Take pleasure In the planning
The freedom to go wherever the road takes you, lazing around in the glorious sunshine, finding that perfect secluded beach away from all the hustle and bustle, and enjoying spending time with the family.
Well that’s certainly the idea when fantasising about your perfect campervan holiday, and with a bit of forward planning, you can have that family get away you always dreamed of.
We’ve put together a few tips for you to consider when planning your campervan holiday:
Before you book
Choose your campervan carefully
Consider what it is you want most from your campervan. Is it somewhere you will be using purely to sleep, or will you be spending more time inside the motorhome during the day to eat your meals, or perhaps where you’re going the weather may be a little bit on the fresh side? If so, then you may want to go for one that has a lounge area as well as a fixed bed.
Will you be eating out most nights or are you planning on using the on-board kitchen facilities to cook your meals, and if so, what sort of meals? Will you require an oven and microwave, or will a hob and be enough to satisfy your culinary skills?
Visit the hire company first
Go and visit the hire company, so that you can see for yourself what is available, how they operate, and take advantage of their expert knowledge and expertise.
Shop around for hire companies
There are certain hire companies that act as agents and let out people’s own campervan when they’re not using them themselves, similar to a timeshare property.
Others, such as Explorze, own their own fleet and each year buy brand new campervan, whilst also having a mechanic on site who constantly maintains, services and looks after them.
If you’re looking for a brand new campervan that is immaculately presented, where you’ll get comprehensive instruction and are shown how everything works, and that has a team on hand to respond to any problems whilst you’re away, then you definitely want to go for a company that owns their own vehicles.
Planning your route
Book at least your first and last night’s hire
It’s a good idea to book at least your first night away so that you can relax, knowing that you have a place to stay, and are then able to put your feet up and enjoy a lovely glass of wine watching the sun go down.
You’ll also need to bear in mind the time that you are picking up your campervan and how far away your first destination is. Ideally you want to arrive at your campsite whilst there is still daylight so you can find the perfect pitch for you. Nothing will get you arguing quicker than not knowing where you’re staying and the sun beginning to set!
The same applies for your last night. Consider what time it is you’re due to return your motorhome and how far away you are. You won’t want to be getting up at the crack of dawn and rushing around making sure everything is packed and put away as you’ll be more likely to forget something. Give yourself plenty of time to wake up and have a nice breakfast. Then you can go through your checklist making sure that everything is packed away, emptied, turned off and shut properly, before the final leg of your journey.
If there’s somewhere you really want to stay, then to avoid disappointment, it would probably be wise to get that booked in advance too.
Plan your trip
You don’t want to be driving the whole time. If you have a particularly long distance to travel until you reach your destination then it’s a good idea to split the drive up a bit and stay a night or two at a campsite on route.
Allow both yourself and your passenger’s time to relax, have a bbq, or go to the beach and enjoy your holiday.
Otherwise you’ll be spending all your time staring at motorways and thinking of ever stronger responses to the question of “Are we there yet?”.
Think about your power needs
Will you be taking electronic items such as laptops or hairdryers with you? If so, then to use them you will need to be at a site that has electric hook-up.
If the sites you have booked don’t have electric hook-up facilities or you’ve decided to do a bit of wild camping up in the Highlands, then you may want to consider hiring a generator.
We at Exploze generators for hire, as well as a number of other optional extras.
Where to park
A lot of modern campervan will now come with reversing cameras to aid in your parking of them, but that doesn’t mean that it will be easy to find a space big enough to fit you in!
If you decide to visit towns or villages, make use of Park & Ride or public transport to get you in and out. Or, depending on the distance, you could walk or cycle.
This way you don’t have to worry about packing up and losing your pitch if you only want to go out for the day.
