newish caravanner

[garyyorkshire]

hi all.

been using an old avondale for the last couple of years for short breaks. main holidays abroad. with the cost of hols to spain expensive for us with 2 children for only 1 week we decided to upgrade vans and use more often.

just today we bought a new (to us) van abbey vogue gts 416 year 2000 it seems absolutely mint in comparison to some newer vans.

don't know a great deal about vans but it did beat many in terms of quality and condition.

so hopefully we will be going to france or spain in the future if i can get my head around all the info.

 

[ThePlotter]

Welcome to the madhouse of the PC forum,seriously you will find most friendly but all very knowlegeable and more importantly happy to help.

Good choice of van I have a Abbey Vogue GTS 416 also 2004 vintage.

 

[garyyorkshire]

thankyou. yes it does seem to be a good quality van very modern indeed. should last us quite a while.

collecting it next week so will be going away to test it out asap before our 2 weeks in cornwall.

is travelling abroad say from portsmoust to biloa or santander easy to organise?

thanks

 

[ThePlotter]

Gary as I put in the other thread of your ,if it was my decision I would book through the main companies offering this service.Bilbao & Santander are ok but very expensive and you do cross the Bay of Biscay which is famous for very rough weather if you are ALL good sailors then no problem.Personally I prefer to drive down through France enjoy the country,stop overnight in a few places and chill out.French Autoroutes are easy driving,good roads no traffic and roadworks a rarity.If you want routes etc go to www.mappy.com this will give you directions with pictures of the road signs that you will see and even position of speed cameras and the cost of toll charges(put in that you are towing)

If going from Portsmouth we book first fery out in the morning usually around 8am,and we stop on the car park (they have no problem with this and will knock you up in the morning if you oversleep)this gets into France around 2ish we the stop over just North off Le Mans on cracking side in village at side of river for around

 

[ThePlotter]

Gary as I put in the other thread of your ,if it was my decision I would book through the main companies offering this service.Bilbao & Santander are ok but very expensive and you do cross the Bay of Biscay which is famous for very rough weather if you are ALL good sailors then no problem.Personally I prefer to drive down through France enjoy the country,stop overnight in a few places and chill out.French Autoroutes are easy driving,good roads no traffic and roadworks a rarity.If you want routes etc go to www.mappy.com this will give you directions with pictures of the road signs that you will see and even position of speed cameras and the cost of toll charges(put in that you are towing)

If going from Portsmouth we book first fery out in the morning usually around 8am,and we stop on the car park (they have no problem with this and will knock you up in the morning if you oversleep)this gets into France around 2ish we the stop over just North off Le Mans on cracking side in village at side of river for around

 

[garyyorkshire]

plotter your absolutely right all all the points. yes bilboa and santander are expensive. and for the first trip we will stay close to the ports of calais or caen areas. will get myself a campsite book soon.

might have to learn some basic french to accompany my spanish

 

[ThePlotter]

Good if you can do a bit of French but not essential,try bit further South.Vendee,Loire or a bit further but cracking the Dordogne.

 

[garyyorkshire]

hi again

well we are taking our abbey gts vogue 416 away for the first time this weekend to try out.

we also want to try our skills at erecting the awaning (new)

although lowdhams went through the setup could you advise on the best setup procedure once onsite.

we have forgotten which switches to switch on etc

any tips

thanks