Hi from the UK

[Boldero]

Howdy folks,

2009 Vista 26p owners here, we bought our RV a couple of years ago in the UK and spend the winter touring in Europe, mainly Spain and Portugal and head back to the UK once the weather improves, and yes it's possible to drive RV's over on this side of the pond even tho it can be a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes

 

[WinnieView]

Hi from the US and welcome to Winnie Owners. :wavey:

 

[AJMike]

Howdy folks,

2009 Vista 26p owners here, we bought our RV a couple of years ago in the UK and spend the winter touring in Europe, mainly Spain and Portugal and head back to the UK once the weather improves, and yes it's possible to drive RV's over on this side of the pond even tho it can be a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes

Welcome to the forum.

I did not know that US RVs were for sale in the UK, so I find that interesting. From what I have seen at some of the kiosks at the Quartzsite RV show that deal with European and UK RV travel it looks like the RVs in use on that side of the pond are somewhat smaller in size than those in the US. Do you find your American made RV to be much of a curiosity there?

Are there many campsites in the UK and Europe? Or is RV travel there more difficult than here in the US where there are RV parks almost everywhere? Just curious.

 

[Boldero]

There are a few US RV's for sale in the UK and Europe, but they are getting fewer and fewer these days because of the quite ridiculous import duties applied to imported American RV's which is a real shame as the European equivalents are in our opinion significantly inferior.

We pretty much fulltime in our Winnebago and with that in mind we were lucky to find a Winnebago Vista 26p which at 26 foot and change, with a short wheelbase makes it very maneuverable which helps with most campsites that are setup for European motorhomes which tend to be smaller.

The only real problem we have faced really is in regards to our height, being 12 foot means that there are a lot of overhanging trees on campsites that smaller European RV's can get in under. but with a little research and google street view it's easy enough to work out if a campsite is feasible or not, we have also had to get out and inspect a couple of medieval french stone arch bridges off the beaten tracks to work out if they can take our weight, but I guess well fed French knights in plate armour on giant horses were what they had in mind when they built them

We definitely seem to be a bit of a curiosity when we park up on a campsite, the twin slides and hydraulic jacks are non existant on European motorhomes, which tend to be built on van (under 3.5 tonne) rather than a proper truck chassis and a Winnebago seems to get peoples attention because pretty much everyone in The UK or Europe equates Winnebago to an American RV, as it's such an iconic brand.

Maybe we should start charging 10 bucks for a 15 minute tour

 

[amullis]

Boldero, is your Vista modified for UK power hookup?

 

[AJMike]

There are a few US RV's for sale in the UK and Europe, but they are getting fewer and fewer these days because of the quite ridiculous import duties applied to imported American RV's which is a real shame as the European equivalents are in our opinion significantly inferior.

We pretty much fulltime in our Winnebago and with that in mind we were lucky to find a Winnebago Vista 26p which at 26 foot and change, with a short wheelbase makes it very maneuverable which helps with most campsites that are setup for European motorhomes which tend to be smaller.

The only real problem we have faced really is in regards to our height, being 12 foot means that there are a lot of overhanging trees on campsites that smaller European RV's can get in under. but with a little research and google street view it's easy enough to work out if a campsite is feasible or not, we have also had to get out and inspect a couple of medieval french stone arch bridges off the beaten tracks to work out if they can take our weight, but I guess well fed French knights in plate armour on giant horses were what they had in mind when they built them

We definitely seem to be a bit of a curiosity when we park up on a campsite, the twin slides and hydraulic jacks are non existant on European motorhomes, which tend to be built on van (under 3.5 tonne) rather than a proper truck chassis and a Winnebago seems to get peoples attention because pretty much everyone in The UK or Europe equates Winnebago to an American RV, as it's such an iconic brand.

Maybe we should start charging 10 bucks for a 15 minute tour

I have to admit that I would love to RV around Great Britain. There is so much to see and do, and so many ancient sites to wander around. I have been there many times but mostly only got to see some of the sites in southern England, which left all of the midlands, northern England, Wales and Scotland for me yet to see.

 

[Boldero]

Boldero, is your Vista modified for UK power hookup?

Indeed it is, the whole of the UK and Europe are not quite up to the power levels of sites in the US, but most of the UK sites are 16 amp and the lowest we have come across in Europe is 6 amp in which case we turn things off before we turn anything else on if we are using heaters etc on if we are boiling a kettle

 

[Boldero]

I have to admit that I would love to RV around Great Britain. There is so much to see and do, and so many ancient sites to wander around. I have been there many times but mostly only got to see some of the sites in southern England, which left all of the midlands, northern England, Wales and Scotland for me yet to see.

It's a lot of fun and I would wholeheartedy recommend it, the north of England and Scotland have some amazing places to see and visit, and as so many of us can trace our roots back it's a great place to come too, almost feels like home but in a totally different way, plus its a big bonus that they speak the same language as us

 

[BCam]

Do you use a converter in order to handle the 240v/50hz supply? A 16 amp supply at 240v be roughly equivalent to a 30 amp supply at 120v here, which is our most commonly available supply.

 

[amullis]

Well, we have 50 amp and 30 amp for the majority of our RV parks here stateside. Some "pop-up" trailers use 20 amp. When my Adventurer is plugged into 30 amp (versus 50amp), I can use only one of two A/C's, and the A/C running has to be turned off before I can use the microwave. Power management! Nothing like Europe though......

 

[AJMike]

plus its a big bonus that they speak the same language as us

Well, almost the same language.

I spent 8 months there and got myself into some issues due to differences in the languages. What is it Oscar Wilde said about the US and the UK being two nations separated by a common language?

 

[Boldero]

Do you use a converter in order to handle the 240v/50hz supply? A 16 amp supply at 240v be roughly equivalent to a 30 amp supply at 120v here, which is our most commonly available supply.

Our Vista was fitted with a locker converter to handle the different voltage in Europe when it was imported, so we can use 3 pin UK electrical appliances, its not a cheap conversion, but it has to be done. The tv still runs off a seperate converter as it would have meant replacing the tv and a converter is the cheaper option than replacing it in situ.

 

[Boldero]

Well, we have 50 amp and 30 amp for the majority of our RV parks here stateside. Some "pop-up" trailers use 20 amp. When my Adventurer is plugged into 30 amp (versus 50amp), I can use only one of two A/C's, and the A/C running has to be turned off before I can use the microwave. Power management! Nothing like Europe though......

Yeah power management can be a pita at times over here but just arriving at a site, hitting a button to extend the slides and jacks and cracking open an ice cold beer makes it all worthwhile

 

[Boldero]

Well, almost the same language.

I spent 8 months there and got myself into some issues due to differences in the languages. What is it Oscar Wilde said about the US and the UK being two nations separated by a common language?

There are so many accents over here I'm not surprised, there's another saying that applies, 'As soon as an englishman opens his mouth he will make any enemy'

 

[AJMike]

The tv still runs off a seperate converter as it would have meant replacing the tv and a converter is the cheaper option than replacing it in situ.

Yes, but what good does that do you? The TV should be NTSC and the system in the UK is PAL. Is that not right?

 

[BCam]

I've seen some videos of some amazing bus conversions in the UK and Europe, including a double decker in Holland which must be quite a challenge.

 

[Boldero]

Yes, but what good does that do you? The TV should be NTSC and the system in the UK is PAL. Is that not right?

Yeah its PAL in the UK but we get our tv signal via a road pro satellite system and it seems to work just fine, I think the difference between NTSC and PAL is the amount of lines shown on the tv screen so maybe the satellite broadcasts on both formats? I'm no expert on that tho...

 

[Boldero]

I've seen some videos of some amazing bus conversions in the UK and Europe, including a double decker in Holland which must be quite a challenge.

Yes, I have seen some amazing coversions too, and I often struggle to understand why they would take a vehicle that was never designed for that purpose and convert it rather than getting one that is bespoke, but I will admit they often look very cool and different to a lot of RV's you see on the road, so kudos to those that do it

 

[DGRBRUV]

Hi There

Howdy folks,

2009 Vista 26p owners here, we bought our RV a couple of years ago in the UK and spend the winter touring in Europe, mainly Spain and Portugal and head back to the UK once the weather improves, and yes it's possible to drive RV's over on this side of the pond even tho it can be a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes

Hi
Where abouts in the UK are you based when you return from your travels? We are in North Wales with our 1993 Brave 27RC. Ours was imported with 240v conversion from new for a Formula 3 racing driver. We have owned it for over 15 years now and had many tours of Europe, but not yet spent the winter in the warm south. Cheers

 

[Boldero]

Hi
Where abouts in the UK are you based when you return from your travels? We are in North Wales with our 1993 Brave 27RC. Ours was imported with 240v conversion from new for a Formula 3 racing driver. We have owned it for over 15 years now and had many tours of Europe, but not yet spent the winter in the warm south. Cheers

Hi, we currently work all over the UK when we are there, my wife is a vet and does locum work so we go where she fancies working, last year we were mostly around Coventry and then over in Suffolk, so we do the summer in the UK (work) and when the weather turns we head off down through France to Spain (R&R)

We almost bought a Brave, I loved it, its such a classy looking vehicle, but my wife insisted on it having slides if we were going to fulltime, so we bought this one and haven't regretted a moment in it, well apart from the time we almost demolished an unmarked 14th century bridge in France