Has Anyone RVed in Europe? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

RoadWorker · RV-Dreams Community Member

Has Anyone RVed in Europe?

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I can't really answer your questions on this one, but from my experience as a former manager for a major national electonics store, the American appliances in an RV from here would not work on the electric over there. Foreign electricity is 50 cycles instead of 60 as it is here in the U.S. Anything with a motor might burn out. Also, I have no idea what kind of plugs would be needed for hooking to shore power over there. One would almost have to be operationg on batteries and using a generator.

Terry

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

You might try to get a used copy of "Traveler's Guide to European Camping" by Mike and Terri Church, since it is out of print. The Church's are known for their Alaska and Mexico camping books, which are still in print.

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have heard about most people either renting a unit there or going over with a GOOD quality self sufficient unit, (Boondock ready) also FWIW, I just met a guy in the Rv park I am at today who said cabins are so common in European campgrounds that it is easy to move around Europe and stay in these cabins....

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

RVs are smaller, fuel is much higher, electricity is 220V. The country side is gorgeous. You can't swng a dead cat without hitting something worth seeing. I'd do it in a tent if I had to. But I'd do it.

VanMar · RV-Dreams Family Member

MarkS wrote:
RVs are smaller, fuel is much higher, electricity is 220V. The country side is gorgeous. You can't swng a dead cat without hitting something worth seeing. I'd do it in a tent if I had to. But I'd do it.

X2 what Mark said. The typical motor homes I've seen were class C on the back of a Nissan(etc) V-6 pickup chassis. The most common towable setups were single axle TT's pulled by V-6 autos. Diesel, last November, in Zurich, was 1.80 CHF per LITER!...gas, a little less. The exchange rate in Swiss hovers around one-for-one. But then the cost of living there is the highest in Europe. Found out the hard way about 50 cycles vs. 60 cycles.

The countryside IS most beautiful! My tip...go slow. If you're riding with a self-styled, 70 year old race car driver, it's a white knuckle tour and not that enjoyable. Just don't go slow on the autobahn...you'll be eaten alive! But, like Mark said, I'd definitely go.

Vance

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

There is a lady named Jeanne Dee who is a full time RVer/world traveler with her husband and daughter Mozart who is around 12 or so if I recall correctly. Their web site is http://www.soultravelers3.com.

They retired and essentially live in Europe in a small RV during the summer and travel elsewhere warm in the winter; they've spent the past two winters in Singapore where her daughter is both home schooled and attends a local school to improve her Mandarin fluency.

They have lots of posts about RVing in Europe…and it's actually fairly cheap. As others have said; the RVs are much smaller, I think theirs is around 22 or 24 feet class B and that's one of the larger ones you find over there. Having been in Europe several times myself; the roads are a lot narrower and parking places smaller so although I've never RVed over there clearly smaller is the way to go.

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 13th of February 2013 01:23:46 PM

JayKim-no regrets · RV-Dreams Family Member

MarkS wrote:
RVs are smaller, fuel is much higher, electricity is 220V. The country side is gorgeous. You can't swng a dead cat without hitting something worth seeing. I'd do it in a tent if I had to. But I'd do it.

Being a Brit, I can tell you that Mark is correct, especially when he talks about the road widths, I left England for the last time around 12 years ago, didn't see many motorhomes/5th wheels around. Mainly the Brits use 'caravans' they are basically travel trailers that they pull behind cars (not too many US sized trucks in the UK) It is definitely worth doing a caravan tour of Europe, beautiful countryside, tons of history, friendly people, weather can be great too if you follow the Sun (about 2 weeks per year in England lol)

You could try looking on craigs list UK, see if you can get an idea of how much a used caravan would cost you...you may well be pretty surprised at how cheap they can be. Good luck, hope you can make it happen!

suse1023 · RV-Dreams Family Member

hey gene we're considering europe for next winter too and i'd like to know more about the cabins if you have any leads on how to get more detailed info about them.
we have a place in sicily lined up for dec-march and we'd like to drive from there to the isle of mann before we come home in may or june.
we're on a budget though, lol.

gcook · RV-Dreams Community Member

My first RV experience was in Germany

gcook · RV-Dreams Community Member

I was stationed in Frankfurt GE use to rent small class c turbo diesel. Camper was great for myself, wife, two kids and two yorkies. Check internet for agents in Germany, select translation key unless you sprecken Deutch! We even used the RV to do winter ski vacations, dogs got very excited when I brought the RV home. Have fun Central Europe is great for rv'ing.😀

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Roadworker posted this thread back in 2013, and she hasn't been logged back into the forums since August of that year. So, anyone reading this keep in mind that things commented on could have changed in the last two years.

Terry

J and S · RV-Dreams Community Member

We are going to ship our rv to the States from Hamburg or Antwerp.
That costst appr. 5000 euro's, one way, incl. taxes, assurance, etc.
I have no idea of the prices from the USA, but I would think it would be about the same.
The cost of living varies from country to country.
Expensive are countries like Norway and Sweden.
The cheapest would be Spain and Portugal.

rodeojoe · RV-Dreams Family Member

It sounds amazing! Take your time to do research on RV rentals, places to go, and the main differences from the USA so you will be well prepared.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Again, keep in mind that this thread was originally posted in 2013 when the original poster was planning for a trip in 2014. Anyone thinking that they have an answer for the original poster is way too late in answering.

Be careful when "reviving" an old thread because others coming after may think that the information in the earlier comments are still valid, even though that information may be out of date.

Terry