If you liked this video, then you may want to check out a recent guide to Van Life in the UK we made, showing the TRUTH of what it's been like after 19 months full time ua-cam.com/video/NvKVfJleFsg/v-deo.html
dude, spent 4 weeks in Europe this summer absolute dream trip and no hassle at all. Loads of campsites paid and wild, much more camper-van friendly compared to the UK. Can't believable how unprepared you where, as you mentioned been full timers you took a lot things for granted and been in a self converted van probably didn't help. we didn't have any of the issues you mentioned and we took the dog with us. Anyway good luck with your next trip.
Craig and Carole I’m sure you will appreciate my thoughts as well at your own to Janine and Liam. You both sound a little condescending. Liam and Janine made the video to help us to not make same mistakes.
Some slightly misleading information in this video… The emissions stickers are (in Germany at least) specifically for driving in certain city centres which have restrictions. You’re not going to get a fine as you drive off the ferry! Most cities have excellent public transport so you don’t even need to drive into the restricted zones. Winter tyres are not normally the requirement. The requirement is to be able to grip the road and not be a hazard. The common sense solution in winter is winter tyres but an equally effective option is to not drive if you have insufficient grip. The same laws exist in the UK (an EU directive reinforced this in 2004), there’s just no enforcement in the UK - ridiculous when you consider that four small contact patches execute all of your steering and braking inputs. With headlights, again the obligation is not specifically to fit stickers. The obligation is to not dazzle oncoming traffic. Some headlights have a lever to adjust the beam settings. Others have an electronic “tourist function” which can be activated from the drivers’ seat. You can even use strips of tape or just wind down the beam with a screwdriver. I have carried the stickers for years and never used them. For insurance or breakdown cover, the German ADAC was always a good source. If you lose your log book (or your passport or your insurance/mot certificate) you’re not going to get thrown in jail! As a last resort, the authorities will just contact the police in the UK. I have been unable to show documents in Germany and the situation was handled by the Polizei in a calm, rational manner. If you want to avoid a country which cracks down on innocent people with excessive fines and heavy-handed responses to trivial misdemeanours then the UK is the place to avoid!
I live in a 7.5 ton converted removal truck that’s insured with Adrian Flux, they are well known for insuring anything. I have breakdown cover through them as an add on to my insurance at around £95 a year and last year our clutch went in Wiltshire and they gave us the option of being towed to local garage (who happened to have a week long waiting list and we would have had to live on their forecourt for a week) or being taken home to Yorkshire which was the option we chose. There was only one seat in the large vehicle recovery truck so the insurance organised a taxi to take my little boy and I all the way home and the recovery truck brought our truck back. I asked the taxi driver what the trip would have cost and he said around £500! And that’s without the cost of the large vehicle recovery truck which would have cost a lot more. I was very impressed with the breakdown cover, the people on the phone were so helpful and called back to check everything was going to plan a few times. Also the breakdown cover didn’t increase in price the next year despite our costly trip.
Thanks for watching, all info accompanying this video is in the description, and some more news... we are about to embark on one of our craziest trips yet...can't wait to show you on Sunday at 9am 🤣💚 #BePrepared see you then x
you only need the crit air (France) and umweltplaketten (Germany) stickers if you plan to drive into towns and cities that have low emission zones. Best to get the crit air online before travel. In Germany these can be obtained from any TUV (MOT) station and some car main dealers.
Although that was a very helpful and informative video I don't understand either the strong worded thumbnail or the title itself? Yes there are things you need to know about travelling anywhere but saying vanlife Europe f'in sucks is ridiculous. How about UK vanlife where you have extortionate prices to park everywhere or no overnight stays etc. Europe is much more welcoming to travellers on the road.
It's a poor title suggesting that it is a place not to go as it f,,, in sucks, yet you give some not all good advise to others, more positive titles and positive clips would be better
On our trip we had large envelopes for all our various required documents. 1. The vehicle stuff 2. The pet stuff 3. The travel insurance stuff 4. Covid status stuff 5. Le shuttle Stuff plus all documents on our devices also. It is hard work planning a big trip but all that faded away once on the road and yeh it all costs mega bucks.
We travel to europe every year, two times a year sometimes, our last trip took us from france to belgium, germany, holland, sweden and norway, and in the 12 yrs of travelling around europe i have never put a sticker on my motorhome, no long vehicle stickers, no headlight stickers and nothing about the zone areas and never been stopped, fined or anything, some yrs we never took our logbook, insurance etc.. i have either been really lucky your you have been very unfortunate
Sorry guys, but this could have been easily avoided with getting informed ahead of time. I thought massive unavoidable things would come up. I am having a hard time understanding why someone would return early with mainly organisational issues.
Adrian Flux offers with their insurance policy a cost effective add on extra for UK breakdown cover which also includes 60 days European breakdown cover even for vehicles older than 15 years, which is great as my Talbot Express campervan is now 32 years young. Definitely gave me peace of mind during my tour of Normandy this summer.
Are you sure it's 90days? Their website states "Cover only applies for trips of 60 days or less and cover is limited to 60 days per period of insurance." They wouldn't extend it when I called
Sorry I was sure it was 90 days, just checked my latest renewal from August and it's actually 60 days. Still happy with the cover since many won't cover vehicles older than 15 years.
Excellent video Liam. I'd recommend Adrian Flux to anyone. We had insurance with them on our self converted Movano. Their breakdown cover is worth finding out about too. Keep the vids coming.
Hi, love the vids. I've got the RAC breakdown. Another little bonus is they'll will 'recover' you to your destination and then recover you home after a minimum three days. So breakdown on the way you still have a getaway.
Great list! The G B sticker has changed to UK now and breathalysers are no longer required. You also need in France Angles Morts stickers around your van! ❤
the point with the Winter tyres is >>> if you are driving with summer tyres in winter and you cause an accident or involved in an accident your insurance may not cover it and you will / maybe liable for using the wrong tyre choice.
Wow I never knew there was so much you need for Europe, seems a lot of fuss and hassle, is it worth it I wonder. On the subject of breakdown cover DON'T go with the RAC, I had three breakdowns whilst with them and each time they were horrendous, the third time they damaged my vehicle seriously and then left me stranded for over 24 hours. One day I'll do a review of them and show just how terrible they are. I'm with Scenic which is part of LV and it includes Europe aswell, I can't fault them. Great video, have a fab week
OMG! After listening to all the rules, regulations and restrictions, I would think sod it, I can't be bothered! I'm staying put!! Even after all that palaver are you sure you've got everything covered? Good luck with it all. I think I'm just going to drive back round the UK again or buy a canal boat instead!!...
These rules, regulations and restrictions exist already a while, but they have been like that all along for travelers from non-EU countries. This is simply what UK sovereignty looks like.
@@yvescallaert7923 …I don’t understand, the EU residents have to follow the same rules don’t they ? apart from the stay time which there is a way round apparently from watching other British camper videos
@@dee2251 No, you believe you have left because 'so much of EU red tape' because Brexiteer morons spoon fed you that while they hid from you that a lot of that 'red tape' was actually Westminster red tape. And when it wasn't Westminster red tape it was time and time again 'red tape' in which the UK had had its say as a rule maker. What the Brexiteers definitely didn't tell you was that once you left the 'red tape' would get way worse and you would become a rule taker. Sure, you'd regain your much coveted sovereignty, but they forgot to tell you what the reality of that would be: you can make all the rules and standards inside the UK that you want, but from the moment you want to export products to the EU, your largest export market in your front door, you'd have to still export products that are up to EU standards. However, the difference would now be that all of your businesses had to do a ton more paper work and prove evry time that their products are up to EU standards every time they enter. And the same goes for travel, you guys chose to be treated like every other non-EU country and thus chose for more checks, paper work and rules. That's the irony of what the Brexiteers achieved; they sold you a ton of lies about 'EU red tape' (of which most actual red tape and silly rules that screwed you came from Westminster) and they created a situation in which you actually got far more red tape. They sold you on the idea of 'taking back power' and 'sovereignty', but that was only intended to be able to take away your protections from them, worsen the condition of the populace and rob you, your children, your family; your neighbors and friends of as much as they could get away with. And you voted for all of it like turkeys for Christmas.
just an important note to add. if your passport gets stamped going into a country in the Schengen area make sure it gets stamped on the way out. I was behind an old man in Vienna airport last week that they were not letting past passport control as he said he was technically still in Italy (just off a flight from Stansted!) Their said "your passport, your responsibility" ... and these guys aren't helpful (civil servants the world over) On another note, Croatia is joining the Schengen from Jan 1st ... Montenegro is lovely if you need to buy some time.
On a UK camping weekend we got locked out of our van last summer. We have Adrian Flux insurance with key cover. We spent a long evening trying to get help from Adrian Flux - after hours of being passed around from one call to another, it turned out they would do nothing because it was 'out of hours', not 9am-5pm Mon-Fri. They suggested we find a locksmith ourselves and they would reimburse. By that time it had become 11pm on Friday - the drama had started at circa 8pm -maybe if they'd told us straight away we might have had a chance. They were so difficult to deal with and so uncaring and they knew we had two children with us. In the end other campers helped us remove a window and get in that way - they were brilliant. When they heard it was Adrian Flux they laughed and suggested it's a learning experience that no-one repeats if they've had need to use their insurance. Whether that's the case widely or not I don't know but we certainly won't be using Adrian Flux again. Our experience might be a one-off (we doubt that), but it was super-stressful and we have been put off them.
Stuart Collins in Wales sold me fully comprehensive insurance with a break down plan that allowed me and my car to spend 12 consecutive months outside the uk in schengen and other European counties.
We lived and worked in Barcelona for three years; driving all around Spain, which was awesome! If you wear glasses or contact lenses, it was required by law to have a spare pair in the vehicle. Bon voyage!
It’s also worth mentioning that having the correct Crit Air sticker does not give you permission to enter all areas and cities. You can still be fined for driving in a low emission area (ZCR areas in France) with a Crit air sticker numbers 4 and 5. Your explanation wasn’t enough, viewers need to know that simply applying a stickers does not mean they can travel anywhere they wish. These ZCR areas currently include Grenoble, Strasbourg and Paris but will be expanding. Other stickers may also be needed for other countries such as Germany as Crit air is only for France.
Travelled round France, Spain, Portugal back to Spain to France again into Italy and finally back into France and then the UK, so glad we did it in 2003 as it seems the world is a lot more restrictive nowdays what with low emissions and Schengen. If you get a chance go to Northern Spain especially the Pico De Europa area and the beaches to the far North east, absolutly stunning.
Schengen is the opposite of restrictive and has existed since the mid-90’s. Most European countries have historically sought relaxed movement restrictions. The only threats to this have been war, communism and certain countries with odd ideas about sovereignty and freedom.
We don’t even have passports as we gave up air travel over twenty years ago for climate reasons. Your video has made me even more determined to carry on enjoying the UK which is amazing 😂 But we wish you good luck on your European adventures and look forward to watching the fun you’ll have 😃
I'm a bit confused: how about all those gorgeous advantages of Brexit transferring the UK to the legal status of countries like Ghana? How about health insurance? Makes me reconsider my plans to spend old age in the UK instead of Europe.
We have rac Breakdown cover and our vehicle is 4.6ton gross and we had a problem with the fan belt in Northern France but managed to get to Dover before we needed to be recovered and we thought we would be picked up and returned home, we'll we had got picked up and to cut a long story short we ended up on the back of 4 breakdown trucks it turns out that the rac do not have any vehicles capable of carrying more than 3.5 ton so they rely on outside transport, it took us 28 hours to get home and that involved 38 phone calls, it was a nightmare, the consolation was we got back!
11:50, most likely you got extorted by the local guards/police if you didnt receive a receipt/ticket. Even in countries like africa fines involve official documents which can be paid at the bank (if you dont payt then you get get put on a potential exclusion list, not allowing you to visit again). If you paid with cash and without a ticket (which would allow you to pay outside of cash) then 9 out of 10 cases they pocketed the money. Theres many videos out there (my favourite is from "the road chose me") where the police will test to see how impatient or scared you get, your best bet in cases like this is to be patient and go through official channels if you believe you haven't broken any rules i.e. tell them lets go to the police station to get it sorted etc - and when you say that, they will most likely let you go with a "warning".
Thought that would be really boring, but was actually really useful and informative ! I'd prefer your tag lines to be more positive , so i'd want to watch them IN ADVANCE !!
Don't think it will affect me, goinginto EU. But all the pit falls you have described for your viewers I think is great . And so kind and thoughtful of you both to share. You did not have to of course. But very kind and thoughtful of you, to share. I'm shure you are helping others out that may be caught out. So 10/10 for you kindness to others. Stay safe.
Crumbs what a lot there is to think off!! I think i will just stay in good old Blighty. I cant think of a single good thing that came out of bloody brexit….thank you for a very informative video.
How about a piece on the new Spanish emissions laws especially for UK campervans wishing to tour Spain that are not ULEZ compliant.. ive looked at the new rules and very confusing and looks to be mega expensive
fantastic advice Liam. I deffo took note of it all as I want to try viv-i-van in europe next year. One thing I might say, having been a customer of that other insurance company you mentioned is I found APlan a much better company and insurance companies say they will offer you longer in the EU but word in the camper forums says otherwise. Hopefully, we'll have another referendum soon and get our right of free travel back ( controversal lol) anyway, great video. Regards and respect as always-Kenny
These aren't exactly hidden rules and regulations. I've been driving across Europe for years now. Before I did my first road trip I googled "driving in Europe" and these hidden rules and regulations popped up straight away on the AA website. I then thought, are there any peculiarities in the countries I'm going to be driving through? Drilled down a bit deeper into the individual countries rules. Such as, if you need glasses to drive then a spare set is required in Switzerland. Don't buy a driving in European driving kit, waste of money. Buy the things individually as it is cheaper. Essentials: Highlight adapters, hi vis jackets x 2, spare bulbs, V5, UK badge, emergency triangle but most cars have these already. These things live in my car, so the only thing I need to buy are the eurolites. UK badge and headlight adapters come as a pack from Halfords. If you forget you can also pick them up on the ferry. Vignettes for Austrian, Slovenian and Swiss motorways and expressways. These can be purchased at service stations near the borders. Only need the emissions stickers if you are planning on going into an emission zone, I've not yet needed one. If using google maps whilst going through Switzerland beware, on some UK tariffs in isn't included in the EU and you'll find yourself using all your data before you've gone 1 km. Check with your provider before leaving. I've got EU roaming as an add on to my Vodafone contract, this includes Switzerland. They also provide a data boost which I activate before leaving the UK (this gives 25gb of data in the EU). Don't bother with a breathalyser, it isn't required. Hardest thing is knowing what countries require you to drive with sidelights on at all times etc. This is especially difficult if you are driving across 4 countries in one day. Also, if you are in a traffic jam on the motorway, leave a corridor between lanes for emergency vehicles.
Jess you two don't half get into trouble haha 😆 thanks for sharing that essential info guys welcome back to blighty tho keep safe keep doning what you do you should write a recipe book for banging camper van scran too 😉 😀 looking forward to seeing what's next .pete
I am with Adrian Flux insurance and they cover for EU and also breakdown cover for 2 months, apart from some countries like Hungary, breakdown cover doesnt work there but insurance does. Spoke to the guy today.
I use insurance from *Caravan & Motorhome Club* for my car for EU. It is very cheap and the only reasonably priced, reputable insurance that would cover unlimited time in Europe (or maybe it's just EU, not sure). They have a separate page for vans, but I assume it is the same or similar deal for van conversion motorhomes.
Data in Europe was always capped, nothing to do with Brexit. What's changed is that a lot of providers have stopped offering EU roaming as part of your contract.
We've been told it's a brexit thing, they all did it up till then but now don't. Although some honour existing contracts, most new contracts won't do it
We currently use O2 which offer roaming, Tesco and Vodafone are also on board. I think the others will come back as many people are moving away if roaming us not offered. I'm currently with 3, but will change in Feb when my contract expires, and go with O2.
FYI, rac and aa cover all things about travel to Europe. Brexit had nothing to do with roaming. Most UK providers capped the customer allowance before brexit and the way around sky's cap was for someone to log on to your home account in the UK, that's the key! then it would reset. You don't need critair or German green version of critair unless you intend to drive in areas such as Paris or other High pollution areas. Also the best way to obtain them is online. You've also not covered dashcam, in some EU States they see illegal to even have one, whilst others its illegal to use. Winter tyres are only required for certain areas. Don't forget the chains can be an alternative rather than tyre change. Hope this helps
Apart from the internet and some variations on the insurance I travelled around Europe and across to Morocco in 1985 long before freedom of movement, single currency etc etc, in a van (surfing), and needed visas for each country. Seems today is a doddle. Needed triangles, a shovel, chains, vis jacket, etc, and cash only and many currencies.
Gosh that was a complicated one.......and it all sounds very very expensive! Stay here for a while now! Come back to Northumberland.....you loved that, remember! Go to Scotland while the midgies are asleep, and stay longer at beautiful beaches. It sounds a lot less bother! (Yummy breakfast that!).
We're with LV insurance because when we had our van Frank reached 20 years old our breakdown wouldn't cover so we fought LV. They come up near the to re Which magazine. Worth while looking LV. We had big problems with Andrian Flux insurance. Be warned.
Good pointers. Adrian Flux was so expensive for towing but some say it is cheap. I didn't know about the windscreen stickers, as they weren't in the Halfords Travel Pack. There's also the NHS Cards to consider for EU Travel. I'm wondering if it is wise to travel to the EU with anything Converted instead of just a standard Hymer or Campervan. The Breathalyser is a bit of an issue, as we heard the French were stopping you and then repeating further down the road to be awkward. We didn't take them to France or Netherlands. The data is a real pain, but you can buy additional data on the go so as to not be charged premium rates.
Thanks for this video! I've never travelled by van before so these tips are useful for me! Probably all simple for experienced van lifers but for me as a first timer i've learned some new thing's!
Not really any quirkier than before. The difference is that you didn't need to worry about the bulk of it because, except a few minor accessoires and tiny cheap adjustments, you wouldn't have noticed it because there is something called 'Freedom of movement' when you're in the EU. But since the UK now is a sovereign nation, you take the hassle and pay the price of your sovereignty.
Camc/ rac does not cover you in Europe if you are over 3.5t. we had them and have had to change to driver guardian. Also crit air etc are for low emission zones not everywhere and are mainly in urban areas. Best to check each countries government web site for conditions and look to see if you need them or not. You did not mention tolls, for me they are very confusing and require home work before you go to understand them, they could actually save you a lot of money if you plan before you go. All the best.
I did my breakdown through Adrian flux when I did the insurance. You get another van delivered to you if u break down so u can carry on your journey. Great video, in France and Italy for 3 weeks in May so this really helps us. :)
Hi your having fun. We have Starlink and it’s amazing. We used it a few times and love it. You can pause your contract under the Camper options. Then restart it when you carry on. Starlink is amazing. We have version 2 but there is a ver 3 out that’s flat.
I’ve just taken a policy out with Adrian fluxe and I get 60 days in Europe and then have to return to the uk for 24 hrs and then I can go again for another 60days and so on for the full length of the policy which I find better than the 90 total days allowed per year policies on the market
We've got RAC motorhome breakdown and recovery with the MH insurance, Saga. We've already got European cover with the RAC for the cars, looking at getting these merged next year if possible. Once upon a time in France you had to have yellow headlamps as well, remember this from my first run across to the Le Man's 24 hours in the eighties.
From watching others who travel, make multiple copies of your papers, don't give them the originals when you don't have to. They could get left behind or they could keep them. Still keep them in that folder you talked about. If you have them, covid shot paperwork, copies of birth certificates, medical insurance, etc. just incase.
Most border checks will only allow originals ... A friend nearly got turned away without having original V5 in Croatia and Bosnia on a recent motorbike trip. It's to do with stolen vehicle checks (there are a lot of UK plated cars in Bosnian scrapyards)
There were some useful tips in the video but the section on sim cards was not 100% true. Yes some providers may have cut back after Brexit but not all. We did a 3 month tour earlier in the year and in Germany now on a 6 week tour and our 200GB BT sim is not capped or restricted in any way in Europe. Moral of the story - shop around!
We had a post brexit table given to us by the motorhome WiFi guys and it's all capped for new contracts, and our existing contracts. But some lucky people's existing contracts have kept uncapped data roaming on...we are not those people
Hi, me again. It might be worth your while reading the fine print of the sim only BT Mobile offer of 200GB for £20.70 a month as on scanning of it just now there seems to be no capping or restrictions. The have a roam from home scheme where as long as you don't go over the 200GB you are not charged any extra in 47 named countries. Hope this helps...
Might wanna think about your title. We're going full time next year and you see titles like "why not to do Europe" and you think, ooh maybe we shouldn't. When really it's just stuff that you hadn't researched. If you had and got things in place, you'd have been fine. Happy travelling.
Just going to jump the gun and thank you already before watching as I sit down with a morning cuppa - videos like these are selfless and very much appreciated, by most anyway, especially me as I’m planning on doing this next year. Have taken my van to France a few times on fishing trips over the years but only for a week at a time, never had the triangle, high vis, headlight stickers, or UK badges, we’ve also been pulled in by French border force authorities and searched as some of our trips have been just a few weeks apart so they’re looking for perhaps people, drugs, tobacco etc but have to say they’ve been ok and contrary to popular belief (some have a sense of humour) 😂 Keep up the great work - more of my day taken up by you guys too now, I have a few UA-camrs that I follow and I already think you’re going to be right up there!! 👍🏼 🤙🏼 Edit - have now watched and enjoyed it!! Hope the couple of tips I put in are useful in some way to someone! (I don’t believe the breathalysers are a requirement in France anymore and the badges are now UK and not GB - but I guess the kits that are available will be updated accordingly - don’t trust everything I say, it’s just what I’ve been laid to believe or have read! Stay happy and safe everyone! 👍🏼
Coming off the ferry and getting fined for not having a Crit'Air sticker?, There is not a port in France where you need them, Please correct me if I'm wrong as I live in France and have never heard that., The nearest place is Rouen and as far as I know no ferries dock there.The sticker covers about 0.001% of French roads, all cities which most van owners barely use. Winter tyres rule not enforced for vehicles from other countries where it's not a legal requirement, So UK vehicle don't have to have them. again correct me if I'm wrong. My van (French reg) has M+S tyres Just winter summer tyres, But I carry snow chains, Only needed for mountain departments, easily avoided, breathalyzer not needed. Basically for a UK vehicle you just have to be legal in your own country, ok a few exceptions ie UK sticker and light deflectors so we are not blinded at night, warning triangle and a few bulbs and fluorescent jacket one for each person.fire extinguisher I think (I have one in mine). Stuff that makes sense I think. Thanks for the clip, great stuff.
Couple of points, I believe France no longer (legally) require you to carry a breathalyser kit. It's also worth mentioning that if you have a grand parent who was born in Ireland you can get an Irish (EU) passport. It took me about 6 months to get mine. Obviously all on board your van would have to have an EU passport so that you're not limited to the 90 days in 180 Schengen restriction. If you have an EU passport and remain in one country for 3 months you are required to register but my interpretation is that if you've travelling around this is not an issue and anyway your passport is only going to be checked entering and leaving Schengen. The difference is that if you go over the 90/180 limit on a non EU passport you are then an alien (illegal migrant). An EU passport gives the holder the right to live, work and retire in a different EU country. Also I understand Portugal are introducing a travellers visa which will be valid for 6 months and there is some talk that other countries may do likewise.
Crikey Liam there's so many things to address before travelling through Europe in Morgan ! The positive thing to come out of all this is you didn't fall foul of the law being enforced whilst you were over there. Life is a learning curve eh?? Breakfast looking good b ylthe way😋 always enjoy your vlogs. Look forward to your upcoming one ,& finally stay well & stay warm 😊 👌
Liam. You said that you would leave a link to obtain the emission stickers. Sorry, I can't find it, plus have been told stickers only required in cities. Comments please. Thanks.
My van does not even have any euro emissions certificate ,so I avoid cities even here that have emissions or congestion charges ,however it is a disability vehicle on the taxclass so not entirely sure how that works as that could in theory offer access to these areas.
There are only two companies that supply fulltime insurance. If you live fulltime, without your own fixed address, either owned or rented by yourselves you are NOT fully insured, if there is an accident, and a fulltime is using a family or friends address the insurance company will not pay out . We are with comfort insurance, and pay £1200 fully insured and breakdown insurance. I use an Irish passport and can travel to any Eu country as long as I abide by that countrys rules, ie we are in Spain for three months, I would need to enter another country ie France for a day to comply with the rules.
There have always been rules and regs about taking your vehicle to France or Germany or wherever, when we were in the EU the rules were done with very light enforcement because we were an EU member. Now with Brexit we are a third country so the French don't feel the need to 'be nice' and simply enforce the rules as written. Before Brexit you should have taken a lot of the stuff you're complaining about in this video including the ownership log V5C. We expect tourists coming to the UK to comply with our rules and regs, why do Brits complain about returning the compliment when they visit the EU?
Because we’re from a relatively chill society where you don’t even legally need to carry ID. It’s a stress for us to enter these countries where you need to have all this stuff on you to ‘prove’ things at all times. Add to that a lot of us feel our freedom of movement that the rest of Europe has was taken away by dim Gammons who believed nigel farages hoax campaigning. We would expect Iranians to follow our rules when we come here, doesn’t mean I’m gonna go over there and be super happy with theres.
You let your Europe preparations drift! You'll be set for next time. Another option is van insurance plus update your home insurance for all fixtures fittings and valuables in the van. Rather than a campervan policy for a van which can easily be rejected in the event of a claim. As a member of the eurozone it was mandatoty in the UK to have the emergency kit and triplicate accident forms in your language. So this shouldn't be something we didn't know. I've not come across anyone who has been fined for window stickers, but have been for lights. One other missing area is gas bottles. Always best to use the countries main provider for mobile (coverage and router access) and you normally get the best rates. Also need to check they are not monthly they last 28days. I've continued to use vodaphone in Spain £15 75gig/28days.
To properly prepare yourself for a road trip outside the UK post Brexit is easy… Do all the things you said Liam, and then find out the rules have changed whilst you were making toast for breakfast in Bavaria 🤓
The rules don't really 'change', but they are fading out because of an agreed transition period between the EU and the UK. It will stabilize eventually once it's way worse. But this is nothing else than the agreed upon reality of what Brexit and UK sovereignty look like. It's a planned transition from a member state of the EU towards being a sovereign non-EU country. This isn't new or special nor is it to punish Brits, just simply a gradual transition to the same rules that apply for all other countries outside the EU, and most of those rules exist from before there even was a Brexit referendum. You didn't feel any of them because you were part of the EU and for member states different rules apply. The UK regained completely the means to make it's own rules in the UK. But in the EU you went from a rule maker to a rule taker.
@@yvescallaert7923 my problem is that Brexit has tightened the rules even further for other countries in the Commonwealth and we had nothing to do with that vote
@@susie9893 that's nothing but a logical consequence of the UK governments on position on so many of the issues. The UK government and their rules were the problem before Brexit as well, but back then they shifted that blame onto the EU and sold that to an audience who was happy to hear that. However, now that Brexit has happened and it's consequences are taking effect more and more, the UK government can no longer shif the blame on the EU and their own tragic incompetence and unwillingness to be decent is becoming undeniably visible .
Just one point about data roaming in Europe, UK citizens never had data roaming in Europe until we voted to leave and they gave us DR to try and make us stay when in the grand scheme of things we should of had it for years previously but that is Europe for you and it wasn't Brexit that caused you to lose it, it was because of Brexit you got it. When the first smart phones came out with wifi connectivity, people from the UK were going to Europe and ending up with massive phone bills when they came home because they hadn't turned off their data roaming because they were never told to do so by the European Union. If Brexit never happened you would not have any data roaming in Europe at all.
If you liked this video, then you may want to check out a recent guide to Van Life in the UK we made, showing the TRUTH of what it's been like after 19 months full time ua-cam.com/video/NvKVfJleFsg/v-deo.html
dude, spent 4 weeks in Europe this summer absolute dream trip and no hassle at all. Loads of campsites paid and wild, much more camper-van friendly compared to the UK. Can't believable how unprepared you where, as you mentioned been full timers you took a lot things for granted and been in a self converted van probably didn't help. we didn't have any of the issues you mentioned and we took the dog with us. Anyway good luck with your next trip.
Failure to plan = Planning to fail........Or Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance....
Craig and Carole I’m sure you will appreciate my thoughts as well at your own to Janine and Liam. You both sound a little condescending. Liam and Janine made the video to help us to not make same mistakes.
Cheers everyone!!!!
@@o2bntexas2 did they put much thought and planning into this trip - on Craig's side with this one.....and patience
@@o2bntexas2 agreed mate
Some slightly misleading information in this video…
The emissions stickers are (in Germany at least) specifically for driving in certain city centres which have restrictions. You’re not going to get a fine as you drive off the ferry! Most cities have excellent public transport so you don’t even need to drive into the restricted zones.
Winter tyres are not normally the requirement. The requirement is to be able to grip the road and not be a hazard. The common sense solution in winter is winter tyres but an equally effective option is to not drive if you have insufficient grip. The same laws exist in the UK (an EU directive reinforced this in 2004), there’s just no enforcement in the UK - ridiculous when you consider that four small contact patches execute all of your steering and braking inputs.
With headlights, again the obligation is not specifically to fit stickers. The obligation is to not dazzle oncoming traffic. Some headlights have a lever to adjust the beam settings. Others have an electronic “tourist function” which can be activated from the drivers’ seat. You can even use strips of tape or just wind down the beam with a screwdriver. I have carried the stickers for years and never used them.
For insurance or breakdown cover, the German ADAC was always a good source.
If you lose your log book (or your passport or your insurance/mot certificate) you’re not going to get thrown in jail! As a last resort, the authorities will just contact the police in the UK. I have been unable to show documents in Germany and the situation was handled by the Polizei in a calm, rational manner.
If you want to avoid a country which cracks down on innocent people with excessive fines and heavy-handed responses to trivial misdemeanours then the UK is the place to avoid!
I live in a 7.5 ton converted removal truck that’s insured with Adrian Flux, they are well known for insuring anything. I have breakdown cover through them as an add on to my insurance at around £95 a year and last year our clutch went in Wiltshire and they gave us the option of being towed to local garage (who happened to have a week long waiting list and we would have had to live on their forecourt for a week) or being taken home to Yorkshire which was the option we chose. There was only one seat in the large vehicle recovery truck so the insurance organised a taxi to take my little boy and I all the way home and the recovery truck brought our truck back. I asked the taxi driver what the trip would have cost and he said around £500! And that’s without the cost of the large vehicle recovery truck which would have cost a lot more. I was very impressed with the breakdown cover, the people on the phone were so helpful and called back to check everything was going to plan a few times. Also the breakdown cover didn’t increase in price the next year despite our costly trip.
Thanks for watching, all info accompanying this video is in the description, and some more news...
we are about to embark on one of our craziest trips yet...can't wait to show you on Sunday at 9am 🤣💚 #BePrepared see you then x
you only need the crit air (France) and umweltplaketten (Germany) stickers if you plan to drive into towns and cities that have low emission zones. Best to get the crit air online before travel. In Germany these can be obtained from any TUV (MOT) station and some car main dealers.
Like the UK, I should imagine the green zones are getting more widely spread...we entered one in Germany
Although that was a very helpful and informative video I don't understand either the strong worded thumbnail or the title itself? Yes there are things you need to know about travelling anywhere but saying vanlife Europe f'in sucks is ridiculous. How about UK vanlife where you have extortionate prices to park everywhere or no overnight stays etc. Europe is much more welcoming to travellers on the road.
Just a title, don't worry about it
Cliclk bait for views...
It's a poor title suggesting that it is a place not to go as it f,,, in sucks, yet you give some not all good advise to others, more positive titles and positive clips would be better
@@ThoseHappyDays "DoNt WoRrY AbOuT iT" how mature
On our trip we had large envelopes for all our various required documents. 1. The vehicle stuff 2. The pet stuff 3. The travel insurance stuff 4. Covid status stuff 5. Le shuttle Stuff plus all documents on our devices also. It is hard work planning a big trip but all that faded away once on the road and yeh it all costs mega bucks.
Yeah totally, glad it didn't phase you when you got on the road
It's just the price of sovereignty.
We travel to europe every year, two times a year sometimes, our last trip took us from france to belgium, germany, holland, sweden and norway, and in the 12 yrs of travelling around europe i have never put a sticker on my motorhome, no long vehicle stickers, no headlight stickers and nothing about the zone areas and never been stopped, fined or anything, some yrs we never took our logbook, insurance etc.. i have either been really lucky your you have been very unfortunate
The whole point is that you can get away wit it if you don't get caught...you've done well
Sorry guys, but this could have been easily avoided with getting informed ahead of time. I thought massive unavoidable things would come up. I am having a hard time understanding why someone would return early with mainly organisational issues.
Adrian Flux offers with their insurance policy a cost effective add on extra for UK breakdown cover which also includes 60 days European breakdown cover even for vehicles older than 15 years, which is great as my Talbot Express campervan is now 32 years young. Definitely gave me peace of mind during my tour of Normandy this summer.
Are you sure it's 90days? Their website states "Cover only applies for trips of 60 days or less and cover is limited to 60 days per period of insurance." They wouldn't extend it when I called
Sorry I was sure it was 90 days, just checked my latest renewal from August and it's actually 60 days. Still happy with the cover since many won't cover vehicles older than 15 years.
Hi are you the Keith Mason that lives in Spain?
@@patwilliams9390 No I've never lived in Spain😊
Excellent video Liam. I'd recommend Adrian Flux to anyone. We had insurance with them on our self converted Movano. Their breakdown cover is worth finding out about too. Keep the vids coming.
Thank you 🙏
Hi, love the vids. I've got the RAC breakdown. Another little bonus is they'll will 'recover' you to your destination and then recover you home after a minimum three days. So breakdown on the way you still have a getaway.
Happy days
Thanks for the heads up video. Always good to be reminded of everything needed.
Pleasure, pleased it helped
Great list! The G B sticker has changed to UK now and breathalysers are no longer required. You also need in France Angles Morts stickers around your van! ❤
Only need angles morte if the van is over 3500 kgs I think.
I had to look up "Angles Morts" -- it's stickers mapping out your blind spots, required in France for anything over 3.5t.
the point with the Winter tyres is >>> if you are driving with summer tyres in winter and you cause an accident or involved in an accident your insurance may not cover it and you will / maybe liable for using the wrong tyre choice.
Wow I never knew there was so much you need for Europe, seems a lot of fuss and hassle, is it worth it I wonder. On the subject of breakdown cover DON'T go with the RAC, I had three breakdowns whilst with them and each time they were horrendous, the third time they damaged my vehicle seriously and then left me stranded for over 24 hours. One day I'll do a review of them and show just how terrible they are. I'm with Scenic which is part of LV and it includes Europe aswell, I can't fault them. Great video, have a fab week
Hungary also charges motorway tolls that can be paid online or at a service station but no stickers on screens anymore.
OMG! After listening to all the rules, regulations and restrictions, I would think sod it, I can't be bothered! I'm staying put!! Even after all that palaver are you sure you've got everything covered? Good luck with it all. I think I'm just going to drive back round the UK again or buy a canal boat instead!!...
Haha don't blame you
These rules, regulations and restrictions exist already a while, but they have been like that all along for travelers from non-EU countries. This is simply what UK sovereignty looks like.
@@yvescallaert7923 …I don’t understand, the EU residents have to follow the same rules don’t they ? apart from the stay time which there is a way round apparently from watching other British camper videos
@@yvescallaert7923 the tonnes of EU rules and regulations are part of the reason we left.
@@dee2251 No, you believe you have left because 'so much of EU red tape' because Brexiteer morons spoon fed you that while they hid from you that a lot of that 'red tape' was actually Westminster red tape. And when it wasn't Westminster red tape it was time and time again 'red tape' in which the UK had had its say as a rule maker. What the Brexiteers definitely didn't tell you was that once you left the 'red tape' would get way worse and you would become a rule taker. Sure, you'd regain your much coveted sovereignty, but they forgot to tell you what the reality of that would be: you can make all the rules and standards inside the UK that you want, but from the moment you want to export products to the EU, your largest export market in your front door, you'd have to still export products that are up to EU standards. However, the difference would now be that all of your businesses had to do a ton more paper work and prove evry time that their products are up to EU standards every time they enter. And the same goes for travel, you guys chose to be treated like every other non-EU country and thus chose for more checks, paper work and rules. That's the irony of what the Brexiteers achieved; they sold you a ton of lies about 'EU red tape' (of which most actual red tape and silly rules that screwed you came from Westminster) and they created a situation in which you actually got far more red tape. They sold you on the idea of 'taking back power' and 'sovereignty', but that was only intended to be able to take away your protections from them, worsen the condition of the populace and rob you, your children, your family; your neighbors and friends of as much as they could get away with. And you voted for all of it like turkeys for Christmas.
just an important note to add. if your passport gets stamped going into a country in the Schengen area make sure it gets stamped on the way out. I was behind an old man in Vienna airport last week that they were not letting past passport control as he said he was technically still in Italy (just off a flight from Stansted!) Their said "your passport, your responsibility" ... and these guys aren't helpful (civil servants the world over) On another note, Croatia is joining the Schengen from Jan 1st ... Montenegro is lovely if you need to buy some time.
Nice vlog guys, some really good information. We are planning on Europe next year.
On a UK camping weekend we got locked out of our van last summer. We have Adrian Flux insurance with key cover. We spent a long evening trying to get help from Adrian Flux - after hours of being passed around from one call to another, it turned out they would do nothing because it was 'out of hours', not 9am-5pm Mon-Fri. They suggested we find a locksmith ourselves and they would reimburse. By that time it had become 11pm on Friday - the drama had started at circa 8pm -maybe if they'd told us straight away we might have had a chance. They were so difficult to deal with and so uncaring and they knew we had two children with us. In the end other campers helped us remove a window and get in that way - they were brilliant. When they heard it was Adrian Flux they laughed and suggested it's a learning experience that no-one repeats if they've had need to use their insurance. Whether that's the case widely or not I don't know but we certainly won't be using Adrian Flux again. Our experience might be a one-off (we doubt that), but it was super-stressful and we have been put off them.
Adrian Flux are really dreadful. I had issues with them and changed to Advance Insurance and they are half the price and great.
Stuart Collins in Wales sold me fully comprehensive insurance with a break down plan that allowed me and my car to spend 12 consecutive months outside the uk in schengen and other European counties.
We lived and worked in Barcelona for three years; driving all around Spain, which was awesome! If you wear glasses or contact lenses, it was required by law to have a spare pair in the vehicle. Bon voyage!
Thanks for the tips!
I liked, because:
1. you don't stop and put advertising / promotions when I want to know it
2. you gave those points at description
Thanks
It’s also worth mentioning that having the correct Crit Air sticker does not give you permission to enter all areas and cities. You can still be fined for driving in a low emission area (ZCR areas in France) with a Crit air sticker numbers 4 and 5. Your explanation wasn’t enough, viewers need to know that simply applying a stickers does not mean they can travel anywhere they wish. These ZCR areas currently include Grenoble, Strasbourg and Paris but will be expanding. Other stickers may also be needed for other countries such as Germany as Crit air is only for France.
Now I have to admit there are a few things I never knew there . Cheers guys
No worries mate, look forward to your next video
Travelled round France, Spain, Portugal back to Spain to France again into Italy and finally back into France and then the UK, so glad we did it in 2003 as it seems the world is a lot more restrictive nowdays what with low emissions and Schengen. If you get a chance go to Northern Spain especially the Pico De Europa area and the beaches to the far North east, absolutly stunning.
Schengen is the opposite of restrictive and has existed since the mid-90’s. Most European countries have historically sought relaxed movement restrictions. The only threats to this have been war, communism and certain countries with odd ideas about sovereignty and freedom.
It's only got more complicated for Brits because they got a silly notion in 2016 that leaving the EU would make life better .
Seriously I'd avoid Adrian flux,they have a terrible reputation amongst the classic car forums 👍
We don’t even have passports as we gave up air travel over twenty years ago for climate reasons. Your video has made me even more determined to carry on enjoying the UK which is amazing 😂 But we wish you good luck on your European adventures and look forward to watching the fun you’ll have 😃
Keep fit heading to work or see family Russell ?
@@deansinger8285 sorry, not sure what you mean? 😃
Climate will never happen...look at all the countries throughout the world....even 2 stroke cars .. Take off your blinkers
You can still have a passport and not travel by air. It’s not just a travel document.
Although I'm a "noplancampervan" and have no plans to travel Europe anytime soon.. was an interesting video! :) ❤️
Ah nice thank you
Keep cash alive! It's important. Great tips today!
Yeah I think many places in Europe have this intention
Hey guys as soon as you hit France get a Lebara sim cheap cheap data for the whole of Europe (not a Labara UK SIM)
Great tip thank you
Traveled 8 different countries for 4 months never worried about any of these things and was fine
Going across to France tomorrow by ferry to Calais in our Miss Molly. Hope it goes smoothly. Might see you on the road, take care.
Best of luck to you 🙏
Thank you a lot for this video. This is very interesting and informative. Keep posting like those amazing videos, this is awesome.
I'm a bit confused: how about all those gorgeous advantages of Brexit transferring the UK to the legal status of countries like Ghana?
How about health insurance?
Makes me reconsider my plans to spend old age in the UK instead of Europe.
Awesome tips guys! I left my crit Air sticker in the glove box all the way through France! Oops! No fines though so must have got lucky!
Yeah we drove across a lot of France and no worries! But you never know
I drove back from Spain to the UK with someone elses passport. So long as you're not an arse, they tend to leave yu alone.
Nice Vid, very informative!
I lived in the South of France 25 years ago , the road traffic laws in France was so much more relaxed .
We have rac Breakdown cover and our vehicle is 4.6ton gross and we had a problem with the fan belt in Northern France but managed to get to Dover before we needed to be recovered and we thought we would be picked up and returned home, we'll we had got picked up and to cut a long story short we ended up on the back of 4 breakdown trucks it turns out that the rac do not have any vehicles capable of carrying more than 3.5 ton so they rely on outside transport, it took us 28 hours to get home and that involved 38 phone calls, it was a nightmare, the consolation was we got back!
Argh that does sound like a night mare
Adrian Flux are fine but beware if you need to change anything on the plan, you will get a hefty bill
The French don't require motorists to carry a breathalyser kit anymore.
Thats good news
11:50, most likely you got extorted by the local guards/police if you didnt receive a receipt/ticket. Even in countries like africa fines involve official documents which can be paid at the bank (if you dont payt then you get get put on a potential exclusion list, not allowing you to visit again).
If you paid with cash and without a ticket (which would allow you to pay outside of cash) then 9 out of 10 cases they pocketed the money. Theres many videos out there (my favourite is from "the road chose me") where the police will test to see how impatient or scared you get, your best bet in cases like this is to be patient and go through official channels if you believe you haven't broken any rules i.e. tell them lets go to the police station to get it sorted etc - and when you say that, they will most likely let you go with a "warning".
Hi From Ireland. thanks we really found this vid useful will save it .lots of good info .Happy travels .Ian &Dee.
Pleased you did
Thought that would be really boring, but was actually really useful and informative ! I'd prefer your tag lines to be more positive , so i'd want to watch them IN ADVANCE !!
Pleased you liked it
Second this, for a channel called ‘Those Happy Days’.. 😬
@@berniceroxburgh6206 haha you know by now to NEVER ever judge a video on UA-cam by it's title, only by its content x
Thanks very helpful video thankyou for all that good evice very helpful nice to see you hope to see you soon again look after yourself s be safe.
Thanks Paul ✌️
Don't think it will affect me, goinginto EU. But all the pit falls you have described for your viewers I think is great . And so kind and thoughtful of you both to share. You did not have to of course. But very kind and thoughtful of you, to share. I'm shure you are helping others out that may be caught out. So 10/10 for you kindness to others. Stay safe.
🚐💚 really appreciate it thank you
Crumbs what a lot there is to think off!! I think i will just stay in good old Blighty. I cant think of a single good thing that came out of bloody brexit….thank you for a very informative video.
Pleasure
Very helpful guys! Thanks so much 👍
How about a piece on the new Spanish emissions laws especially for UK campervans wishing to tour Spain that are not ULEZ compliant.. ive looked at the new rules and very confusing and looks to be mega expensive
fantastic advice Liam. I deffo took note of it all as I want to try viv-i-van in europe next year. One thing I might say, having been a customer of that other insurance company you mentioned is I found APlan a much better company and insurance companies say they will offer you longer in the EU but word in the camper forums says otherwise. Hopefully, we'll have another referendum soon and get our right of free travel back ( controversal lol) anyway, great video. Regards and respect as always-Kenny
We spent 11 weeks in France and Belgium no problem what so ever, didn't get asked for the NHS app going or coming home
👍👍
There are some amazing countries outside of the Schengen zone that are truly spectacular...
I totally agree
These aren't exactly hidden rules and regulations. I've been driving across Europe for years now. Before I did my first road trip I googled "driving in Europe" and these hidden rules and regulations popped up straight away on the AA website. I then thought, are there any peculiarities in the countries I'm going to be driving through? Drilled down a bit deeper into the individual countries rules. Such as, if you need glasses to drive then a spare set is required in Switzerland. Don't buy a driving in European driving kit, waste of money. Buy the things individually as it is cheaper.
Essentials: Highlight adapters, hi vis jackets x 2, spare bulbs, V5, UK badge, emergency triangle but most cars have these already. These things live in my car, so the only thing I need to buy are the eurolites. UK badge and headlight adapters come as a pack from Halfords. If you forget you can also pick them up on the ferry. Vignettes for Austrian, Slovenian and Swiss motorways and expressways. These can be purchased at service stations near the borders.
Only need the emissions stickers if you are planning on going into an emission zone, I've not yet needed one.
If using google maps whilst going through Switzerland beware, on some UK tariffs in isn't included in the EU and you'll find yourself using all your data before you've gone 1 km. Check with your provider before leaving. I've got EU roaming as an add on to my Vodafone contract, this includes Switzerland. They also provide a data boost which I activate before leaving the UK (this gives 25gb of data in the EU).
Don't bother with a breathalyser, it isn't required.
Hardest thing is knowing what countries require you to drive with sidelights on at all times etc. This is especially difficult if you are driving across 4 countries in one day.
Also, if you are in a traffic jam on the motorway, leave a corridor between lanes for emergency vehicles.
Jess you two don't half get into trouble haha 😆 thanks for sharing that essential info guys welcome back to blighty tho keep safe keep doning what you do you should write a recipe book for banging camper van scran too 😉 😀 looking forward to seeing what's next .pete
Thanks Pete, appreciate it mate
I am with Adrian Flux insurance and they cover for EU and also breakdown cover for 2 months, apart from some countries like Hungary, breakdown cover doesnt work there but insurance does. Spoke to the guy today.
Thanks for all that information - very helpful!
The GB sticker on the kit you showed is out of date and no use anymore since last September must be UK now.
Yeah the one on the link in the description has the UK one...and what we have too
I use insurance from *Caravan & Motorhome Club* for my car for EU. It is very cheap and the only reasonably priced, reputable insurance that would cover unlimited time in Europe (or maybe it's just EU, not sure). They have a separate page for vans, but I assume it is the same or similar deal for van conversion motorhomes.
We have just come back from Spain and with EE you can use all your unlimited data on your phone no problem
Data in Europe was always capped, nothing to do with Brexit. What's changed is that a lot of providers have stopped offering EU roaming as part of your contract.
We've been told it's a brexit thing, they all did it up till then but now don't. Although some honour existing contracts, most new contracts won't do it
We currently use O2 which offer roaming, Tesco and Vodafone are also on board. I think the others will come back as many people are moving away if roaming us not offered. I'm currently with 3, but will change in Feb when my contract expires, and go with O2.
@@christinerothwell7926 are they uncapped unlimited roaming
FYI, rac and aa cover all things about travel to Europe. Brexit had nothing to do with roaming. Most UK providers capped the customer allowance before brexit and the way around sky's cap was for someone to log on to your home account in the UK, that's the key! then it would reset.
You don't need critair or German green version of critair unless you intend to drive in areas such as Paris or other High pollution areas. Also the best way to obtain them is online.
You've also not covered dashcam, in some EU States they see illegal to even have one, whilst others its illegal to use.
Winter tyres are only required for certain areas. Don't forget the chains can be an alternative rather than tyre change.
Hope this helps
But surely that will have to change (re dashcams) as they become increasingly standard, especially with hybrids which they seem to love in Europe?
Apart from the internet and some variations on the insurance I travelled around Europe and across to Morocco in 1985 long before freedom of movement, single currency etc etc, in a van (surfing), and needed visas for each country. Seems today is a doddle. Needed triangles, a shovel, chains, vis jacket, etc, and cash only and many currencies.
Gosh that was a complicated one.......and it all sounds very very expensive! Stay here for a while now! Come back to Northumberland.....you loved that, remember! Go to Scotland while the midgies are asleep, and stay longer at beautiful beaches. It sounds a lot less bother! (Yummy breakfast that!).
Haha good call
We're with LV insurance because when we had our van Frank reached 20 years old our breakdown wouldn't cover so we fought LV. They come up near the to re Which magazine. Worth while looking LV. We had big problems with Andrian Flux insurance. Be warned.
Good pointers. Adrian Flux was so expensive for towing but some say it is cheap. I didn't know about the windscreen stickers, as they weren't in the Halfords Travel Pack. There's also the NHS Cards to consider for EU Travel. I'm wondering if it is wise to travel to the EU with anything Converted instead of just a standard Hymer or Campervan. The Breathalyser is a bit of an issue, as we heard the French were stopping you and then repeating further down the road to be awkward. We didn't take them to France or Netherlands. The data is a real pain, but you can buy additional data on the go so as to not be charged premium rates.
So true
Thanks for this video! I've never travelled by van before so these tips are useful for me! Probably all simple for experienced van lifers but for me as a first timer i've learned some new thing's!
They have some really quirky rules which are really easy to fall foul of !! Great video 👍👍
Pleased you like it 😀
Not really any quirkier than before. The difference is that you didn't need to worry about the bulk of it because, except a few minor accessoires and tiny cheap adjustments, you wouldn't have noticed it because there is something called 'Freedom of movement' when you're in the EU. But since the UK now is a sovereign nation, you take the hassle and pay the price of your sovereignty.
If you want good advice for Europe, watch Vantastic, great couple, showing the vanlife as it should be :)
Camc/ rac does not cover you in Europe if you are over 3.5t. we had them and have had to change to driver guardian.
Also crit air etc are for low emission zones not everywhere and are mainly in urban areas. Best to check each countries government web site for conditions and look to see if you need them or not.
You did not mention tolls, for me they are very confusing and require home work before you go to understand them, they could actually save you a lot of money if you plan before you go.
All the best.
We didn't use tolls to save money
I did my breakdown through Adrian flux when I did the insurance. You get another van delivered to you if u break down so u can carry on your journey. Great video, in France and Italy for 3 weeks in May so this really helps us. :)
If on a pre brexit O2 contract its still the same in Europe as your UK allowance.
We had unlimited in France.
Hi your having fun. We have Starlink and it’s amazing. We used it a few times and love it. You can pause your contract under the Camper options. Then restart it when you carry on. Starlink is amazing. We have version 2 but there is a ver 3 out that’s flat.
I’ve just taken a policy out with Adrian fluxe and I get 60 days in Europe and then have to return to the uk for 24 hrs and then I can go again for another 60days and so on for the full length of the policy which I find better than the 90 total days allowed per year policies on the market
We've got RAC motorhome breakdown and recovery with the MH insurance, Saga.
We've already got European cover with the RAC for the cars, looking at getting these merged next year if possible.
Once upon a time in France you had to have yellow headlamps as well, remember this from my first run across to the Le Man's 24 hours in the eighties.
From watching others who travel, make multiple copies of your papers, don't give them the originals when you don't have to. They could get left behind or they could keep them. Still keep them in that folder you talked about. If you have them, covid shot paperwork, copies of birth certificates, medical insurance, etc. just incase.
Good tip
Most border checks will only allow originals ... A friend nearly got turned away without having original V5 in Croatia and Bosnia on a recent motorbike trip. It's to do with stolen vehicle checks (there are a lot of UK plated cars in Bosnian scrapyards)
Brilliant!!!
So much useful information!! Thank you ❤
Hope people find it helpful
The Breathalyzer you don't need it anymore. Sinds may 2020 it changed :)
There were some useful tips in the video but the section on sim cards was not 100% true. Yes some providers may have cut back after Brexit but not all. We did a 3 month tour earlier in the year and in Germany now on a 6 week tour and our 200GB BT sim is not capped or restricted in any way in Europe. Moral of the story - shop around!
We had a post brexit table given to us by the motorhome WiFi guys and it's all capped for new contracts, and our existing contracts. But some lucky people's existing contracts have kept uncapped data roaming on...we are not those people
@@ThoseHappyDays It looks like I'm lucky then lol. Keep looking as you certainly need data for your lifestyle.
Hi, me again. It might be worth your while reading the fine print of the sim only BT Mobile offer of 200GB for £20.70 a month as on scanning of it just now there seems to be no capping or restrictions. The have a roam from home scheme where as long as you don't go over the 200GB you are not charged any extra in 47 named countries. Hope this helps...
Might wanna think about your title. We're going full time next year and you see titles like "why not to do Europe" and you think, ooh maybe we shouldn't. When really it's just stuff that you hadn't researched. If you had and got things in place, you'd have been fine. Happy travelling.
Just going to jump the gun and thank you already before watching as I sit down with a morning cuppa - videos like these are selfless and very much appreciated, by most anyway, especially me as I’m planning on doing this next year. Have taken my van to France a few times on fishing trips over the years but only for a week at a time, never had the triangle, high vis, headlight stickers, or UK badges, we’ve also been pulled in by French border force authorities and searched as some of our trips have been just a few weeks apart so they’re looking for perhaps people, drugs, tobacco etc but have to say they’ve been ok and contrary to popular belief (some have a sense of humour) 😂
Keep up the great work - more of my day taken up by you guys too now, I have a few UA-camrs that I follow and I already think you’re going to be right up there!! 👍🏼 🤙🏼
Edit - have now watched and enjoyed it!! Hope the couple of tips I put in are useful in some way to someone! (I don’t believe the breathalysers are a requirement in France anymore and the badges are now UK and not GB - but I guess the kits that are available will be updated accordingly - don’t trust everything I say, it’s just what I’ve been laid to believe or have read! Stay happy and safe everyone! 👍🏼
Coming off the ferry and getting fined for not having a Crit'Air sticker?, There is not a port in France where you need them, Please correct me if I'm wrong as I live in France and have never heard that., The nearest place is Rouen and as far as I know no ferries dock there.The sticker covers about 0.001% of French roads, all cities which most van owners barely use.
Winter tyres rule not enforced for vehicles from other countries where it's not a legal requirement, So UK vehicle don't have to have them. again correct me if I'm wrong. My van (French reg) has M+S tyres Just winter summer tyres, But I carry snow chains, Only needed for mountain departments, easily avoided, breathalyzer not needed.
Basically for a UK vehicle you just have to be legal in your own country, ok a few exceptions ie UK sticker and light deflectors so we are not blinded at night, warning triangle and a few bulbs and fluorescent jacket one for each person.fire extinguisher I think (I have one in mine). Stuff that makes sense I think.
Thanks for the clip, great stuff.
Couple of points, I believe France no longer (legally) require you to carry a breathalyser kit.
It's also worth mentioning that if you have a grand parent who was born in Ireland you can get an Irish (EU) passport. It took me about 6 months to get mine. Obviously all on board your van would have to have an EU passport so that you're not limited to the 90 days in 180 Schengen restriction.
If you have an EU passport and remain in one country for 3 months you are required to register but my interpretation is that if you've travelling around this is not an issue and anyway your passport is only going to be checked entering and leaving Schengen.
The difference is that if you go over the 90/180 limit on a non EU passport you are then an alien (illegal migrant).
An EU passport gives the holder the right to live, work and retire in a different EU country.
Also I understand Portugal are introducing a travellers visa which will be valid for 6 months and there is some talk that other countries may do likewise.
Crikey Liam there's so many things to address before travelling through Europe in Morgan ! The positive thing to come out of all this is you didn't fall foul of the law being enforced whilst you were over there. Life is a learning curve eh?? Breakfast looking good b ylthe way😋 always enjoy your vlogs. Look forward to your upcoming one ,& finally stay well & stay warm 😊 👌
Cheers David 🍻
I use Adrian flux for both my insurance and break down cover. They have been really good.
Good to hear
PS: If you run out of fuel on the Autobahn in Germany, you will be fined. They call it negligence, so fill to the brim on the cheaper B roads.
That's a great one, we didn't even know that 😲
I think old vans like my 1994 VW can't even get a crit'air sticker. But now I am worried. I am in France.
Liam. You said that you would leave a link to obtain the emission stickers. Sorry, I can't find it, plus have been told stickers only required in cities. Comments please. Thanks.
My van does not even have any euro emissions certificate ,so I avoid cities even here that have emissions or congestion charges ,however it is a disability vehicle on the taxclass so not entirely sure how that works as that could in theory offer access to these areas.
Thankyou for sharing that.l hope you enjoyed your breakfast,l liked the idea you put together.
Thank you, its not the healthiest but bacon and pancake and maple syrup is delish
There are only two companies that supply fulltime insurance. If you live fulltime, without your own fixed address, either owned or rented by yourselves you are NOT fully insured, if there is an accident, and a fulltime is using a family or friends address the insurance company will not pay out . We are with comfort insurance, and pay £1200 fully insured and breakdown insurance.
I use an Irish passport and can travel to any Eu country as long as I abide by that countrys rules, ie we are in Spain for three months, I would need to enter another country ie France for a day to comply with the rules.
Nice, janine has one too...do you know if she has an Irish passport can I get one also?
@@ThoseHappyDays if you are married you are covered also, as is my wife , siblings are also included if dependent on parents.
There have always been rules and regs about taking your vehicle to France or Germany or wherever, when we were in the EU the rules were done with very light enforcement because we were an EU member. Now with Brexit we are a third country so the French don't feel the need to 'be nice' and simply enforce the rules as written. Before Brexit you should have taken a lot of the stuff you're complaining about in this video including the ownership log V5C. We expect tourists coming to the UK to comply with our rules and regs, why do Brits complain about returning the compliment when they visit the EU?
Because we’re from a relatively chill society where you don’t even legally need to carry ID. It’s a stress for us to enter these countries where you need to have all this stuff on you to ‘prove’ things at all times. Add to that a lot of us feel our freedom of movement that the rest of Europe has was taken away by dim Gammons who believed nigel farages hoax campaigning. We would expect Iranians to follow our rules when we come here, doesn’t mean I’m gonna go over there and be super happy with theres.
Good and informative video bro!! Thanks!! Stay blessed people!! Info like this is useful 👌!@
You let your Europe preparations drift! You'll be set for next time. Another option is van insurance plus update your home insurance for all fixtures fittings and valuables in the van. Rather than a campervan policy for a van which can easily be rejected in the event of a claim. As a member of the eurozone it was mandatoty in the UK to have the emergency kit and triplicate accident forms in your language. So this shouldn't be something we didn't know.
I've not come across anyone who has been fined for window stickers, but have been for lights. One other missing area is gas bottles. Always best to use the countries main provider for mobile (coverage and router access) and you normally get the best rates. Also need to check they are not monthly they last 28days. I've continued to use vodaphone in Spain £15 75gig/28days.
Thanks for the insights 🙏
A FIRE EXTINGUISHER A MUST.
RAC left me stranded last week in uk never cane out at all. Then offered me a free month ...... There binned
No way 😲
To properly prepare yourself for a road trip outside the UK post Brexit is easy… Do all the things you said Liam, and then find out the rules have changed whilst you were making toast for breakfast in Bavaria 🤓
The rules don't really 'change', but they are fading out because of an agreed transition period between the EU and the UK. It will stabilize eventually once it's way worse. But this is nothing else than the agreed upon reality of what Brexit and UK sovereignty look like. It's a planned transition from a member state of the EU towards being a sovereign non-EU country. This isn't new or special nor is it to punish Brits, just simply a gradual transition to the same rules that apply for all other countries outside the EU, and most of those rules exist from before there even was a Brexit referendum. You didn't feel any of them because you were part of the EU and for member states different rules apply. The UK regained completely the means to make it's own rules in the UK. But in the EU you went from a rule maker to a rule taker.
@@yvescallaert7923 my problem is that Brexit has tightened the rules even further for other countries in the Commonwealth and we had nothing to do with that vote
@@susie9893 that's nothing but a logical consequence of the UK governments on position on so many of the issues. The UK government and their rules were the problem before Brexit as well, but back then they shifted that blame onto the EU and sold that to an audience who was happy to hear that. However, now that Brexit has happened and it's consequences are taking effect more and more, the UK government can no longer shif the blame on the EU and their own tragic incompetence and unwillingness to be decent is becoming undeniably visible
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Just one point about data roaming in Europe, UK citizens never had data roaming in Europe until we voted to leave and they gave us DR to try and make us stay when in the grand scheme of things we should of had it for years previously but that is Europe for you and it wasn't Brexit that caused you to lose it, it was because of Brexit you got it. When the first smart phones came out with wifi connectivity, people from the UK were going to Europe and ending up with massive phone bills when they came home because they hadn't turned off their data roaming because they were never told to do so by the European Union. If Brexit never happened you would not have any data roaming in Europe at all.
Always a good thing to plan ahead and read up on things. 😊 Will you try again now that you know more about how to travel in Europe?
For sure, but a lot of the reason we came back also was to get the van sorted