I have a bazillion [hyperbole] questions about camping on the continent.

[SlubberdeSuetPudding]

DH announced this weekend that he has got six weeks off in the summer for us to go camping abroad.

The last time I camped on the continent I was 12, we had a big orange frame tent and English men wore sandals and socks with no shame.

I have not done a family camp yet somewhere that is HOT. Properly hot sit in your shorts at 10pm with a cold drink hot.

The very vaguest of plans is to do Germany, Austria, Switzerland and then maybe back up through France.

Here are some of the questions:

Anything else we need to do to the car apart from stick those stickers on the headlights?

Car breakdown cover, how does that work then?

No EHU. How do we keep things cold? Can you do ice block exchange over there? Do we need a deeply impressive new esky?

Is it very hot at night? I'm going to be too hot in a 3/4 season down sleeping bag aren't I? What is the best bedding to take?

Maps. Tell me about maps.

Should we book all our campsites in advance or can we be breezy? How booked up do the campsites get over there in advance?

Anything we absolutely HAVE to take that might be additional or different to two weeks camping in the UK?

Good campsite review website in addition to ukcs?

Um what else.

Strategies to avoid long term campers crack-up please.

Ray will need an EHU to keep his 'meats' fresh.

Get bloody EHU woman - tis revolutionary and you will be seen as the backward Anglais if you don't!
You can often hire a fridge - saves you having to pour your butter onto your French bread.

Calm down dear it's only electricity!

Awww, embrace your inner-Peter-Mayle and head south.

I had some other nugget of advice to impart. Oh yes, french municipal campsites can be surprisingly good. There's probably a guidebook - I think last time I went freestyle (as opposed to eurocamp) I had the green Michelin book.

"you will be seen as the backward Anglais" - oh yes. Prepare to be an object of curiosity for every passing Dutchman wishing to practice their English.

you need some decent pegs - and something really warm to lie on if you are going into any mountainous areas. Otherwise it feels as though the whole mountain is sucking the heat out of you.

Slubber has a wealth of Delta pegs to pack

Chippy - that electricity is marvellous stuff isn't it? cold Leffe and chilled rose

Second the municipal sites as being v good - no loo seats though generally and no plugs in any sinks. Take your own plug!

German sites are terrific, as are Austrian and Swiss ones. Most are on or near a lake or are near a very good municipal swimming pool. Many are just outside towns and cities so you can use public transport or bikes if you have them.

Try Rudesheim, Cologne, Heidelberg and a campsite called Belchenblik near Fribourg. It has actual bathrooms.

If you go via Strasbourg follow the signs to Offenbach. That's all the signage you'll see to help you get across the Rhine!

Don't be surprised if you meet very few Brits and don't expect the reception staff to speak English.

THanks for the links Chippy. Yy have been reading about the municipal campsites on ukcs they look good even sans loo seats.

We are just going to very loose and breezy and if Germany and Austria are cold and wet just keep heading south until we hit the hot weather.

I have been researching 5 day ice boxes. that will just have to do. I take it you can buy ice in Europe these days can you ?

Badkitten I have deltas (but am going to invest in some metal ones for this trip) and the thermarests so hopefully tent will stand up and beds will be warm.

austinreader I love Germany so am really looking forward to seeing what their campsites have to offer. Dh speaks a bit of German so fingers crossed we'll get buy.

Get by that is.

We don't have EHU.

Don't do it!

We survive Ray Mears stylie with frozen ice blocks, or even better, frozen 1.5l bottles of water

Never had any problems, despite having had some fab hols in temps of 30+degrees!

Who freezes your water for you Tilly? A lot of the smaller sites don't have freezers anymore we found for ice blocks- but do have ehu. We'll have to disagree on this one methinks - we don't do carpets or fairy lights but being able to keep milk fresh so I don't have to shop everyday is important to us.

ALl the sites we go to have freezers where you can stash your blocks, etc. Some for free, but even if you pay, it's not very much. I take 4 and use 2 / have 2 in the freezer. And I send the DC to the shop every morning to buy milk, baguettes and croissants, etc!

But I'm liking the idea of EHU for fairy lights

The sites we use don't have shops on site, bread can be ordered the night before sometimes but it's good to hear that the freezers do still exist! I can remember rummaging in chest freezers in the early 1980s looking for the blue plastic block with our name on! Surely you can use solar fairy lights abroad if the desire strikes! Lol

Oooh yes, solar fairy lights, might have to google.....

[giant flared nostrils at fairy light mentions]

mmmmmm giant flared nostrils- attractive slubber

you will be fine without ehu. we used to manage before we sold out. most places will do blocks.

Slubber I am very very jealous, my husband is a teacher and I am a SAHM so there is no reason why we shouldn't do something like this. But I would be scared of going into other countries for 6 weeks I can just imagine the arguments me and DH would have!
Also, slubber, am i imagining it or are you changing your username?!
xxxx

these are fantastic and save lots of space.

Agree about the municipal campsites in France - some of them are excellent and they are usually very cheap.

We found that we could just turn up on most sites without booking, but we were on bicycles, so maybe that's easier than finding a space for a car as well...

Thoroughly recommend French Atlantic coast, especially the South.

Have a fantastic time. And try and not plan too much detail ahead. Unknown is lots of fun, too!

Thanks skorpion. I already have some microfibre towels and agree they are fantastic on both the drying and compactness fronts.

I'm a bit of a planner but am going to have to embrace the turn up and see how you go method of campsite finding. We only have a small tent and no ehu so hopefully that will give us a bit more flexibility.

poppy, gwan, do it. What's the worse that could happen?
(don't answer that)
yes am pissing about with slubber based namechanges atm

Slubber I am just thinking about what the worst is that could happen, you're right, I shouldn't answer that LOL
We will do something like this though, but i think we will start small and camp outside Paris or something. Got to get all our passports first! I am like you, I love to plan things and have something to think (meaning obsess) about!
xxx

Nothing can go that badly wrong can it, in a tent in Germany? It's not like we are heading off to Beirut without an electric fridge is it?

I LOVE the planning stage, it's almost as good as the holiday. I'm currently discussing table solutions on ukcs and thinking in my head about tarp set ups and cool boxes.

OMG slubber I am just like that, i can think about what thermarest sleeping mat to buy for me for days! or daydream about the best way to keep my food cold inside my blue lakeland cool bag that was recommended on here which i bought last year...LOL
Is UKCS quite good fun? I love coming on here to see whats going on, I actually rarely look at the rest of mumsnet LOL

No, nothing can go too badly wrong in a tent in Germany. But for me, it's like, we're in another country. OMG.

(Can you tell I didn't travel abroad with my parents when I was younger?!)

Hmmmm I wouldn't describe ukcs as fun per se, but then I'm not a regular poster there so don't have an online relationship with folk like I do on here. It is brilliant as a source of information. Their search function frustrates the hell out of me but if you want to research tarps then you can read for hours and hours threads about tarps.

I have wasted spent many an hour on there reading up about equipment and tents.

The campsite reviews are second to none, totally invaluable.

I quite like the OMG it's another country feeling (not that I've felt it for years) like you have achieved something a little bit brave and daring at the end of it.

at the planning.
DH just rang to ask what dates to book annual leave and I consulted my spreadsheet and told him how many miles he'd we'd be driving on any given day. I could feel his down the phone line.

Have just found out that I can rent a fridge-freezer from the campsite. for Europe.