First time coming to UK …

Kmann

Kmann

Iben & Henrik
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OK … not quite a true, then more catchy headline. Been visiting a few times. BUT never in the Cali.

We are about to plan 5-6 weeks Summer trip and are seriously considering to come to the UK this year. Maybe a roundtrip with the ferry to Brest and back to Denmark thru France and Benelux. But now we are open to ideas:

BUT where should we go? See? Try? Stay?
How and where should we cross (issues)

I hope you can help us, make this first visit as campers a great experience for more visits to come. Any tips and trick are welcome. Thank you all so much in advance :)
 
Henrik , we been a few times accros the canal and loved it ...
We where thinking to head to Scotland this year but are a bit on hold for now to wait what will happen/change after the UK may have left the EU .

That said , the UK has very much to offer for a camper and nature is great , lots of beaches...
We usual combine a trip to the UK with a forummeet ...

To go accros depends on where you are heading in the UK .
I used Dunkerque-Dover as we only did the south and Wales .

For Scotland we may go for Ijmuiden in Holland to take the ferry.
 
hotel california said:
Henrik , we been a few times accros the canal and loved it ...
We where thinking to head to Scotland this year but are a bit on hold for now to wait what will happen/change after the UK may have left the EU .

That said , the UK has very much to offer for a camper and nature is great , lots of beaches...
We usual combine a trip to the UK with a forummeet ...
Click to expand...

We want Scotland as well, but are not ripe yet :) But I am glad to hear you like it, we are very much convinced we would love it as campers.

It was also my intention to see if we could pair it with a meet (or I must arrange one :)). And of cause all depends on the Bre…it results/situation/outcome. But I have a struggle to believe it really would have any effect for us coming as visitors.

But if you have any tips about where to go, I would love to see them :)
 
If you have that amount of time you'd be nuts (IMO) to miss the west coast of Scotland, it's by far the most beautiful landscape the UK has to offer. (Although I would avoid the island of Skye in the summer as that's getting very overcrowded).

Also mid/north Wales and the Welsh borders. The Lake District will be very busy in summer but the Yorkshire Dales has fewer visitors.

Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall are great areas for Cali'ing.

I don't think you will have any problems coming over after 29 March, apart from any possible disruption of ferry times but that should have settled down by the time you come.
 
You could look at Amsterdam to Newcastle. Up the east coast to Edinburgh, Stirling then A9 up to Inverness. Choice of going all the way up or across Loch Ness and then start coming south all the way to Plymouth for the ferry over to Brest.
You can decide on how long to stay at any point or change route to suit the weather by not making any bookings other than ferries. All of the west coast is subject to Atlantic rapid weather changes.

It takes longer in time to travel around the UK than in most European countries over the same distances.
 
Scotland is usually better earlier in the summer (late may and june) if you want to get best weather and fewest midges... often july/august can have more rain
 
Devon and Cornwall, beautiful beaches and villages plus we have great weather down here. More sunshine and less rain!
 
Henrik,

I live on the South coast, between the towns of Worthing and Littlehampton.

If your itinerary comes close to us then there is a space on our drive with EHU waiting for you, and dinner of course with Jo and myself.

You will be most welcome.
 
If you're going to Scotland I can recommend a few places from when I hiked coast-to-cost last year in May. West coast is very beautiful but my favourite place is still Braemar and the area round it which is easily accessible from Edinburgh/Aberdeen, good hiking there too with Lochnagar near by. Stonehaven was not bad either with Dunnottar Castle, very picturesque, especially when the fog rolled in. That's also the birthplace of the infamous fried mars bar... Edinburgh was very tourist-friendly too.

Just avoid the Loch Ness museum, haha. "It's a trap". :) Fort Augustus and Inverness was very cozy too.
I guess it depends what you're going for, mountains, coastline, hiking/biking or just making a lot of miles to see as much as you can.

Those are just my two cents, as we have a lot of locals here on the forums I guess this thread will be full of good tips and ideas.

img_0525.jpg
 
GrannyJen said:
Henrik,

I live on the South coast, between the towns of Worthing and Littlehampton.

If your itinerary comes close to us then there is a space on our drive with EHU waiting for you, and dinner of course with Jo and myself.

You will be most welcome.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! We really appreciate it and will certainly say hello if we are in your area :)
 
hotel california said:
Henrik , we been a few times accros the canal and loved it ...
We where thinking to head to Scotland this year but are a bit on hold for now to wait what will happen/change after the UK may have left the EU .

That said , the UK has very much to offer for a camper and nature is great , lots of beaches...
We usual combine a trip to the UK with a forummeet ...

To go accros depends on where you are heading in the UK .
I used Dunkerque-Dover as we only did the south and Wales .

For Scotland we may go for Ijmuiden in Holland to take the ferry.
Click to expand...
:thumbI agree, Wim! Like to follow this item: planning a trip to Scotland too (if not it will be Scandinavia):thanks
 
Car or Campervan <2m high <5m long ...

Are you booking now ? Or just checking prices?
 
Kmann said:
OK … not quite a true, then more catchy headline. Been visiting a few times. BUT never in the Cali.

We are about to plan 5-6 weeks Summer trip and are seriously considering to come to the UK this year. Maybe a roundtrip with the ferry to Brest and back to Denmark thru France and Benelux. But now we are open to ideas:

BUT where should we go? See? Try? Stay?
How and where should we cross (issues)

I hope you can help us, make this first visit as campers a great experience for more visits to come. Any tips and trick are welcome. Thank you all so much in advance :)
Click to expand...

Hi Kmann
You know you’re always welcome here on south coast near Christchurch . When are you planning to travel ? We’re probably off sailing down west coast of France in early June and you’re welcome to join us there as well . Don’t forget very easy ferry from Poole ( 30 min away ) to Cherbourg . Looking forward to seeing you both again . Trebor and Caligirl
 
Kmann said:
OK … not quite a true, then more catchy headline. Been visiting a few times. BUT never in the Cali.

We are about to plan 5-6 weeks Summer trip and are seriously considering to come to the UK this year. Maybe a roundtrip with the ferry to Brest and back to Denmark thru France and Benelux. But now we are open to ideas:

BUT where should we go? See? Try? Stay?
How and where should we cross (issues)

I hope you can help us, make this first visit as campers a great experience for more visits to come. Any tips and trick are welcome. Thank you all so much in advance :)
Click to expand...

Hey Henrik,

Let us know when you come and we would like to maybe come say hi some time.

A list of my favourite places to Visit:

Lake District (Wastwater is a remote fav of mine stay near the Wasdale Head Inn), but most of the lakes are stunning and well worth a visit, some of the most beautiful sights in the UK.

Cornwall is beautiful and well worth a visit.

Dartmoor/Cheddar Gorge/Dorset/Jurassic Coast are like north coast but cleaner and less saturated with tourists than north Devon. Our current fav within 3 or 4 hours of home.

West Coast Scotland, Glencoe, Glen Etive, Applecross Pass, Arisaig, Glenelg, Sligachan (Isle of Skye), Loch Lomond. Long trip and it takes time to travel here but wow the views. Amazing, can be very insect laiden in peak season. Weather can be changeable.

Cotswolds, quintessentially English?

Places that are lovely but over populated in peak months
Peak District, I've tried to go here so many times because it is a lovely part of the world. Sadly it's closeness to the midlands means its usually very full of people during holiday time. Only worth a visit out of holiday season for me (unless anyone knows some more secret sites).
North Devon - Croyde bay used to be my favourite place to go in summer but it's a tiny village and these days is so over filled in summer that it becomes a bit much. The huge demand are making the prices get expensive now. It is a great place for surfing (as is Saunton) but they are starting to charge £10 just to pull into the various beach carparks around the area. Sadly I avoid here now.
 
Oh and be aware if you use Camping and Caravan club, if a site says its somewhere its probably 10+ miles away from there. A great example is the Oban campsite which is actually 12 miles from Oban.

Pondered contacting trading standards a few times after I ended up miles away from the place I wanted to visit in the middle of nowhere.
 
Deffo the Lake District. :thumb
 
Change of plans!

We have decided (at the moment at least) to hit towards Portugal thru the summer, and because of that, we have booked a ticket on the Dunkirk - Dover ferry for Easter!

So plans are the Southern UK from the 14 to 21 April. And no plans yet. So any specific suggestions for us to plan the trips adventures are very welcome.

Is there a meet around? That would be so great :)
 
Kmann said:
Change of plans!

We have decided (at the moment at least) to hit towards Portugal thru the summer, and because of that, we have booked a ticket on the Dunkirk - Dover ferry for Easter!

So plans are the Southern UK from the 14 to 21 April. And no plans yet. So any specific suggestions for us to plan the trips adventures are very welcome.

Is there a meet around? That would be so great :)
Click to expand...


I'm sure someone will organise a meet for you ;)


See here what we did last year in the south...
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/south-west-coast-uk-trip-meet-slimbridge.24196/
 
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