Camper hire in the UK

Bosky · Member

Camper hire in the UK

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Do you have friends in Europe? If so, consider purchasing a van with their help.
Europe is a large and magical place to explore and a purchase and re-sale may give the opportunity for extended trips at much lower cost than rental.
Cheers,
Peter

Bosky · Member

Hi Peter & Marg We thought about the idea of buying, but it's only for a few weeks and we're unlikely to be going back even though I was born there. If we were it would be worth getting one and hiring it out to others when not using. Thanks for your reply.

beaul · Veteran Member

we hired a motorhome in frankfurt germany, they upgraded us to a larger van, which we found difficult to find anywhere to park.
also when we returned the van, they went over it with a fine toothed comb and charged us exorbitantly for any damage

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Very attractive lease backs of campers/motorhomes are available in France that take advantage of some local tax loop holes.
For the UK and Ireland especially, choose something as small as possible.
Cheers,
Peter

vince56 · Senior Member

We have done a lot of trips to UK / Europe, driven hired vehicles for 1000's of Kms throughout. My input is that a motorhome, unless very small would be a handful in Europe, it's hard enough with a car, cramped roads and affordable parking non-existent in most populated places.
Hire companies over there make an artform of charging you for the slightest scratch and will hit you wherever they can. I am a careful driver and they have tried me on a couple of times, luckily I go over the car on pick-up with my iPhone video, a few minutes well spent!
I have also had them draw down on my credit card on three occasions for "traffic fine" internal administration charges, only ever received one fine in the mail.
I will say that the best and most relaxing times we have had is when using the great train and bus services in both UK and Europe, coupled with some really good Airbnb's, for mine a much better way to go, especially if only for a few weeks.
That's just a few points you might want to consider if hiring a camper or car.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

We spent 6 months in a motorhome exploring Europe each year in 2013, 2014 and 2015. We could easily have done it for another couple of years and we reckon that a self contained motorhome gives the greatest freedom at the lowest cost. Our motorhome was a 20 year old Iveco 4WD and was 6m long x 2.2m wide and 3.1m high. Caravans are not a good option.
We explored from Turkey to Scotland and from France to Norway and those 4 countries were our favourites.
We free camped 99% of the time. Free camping in the bush is prohibited in Croatia and Austria and England is difficult, but there we used a publication called "Britstops" that lists farm shops, pubs and other commercial places that allow free camping, no strings attached.
Countries like France and Germany have thousands of free and low cost camps and in most countries it is quite legal to overnight anywhere it is legal to park, unlike Australia.

We travelled alone except for 4 weeks (out of 10) that we spent in Turkey.

In Turkey.

A free camp near a village in France.

Cheers,
Peter

Bosky · Member

Thanks everyone for your input. It's hard to decide. Like the idea of having our accommodation with us, but we know that it can be hard to find free or low cost spots in England, unlike most areas here. Last time we went B&B without any pre booking, and only had one or two times where we had trouble finding accommodation. We'll keep chewing it over. Cheers

SouthernComfort · Guru

I too would find a campervan a bit unwieldy in Europe these days, very congested, wasn't so bad back in the 70's. On balance we'd opt for a car and B&B style accomm. again. Done it many times in UK & Europe, and by avoiding the high peak season (Jul/Aug) never had a problem finding accommodation. B&B's in Britain, Zimmer's and Pension's all over the Continent, and easier to park a small car.