1st Time Abroad.....What essentials do I need ?

[Mike_5041040]

Hi,

We've booked our first trip abroad ( Holland ) for this August and would like some advise on the essentials I'll need to take.

Particularly to comply with the law but also items I'd find useful abroad but not necessarily in the U.K.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Mike.

 

[BeemerMal]

Mike,

You need to take most things you would use at home. Remember the mains electricity in some European countries are sometimes as low as 5amps (usually 12 to 16amps in the UK) so you may need to rely more on Gas than you do in the UK so take 2 6kg bottles, if you can fit them in.

These are some of the essentials, not sure if all are required for Holland though:

Good insurance for car, caravan and personal cover.

Maps plus European Sat Nav is a luxury but well worth it.

Sites Directories - unless you know where you are going to.

European Health Card for emergency medical treatment.

Two warning triangles.

High Viz Jackets for all passengers.

Complete spare set of bulbs for car and caravan.

Headlight beam benders.

European 2 pin electrical connection for your mains lead plus a reverse polarity wired cable and a polarity tester.

The first time we travelled abroad I put a "keep to the right" sign on my dash board but once you have done it for the first time you will find it is easier driving in Europe than in the UK.

Have a good trip....Mal

 

[Mike_5041040]

Mike,

You need to take most things you would use at home. Remember the mains electricity in some European countries are sometimes as low as 5amps (usually 12 to 16amps in the UK) so you may need to rely more on Gas than you do in the UK so take 2 6kg bottles, if you can fit them in.

These are some of the essentials, not sure if all are required for Holland though:

Good insurance for car, caravan and personal cover.

Maps plus European Sat Nav is a luxury but well worth it.

Sites Directories - unless you know where you are going to.

European Health Card for emergency medical treatment.

Two warning triangles.

High Viz Jackets for all passengers.

Complete spare set of bulbs for car and caravan.

Headlight beam benders.

European 2 pin electrical connection for your mains lead plus a reverse polarity wired cable and a polarity tester.

The first time we travelled abroad I put a "keep to the right" sign on my dash board but once you have done it for the first time you will find it is easier driving in Europe than in the UK.

Have a good trip....Mal

Thanks very much Mal.....I appreciate it !

Regards,

Mike.

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

I work in Holland and live in the UK and Holland, and I just know you'll have a great time, but there's a few things that are specific to the Netherlands:

1. It is illegal to attach a caravan brake-away cable to the car by looping it around the tow-ball. The brake-away cable MUST be attached to a fixed point (eye) on the tow bar.

If you are travelling via a ferry direct to Holland - this is often checked at the port - Euro 30 fine for non-compliance.

2. There are separate cycle lanes (for cyclists and restricted motor scooters) nearly everywhere. Where these cross a road, like at a T junction or a roundabout, then you should give way to the cyclist.

You'll soon pick this up, but just watch out for cars in-front of you turning off, and then stopping to let a cyclist pass.

3. Maximum speed limit for towing a caravan is 80 kph (50 mph) in Holland

4. Learn to recognise a few Dutch words - the Dutch motorway signs give quite a lot of information to the driver. For instance "File 3 km Dordrecht" means a 3 km traffic jam in the direction of Doredrecht, Omleiding means diversion.

5. If eating in a restaurant or cafe, the maximum tip is 5%.

6. Learn to drink beer Dutch-style - small glasses of beer (with a 1/2" foam head) so that the beer always tastes fresh because you drink it so quickly.

7. Most people in Holland speak English, but in Dutch the best I achieve is confusing the locals - my accent is Belgian but with a Rotterdamse vocabulary - so I'm always asked where I'm from.

You should have no (or little) trouble at all.

8. Supermarkets haven't dominated the shopping experience - whilst there are plenty of supermarkets around - they are usually small and located in or on the edge of town centres.

9. Don't try to park in city centres - you'll be better served by the excellent (and cheap) public transport.

Kick back and enjoy.

Robert

 

[Mike_5041040]

Mike,

I work in Holland and live in the UK and Holland, and I just know you'll have a great time, but there's a few things that are specific to the Netherlands:

1. It is illegal to attach a caravan brake-away cable to the car by looping it around the tow-ball. The brake-away cable MUST be attached to a fixed point (eye) on the tow bar.

If you are travelling via a ferry direct to Holland - this is often checked at the port - Euro 30 fine for non-compliance.

2. There are separate cycle lanes (for cyclists and restricted motor scooters) nearly everywhere. Where these cross a road, like at a T junction or a roundabout, then you should give way to the cyclist.

You'll soon pick this up, but just watch out for cars in-front of you turning off, and then stopping to let a cyclist pass.

3. Maximum speed limit for towing a caravan is 80 kph (50 mph) in Holland

4. Learn to recognise a few Dutch words - the Dutch motorway signs give quite a lot of information to the driver. For instance "File 3 km Dordrecht" means a 3 km traffic jam in the direction of Doredrecht, Omleiding means diversion.

5. If eating in a restaurant or cafe, the maximum tip is 5%.

6. Learn to drink beer Dutch-style - small glasses of beer (with a 1/2" foam head) so that the beer always tastes fresh because you drink it so quickly.

7. Most people in Holland speak English, but in Dutch the best I achieve is confusing the locals - my accent is Belgian but with a Rotterdamse vocabulary - so I'm always asked where I'm from.

You should have no (or little) trouble at all.

8. Supermarkets haven't dominated the shopping experience - whilst there are plenty of supermarkets around - they are usually small and located in or on the edge of town centres.

9. Don't try to park in city centres - you'll be better served by the excellent (and cheap) public transport.

Kick back and enjoy.

Robert

Thanks for you comments Robert, I appreciate it.

By the way, are the high viz jackets required in Holland for all passengers in the car ? ( as mentioned by BeemerMal ).

Thanks,

Mike.

 

[Lutz]

High vis vests are not required for Holland and only one warning triangle.

 

[milliemop]

check the caravan club site, it has all the info you require for going abroad

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

Good advice from Lutz, Hi-vis jackets are not required by law. But I'd take one any way in case of breakdown - it's like fitting an AL-KO stabiliser - safe rather than sorry.

Other things about Holland:

The Dutch alphabet has one additional letter - IJ - which is pronounced like the Y in EYE - so the first time you see a road sign with the town of IJmuiden listed, you won't spend 30 minutes wondering how to pronounce it (Eye-my-den) instead of concentrating on driving

And Q and X only appear in foreign words.

UK credit / debit cards are accepted almost everywhere, with the exception of railway and bus transport, parking meters, and most supermarkets, who take the Dutch Chip-n-Pin cards or money.

If you go shopping, look for VISA logos (or whatever you have) on the doorway as you enter the shop - otherwise visit an ATM.

Dutch "Chip-n-Pin" is not the UK system, but a special Dutch-only

money transfer card which Dutch people top up from special ATM machines - downloading money onto the card - the idea being that if you loose the card then you only loose the money on the card - and not give someone access to your account.

If you need any specific information, let me know.

Robert

P.S. IJ again. I was on a business trip to California with one of my guys - Eric Kooij - and the hotel receptionist just choked when he tried to pronounce Eric's name.

So, being ever helpful, I said pronounce it like it's spelt: Koo - eee - jay. So Eric was Mr. Koo - eee - jay for the rest of his stay. And when we left we let the receptionist in on the real pronunciation - it's Eric Koy.

 

[Mike_5041040]

Mike,

Good advice from Lutz, Hi-vis jackets are not required by law. But I'd take one any way in case of breakdown - it's like fitting an AL-KO stabiliser - safe rather than sorry.

Other things about Holland:

The Dutch alphabet has one additional letter - IJ - which is pronounced like the Y in EYE - so the first time you see a road sign with the town of IJmuiden listed, you won't spend 30 minutes wondering how to pronounce it (Eye-my-den) instead of concentrating on driving

And Q and X only appear in foreign words.

UK credit / debit cards are accepted almost everywhere, with the exception of railway and bus transport, parking meters, and most supermarkets, who take the Dutch Chip-n-Pin cards or money.

If you go shopping, look for VISA logos (or whatever you have) on the doorway as you enter the shop - otherwise visit an ATM.

Dutch "Chip-n-Pin" is not the UK system, but a special Dutch-only

money transfer card which Dutch people top up from special ATM machines - downloading money onto the card - the idea being that if you loose the card then you only loose the money on the card - and not give someone access to your account.

If you need any specific information, let me know.

Robert

P.S. IJ again. I was on a business trip to California with one of my guys - Eric Kooij - and the hotel receptionist just choked when he tried to pronounce Eric's name.

So, being ever helpful, I said pronounce it like it's spelt: Koo - eee - jay. So Eric was Mr. Koo - eee - jay for the rest of his stay. And when we left we let the receptionist in on the real pronunciation - it's Eric Koy.

Thanks again for all your advice Robert.

If you don't mind, I'll post again shortly to see if you can give me a little route advise ( Sorry....no sat nav!! ).

I'm posting from work at the moment and don't have my travel details nearby.

I seem to recall that we are travelling to Duinrell / Wassenaar and when I looked at my Dutch map, noticed that there was quite a large town between Roterdam ( where we land )and Wassenaar. I didn't particularly fancy travelling through a city centre with caravan in tow, on my first trip abroad !!!!!!

An appropriate by-pass would be wonderful !

Thanks again Robert,

Kind Regards,

Mike.

 

[Mike_5041040]

Thanks again for all your advice Robert.

If you don't mind, I'll post again shortly to see if you can give me a little route advice ( Sorry....no sat nav!! ).

I'm posting from work at the moment and don't have my travel details nearby.

I seem to recall that we are travelling to Duinrell / Wassenaar and when I looked at my Dutch map, noticed that there was quite a large town between Roterdam ( where we land )and Wassenaar. I didn't particularly fancy travelling through a city centre with caravan in tow, on my first trip abroad !!!!!!

An appropriate by-pass would be wonderful !

Thanks again Robert,

Kind Regards,

Mike.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Mike,

The big town between Rotterdam and Duinrell camp-site is Den Haag (The Hague) - and don't worry, it's all motorway - you'll have no problems.

If you're arriving at Europoort (from Hull) then you'll need to drive towards Rotterdam on the N15 (and A15 motorway) then turn North to cross the waterway via the (free) Benelux Tunnel - then follow the A20 motorway towards Rotterdam and the A13 to Delft, then the A4 towards Leiden.

If you're arriving at Hoek van Holland (from Harwich) then you can either drive the A20 motorway to Rotterdam and A13 to Delft, and the A4 to Leiden or trim 30 minutes from the journey and take the N222 from just outside Hoek van Hooland and join up with the end of the A4 - saves 20+ minutes to Rotterdam, then 20+ minutes back to Den Haag (like driving around 2 sides of a triangle)

Once past Den Haag, at Prins Clausplein (intersection) take the A12 towards the coast (Schreveningen - you'll have fun trying to say that town name - it's a standard test to tell if someone is Dutch) then north on the N44 towards Wassenaar.

Easy - with the exception of the N44 (dual carriageway) and the N222 (UK A road single carriageway), it's all motorway.

Robert

 

[Mike_5041040]

Thank you so much Robert.

What a fantastic site this is with so many helpful contributors like yourself.

You're a gentleman !

Thanks,

Mike.

P.S We'll be arriving on the Hull-Rotterdam route.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Mike,

Thinking that Hull - Europoort arrives at Rotterdam is a bit misleading - not as bad as thinking that Dover is a suburb of London - you'll have about 30 km to drive to get to the Rotterdam Ring motorway.

Duinrell is quite a large site (1,000+ pitched with loads of toilet blocks and facilities). Greta for kids, and there's loads of places to see and visit.

Duinrell is in the "Green Heart" of the Randstad - the green centre inside the semi-circle of towns and cities that make up the business / wealthy part of Holland - places like Delft, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam that grew rich on the activities of the Dutch East India company.

Robert