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Ian
Active Member
VIP Member
As it’s a rainy wintry day I’ve looked back over some summer snaps and pulled out a few that summarise our first year with our MP. Some highlight camper van adventures were:
A windy week in the Lake District (Wasdale) over Easter for some walking and scrambling. Stayed at the National Trust campsite near the Wasdale Inn. Would recommend both. A bit of a test of the roof being up but it survived. Also not sure how anything much larger than an MP gets to the end of the valley but a few people managed it.
A long weekend rock climbing in Pembroke around st Davids. Stayed at Caerfai Bay Caravan and Tent Park. Close enough to the small city to walk to the pub and has excellent views across the coast.
A weekend in Snowdonia for some scrambling. A particularly nice walk across the mountain range in Ogwen (Glyder Fawr) gave excellent views of the Snowdon horseshoe. Stayed at Dolgam campsite which is a very well-kept basic site and nice and cheap. Crucially it’s a short walk to the Tyn-y-coed for food and beer.
A bank holiday trip down to Lands end for some walking and climbing. Great rocky coastline and beaches. Stayed at Trevedra Farm Caravan and Camping site. A short walk down a steep path leads to a great sandy beach. Brand new massive wash block and nice café on-site.
A couple of weeks driving down through Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Italy and back) to spend time in the Austrian Alps (Otztal valley, Langenfeld) for some walking and via ferrata. Stayed at the Camping Otztal site. Best wash block we’ve ever seen, better than many hotel bathrooms. A few too many semi-permanent caravans but right next to the Aqua Dome Thermal spa for relaxing after hard days in mountains and a nice bar / restaurant on-site. Drove over the epic Timmelsjoch Mountain Pass (at 2509 meters) to head into Italy which runs straight into the Passo Giovo on the way to Cortina in the Dolomites. A real must visit area where we stayed at Camping Rocchetta. Fine campsite and can walk up into the town. Bar across the road though does bargain pizza and beer. Good mix of via ferrata and WW2 history all over the mountains. We particularly liked the area around Cinque Torri.
Rounded August off with some time in familiar France with some bouldering in Fontainebleau, walking in the Mont Blanc range around Chamonix (camping de la Mer De Glace – expensive but walking distance along the river to town) and wine tasting / sport climbing in Burgundy (Le camping municipal – cheap and cheerful). With a French motorway toll tag (emovis tag which you can get in the UK) we could just whip straight through the tolls booths being sub 2 metres. On a side note we booked the Eurotunnel as a large car both times and had no problems at all.
All in all we’ve covered around 10,000 holiday miles in our MP over some very varied terrain. High speed cruising for hours on end in Europe, high altitude driving in the alps, narrow twisty lanes, fast A-roads with traffic to pass as well as the odd traffic jam. All handled without drama / unnecessary fatigue. As a fun vehicle its perfect for us as we’ve come at it from many holidays spent in small tents. Loads of room for all our outdoor clobber, fast and comfortable so we don’t have to dither and the luxury of not having to sleep on the floor when we get there. As a single vehicle to cover such a range it's very good.
Hope these notes are of some use or inspiration to other owners.
A windy week in the Lake District (Wasdale) over Easter for some walking and scrambling. Stayed at the National Trust campsite near the Wasdale Inn. Would recommend both. A bit of a test of the roof being up but it survived. Also not sure how anything much larger than an MP gets to the end of the valley but a few people managed it.
A long weekend rock climbing in Pembroke around st Davids. Stayed at Caerfai Bay Caravan and Tent Park. Close enough to the small city to walk to the pub and has excellent views across the coast.
A weekend in Snowdonia for some scrambling. A particularly nice walk across the mountain range in Ogwen (Glyder Fawr) gave excellent views of the Snowdon horseshoe. Stayed at Dolgam campsite which is a very well-kept basic site and nice and cheap. Crucially it’s a short walk to the Tyn-y-coed for food and beer.
A bank holiday trip down to Lands end for some walking and climbing. Great rocky coastline and beaches. Stayed at Trevedra Farm Caravan and Camping site. A short walk down a steep path leads to a great sandy beach. Brand new massive wash block and nice café on-site.
A couple of weeks driving down through Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Italy and back) to spend time in the Austrian Alps (Otztal valley, Langenfeld) for some walking and via ferrata. Stayed at the Camping Otztal site. Best wash block we’ve ever seen, better than many hotel bathrooms. A few too many semi-permanent caravans but right next to the Aqua Dome Thermal spa for relaxing after hard days in mountains and a nice bar / restaurant on-site. Drove over the epic Timmelsjoch Mountain Pass (at 2509 meters) to head into Italy which runs straight into the Passo Giovo on the way to Cortina in the Dolomites. A real must visit area where we stayed at Camping Rocchetta. Fine campsite and can walk up into the town. Bar across the road though does bargain pizza and beer. Good mix of via ferrata and WW2 history all over the mountains. We particularly liked the area around Cinque Torri.
Rounded August off with some time in familiar France with some bouldering in Fontainebleau, walking in the Mont Blanc range around Chamonix (camping de la Mer De Glace – expensive but walking distance along the river to town) and wine tasting / sport climbing in Burgundy (Le camping municipal – cheap and cheerful). With a French motorway toll tag (emovis tag which you can get in the UK) we could just whip straight through the tolls booths being sub 2 metres. On a side note we booked the Eurotunnel as a large car both times and had no problems at all.
All in all we’ve covered around 10,000 holiday miles in our MP over some very varied terrain. High speed cruising for hours on end in Europe, high altitude driving in the alps, narrow twisty lanes, fast A-roads with traffic to pass as well as the odd traffic jam. All handled without drama / unnecessary fatigue. As a fun vehicle its perfect for us as we’ve come at it from many holidays spent in small tents. Loads of room for all our outdoor clobber, fast and comfortable so we don’t have to dither and the luxury of not having to sleep on the floor when we get there. As a single vehicle to cover such a range it's very good.
Hope these notes are of some use or inspiration to other owners.
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