# First European Tour



## Nick5912

Well, it's been a few weeks since we got back from our maiden European tour.

The route taken was;

Suzy (Nr Laon)
Reims
Chichilianne (Nr Grenoble)
La Napoule (Nr Canne)
Torre Del Lago
Prima Porte (Nr Rome)
Pompeii
Numana (Nr Ancona)
Venice
Peschiera Del Garda
Iseo
Freiburg
Verdun
Le Crotoy

The trip took us 7 weeks and as this was our first MH trip abroad we stayed mainly on sites, although we did stop at a couple of Aires! We will be utilising them a lot more on future trips.
As you will all appreciate our main expense was site fees then Fuel. We ate in most nights shopping locally where we could and only using big supermarkets for essentials.

Rough Costings

Mileage - 3560
Fuel - £531.33
Tolls - £177.92
Site Fees - £822.11

Any questions? Please feel free to ask away.

The picture below was taken at the Aire in Chichilianne

Nick


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## JanHank

Only one picture :frown2: A lovely photo.

Every time I intend writing down stuff as you have done, it startes well then I say, oh blow it.
You must have also kept a diary, tell us what you did and if you met interesting people and did you damage your van? >
I see you popped into Germany on your way back.


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## Cazzie

Very impressive for a first trip abroad Nick.
Would love to hear more details and recommendations of places and sites etc.

Cazzie


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## jiwawa

That aire in Chinchillianne looks lovely! 

Sounds like a great trip.


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## Nick5912

*Suzy*

A small town (no bars or Restaurants) some 8 miles west of the city of Laon.

We chose this location as it was on our route south and not too far south of Calais.
We stayed on a site named, Les Etangs du Moulin (ACSI). We stayed for 2 nights.
This is a relatively small site with a few nice pitches next to some fishing lakes. It cost 17 Euro a night with EHU. There is a Western Themed Bar on site and a small restaurant.
There is not much to do in the area but is good for a chillax.

Pics are of our pitch and some wonderfully named pitches on site!


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## Nick5912

*Reims*

We stayed for one night on the Aire in the centre of Reims. As it says in the Aires Book, this is a small carpark to the rear of a school. There is parking for 7/8 MH's and the facility to lose grey waste only. 'Buffy' is some 7.39M in length and I would suggest this is as big as is comfortable to park. We had our nose hanging over the front white 'bay designation' line. There were 3 other motorhomes parked up when we arrived and manoeuvring was relatively easy, any more and it would have been tight. The aire is ideally situated for visiting Reims and all is within easy walking distance.

N.B. We were there in Mid-April and although not a worry/problem there is a small park behind the retaining wall to which you park against. The park is frequented by local youths in the evening. There was little noise at night however there was a strong smell of 'weed'! This would not deter me from staying here on future visits.


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## Nick5912

*Chichilianne*

Not sure where to begin with this fantastic Aire some 35 miles South of Grenoble.
The road to this small village is tight in places and some rather sharp bends. However it is well worth the drive. The Aire itself is located in the centre of the village on a grass strip approximately 50m long by 10 m wide, there is also a verge you can stop on in smaller campervans. The water and waste pillar is operated by tokens which you purchase from the locally bakery, approx. 15m behind me as I took the pics. There is a small hotel with bar and restaurant (closed out of season). The scenery is fantastic, surrounded by mountains (snow covered in April). Which brings me to our first tour hiccup!
As the village is surrounded by mountains, the sun sets early and rises late, we awoke to -3 degrees both outside and *INSIDE*!!!! At some point a vent had become covered and the heater, as it should, shut off for safety reasons! I'm no great mechanic but claimed success after I had moved the offending 'toastie machine'!


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## Nick5912

JanHank said:


> Only one picture :frown2: A lovely photo.
> 
> Every time I intend writing down stuff as you have done, it startes well then I say, oh blow it.
> You must have also kept a diary, tell us what you did and if you met interesting people and did you damage your van? >
> I see you popped into Germany on your way back.


JanHank,
It is my intention as you may have noticed to right a small piece about each location and add pics. With regard to meeting people. We met pleasant folks from all over Europe, and some not so pleasant ones, I will mention these when I write about the location we met. Although I will jump the gun and say we met a very friendly couple from The Netherlands called Yolanda & 'Happy' Hank!


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## Nick5912

*Mandelieu-la-Napoule*

We stayed at Camping Cote Mer. This is a small ACSI site approx. 20 mins by bus from Cannes or 20 mins by train from Monaco.
Has an onsite pool and bar and a small shop. It takes about 20 mins to walk into the town (first couple of hundred yards are up a steep hill). From the town you can get the aforementioned train, the bus stop is about 50 yards from the site gate. Some of the pitches are tight for bigger MH's with some low hanging branches. I would suggest pitches 31 -38 if free or one of the 4 pitches near the entrance. Monaco is 20ish Euro return. The village has all the shops needed including independent bakers and greengrocer. We have a couple of Roo-Dog Ebikes and were able to cycle (approx. 3.5 miles) to the next town down the coast, Theoule-sur-Mer has some great bars and restaurants.


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## Devonboy

Did you stay on a site at Le Crotoy or one of the 2 aires?


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## Nick5912

Devonboy said:


> Did you stay on a site at Le Crotoy or one of the 2 aires?


We stayed at Les Trois Sablieres!

There were 2 reasons for staying on a site.

1) This was our last stop before the chunnel home and I wanted to get everything sorted before we left Buffy in storage.
2) The only Aire we saw was completely full. Not much room for a *** paper between the units!

The site itself was quite full, only 1 spave available after our arrival. The site itself was quiet and clean. They say the beach is only 300m away, this may be true but they neglect to mention that this is the Weston-S-Mare of France!

We both walked and cycled into the town. Some fantastic eateries, especially if you like seafood.

Would stay again when returning from a tour. Nice short hop to the Chunnel.


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## Devonboy

We stayed on the aires by the harbour in June, really jammed. I think the aires is licenced for 75 units but by late evening there were 100+ vans. Not the prettiest of aires but perfect location, a short stroll along the seafront to the town. Payment was at the machine, 7 euros, coins only which was a bit of a pain.


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## Mrplodd

There is a cracking Aire the other side of the bay at Valerie Sur Somme, much nicer than the one at Crotoy,

Andy


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## Devonboy

Mrplodd said:


> There is a cracking Aire the other side of the bay at Valerie Sur Somme, much nicer than the one at Crotoy,
> 
> Andy


Yes we looked at that first but her indoors thought it was a long walk to the town.


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## nicholsong

Devonboy said:


> We stayed on the aires by the harbour in June, really jammed. I think the aires is licenced for 75 units but by late evening there were 100+ vans. Not the prettiest of aires but perfect location, a short stroll along the seafront to the town. Payment was at the machine, 7 euros, *coins only which was a bit of a pain.*


For that reason I often pay for things with notes larger than needed, in order to get a collection of Euro coins, which we keep in a bag in the MH.


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## jiwawa

nicholsong said:


> For that reason I often pay for things with notes larger than needed, in order to get a collection of Euro coins, which we keep in a bag in the MH.


Well, don't try it in the machine at the San Sebastian aire Geoff.

I tried for a couple of days to pay 9.90 euro, for 3 nights, with a 10 euro note and it just spat it back.

Then I discovered that it had to be the correct money - it didn't give change and wouldn't overcharge. So I paid the next morning - and that lunchtime officials came round and re-jigged the machine so it was 7 euro a night (school hols had begun).


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## nicholsong

jiwawa said:


> Well, don't try it in the machine at the San Sebastian aire Geoff.
> 
> I tried for a couple of days to pay 9.90 euro, for 3 nights, with a 10 euro note and it just spat it back.
> 
> Then I discovered that it had to be the correct money - it didn't give change and wouldn't overcharge. So I paid the next morning - and that lunchtime officials came round and re-jigged the machine so it was 7 euro a night (school hols had begun).


Jean

I am talking about shops/filling stations over the counter, where I can even ask for coins to accumulate a 'coins kitty'

Geoff


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## jiwawa

Ah right. Yes, other folk seemed to have that sussed and had little rolls of 1 euro coins lying about the van...


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## Nick5912

*Torre Del Lago*(Home of Puccini)
To be honest this was not my favourite site. Clean and tidy, great take-away (mainly pizza and pasta dishes), small well stocked shop (600ml Peroni only 85 cents), small restaurant and bar.
There are no pics of the site. Oversight on my part, sorry.
Great base to get train/bus to Pisa/Florence/Lucca. If you catch a train then make sure you go to the right station as there are 2!
Within the town there is a great wine store. Take your own container or buy a bottle. Cheap great tasting red wines from as little as 1.5 Euro a litre.
Make sure you get a town map as it can be confusing.


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## aldra

Brilliant

We loved italy

The next trip France but I'm already hovering 

Should it have been Italy ?

We do wild camping, aires and campsites 

I don't recon I'm that knowledgeable but over the years we have travelled far and wide, Croatia ,Slovenia Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands , Spain , Austria 

So maybe I know more than I think I do 

Or less than I should 

Sandra


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## Nick5912

*Prima Porte -Near Rome*

I can safely say that this site is in the top two of all sites that we stayed on during this tour. *Happy Village & Camping* is an ACSI site and off peak cost 17 Euro/ night.
It has 2 pools (1 is a kids pool), a small shop and one of the best restaurants I have ever come across on a campsite. The menu is quite small but there is something for everyone and it is not expensive.
There is a free shuttle bus from the site to the train station at Prima Porte from where you get a train to Roma Termini Station, our total travel time was 34 mins.
The ablutions are spotless and cleaned on a daily basis. All the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. As it was off peak we were able to chose our pitch. Pitches are in groups of about 6-8 per tier with there being 4 tiers. There are no views to speak of but it is a very pleasant site.
We will definitely be staying here again.


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## Mrplodd

Please be sure to put a review on the ACSI app/website. I rely on other people's reviews a lot so always leave one for any ACSI site I visit.

Andy


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## GMJ

Mrplodd said:


> Please be sure to put a review on the ACSI app/website. I rely on other people's reviews a lot so always leave one for any ACSI site I visit.
> 
> Andy


Can I ask what your user name is on there Andy?

Graham:smile2:


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## Mrplodd

It's my real name
Andrew Culley

Reviews for 
Camping Au Port Punay at Chatelianlion Plage (where I am writing this post from, its 08:30 and currently 23C!) and
Camping L'Arlesienne at Arle are a couple of site I have posted reviews for (Different ends of the spectrum!) There are others!

Andy


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## GMJ

...I'll keep an eye out for your reviews Andy:smile2:

Graham :smile2:


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