{"id":43887,"date":"2022-10-08T14:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T13:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=43887"},"modified":"2022-10-14T17:04:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T16:04:57","slug":"the-changing-face-of-european-motorhome-touring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/the-changing-face-of-european-motorhome-touring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changing Face of European Motorhome Touring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’ve all witnessed a fair few changes to the world of European motorhome touring over the past decade or so. This post is my personal take on the biggest shifts. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how motorhome and camper travel has changed for you – please drop a comment at the end of the post – we (and others) read them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Van<\/a>
Fun in the sun, Croatia summer 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Change 1: Brexit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sigh. I’d love to skip over this one, divisive subject that it is, but sadly I can’t. Brexit was probably the #1 biggest set of changes we’ve seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before it was complete (and even after for a while), none of us knew quite what impact the UK leaving the EU would have on motorhome travel. Now the dust has settled, the biggest changes have arguably been for Brits heading to the EU with pets and those of us travelling for relatively long periods, more than 90 days in the Schengen Area (most of Europe) in a rolling 180 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
A post-Brexit passport stamp when leaving Dover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve a pet, travel to the EU is still possible without worrying about quarantine when you come back to Blighty. It’s become more expensive and less convenient though, especially if you’ve multiple pets or if you take frequent trips. Although Northern Ireland has retained the EU Pet Passport, Britain hasn’t. Those of us in England, Scotland and Wales now need to head to the vets for an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) each time we head to the EU. Dog owners also need to visit a vet abroad for a worming treatment before coming back to the UK, but that was the same with the Pet Passport scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"EU<\/a>
The UK Pet Passport (left) and the AHC (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 90-in-180 rule has had the most impact on long-termers and frequent travellers. If you fancy taking six months or a year out to tour Europe, it’s still do-able, but it’s not as easy as it was pre-Brexit. You’ll either need to apply for a national visa (in France say), and\/or use ‘waiting countries’ which are outside of the Schengen Area, like the UK, Ireland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Schengen Area in Europe (Croatia is due to join on 1 Jan 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pet owners and long-termers aside, everyone travelling abroad was impacted in smaller ways by Brexit. For example, many UK mobile phone operators started to impose tighter caps on the data we could use abroad. Some started to charge us for each day we’re in the EU. Also, we’re no longer able to (legally) take meat, dairy or most vegetables\/plants into the EU (including pet food). At peak times we’ve seen some hefty queues at Dover, arguably not helped by the fact all our passports now need to be stamped as we enter the EU. When the EES (the electonic version of the stamps) comes into force (scheduled for May 2023), we might well see even longer queues before the scheme settles in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mind you, other stuff we worried about didn’t happen. We can still get insurance for long trips outside the UK. The EHIC has been replaced with the GHIC (although the GHIC doesn’t cover Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). And we don’t need International Drivers Permits (IDPs) to drive in EU countries. The ‘GB’ sticker and number plate symbol on the back of our vans has changed to ‘UK’ ones, but as far as I can tell that wasn’t a Brexit law change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, the UK’s exit from the EU led to some streaming services like Sky and Netflix no longer being accessible outside the UK. If you’re using a UK SIM card, the services might continue to work. If they don’t work you’ll need to use a VPN to make it look like you’re in the UK, with the associated monthly fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change 2: COVID-19 Lockdowns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The other big one! COVID-19 lockdowns repeatedly forced motorhomes off the road completely. At the very start, those living in their vans full-time were under huge pressure to find a safe haven. Some rented houses, many managed to find campsites or aires to wait it out, confined to their pitch for months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sign<\/a>
Ploughing our way back across France, March 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lockdown concept seems fairly normal now, but when it first happened it felt a huge, incredibly stark contrast with the bonkers level of freedom motorhomes usually offer. Even outside the times we were all effectively locked-in, UK campsites had to close their toilet blocks, enforce larger gaps between pitches, refuse access to visitors or introduce contactless entry systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this all pales into insignificance compared with the suffering of those directly impacted by the disease, or the associated social, mental health and financial fallout of lockdowns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Motorhome<\/a>
Camping at Robin Hood’s Bay, August 2020. The campsite wasn’t allowing tents at the time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, all restrictions on travel and campsites have been removed in the UK. The same goes across Europe, almost all COVID-19 related restrictions have now lifted and (fingers tightly crossed) won’t be re-introduced. Throughout the pandemic motorhome travel felt very safe to us, espeically compared with flying. It still does, as we’re able to control the amount of contact we have with others, and carry our own facilities on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change 3: Much Improved Phone & Internet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here’s one where there’s been a huge improvement over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we first set out in Oct 2011, we had a ‘Data Traveler’ SIM which gave us a huge 25MB (not GB) a day in the EU. It wasn’t enough to upload photos to this blog. We’d write a post in text, upload it, and later add pre-shrunk photos when we could find WiFi. There were no smartphone apps for finding places to stay, checking driving routes or traffic or looking for cheap fuel. Streaming TV over the internet in your van wasn’t a thing, unless you could find a WiFi network fast enough (not likely) or fancied coughing up \u00a33,000 for a satellite internet system, and another \u00a3800 a year for the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Machines<\/a>
Machines selling SIM cards at a Free Mobile shop in France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to now and we’re spoiled for choice. UK operator Popit Mobile currently offer a \u00a325 SIM which gives you 100GB a month abroad (133 times more than our 25MB a day!), all of which can be used in the EU. Or you could grab a 300GB a month SIM from tiekom.com for \u20ac39.90 (about \u00a335). Or buy a Free Mobile SIM in France which gives you 210GB for \u20ac19.99 a month (we recently did this<\/a>). With any of these you can now stream TV in most places for a few hours a day, using an Amazon Fire TV Stick for example if your van’s TV isn’t ‘smart’ (as described here<\/a>). Pretty cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Starlink<\/a>
Starlink RV – the latest innovation for satellite internet access in your van<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you’ll be spending times in remoter areas where mobile networks are weaker, or if you need a back-up system (perhaps you work on the road), satellite internet’s come down in price hugely. Starlink RV’s system now costs \u00a3460, plus \u00a395 a month for unlimited data. It’s not ideal (it’s not 12V, it isn’t a permanent roof-mounted system and there are no guarantees on bandwidth – more thoughts here<\/a>), but it’s a thought-provoking option for nomadic workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change 4: Bans on Wild Camping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since we started visiting Europe around 2009, there’s been a big old increase in the number of motorhomes and campervans on the road. Exactly how many, I’ve not been able to track down, but from the few stats I could find it seems they’ve roughly doubled. And why not? We love being in our van, and we guess others feel the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A problem arises when there are too many motorhomes and campers in one place, especially in popular spots like Snowdonia, the Lake District, the NC500 in Scotland, and the coast of southern Spain and Portugal. Even back in 2012 we can recall hundreds of motorhomes gathered together in car parks overwintering for months at a time in the Algarve region. Inevitably some areas have introduced (and to a degree enforced) bans on wild camping, such as Valencia in Spain and all of Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Motorhome<\/a>
Wild camping is still very possible across Europe, especially out-of-season and out-of-the-way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To be fair, wild camping (which we’re defining as sleeping anywhere other than an officially-designated motorhome area) has always been a grey area in much of Europe. Even places like Norway, where the right to roam is enshrined in law, have restrictions on where you can park up and kip. In other countries wild camping is officially banned but often tolerated, or even encouraged by local businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some cases you might find you can park overnight legally in one town, or even a part of a town, but not in a neighbouring one. Our best advice us to ask around when you’re there, check with the locals and the police if you’re not sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change 5: More Clean Air Zones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When we set out in 2011, we’d never heard of France’s Crit’Air low emission zone (LEZ) scheme. Not surprising, as it wasn’t introduced until 2017. We’d not come across Germany’s Umweltzonen either, although that one had existed since 2008. We soon came across it when we drove into Germany and found ourselves trying to avoid the areas it covers (and occasionally failing, like here in the Black Forest<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past decade, more and more LEZs have been introduced across the UK and Europe. At the same time, increasing number of older vehicles have been prevented from (legally) entering them. They don’t all affect motorhomes, but it makes sense now to be at least aware of these LEZs (there’s a good overview map here<\/a>). If you plan to tour France and\/or Germany, it’s worth applying for the relevant scheme’s windscreen sticker before you head off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map<\/a>
Map of LEZs and other restricted-access areas across Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Restrictions are often applied according to the EU Emission Standard of your van. These are the dates each standard came into force, which let you suss out where your van fits (ours was registered in 2001, so is Euro 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n