Newbie needs advice

[Samantha1239]

Hello all

We will be travelling around Europe for 3 months from this May with our children aged 2 and 4. We are brand new to this and I afew questions I would be super grateful for advice on:

1. I would like stable internet connection so the kids can use their devices on journeys. We have some drives of 3 plus hours. What is the best solution for this ?

Also I would like to watch motives when the kids are down and sleep. Is the wifi in campsites generally quite good?

2. We will be travelling around France Spain Italy and then back up through Switzerland and Germany to the UK.

What is the best way to pay for things ? Is there a specific card . I don't really want to bring lots of euro or get charged for taking money out.

Are the campsites cars friendly or is it cash only ? Or a mix?

3. How do you entertain young children on long car routes ? Any tips or ideas?

Thankyou for taking your time to help

 

[Mark1965]

Hello all

We will be travelling around Europe for 3 months from this May with our children aged 2 and 4. We are brand new to this and I afew questions I would be super grateful for advice on:

1. I would like stable internet connection so the kids can use their devices on journeys. We have some drives of 3 plus hours. What is the best solution for this ?

Also I would like to watch motives when the kids are down and sleep. Is the wifi in campsites generally quite good?

2. We will be travelling around France Spain Italy and then back up through Switzerland and Germany to the UK.

What is the best way to pay for things ? Is there a specific card . I don't really want to bring lots of euro or get charged for taking money out.

Are the campsites cars friendly or is it cash only ? Or a mix?

3. How do you entertain young children on long car routes ? Any tips or ideas?

Thankyou for taking your time to help

Hi,
I cannot help you with questions 1 or 3 as our Children have their own Children now. We occasionaly take the Grandaughters for a 2 night stay somewhere..Fortunatley for us it will be local to us and close by!!

Regarding the Money questions..Its worth taking a few hundred euros for small items, however all the places you are going will prefer a Card Payment.
Even for a couple of drinks in Italy for around 4 Euros they prefer the Card Payments in my experience.

We bank with the Halifax, we have the Clarity Card as there are no charges for paying for goods and services in any foreign Country. Not sure you need to be a Halifax Customer ( its a Credit Mastercard) to get one.
Nationwide have a similar card as does Santander.
Best to research it yourself.
I wouldnt go abroad without My Clarity Card, Tap and Pay on the Tolls etc and the exchange rate if you keep it paying in Euros (not UK pounds) the rate is very good.
Mark

 

[David and Sally]

 

[Jev88]

For TV you probably want a MIFI device - that will use a simm card like a phone and you can stream TV and download the usual stuff to phones and tablets.
The complications are UK Simms often cap Euro data. Or if you use a locally bought PAYG simm then many aps can see you are not in UK and so block iPlayer etc...... But this can be sorted by having a VPN on your device. Trying to keep it simples for now!

 

[Vikdikdok]

What about the children (and you) having a kindle ? Download films & books to see & pass the time without the constant need for paid Wi-Fi -
Nowadays almost all cafes/bars (not forgetting McDonald's) have
Wi-Fi too

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[fishplug]

Internet while driving is possible with a MiFi or LTE router which takes a SIM card. Obviously your signal will vary and possibly drop out in some areas.

This can be a can of worms, but there are lots of people here who can help to guide you on the right solution for your budget.

An external roof mounted antenna will probably be a good idea and if your budget will stretch to something that will accept eSIMs then you'll be able to buy cheaper connectivity and you can do it online without having to find a shop that will sell you a local SIM card.

Campsite WiFi is generally quite poor. I've always had better experience with my own LTE router.

The rest I can't really help with much - except to say that cards are accepted in most places these days in my experience.

 

[daventess]

Try and download as much as you can, as kids that age are fine with repetition

Local wifi can be patchy at times, and roaming data on a UK SIM can be subject to both data limitations and throttling. Getting a local data SIM is often the best way, though a little more involved. If you are travelling regularly then probably something like Mad Musk's Starlink would be best for a reliable connection.

Searching on this site for data SIMS will give you hours of conflicting advice for you to pour over

edit - re cards - Revolut is good, as is Halifax Clarity card. We use both.

edit 2 - on point (3) - have you considered gas & air?

 

[PlacidoD]

I find my EE 4G/5G SIM set up as a mobile hotspot in my phone serves my needs so I am not sure that you need to go to the expense of MIFI. Do you not have the opportunity of a dry run to test out your needs in the UK before May?

P.S. I agree campsite wifi can be patchy