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So my partner and I are looking at doing a road trip round the alps for a couple of weeks in the summer to watch the TdF and do some MTB'ing. All the accomodation anywhere near the tour route is extortionate/booked up so thinking about trying to find a campervan to take instead, but it seems pretty darn expensive to hire them too.
Some of you must have had a similar idea at some point, so does anyone have any advice on campervans and whether theres a cheaper way of borrowing or hiring them?
If you think accommodation is pricey for the TDF then try and book a campsite - most want a minimum 7 or 10 day booking, particularly for mountain stages. If you decide to "wild camp" then you'll need to think about arriving 2 or 3 days in advance
Yeah, camping is another option.
Just trying to get my head round campervans/motorhomes as it would be cool to be able to travel round easily and be self sustaining. Just park halfway up alpe d'huez a few days before and bobs your uncle...mtb bliss on your doorstep and a ringside seat to the queen tour stage!
To hire a normal van its about £30 a day so to hire a camper at just about double the price isn't too bad.
These guys are pretty good,
http://www.justgo.uk.com/motorhome-range.html
Buy a cheapie for a grand and sell it afterwards
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mercedes-sprinter-camper-/251230683180?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=L8NasCM0JnoAdbKNMBaysf2afog%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc ]fleabay example of cheap camper[/url]
[url= http://www.motorholme.co.uk/ ]MotorHolme[/url] is a good place to start for prices etc.
Hey Angie!
'Partner' LOLrus
Campers hold their price really well. I've had 4 motorhomes now and generally buy them - do the annual continent trip then sell it. I've never lost money and actually made money on one of them. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than renting and if you're a bit clever about it and plan well, can result in a virtually free holiday. We've ended up keeping the last one we bought.
@mildred. Interesting. How do you do this? Do you buy £50k monsters or £5k 'bangers'? Where do you buy and sell from? Autotrader? Dealers?
Genuinely interested as we're just organising our summer in Europe and transporting the tandem is a royal PIA. A motor home would kill two baby robins with one projectile.
+1 for buying one and then reselling after.
We did this for 3 months in the states, bought it from ebay in San Fran and sold it 3 months later on ebay, didnt make profit, lost about 200 quid and spent about 600 dollars on a repair but got 3 months usage inbetween. happy result.
Gumtree brings up some surprisingly good deals and at least its someone saying £5K for this and not an auction bunfight of uncertainty.
A good friend of mine Dan Watts co owns Bodans Camper hire and sales.They are situated on the A5 Shrewsbury bypass, an ideal gateway to Wales.They have a lockable compound to leave your car and can also pick up from Shrewsbury train station if needed.They have a range of vans from newly converted VW T5 2 berth through to 6 berth motorhomes.
Dan was a keen motocrosser and still rides now and then when he gets chance,so the company is Bike friendly.
So if your planning a dirty weekend away with the bikes, give Dan a ring and he'll sort you out.
Quote GAZ and ask for an MTB discount.
Plenty if you search and depends if you want an older one or a newer but if you plan to do a lot of travelling and dont want to worry about it breaking down, then rent a T25 model or newer, they are easier to drive, as opposed to the older ones that are more fun to look at and retro but they require a lot more fuss
May not be worthwhile for a short trip, but when we were looking to buy our van a few years back, I stumbled across these guys who offer a guaranteed buy back either on a guaranteed percentage value or on a sale or return basis: http://www.campervans4u.com/home.html
Could potentially work out cheaper than a hire over a longer trip, although if you have the parking space and don't mind the hassle you could probably do better out of buying a van, using it for the summer and selling it on privately at the start of the following season.
As a guide, at the right time of year, I could probably sell on our T4 Westy for a similar price to what I bought it for about 4 years ago.
+2 for buying one and then reselling after.
We bought ours (Mazda Bongo kitted out by Montague/321 Away) with the knowledge we could do this after the trip if we wanted to, but like it so much it's now very much a keeper.
Awesome, some good advice and links cheers guys n gals. Sounds like buying one then selling it on after is the way to go, unfortunately I dont have enough pennies in the bank to be able to buy one outright though 🙁
Could hire once we're down there to keep costs down, does anyone have any good contacts in franceland for camper hire?
Wicked Campers?
The MPV conversion thing always looks like a good idea, not sure of price though.