MarmiteBoy321
2014 T5.1 Cali Ocean SE 180 DSG
VIP Member
We've just returned from a circular, anti-clockwise 3½ week touring trip around France and then Italy (to visit son) in our 2014 Cali Ocean (with wife and a dog) covering 2,400 miles door to door (Bristol). We've been many times before, but first time in a Cali. We all travel differently, but here are a few of tips and observations which may interest some of you.
1. We used the ACSI CampingCard app which mostly worked well for us. We prefer to have the faciities of a campsite rather than an aire or stopover park. It's low season for ACSI registered sites, so we were only charged 15/17/19 Euros most nights.
We looked for sites with review scores of at least 7 but avoided the large, holiday park type sites. We preferred quieter, out of the way sites whenever possible. Also need to be dog friendly (ideally some walks nearby). We usually emailed each site a day or two before, once we knew roughly where we wanted to end up.
Note - the ACSI app was a bit glitchy at times, especially the offline version, and could be a bit frustrating to search accurately but we usually ended up with a site (eventually) we were happy with.
Some sites respond quickly to enquiries, others less so (or not at all). Also, you'll need a mobile connection or good wifi (1 or 2 sites had good wifi included, but others had quite flaky wifi or none).
Also, many sites do seem to have a pool of some sort, heated or unheated, and a few were still open when we visited. Only one or two still had their restaurant/bistro/cafe open on site by September. We only used a camp restaurant on our last night in France.
2. Surprisingly (we thought) quite a few sites were full or nearly full, so just turning up unbooked was not really an option in some areas. On 2 sites we had the last available pitch. Lots of Dutch motorhomers, in particular, as well as others, at sites in Languedoc and Provence, all heading south to Spain and the sun. A couple of sites said it was much busier than usual for September. Be warned! We tried the Park4Night app once, but the site was full (Epernay, near Reims) - so drove on to an ACSI registered site 40km north.
3. Most of our trip was unplanned (except for Milan where our son lives), and we pottered along D roads much of the time, which was great. They do vary a lot, some D roads can be dual carriageways (like an A road here) although many are what we would classify as B roads. Also, their route numbers sometimes change when the D road crosses a department border (confusing!). Only resorted to using autoroutes /tolls when heading for Eurotunnel on way back.
Cali was brilliant, didn't miss a beat!
4. Travelling from France across to N Italy, note that the Mont Blanc tunnel (our usual route) is closed for several months for major repairs. We tried the more southerly W-E route via Briancon into Italy (Turin) - slower road and no tunnel tolls. Returning homewards we headed north from Milan, past Lake Como and into Switzerland via the St Gotthard tunnel (16kms) - good road, no tunnel tolls, but it currently closes overnight for roadworks to build a second tunnel. Then up into N France/Alsace via Basel. Lovely ride across Switzerland. Check online for current status of the border crossings.
5. Weather (...of course!) was much more variable than we had hoped for in September - from 6ºC at night (nr. Albi, on edge of Languedoc) to 24ºC further south in Languedoc/Provence. Quite a few wet days too.
However, we didn't hang around Languedoc too long due to the gusty winds (part of the mistral system?) when we were there mid-Sept.
6. Italy LEZs, driving in our 2014 Euro 5 diesel Cali, we were still permitted to drive into the Low Emission Zone B areas until 30th Sept this year, after that there will be more restrictions - but no idea what impact that will have on travelling around urban areas in Italy in an older Cali or how it would be policed.
7. Toilets (of course!) - it was the first time I'd come across standard toilet pans without seats in a number of campsites (and some public toilets) and several sites didn't provide toilet paper. All toilets and facilities were clean and well kept, so not a problem. Just be prepared!
8. Only needed the Euro 2-pin adaptor/converter to hook up on one site, rest were all usual 3-pin type EHUs.
9. Take some Euros! We used more cash than we'd expected (€60) as in some situations only cash will do, e.g. river boat trip, deposit for site key fob, certain market stalls, etc.
10. Our favourite sites (location and facilities) were - Camping Peyrelevade, Brantome, in Perigord (north Dordogne region) and Camping Le Bouquier, Caromb in the Mont Ventoux region (25km NE of Avignon). But nowhere was awful and most sites had plenty of good points and I would use again.
11. 18ºC in France is warmer than 18ºC in UK
....I think the wine and croissants may help .
12. Pet cabin Plymouth - Roscoff (Brittany Ferries) cost us £320 1 way. Eurotunnel fleeced us for £180 (+ £22 for dog) for late afternoon crossing back from Calais (delayed by 40 mins too); Cali Ocean classed as 'Large' so we were in a single deck carriage.
1. We used the ACSI CampingCard app which mostly worked well for us. We prefer to have the faciities of a campsite rather than an aire or stopover park. It's low season for ACSI registered sites, so we were only charged 15/17/19 Euros most nights.
We looked for sites with review scores of at least 7 but avoided the large, holiday park type sites. We preferred quieter, out of the way sites whenever possible. Also need to be dog friendly (ideally some walks nearby). We usually emailed each site a day or two before, once we knew roughly where we wanted to end up.
Note - the ACSI app was a bit glitchy at times, especially the offline version, and could be a bit frustrating to search accurately but we usually ended up with a site (eventually) we were happy with.
Some sites respond quickly to enquiries, others less so (or not at all). Also, you'll need a mobile connection or good wifi (1 or 2 sites had good wifi included, but others had quite flaky wifi or none).
Also, many sites do seem to have a pool of some sort, heated or unheated, and a few were still open when we visited. Only one or two still had their restaurant/bistro/cafe open on site by September. We only used a camp restaurant on our last night in France.
2. Surprisingly (we thought) quite a few sites were full or nearly full, so just turning up unbooked was not really an option in some areas. On 2 sites we had the last available pitch. Lots of Dutch motorhomers, in particular, as well as others, at sites in Languedoc and Provence, all heading south to Spain and the sun. A couple of sites said it was much busier than usual for September. Be warned! We tried the Park4Night app once, but the site was full (Epernay, near Reims) - so drove on to an ACSI registered site 40km north.
3. Most of our trip was unplanned (except for Milan where our son lives), and we pottered along D roads much of the time, which was great. They do vary a lot, some D roads can be dual carriageways (like an A road here) although many are what we would classify as B roads. Also, their route numbers sometimes change when the D road crosses a department border (confusing!). Only resorted to using autoroutes /tolls when heading for Eurotunnel on way back.
Cali was brilliant, didn't miss a beat!
4. Travelling from France across to N Italy, note that the Mont Blanc tunnel (our usual route) is closed for several months for major repairs. We tried the more southerly W-E route via Briancon into Italy (Turin) - slower road and no tunnel tolls. Returning homewards we headed north from Milan, past Lake Como and into Switzerland via the St Gotthard tunnel (16kms) - good road, no tunnel tolls, but it currently closes overnight for roadworks to build a second tunnel. Then up into N France/Alsace via Basel. Lovely ride across Switzerland. Check online for current status of the border crossings.
5. Weather (...of course!) was much more variable than we had hoped for in September - from 6ºC at night (nr. Albi, on edge of Languedoc) to 24ºC further south in Languedoc/Provence. Quite a few wet days too.
However, we didn't hang around Languedoc too long due to the gusty winds (part of the mistral system?) when we were there mid-Sept.
6. Italy LEZs, driving in our 2014 Euro 5 diesel Cali, we were still permitted to drive into the Low Emission Zone B areas until 30th Sept this year, after that there will be more restrictions - but no idea what impact that will have on travelling around urban areas in Italy in an older Cali or how it would be policed.
7. Toilets (of course!) - it was the first time I'd come across standard toilet pans without seats in a number of campsites (and some public toilets) and several sites didn't provide toilet paper. All toilets and facilities were clean and well kept, so not a problem. Just be prepared!
8. Only needed the Euro 2-pin adaptor/converter to hook up on one site, rest were all usual 3-pin type EHUs.
9. Take some Euros! We used more cash than we'd expected (€60) as in some situations only cash will do, e.g. river boat trip, deposit for site key fob, certain market stalls, etc.
10. Our favourite sites (location and facilities) were - Camping Peyrelevade, Brantome, in Perigord (north Dordogne region) and Camping Le Bouquier, Caromb in the Mont Ventoux region (25km NE of Avignon). But nowhere was awful and most sites had plenty of good points and I would use again.
11. 18ºC in France is warmer than 18ºC in UK
....I think the wine and croissants may help .12. Pet cabin Plymouth - Roscoff (Brittany Ferries) cost us £320 1 way. Eurotunnel fleeced us for £180 (+ £22 for dog) for late afternoon crossing back from Calais (delayed by 40 mins too); Cali Ocean classed as 'Large' so we were in a single deck carriage.
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