction
Austria and Switzerland
Links
Motorhome Tips

Latest . . .

Our tour around France 2016

Part 1 From Normandy to the Île de Ré

Part 2 - Coast to Pyrenees

Part 3 - To the Med then Inland

Part 4
Millau to the Creuse

Part 5 - To Giverny and the Coast

Germany Austria Italy & France 2015

Part 1 Holland to Bodensee

Part 2 Wet Bavaria
to sunny Carinthia

Part 3 A few days in Venice

Part 4 Lake Garda to Milan EXPO

Part 5 A slow drive through France

Spain & France 2014

Features

The Córdoba Patio Festival

Villafranca Romeria

Through central Spain to France

A Meander through France

France 2013

Northern Germany Netherlands and Denmark 2012

Our USA Trips

California 2010
San Francisco, Yosemite and Pacific Coast Highway

New England USA in the Fall 2012

France Spain and Portugal 2011

France 2010
To the Mediterranean coast and back via Brittany

Europe trip 2009
around France, Switzerland and the Italian Lakes

Europe 2008
Germany, Austria Czech Republic and Hungary

France Spain 2007
West coast, Northern Spain, Pyrenees, Dordogne and Loire
Millau Viaduct

Europe 2006
Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Dolomites, Savoie, Provence and
Auvergne

France & Italy 2005
Auvergne, Tuscany Venice, Italian Lakes, Jura and Vosges

Our European tour costs

Campsites
an Introduction

Touring Europe
A Beginners guide

UK campsites visited
2016

2015

2014

Previous years

Features:

A friend's Tour des Grandes Alpes
and
Tour of Sotland in 2011

WW2 Martyrs village
Oradour-sur-Glane

An amazing place to visit in France . . .
The Palais Ideal at Hauterives, Drôme

Our motorhomes:

Adria Twin

Autosleepers Symbol

Fitting deadlocks to a Peugeot Boxer

visit our home site www.stevepyke.co.uk

Welcome to our website for motorhome enthusiasts.
Follow our travels through Europe, the UK and the USA, places we've stayed at and practical DIY tips and advice.

We use our motorhome frequently throughout the year combining a trip to Europe for a couple of months with shorter stays touring Great Britain.

To share our enthusiasm we started this website about twelve years ago as a wintertime hobby to provide useful information about our travels, places we've discovered and sites we have visited with plenty of our photos. We have also added write ups of our tours around California using motels in 2010 and New England in 2012.

We use a mix of campsites, preferably more basic ones, and overnight stops at official "aires" (but definitely not on motorways!) and occasionally free or wild camping places when we have felt it was secure. All the sites we have visited are listed, with GPS co-ordinates for recent years.

We've also added pages giving practical hints about touring Europe and tips gained from our experiences of using our various motorhomes.

We welcome feedback from our visitors and will try to answer any questions you may have about motorcaravanning and touring. In the past we have answered queries from Motorhomers in the UK, Australia and Canada who are planning to visit Europe. We have also published trip reports submitted by other motorhomers.

We hope you enjoy our site and find some useful information for your future travels!

Latest Updates
January 2017

France 2016 The final stage of our trip and a feature on some Decorated Churches added

Part 5 - To Giverny and the Coast added

France 2016 Part 4 - Millau to the Creuse added

France 2016 Part 3 - To the Med then Inland added

France 2016 Part 2 - Coast to Pyrenees added

December 2016
France 2016 Part 1 - From Normandy to the Île de Ré added

UK sites we stayed at this year added

November 2016
France 2016 summary page added

October 2016
Details added of Campsites and Aires we visited in France this year

April 2016
The final part of our 2015 Europe trip added.
Part 5 A slow drive through France

February 2016
Part 3 A few days in Venice
Part 4 Lake Garda to Milan EXPO added.

Special feature
Details of our Fiat speedo poor visibility solution

Some new links added.

Other trip reports
A Tour of Scotland contributed by Jenny Vowden, to add to her Tour des Grandes Alpes 2010 - an interesting diary of a six week adventure across the French Alps.

Using our Adria Twin and improvements we have made.

This website is our own personal site with no commercial backing or advertising as we just like to share our travel experiences and provide useful information. Whilst you are free to use any information on the site (at your own risk and with due acknowledgement) we would welcome a small contribution via Paypal to help towards our web hosting costs.

Thanks for the donations received so far
Steve and Sheila

New to Motorcaravanning?
To find out what it's all about?
Start here

Córdoba Patio Festival

Freudenberg Germany

Costa Nova Portugal

France Cirque de Gavarnie Pyrenees
Cirque de Gavarnie France

Decorated church at Sous Parsat Creuse France

Mont St Michel

Millau Viaduct - feature


Our Motorhomes
In Spring 2015 as we toured around Southern England we decided to change our six year old Twin for a newer motorhome - one with more space and two single beds. After visiting many dealers we eventually found a motorhome that met our requirements at a dealer's just 25 miles from our home. We now have a Weinsberg CaraCompact MEG600, an entry level (but well specified) version of the Knaus Van Ti which is a compact coachbuilt just a bit wider and longer than our panel van conversion but with plenty of storage. We collected it in July after our 2015 European trip.
We decided to get a new motorhome in August 2009 and still keen to have a van conversion bought a new Adria Twin on a Fiat Ducato Multijet 100 with a fixed bed across the back, half dinette with four belted seats and lots of storage space under the bed. This layout is very popular in Europe and it has suited us for the many trips we have enjoyed even in wet weather. See here for improvements we've made to it.
In 2003 we changed our motorhome to an Autosleepers Symbol Hi-top van conversion on a Peugeot Boxer 1.9 turbo diesel. A typical Autosleepers panel van layout with all facilities. Ideal for two people and small enough to use as our only vehicle but needed a backbox for all our stuff.
Our second motorhome was an Elddis Eclipse coachbuilt on a Renault Trafic 2.2L petrol chassis. A basic compact motorhome that we found ideal for two people, with lots of storage space but underpowered.
Our first motorhome was a Holdsworth Romance HTL Super hi-top conversion on a Renault Trafic (2L petrol). An unusual layout with a good sized kitchen area but no rear door access. (Photo taken at Neufenen Pass Switzerland!)

Places to visit and where to stay in the UK and Europe
Our personal opinions about some of the places we have visited in recent years including all of the campsites and aires we have stayed at in Europe.

Hints and Tips
Useful information about motorhomes and ideas gained from our own experiences over many years of motorcaravanning.

Links page
For motorhomes, camping and touring and other useful websites
NEW All links checked and new ones added October 2016

Get Involved! . . .
For lively discussions on motorhome and related topics and contacts with other motorcaravanners why not subscribe to the UK based mailing list at www.motorhome-list.org.uk

There are various Forums that we contribute to where useful advice and lively comments about motorhoming and other topics are available . . .

Out and About Live hosted by the publishers of Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly (MMM) magazine

Motorhomefacts A very lively forum which also organises members rallies at shows across the UK - annual subscription required to post after initial trial.

The Caravan Club have a Club Together discussion forum for members on their website.

Read about our earlier tours to France in 2001 & 2002

Our Scottish holidays 2000 & 2003

updated 29 Jan 2017

	Motorhome and Away
	*The guide to Motorcaravanning, UK and European touring*