Motoroaming Miscellany

The town of Interlaken is easily accessible from Camping Manor Farm with several transit options available to visitors of the campsite. For cyclists there is a very easy and mostly flat cycle route into the town of approximately 3 miles. There are a couple of variations to the route, a scenic tour through the forest and alongside the river, or the more direct route along the main road. For those without bikes there is a very efficient and regular bus service that departs from outside of the campsite which will have you into Interlaken West (or alternate destinations if you choose) in no time at all. Bus timetables are readily available in the campsite information room, which in my view betters many a tourist office! There is also the boat option, which is provided free to guests of Camping Manor Farm, that departs from the boat launch area of Hotel Neuhaus just a short walk from the campsite. This is a return service (if you wish to utilise it) that takes you directly into Int...

5 Star Camping on the shores of Lake Thun, Switzerland Our 2015 Summer vacation was the first year in over a decade of motorhome touring we had ever experienced lakeside camping; taking in campsites on the shores of Lake Lugano in Switzerland and the north Italian lakes of Iseo and Garda. This was something of a revelation and as we enjoyed ourselves so much the plan for our Summer 2016 tour was more of the same.....just hopefully in different places! Moving on from Kaysersberg and intending, (as we were) to make for Venice, the route was planned via Switzerland and into northern Italy via the Gothard Tunnel. Our intended route seemed totally plausible in three weeks Last year's expedition had us stopping off in Switzerland at the eye-wateringly expensive Camping International Lido Luzern and then onto the marvellous TCS Camping Lake Lugano - Muzzano , before entering into northern Italy. This year we wanted something similar and decided there's more of...

The plan for our first ever three week trip was to make for Venice in Italy, taking in a stop or two in Switzerland on the way and also to revisit a couple of the lakes in northern Italy (Iseo being a favourite) before finally getting across to the Lido di Jesolo. Ordinarily, I plan a toll-free route to our preferred end destination and then choose a selection of stop-overs as close to the intended path as possible; that's the theory!  However, more often than not, it never works out that way; and that's the beauty of owning a motorhome. The freedom and flexibility they afford to make extended overnight stops, divert off route, discover new destinations and move on at will, are all the reasons why we enjoy motorhome ownership so much. After stopping off in Ghent for a couple of nights I already had the feeling that we were not going to get to Venice, but hey its a holiday and we'll enjoy choose wherever we end up........ in fact that's probably why we won...

For a number of years we have only ever used Belgium as a cheap toll-free transit route for our journey's south to the French Alps, Italy or Germany. Driving through the country on their abysmal road network never pricked our ears to consider stopping and seeing the sights. However, that changed last year when we elected to visit the beautiful town of Bruges to see the Christmas market as part of our annual festive vacation. I'd read good reports about the town, an Aire close by and so we gave it a go. To say we were pleasantly surprised is a bit of an understatement and as we enjoyed the visit so much I decided to factor in another Belgium stop this year on our annual summer vacation.  On this occasion our chosen destination was Ghent, which according to the Lonely Planet Guide is Belgium's best kept secret. A bit of research on the internet led me to discover that our best option for staying near Ghent would be to pitch our motorhome at Camping Blaarmeersen. ...

In 2015 I contemplated replacing our Eura Mobil motorhome for a marque slightly newer and perhaps dare I say it....better! However, having spent time touring round the usual suspect dealers looking at several Carthago's, Hymers and Niesmann & Bischoff vans we failed to see anything worthy of our investment that would advance us up the perceived motorhome 'quality ladder'. Considering, we would normally expect to add £20k in the cost to exchange there was precious little in the market place that could hold a candle to our existing van, let alone improve upon it. So after some careful consideration we elected to invest in 'upgrading' our Eura Mobil to the ideal van for us rather than compromising in trying to buy one off the shelf as it were. First on our list was the interior upholstery. Whilst still in very good condition - neither of us smoke, no pets...just kids - it was beginning to show its age and as such we felt some investment in this are...