Preparing for the new season

Our latest recruit

So the touring season is nearly upon as and we cannot wait to get going. One of the consequences of running a tour business is that the van is in use all year. so we have not really had to winter-down the motorhome or bring it back to life - it just sits there on the drive ready to go!


Admittedly there has been a bit of "Autoglym" applied and we are training our youngest grandson how to apply "Simoniz Back to Black" on the bumper (see photo).


The closed season has seen quite a bit of ebay activity and we are looking forward to using the new low wattage kettle and toaster (Wendy's idea) and the new step ladders to get the bikes off (my idea).

Our first trip of the season is Springtime in France tour, which we will run every year even if we are the only people on it! We find that Springtime is a great time to motorhome generally. The weather is on the turn and the campsites are all still fairly quiet. Paris is particularly appealing (and dare I say Romantic) at this time of year and there should be plenty of activity (in terms of flowers rather than romance) in the Tuileries near the Louvre and a little further out in the Luxembourg Gardens, which are our favourite.

Daffs at Keukenhof

We have been keeping a close eye on the daffodil situation is Holland for our trip there later in the month. Apparently the first one popped out in February, so we are hopeful of another grand display this year.

2016 Starts Here

Well it's been ages since we last blogged. In fact we hadn't realised just how long ago it has been. 2015 to be precise! 

That's not to say that we have been doing nothing since then. After we had been to the NEC, we headed straight off to recce a few new sites for our Alps Tour and for our Croatia & Slovenia Tour. 

Lake Bled

Those of you who are coming with us to the Alps will be pleased to know that our two main sites in Austria exceeded all our expectations. Both and 5-star, amazingly well-equipped and both with superb restaurants. So much so that we have organised a group meal in each location!

It turns out that Croatia and Slovenia are very, very quiet in October and November. We literally had the place to ourselves and were often the only van on the some of the campsites we stayed on. We are really looking forward to getting back there in September when it will be a bit warmer and everything will be open!

The Austrian Alps

The thing that most struck us in Slovenia and Croatia is how much of a contrast you get when you move from town to city to coast to countryside. It really is a very varied experience including some mountain driving in the Julian Alps (though nothing to worry about).

So apologies for the long delay. We have been very busy booking up campsites and ferries, writing tour packs and doing lots of boring paperwork. We will be really pleased to get out and about doing what we love at the start of April.

We are now producing a newsletter every month and Wendy will be hammering Facebook once the season starts and we have lots of lovely to photos to share with the world.

THE NEC Motorhome Show

The gates open!

 Out of all of the many exciting destinations we go in Europe, you can't beat Birmingham! To be more specific, the NEC in Birmingham during the Motorhome Show. It would be fair to say that the Caravan Club Temporary Site is not the best campsite we have ever stayed on, but the real highlight is the show itself.

Many of you will have visited the show so know what it's all about. We have the benefit of exhibitor's badges, which gets you into the show before it starts - and that really is fascinating.

We arrived on the Monday afternoon before the show expecting it to all be ready. There was no carpet down and all you could see was a sea of hi-viz jackets, with people beavering away.

Before the gates open

The logistical operation of getting all of the vans, caravans and accessories is mind-blowing. Our set-up is nice and quick so we were gone by 4pm leaving everyone hard at it. When we arrived at 9am the following morning the transformation was complete. All the stalls were ready, the carpet was down and the show was ready to open.

The busiest day is the Saturday when 25,000 people attend. The atmosphere among the exhibitors was palpable as we could see thousands of people arriving and queuing to get in from early in the morning. Nearly 100,000 people attended the show over the 6 days!

On Sunday at 6pm there was a massive cheer from the exhibitors when the announcement came over that the show was closed for 2016. For most that meant another 3-4 hours of taking down the stands before they could go home. 

The sea of hi-vis re-appeared and by the time we left the sparkies had unwired the electrics, the carpets were being taken up and the car parks were near empty. They all get a few days off now before they do it all over again for the Cat Show!

Lake Garda

Sunset on Lake Garda

We have recently returned from an amazing trip down to Lake Garda. Our route took us down through the Somme and Burgundy regions of France, before spending a night nestled under the majestic Mont Blanc. It was then a trip through the famous tunnel and into the rain in Italy. Bizarrely, it was sunny one side and then chucking it down when we drove out the other side.

Thankfully this soon passed as we got closer to our destination of Peschiera Del Garda on the southern shore of Lake Garda, where the sun was out and the temperature was in the high 20s. As the week progress, it actually got hotter!

If you just wanted a lazy week in the Autumn sun then this would be a good place to pitch up. Many of our fellow motorhomers and caravanners on the site were clearly staying up for a considerable period.

Rush hour in Venice

Our site provided direct access to the lake and within a short distance we could be in the town itself, catching a boat to any one of about 10 destinations on the lake, or picking up a train to any of Italy's famous northern towns and cities.

The highlights for us had to be a bike ride across to Sirmione, just around the south shore of the lake, with the impressive Scaligera Castle. The town is also accessible by boat from Peschiera as is Garda, Bardolino, Riva del Garda and malcesine (with the cable car).

Also, Venice, Verona, Venecia, Padua and Mantua and not far away by train. In fact, you could get almost anywhere in Italy from the train station!

Dogs on motorhome tours

We have just returned from a short trip to Northern France with our Dog-Friendly France tour. We were interested to find out what the implications of travelling with pets were. We were pleasantly surprised to find that there were very few restrictions placed on pets, particularly in France, where they really are a nation of dog-lovers.

Bertangles chateau

 Obviously there are some places that dogs are not allowed, such as in the Bayeux Tapestry, but we did find that they were accepted in most other places including cathedrals, restaurants and campsite bars. Campsites in general are vets welcoming of dogs and there were locals motorhoming and caravanning with dogs.


The main things to be aware of when travelling with dogs are:
1. They must have an up-to-date pet passport.
2. They must be treated for tapeworm not less than 1 day and not more than 5 days before they re-enter the UK.
3. The pet passport must be date and time-stamped when the treatment is given.
4. You must take your pet to the pet reception centre at the dock or tunnel before you take the return crossing.

Finding a vet was not difficult and the tapeworm procedure only takes a few minutes and costs around 40 euros per dog. You also have to pay around £15-£17 each way extra on your crossing, which covers the cost of checking the dogs on the return leg of the journey.

Overall, we had a great time in France and the camaraderie among the dog-owners was excellent. We look forward to welcoming dogs on our France tous next year.

Stockholm

It's been quite a while since we last posted as we have been away for an amazing 25-day tour of Sweden. It would be no exaggeration to say that we had 23 days of glorious sunshine in that time, with the temperature up in the 20s on most days. That is perhaps not what you would expect when you around the Baltic!

Bridges across the Stockholm islands

The highlight of the trip for many of us were the days we spent in the capital, Stockholm. It is quite an unusual city in that it is spread across 14 islands connected by bridges and a flotilla of ferries and hop-on hop-off taxis. 

Despite being a popular destination, it is actually very easy to get away from the crowds, which mainly flock around the Gamla Stan (old town) and the modern shopping streets.

This is our third year in a row in Stockholm and our favourite activities are usually cycling around the network of cycle paths on the islands, or ascending the Kaknas Tower for a panoramic view.

The Opera House in Stockholm

This year, we finally got to visit the Vasa Museum housing the simply stunning Vasa ship that sank just a few minutes into its maiden voyage in Stockholm harbour in 1628. Salvaged in 1961 it has been painstakingly reconstructed and claims to be over 90% original. The musuem has literally been built around the ship and contains fascinating accounts of the life and times of the ship and the people that built it.

Slovenia

River frontage in Ljubljana

Our thoughts have turned to Slovenia recently as we will be visiting in 2016 as part of our combined tour with Croatia. We particularly enjoyed our trip to the capital Ljubljana as it has the feel of a large European capital, although it is in fact relatively compact. We enjoyed just walking around the streets. squares and waterways of the city, which had a very laid-back feel.  

The buildings have a real mixture of styles of the medieval through to the Baroque and into the modern era. In that sense, it is very typical of any other European capital and also has all of the modern amenities you would expect in terms of shopping and dining.

Ljubljana Caslte

Away from the capital, Slovenia has a small stretch of coastline that extends north into Italy and south into Croatia. Inland, perhaps its most notable attractions are the cave systems of Postojna and Skocjan, which are spectacular in both length and depth.

Another notable area is around Lake Bled in the Julian Alps. This is a a bit of a tourist hotspot with its attractive island in the middle of the lake and with the town and castle nearby. Slovenia is a largely mountainous country and is very popular as a destination for outdoor pursuits.

As a final thought, if you need any other excuses to visit, Slovenia also boasts a thriving wine industry although very little of it gets exported so it's generally not available in the UK!