Our April Adventure - Holland 2015!!

[stewby]

So... after much discussion, we have decided to attempt our first trip to mainland Europe with our bongo.


The plan is the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam (I think that's in Holland) on Sunday 26th April (arriving 27th).
Heading home on Friday 1st May again on the overnight ferry (arriving 2nd).


Erm... we are extreme newbies at this sort of thing so any help would be gratefully received. I am away to nosey through the forum just now to see if there any hints or anything. Even simple information would be brilliant...

Wish us luck... We're going to need it. (we need to remember that we drive on the opposite side of the road).

[Bob]

I'm no expert on travelling in Europe, but it sounds like a great trip.

Others will have tips which are actually useful.

[helen&tony]

Hi
Smashing place, Holland. I'm not keen on towns / cities, but I love 'em in Holland!
Driving on the right is easy!
Cheers
Helen

[Gasy]

I like Holland
Travelled all over in a type 2 a few years back for 3 weeks
Real nice people most speak English
A must see is the war graves eye opening
There was no probs with campsites
There is even one nearly in the centre of Amsterdam
Now that's a must do again eye opening , lol

[briwy]

Probably no one there anyway, wherever we go it always seems full of Dutch people travelling around.

Nip over the border to Bruges if you get the chance, beautiful place with good beer and choccy.

[dave_aber]

+1 for Bruges.

On our 'wee' Euro road trip we toured around the Normandy beaches before heading "a wee bit south" (Venice / Slovenia). On the return we went back via Bruges, including Ypres/Somme area.

Admittedly not the most cheery location to visit, but very moving and IMO well worth it.

There's much more to Bruges than sad things though - excellent chips and chocolate to name 2!

[stewby]

Thank you very much for your replies. We are both quite nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road but are hoping that it won't be too busy.

Also... wow!!!!!! your "wee" euro trip have been huge in comparison to our wee trip. It is something that we aspire to do... travel the whole of Europe with our bongo. Our future plan is to have two weeks in each country just touring (not all at once as we couldn't afford that or get all the time off work).


Our first campsite will be near Delft, we are staying here for two nights. This will be a nice short drive from the ferry to break us in gently. It will also allow us to take a train to Amsterdam for the day on the 28th April (our anniversary day).


We are also looking at a campsite near Nijmegen and Arnhem. Again, we are thinking about two nights here.

Finally, we are heading to Belgium to a campsite near Turnhout (which has links to Antwerp) as this is a place my friends have recommended (Antwerp).


Part of me would love to have a night here and there and attempt some wildcamping but I think we should be sensible for our first trip. After all, I don't want a bad experience to put us off attempting a European Adventure again.


If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. I am tempted by Bruges (must be the word chocolate) but am not sure if it is something to attempt this time round. We will be heading back round again, this is just a taster session, so to speak.


P.S: In case anyone thinks my maths is off... we have pushed our homeward ferry back by a day as we have decided to push home from Hull in a oner rather than split it up (it's only seven hours).

[dave_aber]

Our "wee" trip was over 3 weeks;

Elgin - Hampshire (Wickham Festival) - Dover - Dunkirk - Normandy - somewhere near Paris (Aire de service on the Autoroute) - Annecy - Val d'Isere - 2770m Col d'iseran (highest pass in Europe) - Turin - Milan - Verona - Venice - Ljubliana - Bled - Triglav National Park - Salzburg - Munich - Trier - Koblenz - Bruges - Ypres - Dunkirk - Dover - Elgin.

Way, way, way too much driving in 3 weeks. Classic mistake, trying to cover too much ground. We did manage a couple of days in a couple of places, but really I'd like to do it again and spend more time in mid-France, less time in Germany (the food gets tiresome very quickly!) and generally find out more about each area we get to.

That said, the Bongo is an ideal vehicle for point-to-point touring.

[Gasy]

Ya need more than a day in Amsterdam
Will take you half a day to recover from your first cake

[stewby]

Wow.... your wee trip sounds amazing. I am very jealous of it. The idea of taking Billy to Italy sounds very enticing but lets not run before we can walk.


So... does anyone have any experience with the following campsites (I got them ukcampsite as it's the only campsite review place I know):

* Recreatiecentrum Delftse Hout.

* Kleine Camping De Rijnstrangen.

* De Lilse Bergen Campsite.

They seem to be pretty good in the reviews. I know that France does "cheap" campsites (I think they are called aires) where facilities are basic. Do Holland and Belgium do the same sort of thing??


I think I am away to start doing future plans whilst I am at it... so excited about our trip. It's going to be amazing.


P.S: No cake for me gasy... not brave enough to attempt it. If one glass of cider has a serious effect, could you imagine anything harder. I would need the week to recover.

[dave_aber]

Have a browse to Here. The card gives you discount camping, and their book gives you good reviews of campsites allike over Europe. French Aires can be anything from a lay by to a "normal" campsite, so the book is handy to understand what facilities you will be arriving at. Essential in a Bongo! Other European countries also have aires, but possibly not as extensive as France.

[stewby]

Ah.... I have seen that. I think it is the same book as the camping and caravan club are selling. I asked my dad if we could buy it (Dad is main account holder). It is the same one.

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co ... gcardacsi/

Was planning on buying this and the Drivers Hints book (although would it be as useful if we just have the bongo, or do you think it would be more geared to the caravan side of things??)


I am really excited about this trip and can't wait to see how successful it is. If we both enjoy it and the bongo survives, then I think we may attempt France for the next adventure.


Yep... I am getting far too excited about this.


P.S: Am really tempted to stay at an aires to see what it is like. All we would need is a water point I imagine as we could empty the portaloo out at the next campsite. We have a solar panel which should last for a couple of days (without fridge obviously).

[stewby]

So.... Christmas has come and gone and Billy was very lucky (under the guise of my xmas pressies).

We now have two hi-viz waistcoats, two european plug things (one to reverse), a polarity checker and some light beam convertors.... our European toolkit has started.


I have a cheeky question to ask: Do people class the bongo as a car or a campervan??
The price difference in amazing... even using the caravan and camping club discount thing. Would it be really bad to class our bongo as a car... it technically kinda is as it was built as a MPV (I think).

[Bongoplod]

If its still got its eight seats as an MPV,its a car

For the C&CC to accept it as a campervan/motorhome,it needs a sink,cooker,bed and i think, some storage

Brian