I want to rent one she doesn't..

bren82

Hey all, I'm in my mid 30s married with two kids. 3 year old and a 6 month old. We have always gone on a boring 1 or 2 week Spain holiday. This year I am pushing renting a campervan for a week and staying in Ireland..Even though my wife is easy going she thinks a campervan is not for her.. but I'd like to give it a go and I think the kids(3 year old) would love it.
Im hoping you guys can help and point me in the right direction to where I can rent a decent camper van from a reputable company. Second of all is there any set routes a novice should take.? I'm thinking the west of Ireland bit not sure where.. I've just a few questions.. I know there's official.camp sites(needs to find the list) but can I stop anywhere and stop for the night.m I love the idea of stopping near a beach in Sligo and staying the night.. is that legal????
Can I get a campervan with a shower ? Or am I confined to communal showers etc.
Am I crazy doing this with such young kids??? Will I be driving more than chilling?
Guys I would really appreciate your feedback as I would be a complete novice...looking forward to hearing from you..

Cheers.

CelticRambler

bren82 wrote: »

Am I crazy doing this with such young kids???

It's damn sight easier taking the under fives on holiday in a camper than a car! And that was the main reason we bought one. I can't find the photo of our two eldest crammed into the boot of our Volvo 740 estate (rear-facing seats), but here they are enjoying New Year 2003/4 in Bavaria (there's also a three-year old who opted to stay inside in the warmth )



I have no idea what equipment options are available on the Irish rental market, but the vehicle you see there has a proper "wet" central heating system with radiators throughout, indoor and outdoor shower, and a fridge-freezer and oven big enough to store/cook everything needed for a full Christmas dinner, including turkey and home-made mincepies. With something similar, I reckon ye could survive a week in Sligo. :pac:

pongo69

my grandkids love comming away in our camper van

spaceHopper

I've a camper van thinking what your looking for is a large panle van coach built conversion or a full up Motor home. These would have shows and chemical toilets. Your could do part of the wild Atlantic way. Strandhill has a good campsite or we've often wild camped in the car park. However it's a great beach for surfing it is very dangerous for swimming its not child friendly. The back strand should be ok but ask locals. There is a hidden valley which the three year old would love. If you go PM me and I'll tell you where. The beach bar at aughris head has a campsite it's basic but cheap. Or you could park up at dunmoran strand. Enniscrone has plenty of parking or a good campsite. Remember you need to empty tanks. Bellmullet is great but a mission of a drive over bouncy roads so take your time and drive slowly. Park up at Ely bay or explore. No campsites but you'll be fine. You could hit Westport or achill island there is a campsite and plenty of parking at beaches.

If you do all that on a week you'll be doing well

bridster007

First timer presumably. Wife not convinced of the idea. 2 kids one of which is in nappies and needs regular feeding.

Bit of a recipe for disaster IMO. Have done touring in caravan with 3 kids in nappies but we were both 150% into the idea and used good campsites and a lot more space in a caravan than a MH.

If you do go for it, temper your own expectations a bit, essential to stay on campsites for the facilities. Don't be concerned about a shower in the van or not. Campsites showers are fine. Pick at least one site that is close to a town so you won't need to be moving van every day. Take a longer view and build up your experience (and wife's enthusiasm) , it takes a few trips to understand what you need to bring etc and after this it becomes easier and more enjoyable.

Have never rented in Ireland but met these people over the summer and liked them and their vans.
http://www.wildatlanticcamperhire.ie/
As kids are not in school you should get good out of season rates.

Having said all above, still easier than lugging 2 kids to Spain to sit beside a pool !

Moomat

We have kids that are a similar age and found it very manageable. I find that in a campervan, everything can be turned into an adventure. For example - our van is a 1990 4l diesel Mercedes and our 3 year old loves nothing more than counting down 3-2-1 till we fire that beast up; puts a huge smile on his face each and every time!

Tigerandahalf

Have to agree with the comment that it is a recipe for a disaster. If it goes badly future campervan trips might be on the very long finger.

A 6 month old is just too young with crying, nappies and regular feeding. I can understand a wife wanting the space of a house. Not much fun to those around you in a campsite if they are waking at 3am to the sound of a crying baby.

Then you have to factor in the bad weather in Ireland and the high cost of rentals.

You will have plenty years ahead when kids are running about to consider a campervan when it would be more enjoyable and a lot easier to stop off anywhere and go on a bit of an adventure.

There are plenty of nice places to stay in Spain and Portugal etc when you have very young kids. A bit of warm weather and a pool and you will have happy faces all around.

Best of luck.

CelticRambler

What's with the "disaster" comments? I've witnessed (and had!) a lot more "baby" trouble on flights and in foreign bricks-and-mortar accommodation than in all my children's years motorhoming.

And I honestly can't see where the nappies come into it. A changing mat is about the size of a coffee table - how much more room do you need?

Possibly our biggest reason for getting a motorhome was because of the children. Too many hours of our first family holidays were spent traipsing around town centres looking for a decent toilet, or trying to find a good compromise on fast food vs. nice ambiance vs. "I feel siiiiiick" , or being stuck in a supposedly sunny place in the worst rain they'd had in fifty years with nothing to do because they didn't plan for anything other than sun ...

bridster007

CelticRambler wrote: »

What's with the "disaster" comments? I've witnessed (and had!) a lot more "baby" trouble on flights and in foreign bricks-and-mortar accommodation than in all my children's years motorhoming.

And I honestly can't see where the nappies come into it. A changing mat is about the size of a coffee table - how much more room do you need?

Possibly our biggest reason for getting a motorhome was because of the children. Too many hours of our first family holidays were spent traipsing around town centres looking for a decent toilet, or trying to find a good compromise on fast food vs. nice ambiance vs. "I feel siiiiiick" , or being stuck in a supposedly sunny place in the worst rain they'd had in fifty years with nothing to do because they didn't plan for anything other than sun ...

Agree it can be done and solves a lot of other holiday problems with kids - but the OP's wife is not "into the idea". That's a huge bridge to cross - throw in the v young child and there is the potential disaster. And they would be heading out for the 1st time in a MH that they know nothing about. I'm guessing you bought yours and at least had some time to try it out at home and get used to it, rather than picking up a rental where everything thing is new.

CelticRambler

Nope! Picked it up on the 15th December, were in Vienna for the 23rd!

What made all the difference was doing our research first - exactly like the OP is doing at the moment (virtually, at least) - and in particular, going along to a few dealers and getting inside the different models. That included bringing the children long so that we could all get a "whole family" feel for what we needed and what wasn't quite right, and we paid attention to what the children said!

bren82

Hey guys thanks for the feedback and I can see both sides of the argument to be fair. Apologies for the delay Christmas kept me busy. I'm back in work Friday which will be dead so my plan is to do some extensive research online. I will keep you all posted.
I brought the subject up over the Christmas and a lot of people said it sounds great and in turn it seems my wife is more up for it than before.
Thanks again, oh and if you have anything to add please do.

CelticRambler

Whereabouts are you based? There's a Caravan & Motorhome section as part of the something called the Holiday World Show in Belfast and Dublin next month (i.e. January!) https://www.holidayworldshow.com/

I don't know anything about it, but it sounds like it'd be a great place to start. Have a good play in the different models, and I mean really play about - sit in the front seats, figure out where you'd put the children/how you'd secure their seats, pretend to cook the dinner/get breakfast/change a nappy lie on the bed, check out the storage space, esp for pushchairs, bike, buckets, etc., practice getting in and out with a child in your arms (or one in each!)

You can learn a huge amount in a couple of hours by getting into the role.

landmarkjohn

Go for it! Recommend staying on camp sites with small children, safer and facilities etc.

We brought grandchildren to https://loughkey.ie/ in Roscommon. Great spot for smaller children. Very family friendly and camper folk are generally quite friendly.

Often the reason why mothers don't like the idea of a camper van is because it's too much like bringing the kitchen on holiday.

Moomat

Seems a few of the dealers are having open days before the weekend. Would be worth going down and letting the wife have a look around them. I'm sure her enthusiasm will only grow. https://www.donedeal.ie/campers

now online

Hi op,

We've be doing caravanning/ Motorhome holidays for years with the kids. Imo the best type family holidays you can experience. You'll either love it as we do or don't there's no inbetween.

The advice if give you is get the layout right. We own ours but choose a 6 berth for a family of 4.
Bed over cabin left made up and one single bed left made up too makes life easier if the kids want a nap during the day.

Try not take too much "stuff" you probably won't end up using half of it!
Plan loosely, part of the joy of a camper is seeing where the road takes you!

See if you can hire it for a weekend first to get used to the size and feel of it on the road.

Lastly have fun!

piuswal

CelticRambler wrote: »

What's with the "disaster" comments? I've witnessed (and had!) a lot more "baby" trouble on flights and in foreign bricks-and-mortar accommodation than in all my children's years motorhoming.

And I honestly can't see where the nappies come into it. A changing mat is about the size of a coffee table - how much more room do you need?

Possibly our biggest reason for getting a motorhome was because of the children. Too many hours of our first family holidays were spent traipsing around town centres looking for a decent toilet, or trying to find a good compromise on fast food vs. nice ambiance vs. "I feel siiiiiick" , or being stuck in a supposedly sunny place in the worst rain they'd had in fifty years with nothing to do because they didn't plan for anything other than sun ...

Agree. Took an 11 month o;d, with 3 others, 8, 9 and 11 in a trailer tent over 30 years ago. Staying on good campsites in France and had no problems, other than having to walk the 11 month old on my shoulders for c 30 mins each evening to get her to sleep. It was part of the fun.

Have a MH now and take the grandchildren each summer.

juneg

Check out Leitrim caravan hire on Facebook. It might be a more gradual Transition to camping. They are very good to deal with

SeamusG97

now online wrote: »

Hi op,

We've be doing caravanning/ Motorhome holidays for years with the kids. Imo the best type family holidays you can experience. You'll either love it as we do or don't there's no inbetween.

The advice if give you is get the layout right. We own ours but choose a 6 berth for a family of 4.
Bed over cabin left made up and one single bed left made up too makes life easier if the kids want a nap during the day.

Try not take too much "stuff" you probably won't end up using half of it!
Plan loosely, part of the joy of a camper is seeing where the road takes you!

See if you can hire it for a weekend first to get used to the size and feel of it on the road.

Lastly have fun!

Good advice here. Sadly we're coming to the end of over a decade and a half of summers away with the kids since they were 1 and 3 as they are now mid teenagers who have pressing social engagements at home that prevent us travelling abroad as a family anymore. To be honest the success of any campervan/motorhome holiday is more about the parents attitudes than the ages of the kids. If you're enjoying it and doing it right, kids will just enjoy the buzz and have fun in the many places you decide to visit - walks, beaches, pools, towns, places to eat etc. That's the same at home or abroad. Regarding the post above - we did both the 'Hate' and 'Love' thing at various times. To explain - I had great ideas of how travelling abroad in a van with kids (after years of sun holidays) was going to be great and talked Mrs SeamusG into it back in 2001. Then I made every possible mistake over two weeks in a hired van in france and spain. it was a disaster and we swore never again - I remember we also swore a lot at each other as well. And then over a long time afterwards at home realised how we should have done it properly. We bought a van of our own five years later in 2006 and have spent a lifetime's worth of holidays away in it and its successor since then. If there's any underlying theme in the advice from the posts above is to relax and enjoy the experience.
I'm a bit sad looking at spending 2018 without doing it again but so glad we took the plunge originally. OP - I'd say have a go - even if it isn't a success it may eventually convince your other half. It's a skill that you don't learn overnight.
Happy new year to everyone and safe travelling in 2018. I'll be watching from the sidelines.
SeamusG

bren82

Thank you all for the comments and advice. Still no decision made but we are going to view some campers over the coming weeks... If we go ahead I'll be to you for direction on lists of camping sites and try set out a route..

demoreino

bren82 wrote: »

Thank you all for the comments and advice. Still no decision made but we are going to view some campers over the coming weeks... If we go ahead I'll be to you for direction on lists of camping sites and try set out a route..

If you are passing through Mayo at anytime feel free to call into us here at Ireland West Motorhomes in Castlebar. We'll have 8 or 10 vans here for hire and if you have a look around it might give you a better idea regarding what's available. Just give me a call on 0876385757 to arrange a suitable time before you leave home.
Kevin

exaisle

You're obviously not listening to your OH....

Give the woman a holiday and book a hotel somewhere!

She's right and you're wrong. You should know this by now! ;-)

Hitman3000

bren82 wrote:

Cheers.

Didn't want to quote all your post. I'd still go aboard stay on a campsite in a mobile. Great family holidays not the usual gob****ery found in apartments. Very family orientated plus it would probably still work out cheaper than a holiday here of the same duration. We've done the campsites in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Lake Garda being our favourite.