Newbie in need of some guidance from this amazing community

[Samantha1239]

Hello community!

Can anyone help these these questions please ?

1. We have a 2 and 4 year old. We have friends in A Milan and are wanting to spend afew days in or around there. I am struggling to find somewhere ...any suggestions ??

Also any suggestions of family friendly sites in the Italian lake district...garda etc etc. We love nature and views.


Also any suggestions for campsites with pitches in Switzerland and Germany ? We would love to experience as much as we can and variety of difference types of site on our 3 month trip through these countries.

2. Is anyone aware of any visa requirements we might need for France , Italy, Switzerland and Germany ? We are British UK. And do we need to check that out driving license is valid in these countries?

3. Does anyone have any experience of breaking down ? What would you do in that instance ? At home we would just call our local breakdown provider. What do you do in Europe?


Sorry if these questions seem silly. We are new to this and I am so grateful for your help.

 

[DandJ]

If you are UK citizens, you don't need any sort of visa for the EU...you can go for up to 90 consecutive days in any 180. A full UK driving licence is fine in all those countries too.
Have a look at what your breakdown cover states either in the paperwork, or online. You may fine it already provides European cover, if not, it will be a smallish supplement and will give a phone number(s) to call....a French/German/Italian etc breakdown vehicle will then turn up to sort you out.

 

[PlacidoD]

When and in what are you travelling and from where? Your profile tells us little.

1. Shengen rules will limit you to 90 days for your trip.
2. There are presently no visa requirements. They may come in for the EU next year (With gathering biometric data as a first step maybe this autumn). That is not MoHo related. The same will apply on a flight or Mediterranean cruise.
3. You will need paper copies/originals of all documents connected with driving and your vehicle - V5 MOT, driving licence, insurance certificate.
4. For campsites the starting point is Google maps and enter search criteria like " Campsites near Milan"
5. You take out breakdown insurance much as you do for UK breakdowns. MoHo insurers Caravan Guard and many others can offer breakdown cover.

 

[Samantha1239]

If you are UK citizens, you don't need any sort of visa for the EU...you can go for up to 90 consecutive days in any 180. A full UK driving licence is fine in all those countries too.
Have a look at what your breakdown cover states either in the paperwork, or online. You may fine it already provides European cover, if not, it will be a smallish supplement and will give a phone number(s) to call....a French/German/Italian etc breakdown vehicle will then turn up to sort you out.

Thankyou so much for this

 

[Samantha1239]

When and in what are you travelling and from where? Your profile tells us little.

1. Shengen rules will limit you to 90 days for your trip.
2. There are presently no visa requirements. They may come in for the EU next year (With gathering biometric data as a first step maybe this autumn). That is not MoHo related. The same will apply on a flight or Mediterranean cruise.
3. You will need paper copies/originals of all documents connected with driving and your vehicle - V5 MOT, driving licence, insurance certificate.
4. For campsites the starting point is Google maps and enter search criteria like " Campsites near Milan"
5. You take out breakdown insurance much as you do for UK breakdowns. MoHo insurers Caravan Guard and many others can offer breakdown cover.

Hello

Thankyou for taking the time to reply.

We have a caravan. Bailey pegasus Rimini. 1499 kg. 4 berth. After careful consideration this was the best option for us with the kids and our trip.

We will be getting the tunnel over to Calais. Through France and then onto Italy. Up through Switzerland and into Germany and back home to UK. We have 3 months.

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[MisterB]

shame youre not going over in a motorhome/camper as you could have really experienced some fantastic and often free stopovers. check out GoBoony for rental opportunities if the caravan hasnt been bought yet.

i can recommend Camping Bai Verde on Lake Garda as a potential site, weve been there twice now and its a decent site - does tend to get crowded at times,, but most sites around Garda are the same.

others have provided good responses re your other questions, so no need for me to repeat the same things. have fun and enjoy ..!

 

[DandJ]

There are some things that will be specific to each country, as regards motoring rules and regulations. You could/should spend time looking at what affects you in each country...I doubt people who do tours with 10-15 european countries go to those lengths and many rules will be the same or similar across the board. The easy ones are obviously speed limits, height limits, weight limits etc Breaking down may be another matter. In France, if you break down on a motorway, you can't just organise your own recovery...https://www.autoroutes.fr/en/breakdown-service.htm
As a breakdown is likely to be a high stress incident (especially with 2 small children) it would perhaps be wise to know what each of the countries states you must do...and have a plan. (Stuff like the fact that your car will likely have the steering wheel on the 'wrong side' so the front seat passenger would be getting out closest to passing traffic...and at 130kmh..passing traffic goes past very fast!. I'd go as far as to say, have a practice at all 4 getting out of the car....on the rioght hand side of the car...furthest away from danger)
Make sure the car is properly serviced prior to going...all tyres are in good condition, spare tyre rather than a bottle of goo and a pump ? Spare for the caravan ?
Fluo vests for all people in the car...actually in the car so they can be put on prior to getting out...may seem a little onerous but at dusk/dawn or at night, on an unlit road they make a huge difference to visibility
The countries you're visiting are likely to have near identical requirements of what is needed in the vehicle....have a look online and acquaint yourselves with what they are.

Don't get too hung up on it all.....setting off with a properly functioning car/caravan and with the right plan and mindset will likely mean you never need to put a 'breakdown plan' into action.