How do you choose where to go? (1 Viewer)

[Richard n Ann]

The towns and villages would have to be something special to interrupt our journey to Benidorm. They all look the same to me

When we tried going via various places it was a relief to arrive at Benidorm. Some places were interesting though.. Oradour sur Glane, Normandy museums etc
Each to their own

 

[Dart]

Similar to Riverbankannie I look closely at the Michelin A3 atlas to spot places marked as interesting, cycle routes and viewpoint symbols. Unless we are in a hurry we'll often make a small detour to take in a viewpoint & although sometimes the view in question is a bit uninspiring it's outweighed by the times we have arrived at some stupendous views. Also to check out potential places to explore I just type the name of the place & the word 'photos' into Google which usually produces enough images to give a flavour of the place.

 

[Orion]

Similar to Riverbankannie I look closely at the Michelin A3 atlas to spot places marked as interesting, cycle routes and viewpoint symbols.

Is this the Michelin Camping Car & Van atlas or another one?

France - Camping Car & Van Atlas [Book cover may vary] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/2067255037/?tag=mhf04-21

 

[Dart]

Is this the Michelin Camping Car & Van atlas or another one?

France - Camping Car & Van Atlas [Book cover may vary] Amazon product ASIN 2067255037

No, mine is just the basic A3 size Michelin France atlas with a yellow cover. However I expect the one you linked to has the same features as mine just with extra info specifically aimed at motorhome users.

 

[suavecarve]

I do a fair to medium amount of research prior to leaving.
I will mark up things like waterfalls, dry luges, Belvederes, lakes, Beaux Villages, disused railway lines, hot springs, balcony roads, alien portals and hunt through Tourist information websites for more hidden gems. I also use the search function on here to see towns, aires or regions of interest. Wild Swimming books are great for out of the way places that nobody knows about and I have no idea how we found the interesting stuff in Belgium (in my signature along with other journals)

Here are my my maps for our Carinthia (which includes everything on the Carinthia card) and Spanish plans next year. None of it is written in stone, and I have similar ones for other places such as the Languedoc which has the aires on it as well (which I wont need for Austria and Spain)

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[Captain Yoghurtpot]

We have a fairly simple procedure at Yoghurtpot Towers.
We have a large map of Europe on the Kitchen wall, and I get Mrs YP to throw a dart at the map, whilst blindfolded, and where it sticks, we head for.
Had a lovely 2 weeks this year at the back of the fridge.!

 

[Skez]

I can't imagine driving aimlessly, not knowing where on earth I'm going or where I might end up. It's not that I'm against it, I just can't imagine how I would do that

Give it a try - It's liberating!!

Loosest of plans for a final destination (it invariably changes for us as we've 'deviated' so much we don't make it to where we'd intended) and just see what we see on the way. Never book an overnight stop as it ties us to a destination. We often have a loose theme for our trips like hiking locations, cycle routes or wild swimming spots, but never anything set in stone, and as a result we stumble across some amazing places.

 

[Skez]

The towns and villages would have to be something special to interrupt our journey to Benidorm. They all look the same to me

When we tried going via various places it was a relief to arrive at Benidorm. Some places were interesting though.. Oradour sur Glane, Normandy museums etc
Each to their own

I'd actually plan a tour of every Lidl and Aldi in Europe to delay an arrival in Benidorm As you say, each to their own!!

 

[vzac]

We set off to say Madrid as you say. I then look at relief maps, as we like countryside. We then look at say p4n and look for a home stay type of thing. Where a Local person let's you into there garden. Get talking to them and they usually can tell you little gems to visit. And or I have a map that show places of interest. After looking for the type of map that shows things I like. After that I see a red and think wonder what's down there and go, and do a deviation ( but never turn back).

 

[HKF]

We set off to say Madrid as you say. I then look at relief maps, as we like countryside. We then look at say p4n and look for a home stay type of thing. Where a Local person let's you into there garden. Get talking to them and they usually can tell you little gems to visit. And or I have a map that show places of interest. After looking for the type of map that shows things I like. After that I see a red and think wonder what's down there and go, and do a deviation ( but never turn back).

I feel totally lost just reading that! Not my sort of thing at all.

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[Nanniemate]

I use the the tried and tested of
Oh that road looks interesting
Oo this is narrow
Maybe I shouldn't have come this way

Wow isn't that amazing. Cute tasty. Friendly locals

Now where am I and how do get get somewhere else

 

[sedge]

Gave you an amusing but it's also a Like - cos that sounds a bit like us. If we think 'we'll head for X' we then look at how to get there from wherever our cross channel crossing deposits us. Obviously in northern Europe, there are always more ways than just one - so do we want to avoid tolls or get there pdq by paying them? and even if we do want to avoid Motorways do we want to go this way, or that? Well what's along this road or that one - are there places with Aires we could stay on, a lake/river we've not seen before, Some of the roads which are not Motorways are very pleasant drives, plus of course, one sees Brown signposts, which indicate exactly the same thing as they do in the UK - there's a Tourist Attraction down this road, if you choose to go along there. And - there's bound to be somewhere around there then, that tourists can stay over should they want or need to. Well - we're in no rush, so shall we just go and have a look? Could be a Beau Village, a Grotte (famous underground cave systems - now you may think to begin with that when you've seen one there's not much point in seeing any others - but you'd be wrong there. Every single one is different.) Could be a lake, a river, a castle, a memorial site - whatever.

Chatting to an elderly French couple who asked us where we'd been - and we had indeed recently visited a number of Grottes - Oh, which ones? so we told them a few, he then asked if we'd been to the Gouffre de Padirac, which we hadn't, though we had seen several signs pointing to it (and at least one on the A75) and wondered what it was - so I asked him 'What is a gouffre?' So he thought a minute about how to explain it to me, and then did. meanwhile he's having this side chat with his wife asking her if she remembered when they went there? And she sounded like me, yes she certainly did remember - but that must be 20 years ago, don't you remember, cos our (childs name) was only little, in her pushchair then! Adding as an aside to us - And she's been married X years herself by now!

We agreed, it sounded like it would be worth a visit, next time we were down that way. So next time we were, we did !

 

[KiwiKampers]

Most of you are very lucky to have so many places to choose from. I am envious.
Living at the top of the South Island of New Zealand we have very little choice. We either go South or catch the ferry to Wellington and tour the North Island. The ferry is rather expensive so we try to allocate at least a month over there to make it worthwhile.
If we go South, it's five and half hours to the nearest big city, Christchurch, with very few places worth stopping for in-between. We're not great fans of cities, and prefer to find a quiet beach, lake or riverside to wild camp and just enjoy the peace and quiet.
We never have a plan. If we're staying on the South Island we get to the bottom of our road and it's "heads or tails?" whether we turn left for the West Coast, or right for the east coast, and after that who knows where we'll stop.

 

[bobnick]

Some of the best places we have found are the ones we were NOT looking for.
The best way to find them i think is to get lost.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

I book the tunnel and then once we are the other side while we are having breakfast we normally decide where to go

Only twice booked a site in advance and that was because we wanted a frontline pitch.

Last August we had a plan of going to Sweden and then ended back up in Switzerland

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[Carpmart]

We look at where we are heading and It’s cathedrals/monasteries/churches/forts that dictate the route for us… Mrs Carpmart loves them; to be fair I do too!

Also lots of lake stops for me as I’m a (moderately) keen angler.

 

[Lenny HB]

Last August we had a plan of going to Sweden and then ended back up in Switzerland

Our first trip in our first Motorhome we were heading for the Baltic coast, weather was horrible so we turned right at Belgium and ended up in Slovenia.

 

[vzac]

I feel totally lost just reading that! Not my sort of thing at all.

That's fine, but if you want to find these gems you have to be able to let go and either research or just go and explore. And keep of major rds.

 

[vzac]

Our first trip in our first Motorhome we were heading for the Baltic coast, weather was horrible so we turned right at Belgium and ended up in Slovenia.

It would not be the 1st time I have driven out of our town, with wife saying where are we going and I have said following the sun ( if the sun was shining). We ended up in Hill once, swallow falls and even Folkstone ( could not go any further le Manche was in the way).

 

[Suenliam]

I always plan ..... then I get on the ferry and it all changes. We usually have a general area in France to go to in the plan and sometimes go there but only if the meteo says the weather there will suit us. The night before we choose a route to the next campsite (we always use a site) but if we see an interessting road on the way we love exploring. Only ever book if we want a particular pitch. However, last Sept. in the Loire valley we found sites filling up and may book a day in advance next autumn (but not for our spring holiday).
The big advantage of a MH is you have your home with you so no need to worry about where and when the next accommodation will be if intentions go awry.
Sue

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[sarumsteve]

Think of it as going shopping: You have a rough idea what you want, shoes and a bird feeder maybe, but you do end up browsing in the lingerie and bedding dep'ts.

Always happy browsing through lingerie

 

[JaG]

We start with the Rally Calender on MHF, then we add Haven deals around it to make around 12 night stints. We do roughly five of them.
We also do two stints of around 20+ days. One main stay of a week or so topped up by odds.
Finally, we have our favourite 'get away from it all' for two or three nights at a time.... Hartsholme Country Park, Lincoln, which is only an hour away.
Like to know where I am going, then explore the local area

 

[RV72 SAM 🏴]

I don't mean country, but actual place, town, village, with so many places to choose from what makes you gravitate to a particular area?

You can see thing's you may be interested in along the way, maybe more by luck than judgement !
We tend not to follow fastest route, as this normally yakes you along heavily congested motorways etc You have 3 option's for different routes, like fastest/closest/shortest etc, so try a different one on a sat nav with van sizes in preferably, to keep you safe !

 

[redchad]

Generally if we’re just weekending we tend to go within an hours drive, luckily we’re in the northwest so have some great options Yorkshire, Lancashire, southern lakes and the Peak District. So it really depends on availability especially if it’s last minute.

 

[rvnib]

Just finished 13,000 miles round Italy & France, which followed 10,000 in Norway & Sweden last year, both extended trips thanks to tourist visa / permit. It's absolutely each to their own as to amount of planning, what you want to see etc. For us, plans are loose...the weather being the single biggest influence. Park4Night has been invaluable, providing the vast majority of our overnights. After this, guidebooks certainly give good general background and specific information on sites of interest. Google Maps in satellite view is for us, a great research tool. The ability to see what an area looks like from above, coupled with the available photos and web links has produced many a wonderful hike, kayak, drive etc. Hope this helps!

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[Lenny HB]

It would not be the 1st time I have driven out of our town, with wife saying where are we going and I have said following the sun ( if the sun was shining). We ended up in Hill once, swallow falls and even Folkstone ( could not go any further le Manche was in the way).

Poor excuse plenty of ferries.

 

[StephandJohn]

I think maybe you should take a step back and a big breath. I have a fear of missing out on something spectacular and amazing and that means that I have to plan plan plan. But we don't because it gets to be like a strange race we have with ourselves. We usually have an ultimate destination - but that often changes. We have a daily destination and sometimes have seen something on here, spoken to someone whose suggested somewhere, read an article on the way and then be prepared to stop off somewhere interestingthat we happen to see.
We use the Rough Guides as well.
Just relax and it will sort itself out. You can't hope to see everything there is but, hopefully there'll always be another day. Appreciate where you are and not mither yourself over where else you could be.

 

[Soycd]

I think circumstances can play an important part in decision making. Both my wife and I have been in the education system since the age of 5. She finished work yesterday, I finish next Wednesday, all done and dusted. We now have the biggest canvas we have ever had in terms of going away. Where before the plan was to go south (Croatia, Italy Greece etc.) as quickly as possible, we now have the luxury of going when we want, not when work dictates. Our only limitations now are, how far will the money go, 90/180, and how long we can put up with each other in a confined space. Originally going over mid-July to mid-August, now late August, first stop Dusseldorf for Caravan Salon. Our only other commitment after that is a ferry from Brindisi-Igoumenitsa on 16th September. Big change for us, can't wait. Similarly, as music fans we've decided to go to Nijmegen middle of June to see Bruce Springsteen, without the restraint of fixed holidays. Just need to van to arrive on January 16th now!

 

[vzac]

Poor excuse plenty of ferries.

I know but when that happened we had no passports with us.

 

[L' Hobo]

You can see thing's you may be interested in along the way, maybe more by luck than judgement !
We tend not to follow fastest route, as this normally yakes you along heavily congested motorways etc You have 3 option's for different routes, like fastest/closest/shortest etc, so try a different one on a sat nav with van sizes in preferably, to keep you safe !

I love the 'shortest' setting on the SatNav, it's an adventure sometimes.
Amazing the routes it take you, but saying that, one also has to use common sense!

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