Trailer Report From Europe

[Gilda]

Hi Everyone!
We just returned from a 3-week trip to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic sans the Scamp. We mostly were hiking in the alps of Bavaria and stayed in small towns in Austria and Germany. I was very curious to see the types of campers and trailers there and noticed that they were pretty evenly represented on the freeways. I have attached some photos showing the smallest trailers and the larger campers (although not largest) that I saw. I saw no pop-ups or fiberglass RVs. The trailers seemed to be of the stick type. Curiously, none of the trailers had a propane tank or battery mounted on them. When I visited a campground for RVs every stall had an electric hook-up. The typical campground was crowded with no trees or picnic tables but accessible to the sights nearby. The lake view is from a cafe in Austria.
Because we did not drive the freeways much in the Czech Republic as we stayed in Prague without a car, I cannot report on the state of campers and trailers there.

[Sally P]

Whenever I go to Europe I rent a small motor home. There are campgrounds everywhere at reasonable prices, sometimes with restaurants attached and generally with public transportation close. Some of the tents you see are enormous. The trailers have port-a -potty type arrangements, as do the small MHs. But they slip in from the outside and automatically close when you remove them from the vehicle. Very easy arrangement.
Some spots have no electric, rarely water, there are no sewer attachments and the sites can be anywhere from level to almost vertical! Campfires are generally forbidden; people use the campgrounds as a place to park and sleep while touring. But to me it's the best way to travel abroad. No schedules to meet, stay where you want for as long as you want. I've met loads of people, mostly Europeans and Australians, while camping. Few North Americans. there is almost always fresh bread to order the night before to get in the early AM.

I can't recommend this type of travel enough.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Gilda

Curiously, none of the trailers had a propane tank or battery mounted on them.

I think all of the European travel trailers (or "caravans") that I've checked out online have gas bottles, either propane or butane. They tend to be hidden under a cover, at the back of the tongue or right under the front of the body.

I assume that batteries are similarly tucked in and not openly visible. For stability with low tongue weight, these things shouldn't be at the front of the tongue.

[Brian B-P]

Those Class C motorhomes appear to be built on the Fiat Ducato cab and chassis; this vehicle will soon be available in the U.S. and Canada as the Ram ProMaster, so similar motorhomes should follow.

[Donna D.]

Thanks Gilda for posting the pictures I'm betting on the two trailers (brown one and white one) the propane bottle and/or battery may be under the front tongue boxes that I see on both. But, what do I know...

[Mike Magee]

Donna knows plenty. She's not as dumb as I look.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Sally P

Whenever I go to Europe I rent a small motor home. There are campgrounds everywhere at reasonable prices, sometimes with restaurants attached and generally with public transportation close. Some of the tents you see are enormous. The trailers have port-a -potty type arrangements, as do the small MHs. But they slip in from the outside and automatically close when you remove them from the vehicle. Very easy arrangement.
Some spots have no electric, rarely water, there are no sewer attachments and the sites can be anywhere from level to almost vertical! Campfires are generally forbidden; people use the campgrounds as a place to park and sleep while touring. But to me it's the best way to travel abroad. No schedules to meet, stay where you want for as long as you want. I've met loads of people, mostly Europeans and Australians, while camping. Few North Americans. there is almost always fresh bread to order the night before to get in the early AM.

I can't recommend this type of travel enough.

I believe these are cassette toilets, very nice to have and easy to use

[Gilda]

Thanks for all your comments and votes for camping in Europe! We had a relatively luxurious trip staying in two week long timeshares and two modest hotels. We liked the space and kitchen provided in the timeshares and we liked the flexibility and maneuverability of driving an auto on this trip. We would have found it unwieldy to navigate with a camper as many places banned camper parking and the towns have very narrow roads as well as almost no parking for cars, never-mind campers. While in Prague we ditched the car and took the underground and train and loved the freedom. It depends on what kind of trip you want to have as to what are the best accommodations for you. Note to the wise: Although our rental car came with a built-in GPS at no additional fee, we were glad to have our own GPS as we and the rental company folks were never able to change the language from German to English. I speak and understand much German but the stress of navigating in the language would have been too much for me!

A few more observations about campers and camping... We noticed that most of the trailers were towed by medium to small sedans or SUVs the size of a Subaru Outback. We NEVER saw a pickup truck as most of the delivery vehicles are covered vans. Sorry, I don't know my cars well enough to identify them whizzing by on the autobahn! See my attached photo of a typical small campground in a small German town. Note the huge striped tent attached to a trailer!

On our second trip to Europe (in the early 80's) we camped in a tent and drove our new Volvo (bought on their special international import plan). We loved that trip as we met lots of Europeans and we could easily take our car to the sights. We lived in Salzburg, Austria that
year and camped a month before and a month after our stay. In those days you could bring TONs of luggage with no additional fees. In addition to our luggage for a year trip we also brought our backpacks, our backpack tent and our white gas stove. (Those were the days!)

All that said, I'm very ready to go back to Europe and to rent a camper next time! Does anyone recommend a particular camper rental company?

[Gilda]

Hi Donna,
As I re-examine the photos of the very small trailers, I too, see the boxes on the tongue. These were the only tiny trailers I saw on this trip. No other larger trailers had such an arrangement. Every medium-sized trailer had no equipment on the tongue except for a couple bicycles, occasionally.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Gilda

No other larger trailers had such an arrangement. Every medium-sized trailer had no equipment on the tongue except for a couple bicycles, occasionally.

The gas bottle locker is often recessed right into the front of the body... look for latches on a hatch. They generally have "gas" (propane or butane) furnaces, and I don't think the campgrounds have gas outlets...

[Sally P]

Usually one swaps out the bottles - which are in a cubby- and unfortunately, many countries have their own type, so what you get in France can't be returned to your rental in Germany, for example.

[Andrew Gibbens]

A typical gas bottle locker on a Yurpeen caravan (travel trailer) is show below. Yurpeen trailers need to have sloped fronts to stop them getting negative tongue weights at speed and so that wedge-shaped space at the front is just sitting there waiting to be used.

[Gilda]

Ooooohhhhh! Your explantion edifies the mystery. Thank you soooo much! Is there anything else you can enlighten us about European campers and trailers? For those interested in this topic see the following website the photos and video. Pictures - Europe

While I wasn't able to look inside these campers and trailers I did see a TV show (in English) which did show the interiors. As you might guess the inside was well-finished in sleek, modern European style. It looked like all the windows are convex plexiglass which hinge on the top and open outward. Almost all had white, translucent curtains.

In all the buildings and hotels I was in I saw very high quality window fixtures and a dual hinging mechanism that allowed you to open the window at an angle at the top or adjust it to open like a door. The same options were available for many doors.