Save money on your camping holidays in Euroland
It isn't the cost of camping/mobile home holidays in France and the rest of Europe that we need to bother about so much - it's the spending when we get there that makes us think twice about taking that holiday in 2012.
This is why we have come up with some ideas, mainly for self drive holidaymakers, to make your holidays in the Euroland more affordable, but we strongly recommend to those same drivers that they take out some travel insurance, and we know that Insure & Away Travel Insurance works even when you sleep!. If you have been playing http://dk.partypoker.com or surfing the internet at home and have been trying to think about cheap holidays to go on, then this is a great opportunity. Some of our ideas may be seem very obvious, but add them all together at the end and you should save a few £££ s €€€'s
1) Shop around for the best rate of exchange as they do differ alarmingly. Pool family money and change it all together - similarly with a group trip - pool the money to exchange it at the best rate.
2) If you are buying a "package" camping holiday through a tour operator be careful what you pay for, eg. If the company go are going with has things like Kiddies Clubs and you have no children then you are still paying for that service.
3) Do you book early or late? Good question. You are certainly more likely to get a discount if you book early - Jan or Feb, but 2009 and 2010 have also seen great reductions costs for camping holidays in May and June. Most companies get fully booked at school holiday times, so it should pay to book as early as poss if those dates apply to you.
4) We can say this because we don't actually sell holidays, but you can sometimes get a better deal if you are prepared to haggle. This applies more to the smaller tour operators than the larger groups., but if you look at it this way; any holiday company is better off taking some profit rather than none, so remind them of that politely. Politeness matters.
5) On most self drive holidays the car is usually loaded to the max with everything but the kitchen sink, but weight has a bearing on your MPG, so to balance that out you need to distribute the weight as evenly as possible, and try to place the heavy gear in front of the rear axles. Doing that save a small amount of fuel.
6) Food: Plan this one ahead of departure: If you can spare some room in your car it's a great idea to pack in as much food as possible which you can buy at home over time (tins and packets) leading up to your hols. Stash as much of your favourite foods as you can, all bought more cheaply in £ pounds and not expensively in € Euros.
7) Get your car serviced about a month before you go to ensure that it gives the best MPG. Simple things like getting a new air filter (especially in a diesel car) can save a goodly amount of fuel on a long return trip.
8) If you are towing a trailer or caravan make sure that as much weight goes into the towing vehicle as possible rather than in the trailer ect. This makes the towing vehicle and trailer etc more stable and saves a small amount of fuel.
9) Fuel is heavy so it pays to make a couple of stops en route instead of driving with a full tank. In France it is far cheaper to buy from supermarkets than anywhere else. The Aires on dual carriageways and Autoroutes are the most expensive.
10) Keep car windows closed as much as possible because an open window can lose you around 10% of your MPG
11) Be sparing with your air con as using that can knock off another 5% from your MPG.
12) Roof racks and roof boxes can lose you a fortune in fuel so try to avoid using them if at all possible, but if not then buy one which is aerodynamically shaped.
13) Watch your speed. Get up through the gears as fast as possible then set yourself a viable cruising speed and that way you will save on fuel too.
14) If you are tent camping you can save a fortune by taking your own compared to hiring one with one of the larger companies. Having said that though, they do give you most of the mod cons such as better cooking facilities, fridge and freezer.
15) Credit cards: Try not to use them abroad unless it is an emergency, otherwise you may be in for a surprise when your next card statement arrives.
16) Drinks: Alcohol is still relatively cheap in the French/German supermarkets, but in bars the average price in 2010 was about £5.10p per pint, which means that to pay that you are either very wealthy or very thirsty.
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