Camping plans for 2026?
Discussion
Only used out caravan once so far this year as I work most weekends. Had just a short stay on a site near the NEC for an event.
However I retire next March and I intend to make lots of use of the caravan with plenty of spontaneous UK trips, both local and distant.
The wife will still be working so I'll mostly be going solo.
Can't wait.
However I retire next March and I intend to make lots of use of the caravan with plenty of spontaneous UK trips, both local and distant.
The wife will still be working so I'll mostly be going solo.
Can't wait.
_Rodders_ said:
Possibly stating the bleeding obvious but the heat at the moment in Europe is something else.
Relentless at the moment. Didn't drop below 29 degrees last night. It was 31 at 0200. My pillow has probably trebled in weight.
I have ferry to France booked for late August and staying for a month. I may have to rethink my travel plans if the heat and the wildfires keep up.Relentless at the moment. Didn't drop below 29 degrees last night. It was 31 at 0200. My pillow has probably trebled in weight.
Our 2026 summer tour is over, the final night welcome home Chinese has been consumed and I headed back to work today.
18 nights taking in Calais, Koblenz, Augsburg, Mondsee (Salzburg), Zell am see, Neuschwanstein, Rothenburg ob de tauber, Wertheim, Belgian Ardennes & back to Calais.
A few highlights -
Koblenz - lovely gaff
Mondsee - nice but St Gilgen was a much better lake
Salzburg - lovely city
Zell am see - perfect
Neuschwanstein - nice castle, tourist trap - happy wife though
Rothenburg - pretty
Ardennes - on fire, hope that they get it under control soon. Also the Belgian roads are worse than the UK, avoid.
Stayed at a great site in calais both ways 20 mins from the tunnel, La Castle Bien Assie.
18 nights taking in Calais, Koblenz, Augsburg, Mondsee (Salzburg), Zell am see, Neuschwanstein, Rothenburg ob de tauber, Wertheim, Belgian Ardennes & back to Calais.
A few highlights -
Koblenz - lovely gaff
Mondsee - nice but St Gilgen was a much better lake
Salzburg - lovely city
Zell am see - perfect
Neuschwanstein - nice castle, tourist trap - happy wife though
Rothenburg - pretty
Ardennes - on fire, hope that they get it under control soon. Also the Belgian roads are worse than the UK, avoid.
Stayed at a great site in calais both ways 20 mins from the tunnel, La Castle Bien Assie.
All this hot weather has broken our caravan, the whole bay window assembly has become unbonded and now it needs to be taken to an approved workshop for repair, that’s just f
king brilliant. 
The seasonal site where we keep it is £4500 a year, but now we’ll need to cut the season short (no refunds) and get it recovered as I can’t risk towing it if the front window is likely to fall out.
It’s under 1st owner warranty, but that won’t cover all the associated costs.
Looks like we’ll have to use my Transporter for the next few weeks where we were supposed to use the caravan.
And my Transporter pop top is going back for warranty work this Friday due an issue with the weather seal.
Why does nothing last these days?!
king brilliant. The seasonal site where we keep it is £4500 a year, but now we’ll need to cut the season short (no refunds) and get it recovered as I can’t risk towing it if the front window is likely to fall out.
It’s under 1st owner warranty, but that won’t cover all the associated costs.
Looks like we’ll have to use my Transporter for the next few weeks where we were supposed to use the caravan.
And my Transporter pop top is going back for warranty work this Friday due an issue with the weather seal.
Why does nothing last these days?!
stevemcs said:
Everything is poor these days- what s the van -Swift by any chance ?
I purposely avoided Swift and Bailey and brought an Adria - seems like this window rail is quite a common fault, you’d think it would be bonded and bolted, but with six weeks of blazing sun the bonding agent has turned into jelly and the whole frame has slipped down about 2 inches on one side so you can’t close any windows.Back in March we also had a 90% damp reading by the front door, along the floor. Water was getting past the wheel arch trim and then through a gap in the bonding agent and getting soaked up into the floor/body - luckily we got that fixed before any permanent damage occurred. I had to pay for that to be fixed by a local caravan tech as taking off pitch at the start of the season and losing it for a month or three would have been a huge waste of pitch fees.
I’ve also changed the water pump, mppt controller and the flush motor myself so far this year.
I may take this as an opportunity to sell or p/x it, I can still get decent money for it, but prices on an equivalent spec are over double what we paid for ours 7 years ago.
Prices have gone drastically up and quality has gone drastically down it would seem.
MOMACC said:
That’s a good idea for water ingress, but even if I was to gaffa tape the window assembly in place I’d worry the whole frame would drop out on the motorway - it’s being collected on a recovery truck, door to door was £400 which I didn’t think was too bad.Ed Boon II said:
stevemcs said:
Everything is poor these days- what s the van -Swift by any chance ?
I purposely avoided Swift and Bailey and brought an Adria - seems like this window rail is quite a common fault, you d think it would be bonded and bolted, but with six weeks of blazing sun the bonding agent has turned into jelly and the whole frame has slipped down about 2 inches on one side so you can t close any windows.Back in March we also had a 90% damp reading by the front door, along the floor. Water was getting past the wheel arch trim and then through a gap in the bonding agent and getting soaked up into the floor/body - luckily we got that fixed before any permanent damage occurred. I had to pay for that to be fixed by a local caravan tech as taking off pitch at the start of the season and losing it for a month or three would have been a huge waste of pitch fees.
I ve also changed the water pump, mppt controller and the flush motor myself so far this year.
I may take this as an opportunity to sell or p/x it, I can still get decent money for it, but prices on an equivalent spec are over double what we paid for ours 7 years ago.
Prices have gone drastically up and quality has gone drastically down it would seem.
Yeah, looking back we’ve had a lot of issues which aren’t unique to our brand as a lot of parts are shared across brands.
We’ve been unlucky I think and as they get older a lot of the issues slowly get resolved. Also helps if you’re handy with a spanner and like to potter about with things.
Adria can’t find any record of it being serviced in 2020 so the warranty might be an issue, I can’t remember who serviced it back then on its first one.
We’ve been unlucky I think and as they get older a lot of the issues slowly get resolved. Also helps if you’re handy with a spanner and like to potter about with things.
Adria can’t find any record of it being serviced in 2020 so the warranty might be an issue, I can’t remember who serviced it back then on its first one.
_Rodders_ said:
We've now made our way down as far as Croatia.
Just spent a couple of nights at a site about 15 mins from Plitvice Lakes. This is a picture of the site on a Saturday morning, maybe 25% full.
In August! Not unreasonably priced either. 1.60 fuel Vs > 2 is welcome too, can recommend.
Sounds a brilliant trip.Just spent a couple of nights at a site about 15 mins from Plitvice Lakes. This is a picture of the site on a Saturday morning, maybe 25% full.
In August! Not unreasonably priced either. 1.60 fuel Vs > 2 is welcome too, can recommend.
Have you pre booked sites, or just looking for somewhere to pitch as and when you stop?
stevemcs said:
Everything is poor these days- what s the van -Swift by any chance ?
Maybe I just dropped lucky, but I'm nearly two years into ownership of our 2020 Swift, we've had no problems at all, except for an LED reading light failing and a screw dropping out from the cooker surround. Had it serviced yesterday, no issues at all found. Twenty six nights so far this year, we're off to Woodhall Spa at the bank holiday for four nights. I wish I could afford to retire so that we could clear off and not come back until we get bored! After eleven years with a T5 camper and rock n roll bed, I'm absolutely loving the comfort of a caravan with a fixed bed. I even enjoy towing for some reason.
LeighW said:
stevemcs said:
Everything is poor these days- what s the van -Swift by any chance ?
Maybe I just dropped lucky, but I'm nearly two years into ownership of our 2020 Swift, we've had no problems at all, except for an LED reading light failing and a screw dropping out from the cooker surround. Had it serviced yesterday, no issues at all found. Twenty six nights so far this year, we're off to Woodhall Spa at the bank holiday for four nights. I wish I could afford to retire so that we could clear off and not come back until we get bored! After eleven years with a T5 camper and rock n roll bed, I'm absolutely loving the comfort of a caravan with a fixed bed. I even enjoy towing for some reason.
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