European Rallies

Hi
We are off to France in May,and would like to go on(the above) in September (Italy would be good) I have looked on the site and cant see any planned.
Has anyone got any suggestions. 


Thanks Rich

Are you looking to go with a particular club?  This forum hasn't arranged any rallies.

Peter

Peter Brown wrote:Are you looking to go with a particular club?  This forum hasn't arranged any rallies.

Peter

No,we have looked at c&c and camping c c and neither are doing Italy in September .

I'm surprised ASOF do not have rallies.

Rich

They might if they had a rally organiser?  Interested?

Peter

 As I have only had a campervan 9mnths I don't have the confidence or know how.

Rich 

If you join the Autosleeper Owners Club you could get some experience on UK rallies.  They usually have one or two foreign rallies each year - this years is in France but is fully booked.

http://www.asoc.uk.com/rally_list.htm

Peter

Thank you Peter,i thought this was the Autosleepers Owners Club.
It's a pity that France is fully booked as we are free in June.

Rich

Hi Rich

I believe the Motorcaravanners Club http://dev.motorcaravanners.eu/ do quite a few European rallies. A friend has just come back from rallying with them in Spain, and he was well pleased with all aspects of the adventure.

I'm not a member, and it seems you have to register before you can get into their forum, but at one point on the Home Page it says, "As well as Groups within the UK/Northern Ireland we have a very active Spanish Group. Also a Photographic and Selected European Rallies Group which is a Group within the M.C.C. whose special interest is rallying with other European Clubs."

Don't know if this is useful to you. We much prefer to do our own thing (which is far easier over the Channel than here at home) so I have no first hand experience of rallies to pass on.

Dave

Hi Dave

Thanks for link,i will take a look,the reason for looking at rallies is we are not familiar with camping in europe,having said that we are going to France in May with the Caravan Club,so that may give us confidence.

Rich

Don't book a rally for your September trip Rich, or at least don't decide until after you have been to France in May.

When you get back you will wonder why you had the slightest hesitation. It's so much easier in the motorhome over there. They are generally very motorhome friendly and there are so many campsites, municipals, aires etc. that your only problem will be deciding which to choose.

There are loads of POIs to be had for nothing. Archie's is a good start. http://www.archiescampings.eu/

If you download them (as csv files) into Autoroute on the laptop you will never have a problem. If you don't have Autoroute, they can be used in Maps.Me on the Android tablet or phone. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapswithme.maps.pro (Just convert them to kml files and they are recognised at once.)

If you prefer to use a book, the "Caravan Europe" books from the Caravan Club are as good as most, plus "All the Aires in France" from Vicarious Books if you want the convenience of overnight stops in or very near towns and villages.
https://www.vicarious-shop.com/All-the-Aires-France-North-and-South-5th-edition.html

Hope this helps

Dave

Have been doing France now for about 10 years and have never been on a rally at home or abroad - prefer the freedom to do my own thing!  ACSI does it for me - just find out where the weather is and go in that direction for my next stop.  Never had any problems.  Having said that, I always go out of season and away from the school holidays.

We do both. 

We like the fact that someone who knows an area well can find a good location and share it along with a good knowledge of what to see, where to eat etc.  On European rallies many clubs like Autocruise Owners Club and the C&CC tend to over organise.  We like a couple of optional communal trips during a rally and the rest of the time doing our own thing.  When you are on a rally you do tend to chat with fellow ralliers (often over a drink) about where you've each been and someone always turns up something good you would never have thought of.

If something goes wrong medically, you have an accident or a problem with the van its useful to have some English speaking support.

Rallies should be (and usually are) a good shared experience by like minded people but everyone is different and the only way to feed you own particular need is to go it alone when you want either during a rally or completely without one.

Peter

Thank you all for your very helpful and constructive replies.

Rich

Totally agree with Peter Brown. We are of a like mind. We probably do more rallies than lone camping as we enjoy the friendship and camaraderie of others. Plus as Peter says we get a wealth of advice about local areas etc. Yes, some rallies do organise a lot of things but you don't have to join in and you never get criticised for not doing. We have also made many lifelong friends from rallying.