Six people, six weeks in a motor home. Need help on the route!
Feb 21st, 2009, 07:47 AM
#22
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Hi Alaskankat! I just want to say that I'm sure you will have a great time! Your trip sounds just like ours - just a bit longer and probably more relaxing!! We are spending the whole month of May in Europe with our 5 children (7 people for 4 weeks!) Outside of the 4 days that we will be in England, we will be in an RV the rest of the time. Our family has traveled to most of the states in the US in our van and trailer so we are not anticipating any issues doing the same in Europe. However, we ARE anticipating some interesting stories as we try to find our way and understand the signs during our 6000 mile road trip! We are having each of the kids keep a journal so we don't loose any stories!!
Judging by all the comments, you have been doing the same research that I have been doing and seem to have a good grip on all you need to know. We are going to France, Germany, Estonia, Poland, Austria, and Italy. I feel we have a good mix of visiting friends and seeing landmarks. The best part about having the RV is that we can tailor the trip to meet our families needs! I might add that I have read you sometimes need a camping carnet card or some campgrounds will keep your passport while you stay there. I didn't see that in any of the comments but maybe I missed it.
Enjoy your trip!!! I know we will!
Judging by all the comments, you have been doing the same research that I have been doing and seem to have a good grip on all you need to know. We are going to France, Germany, Estonia, Poland, Austria, and Italy. I feel we have a good mix of visiting friends and seeing landmarks. The best part about having the RV is that we can tailor the trip to meet our families needs! I might add that I have read you sometimes need a camping carnet card or some campgrounds will keep your passport while you stay there. I didn't see that in any of the comments but maybe I missed it.
Enjoy your trip!!! I know we will!
Feb 23rd, 2009, 04:51 PM
#23
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Crazyams2, I'm not sure about more relaxing! I have also heard of the Camping Carnet, but then read it is called by a different name. Have you found where to purchase one? Are you planning on doing so? I am thinking of buying the AA Caravan & Camping map, which has reviews for 3500 sites. The only problem is that they don't ship to the US, so I will have to send it to a friend in Germany, which means that I won't have it when we land. Have you found anything better? I am also buying the Michelin atlas, as opposed to individual country maps. We'll see if we change our minds on that when we get there. What are you using in the way of maps and campsite maps? I have most of the free ones available from the countries we are visiting, but these are often 'pay to play,' which don't show us many sites.
Feb 23rd, 2009, 07:00 PM
#24
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ok. so maybe "relaxing" wasn't the right word. But if that is what we were both looking for, we wouldn't be doing this trip!! 
I am buying a camping carnet. I have read in enough places that it is required so I figured the $30 fee is worth just knowing I have it just in case. I bought it from this website. www.fcrv.org/programs/carnet09.pdf
I have found the book Exploring Europe by RV by Dennis & Tina Jaffe to be very helpful. It is a bit outdated but still had some good advice. Also, I purchased the AA 2008 Caravan & Camping book (says it has over 3300 site rated). I got mine from Amazon but I'm not sure that is the same one you were wanting. I actually found more campsites on these two websites. The book had some very good information about driving an RV in each country but the campsite listings weren't as helpful as I had hoped.
www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en/home/uc33-l2-n253/
www.europe-camping-guide.com/
As for my maps, I bought Frommer's atlas because it contains Estonia which several atlases didn't. I also am printing out detail maps from viamichelin since the atlas doesn't cover down to that detail. But hopefully, I will be relying on my Garmen Nuvi 270 GPS. For only $130 it comes with USA and Europe maps. From the reviews I read, I'm expecting it to do well. I've already programmed the addresses of all the stops we are making. So hopefully, the atlas won't be needed!!
I feel kind of funny giving advice since I have not executed this trip yet! I have driven in Europe several times but never like this! But no matter what happens, we will have the adventure of a life time!!!
btw... my wife is wanting to know if you home school by any chance? We do and are picking up some WWII sites since they are studying that next year!! (sorry for being so noisy!!)
I am buying a camping carnet. I have read in enough places that it is required so I figured the $30 fee is worth just knowing I have it just in case. I bought it from this website. www.fcrv.org/programs/carnet09.pdfI have found the book Exploring Europe by RV by Dennis & Tina Jaffe to be very helpful. It is a bit outdated but still had some good advice. Also, I purchased the AA 2008 Caravan & Camping book (says it has over 3300 site rated). I got mine from Amazon but I'm not sure that is the same one you were wanting. I actually found more campsites on these two websites. The book had some very good information about driving an RV in each country but the campsite listings weren't as helpful as I had hoped.
www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en/home/uc33-l2-n253/
www.europe-camping-guide.com/
As for my maps, I bought Frommer's atlas because it contains Estonia which several atlases didn't. I also am printing out detail maps from viamichelin since the atlas doesn't cover down to that detail. But hopefully, I will be relying on my Garmen Nuvi 270 GPS. For only $130 it comes with USA and Europe maps. From the reviews I read, I'm expecting it to do well. I've already programmed the addresses of all the stops we are making. So hopefully, the atlas won't be needed!!
I feel kind of funny giving advice since I have not executed this trip yet! I have driven in Europe several times but never like this! But no matter what happens, we will have the adventure of a life time!!!
btw... my wife is wanting to know if you home school by any chance? We do and are picking up some WWII sites since they are studying that next year!! (sorry for being so noisy!!)
Feb 24th, 2009, 09:02 PM
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Crazyams2, I did see one of those camping sites. Thanks for the Camping Carnet site. It is $60 for the card and the membership, correct? I am bummed that the AA Camping & Caravaning book was a disappointment. I've seen the sites you listed, but we aren't taking a computer. Besides certain sites, we are winging the itinerary, which makes it difficult without a book. We want to be able to explore where we find something interesting, another reason to rent the RV. Printing off and taking the camping info from the websites would be a hassle. I found a lot of info on the
Ideamerge website, where we rented the RV, but I will check out the Jaffe book. Do you think this is better than the Mike & Terri Church book?
For general information, I think I've settled on the Lonely Planet Central Europe book. The Let's Go Europe has great info, but not good on maps. Rick Steve's was too focused on just a few spots. The Europe on a Shoestring has less detail and too many countries, the DK Eyewitness isn't detailed enough. I haven't seen the Fodor's Europe yet.
My husband said no to the GPS, so our kids will get a lot of experience reading maps! I'm going to check the atlas out, then I guess we'll buy country maps when we get there if we still need them.
Are you getting a cell phone? My friend who lives in Germany is very worried about us driving in Poland. The cell phones I found were all from the states and several hundred dollars. I thought we could just use calling cards, but my friend is now researching cell phones there. Again, very worried.
We don't homeschool-yet-but this is certainly their social studies for the year. We're studying the foods, some WWII sites, some archaeology and more at home. This is definitely a trip of a lifetime. All of them will have journals, so hopefully they'll be able to remember things; they're pretty young. Besides Estonia and France we're hitting some of the same countries. Maybe we'll run into each other over there!
Ideamerge website, where we rented the RV, but I will check out the Jaffe book. Do you think this is better than the Mike & Terri Church book?
For general information, I think I've settled on the Lonely Planet Central Europe book. The Let's Go Europe has great info, but not good on maps. Rick Steve's was too focused on just a few spots. The Europe on a Shoestring has less detail and too many countries, the DK Eyewitness isn't detailed enough. I haven't seen the Fodor's Europe yet.
My husband said no to the GPS, so our kids will get a lot of experience reading maps! I'm going to check the atlas out, then I guess we'll buy country maps when we get there if we still need them.
Are you getting a cell phone? My friend who lives in Germany is very worried about us driving in Poland. The cell phones I found were all from the states and several hundred dollars. I thought we could just use calling cards, but my friend is now researching cell phones there. Again, very worried.
We don't homeschool-yet-but this is certainly their social studies for the year. We're studying the foods, some WWII sites, some archaeology and more at home. This is definitely a trip of a lifetime. All of them will have journals, so hopefully they'll be able to remember things; they're pretty young. Besides Estonia and France we're hitting some of the same countries. Maybe we'll run into each other over there!
Feb 24th, 2009, 09:17 PM
#26
This article on cell phones abroad is a bit old, but I think the info is still valid: www.frommers.com/articles/4045.html. I bought an unlocked quad band phone off the Motorola web site, and either buy a SIM for the country I'm in, or a "global" SIM from ekit.com or telestial.com.
If you need 'net access while traveling you should still be able to find Internet cafes.
If you need 'net access while traveling you should still be able to find Internet cafes.
Feb 25th, 2009, 04:43 PM
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Hi again, Alaskankat. You are correct, the Carnet card was $60 with the membership. The Jaffe book says that it is required at some campgrounds and some offer a discount with it. It could be a waste of money, but I'm considering it a bit of insurance. I really don't want to leave my passport at a campground... Speaking of books, I have not read the book by Mike & Terry Church but from what I see, it looks very similar. Since that one is about 10 years newer than the one I have, it is probably a better choice.
I totally agree with your assessment of Rick Steve's information - we just don't have that kind of time to spend in one place since we don't go to Europe every year like he does! Fortunately, we can rely on friends & family in England, Germany, France, and Estonia. They are planning our stops so only in Italy and Austria are we left on our own. We haven't found a good source of information yet but will check out the Lonely Planet book! One of the kids from Estonia that we are visiting does a lot of traveling and LOVES the Lonely Planet books also!
So, no GPS... I am doing a lot of evening & night driving to get to our next destination so I want someone telling me where to go next! I learned how nice this was a couple of years ago while driving around in Germany. The GPS told me to turn left at the next road. I laughed because there was a river on my left. However, I stopped laughing when I turned left onto a ferry! So... I will have my maps as a backup but hopefully can use the GPS for most navigation. Your kids will be great map readers by the end of your trip!!
I would definitely recommend a cell phone! I was going to rent one from Verizon but then my father-in-law gave me his to use. It is $2.00 per minute to use over there but will be good for emergencies. Verizon rents one for $4 per day but that can certainly add up. Another option I was considering was to get an international phone when I upgrade with my "New every 2" plan next month. Since I'm driving all night through northern Poland on the way to Estonia, I wouldn't go without a cell phone!
Now... about your plans to "wing it" on a lot of your days. I certainly understand the desire to do that and the reason it isn't practical to print out web pages for every site that might be in range! We would do more of that but we aren't there as long and have people we are meeting most everywhere we go. Our schedule is much more rigid and planned. Hope we don't see much we just can't pass up!! Don't give up on the AA Caravan & Camping book just yet. One of the features I really like about it is the maps in the back. All the countries you have listed have one or more maps in the back of the book with dots where a campsite listing is included in the listings. Countries like Germany have multiple maps to cover the whole country. So that makes it easy to find if there is something nearby that is in the book. That is where it gets difficult though (at least I think so!) The listings are arranged by Region but the Regions are not even mentioned on the maps! So, you have to look in the front of the book where the different Regions are listed to guess at which one the town you are looking at is in. Then you go to the listings and find the region (alphabetical) and then the city (again alphabetical within the region). So, the information you want is probably there - it is just harder to find than on my Good Sam map! Plus, in places like Poland, there are only 11 towns that have campsites listed and only a total of 12 campsites listed for the whole country! France and Germany have a lot, but it is very light on the Eastern countries you are looking at.
That would be fun to run into you somewhere over there. Just not sure how we would know it if we did!!!
I totally agree with your assessment of Rick Steve's information - we just don't have that kind of time to spend in one place since we don't go to Europe every year like he does! Fortunately, we can rely on friends & family in England, Germany, France, and Estonia. They are planning our stops so only in Italy and Austria are we left on our own. We haven't found a good source of information yet but will check out the Lonely Planet book! One of the kids from Estonia that we are visiting does a lot of traveling and LOVES the Lonely Planet books also!
So, no GPS... I am doing a lot of evening & night driving to get to our next destination so I want someone telling me where to go next! I learned how nice this was a couple of years ago while driving around in Germany. The GPS told me to turn left at the next road. I laughed because there was a river on my left. However, I stopped laughing when I turned left onto a ferry! So... I will have my maps as a backup but hopefully can use the GPS for most navigation. Your kids will be great map readers by the end of your trip!!
I would definitely recommend a cell phone! I was going to rent one from Verizon but then my father-in-law gave me his to use. It is $2.00 per minute to use over there but will be good for emergencies. Verizon rents one for $4 per day but that can certainly add up. Another option I was considering was to get an international phone when I upgrade with my "New every 2" plan next month. Since I'm driving all night through northern Poland on the way to Estonia, I wouldn't go without a cell phone!
Now... about your plans to "wing it" on a lot of your days. I certainly understand the desire to do that and the reason it isn't practical to print out web pages for every site that might be in range! We would do more of that but we aren't there as long and have people we are meeting most everywhere we go. Our schedule is much more rigid and planned. Hope we don't see much we just can't pass up!! Don't give up on the AA Caravan & Camping book just yet. One of the features I really like about it is the maps in the back. All the countries you have listed have one or more maps in the back of the book with dots where a campsite listing is included in the listings. Countries like Germany have multiple maps to cover the whole country. So that makes it easy to find if there is something nearby that is in the book. That is where it gets difficult though (at least I think so!) The listings are arranged by Region but the Regions are not even mentioned on the maps! So, you have to look in the front of the book where the different Regions are listed to guess at which one the town you are looking at is in. Then you go to the listings and find the region (alphabetical) and then the city (again alphabetical within the region). So, the information you want is probably there - it is just harder to find than on my Good Sam map! Plus, in places like Poland, there are only 11 towns that have campsites listed and only a total of 12 campsites listed for the whole country! France and Germany have a lot, but it is very light on the Eastern countries you are looking at.
That would be fun to run into you somewhere over there. Just not sure how we would know it if we did!!!
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