Caravan Suitable Routes

[Geoff_374363952]

Hi, I'm new to caravaning. How do you find the best route to take when towing a caravan? Even some A roads can be extremely narrow and I don't want to get stuck and have to reverse in heavy traffic congestion on my first few outings.

 

[Alan Partridge]

I don't think there's a foolproof way. Maybe the motoring organisations will provide a caravan route if you're a member?

Just plan, would be my first suggestion - use a decent road atlas - we use one en route as well along with the sat nav, which we don't follow blindly! Always use the approach instructions given by the club or site.

If you're using sat nav, don't even think about using shortest route option. Pay very close attention to road signs - width limits, single track roads, roads unsuitable for caravans/large vehicles, steep hills etc.

Our caravan is no wider than the car, so the main concern for us is single track roads.

As to getting stuck and reversing, I don't think anybody wants to do that whether they're on their first few outings or not - you can't do it on your own as you are blind on one side as soon as you have any angle on, and you can't see directly behind the van anyway, so you need a competent helper to guide you - never works when we try it ;-)

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi geoff

if you have a sat-nav with the latest update you should be able to program it to aviod any nasties en-route and set it to fastest route it will then nearly allways pick out motorways and dual carriage ways and avoid town centers.

if not then basicaly take a good look at a good old fashioned road map take your time to plan your route, write down on a piece of paper all the road numbers and junctions and keep to motoways and major roads and aviod town and city centres also aviod the little yellow roads and don't take shortcuts,(it may take longer to get there but worth it if you are new to towing)and keep it handy in the car.

I would also recommend not going too far for the first couple of trips untill you are confident about towing and find out the capabilities of you outfit.

hope this helps

colin

 

[Ray R]

Hi Geoff, If you use this route planner

http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
You can select the car & Caravan option , hopefully you would'nt run into any problems using this.

 

[Chaps]

Really useful link Jasper. Thanks very much.

Up to now we've used the AA route planner and checked their recommended routes against a large scale road atlas. The caravan option on the michelin site will be very useful. We'll still check the road atlas though!

Thanks again.

 

[Chrisbee]

Not sure if the caravan option chooses a caravan friendly route or is just used to calculate journey costs. I use it but always check the given route with a good road map and have found unsuitable routes given sometimes.

 

[cooky1]

Jasper thanks for the link, but I can't find how to put the car and caravan option in! Giz a clue.

Graeme.

 

[cooky1]

It's OK Jasper, I have now found it under Driving directions and options.

Graeme.