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Hoping to start saving for a year long trip to europe in a van I just finished converting.
I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on a few things...
Cost, I've got no idea how much to try and save, I know it depends on how much travelling about I'm gunna do etc but a ball park from someone who's done it before would be great.
Places to visit. I've got an idea of a few places I'd like to go, but pointers on some lesser known places, especially places where living is cheap. I guess some pointers on places that are expensive would be helpful too.
Mainly planning to do sport and boulderin, but going to be picking up some trad skills this year, so anything goes really.
Last question is about, who to go with. Recommendations on going alone or going with a friend?
Thanks in advance!
I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on a few things...
Cost, I've got no idea how much to try and save, I know it depends on how much travelling about I'm gunna do etc but a ball park from someone who's done it before would be great.
Places to visit. I've got an idea of a few places I'd like to go, but pointers on some lesser known places, especially places where living is cheap. I guess some pointers on places that are expensive would be helpful too.
Mainly planning to do sport and boulderin, but going to be picking up some trad skills this year, so anything goes really.
Last question is about, who to go with. Recommendations on going alone or going with a friend?
Thanks in advance!
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Depends how much WWOOFing you do
> Cost, I've got no idea how much to try and save,
Depends how much WWOOFing you do
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Of the places we went, Spain was probably cheapest, potentially followed by Germany. We did a loop through Spain/France/Italy/Switzerland/Germany basically, with a few small ones along the way, so I'm sure that if you went further east you would probably find cheaper han Spain.
Our favourite destination was probably Valle dell'Orco in Italy, but it is mainly trad. I could recommend dozens of others but without an idea of the grade range you're after it would be hard to be terribly useful.
Budget more than you expect for things like insurance etc, its not easy to find providers who cover the van for a full year out of the UK. Proper BMC insurance isn't cheap either, AAC a lot cheaper but be sure you're aware of the restrictions it carries in terms of cover (iirc medical cover is only for the first 8 weeks of any trip). We went AAC plus a generic backpackers policy.
I wouldn't do it along unless you are very confident at just cadging belays at the crag, happy to be frustrated by sometimes not being able to find people, and to be restricted to a subset of areas where people congregate. But then living with someone for 9 months isn't easy either, I was lucky enough to be able to do it with MrsAJM.
Of the places we went, Spain was probably cheapest, potentially followed by Germany. We did a loop through Spain/France/Italy/Switzerland/Germany basically, with a few small ones along the way, so I'm sure that if you went further east you would probably find cheaper han Spain.
Our favourite destination was probably Valle dell'Orco in Italy, but it is mainly trad. I could recommend dozens of others but without an idea of the grade range you're after it would be hard to be terribly useful.
Budget more than you expect for things like insurance etc, its not easy to find providers who cover the van for a full year out of the UK. Proper BMC insurance isn't cheap either, AAC a lot cheaper but be sure you're aware of the restrictions it carries in terms of cover (iirc medical cover is only for the first 8 weeks of any trip). We went AAC plus a generic backpackers policy.
I wouldn't do it along unless you are very confident at just cadging belays at the crag, happy to be frustrated by sometimes not being able to find people, and to be restricted to a subset of areas where people congregate. But then living with someone for 9 months isn't easy either, I was lucky enough to be able to do it with MrsAJM.
In reply to Jon Thorne: hey Jon, I'm doing this now, but I work as I go because my job allows me too, I have been in Germany a lot which is a amazing place and the frankenjura is the most underrated place for sport climbing, the food is quality and cheap and the beer is on another level. I'm now in Munich working and climbing and the local crags are amazing here too hard but good fun. Austria is also good for being not so expensive, spain and Portugal are the obvious ones. Too many too list really, as for money I'm a bit frugal I live very cheap and try to use as many things again as possible to save on living costs, I don't eat out much and crap like that. If you have someone to go with then that would be cool but in a van your going to need some space and unless you have known them for ages and get on really well after a while you may want to knock them out. It's the reality. But saying that going alone also has problems, if you don't find anyone your going to be in the crap and you will get a heap of bouldering done. The money is a hard one to say that's dependant on so many factors. If I can help with anything else just ask, hope some of that un punctuated rubbish helps. Ben
In reply to Jon Thorne:
me and my girlfriend are going round urope for 6 months in winter for some trad and sport i have just bought the van transit mk5 2.5di banana engine this is the only van you want these will go forever and are so easy to work on. now its in pieces giving it a super service engine and gear box out and complete strip down and rebuild i need to no it will last.cant wait to get out of this country for a wile
me and my girlfriend are going round urope for 6 months in winter for some trad and sport i have just bought the van transit mk5 2.5di banana engine this is the only van you want these will go forever and are so easy to work on. now its in pieces giving it a super service engine and gear box out and complete strip down and rebuild i need to no it will last.cant wait to get out of this country for a wile
In reply to Jon Thorne: We did it 30 plus years ago but mainly lived in Tent .we started of in Morroco and then into Europe .go for it ..
In reply to Jon Thorne:
I spent a year. My itinerary was:
Summer: Dolomites, swiss alps, chamonix
Autumn: Verdon, Catalonia (mainly terradets and siurana)
Winter: Sperlonga, Sicily, Finale
Spring: Verdon, Tarn, Cornwall, Wales South then North.
Summer: Scotland NW.
I found that a month in one place was nice for having time to project stuff, feel like I had plenty of time to relax and not feel rushed.
I think I spent about 600-700 euros a month but I was making no effort to live cheap, when I bought food, I bought what I liked (within reason) and I was solo for a lot of the time so fuel was all my expense. I was actually buying wood, tools, etc. to finish the conversion at various DIY stores across France, Spain and Italy, doing things like making nice drawers to replace plastic boxes and so on. Often had a day or two parked up in a nice isolated forest just sawing, drilling and screwing.
Also, just now the Euro is very cheap, so your pounds will go about 20% further than mine did.
Assuming you don't stay at campsites then your budget breaks down pretty much like this:
Fuel - work out your mpg and work out how far you plan driving and come up with a sum.
Food - buying in big supermarkets will right now be similar to UK cost (though expect to pay more for luxury foods) because Euro is strong. So work out how much your food is when in the UK and that's that worked out.
Gas - Hopefully you have a cooker that runs on a big (4kg or bigger) gas canister. This means you will only get shafted a few times. Every time you buy a new cylinder, you will be buying a new adapter for about 20-30 euros and paying a new deposit on a cylinder which you will probably never get back. Budget about 60-80 euros per gas refill therefore. I went through 3 in a year but I don't cook as much as most and don't do tea and coffee at all. (always buy propane ofc, never butane or a mix).
Lift pass - if you go to Cham or other alpine places where you need a lift pass, its a big whack of money. Add it in if you want to go to one of these places.
Other costs - If you want to do things on the cheap, there is very little else you really need consider. You can probably add in some money for novelty hats and sunglasses or maybe tourist attractions in big cities if you are that way inclined. I'd probably say, have 500 euros set aside for repairs to the van if something does go wrong (combine talking foreign with being a tourist and any repair bill will be well over the odds).
I never had any problems with parking my camper up somewhere and just sleeping there. Obviously you don't take the mick by parking 100 yards down the road from a camp site or right outside somebodies house. In a lot of popular climbing areas, there are specific layby/informal carpark areas where there are several/lots of people.
The only place I paid for camping was a few nights in Wales because Wales and England are the only countries in Europe (besides a few specific bits of Switzerland) where there are signs everywhere saying "no overnight, etc. etc." and finding a quiet area without angry signage can be tricky.
Partners:
Some places I'd never really want to turn up and try and find partners. E.g. The dolomites; it is possible to find a partner there but combine long commiting routes on trad with a very dispersed set of climbing locations and it's clear that you don't really want to. Some places like Siurana it's quite easy to find partners and you can often watch them belay other people first if you are a bit suspicious of their experience/safety.
To catagorise the places I went by whether I would go looking for a partner:
NO - Dolomites, swiss alps, Cornwall, Scotland NW.
Tricky - Chamonix, Finale, Sperlonga, Wales.
Fairly feasible - Verdon, Catalonia, Sicily, Tarn
I had arranged with various people to meet them at different places during the year, so sometimes I had an arranged partner, sometimes I was on my own.
If you plan on going with someone for the whole year, be honest about how you feel about that person!! I have some friends I think I would get on fine with for a year but others that, after a couple weeks, I am just starting to get wound up by. You are going to be living in this persons pocket; climbing with them, cooking with them, sleeping with them, chilling with them - same van, same occupation all the time. You really need to get along well if you are going to last the year.
When you are alone, you will meet a lot more other people. Not only do you approach people more readily but you are more readily approachable because you are not in the process of talking on climbing with someone already.
If you have not already looked into insurance. Get ready for a total pain in the bum. Your van is self-converted (btw, if you didn't already, take photos and apply to the DVLA to reclassify it as a "motor caravan") and you area looking for 12 months European cover and you will probably want 15k miles in terms of usage. Almost every company will not touch you for one of the below reasons:
-Your camper wasn't made by a reputable conversion company.
-They have no 12 month EU cover policies.
-Their idea of a "campervan" is something that a person uses rarely for holidays, so their mileage cap is 10k or 12k miles at the very most.
I spent a year. My itinerary was:
Summer: Dolomites, swiss alps, chamonix
Autumn: Verdon, Catalonia (mainly terradets and siurana)
Winter: Sperlonga, Sicily, Finale
Spring: Verdon, Tarn, Cornwall, Wales South then North.
Summer: Scotland NW.
I found that a month in one place was nice for having time to project stuff, feel like I had plenty of time to relax and not feel rushed.
I think I spent about 600-700 euros a month but I was making no effort to live cheap, when I bought food, I bought what I liked (within reason) and I was solo for a lot of the time so fuel was all my expense. I was actually buying wood, tools, etc. to finish the conversion at various DIY stores across France, Spain and Italy, doing things like making nice drawers to replace plastic boxes and so on. Often had a day or two parked up in a nice isolated forest just sawing, drilling and screwing.
Also, just now the Euro is very cheap, so your pounds will go about 20% further than mine did.
Assuming you don't stay at campsites then your budget breaks down pretty much like this:
Fuel - work out your mpg and work out how far you plan driving and come up with a sum.
Food - buying in big supermarkets will right now be similar to UK cost (though expect to pay more for luxury foods) because Euro is strong. So work out how much your food is when in the UK and that's that worked out.
Gas - Hopefully you have a cooker that runs on a big (4kg or bigger) gas canister. This means you will only get shafted a few times. Every time you buy a new cylinder, you will be buying a new adapter for about 20-30 euros and paying a new deposit on a cylinder which you will probably never get back. Budget about 60-80 euros per gas refill therefore. I went through 3 in a year but I don't cook as much as most and don't do tea and coffee at all. (always buy propane ofc, never butane or a mix).
Lift pass - if you go to Cham or other alpine places where you need a lift pass, its a big whack of money. Add it in if you want to go to one of these places.
Other costs - If you want to do things on the cheap, there is very little else you really need consider. You can probably add in some money for novelty hats and sunglasses or maybe tourist attractions in big cities if you are that way inclined. I'd probably say, have 500 euros set aside for repairs to the van if something does go wrong (combine talking foreign with being a tourist and any repair bill will be well over the odds).
I never had any problems with parking my camper up somewhere and just sleeping there. Obviously you don't take the mick by parking 100 yards down the road from a camp site or right outside somebodies house. In a lot of popular climbing areas, there are specific layby/informal carpark areas where there are several/lots of people.
The only place I paid for camping was a few nights in Wales because Wales and England are the only countries in Europe (besides a few specific bits of Switzerland) where there are signs everywhere saying "no overnight, etc. etc." and finding a quiet area without angry signage can be tricky.
Partners:
Some places I'd never really want to turn up and try and find partners. E.g. The dolomites; it is possible to find a partner there but combine long commiting routes on trad with a very dispersed set of climbing locations and it's clear that you don't really want to. Some places like Siurana it's quite easy to find partners and you can often watch them belay other people first if you are a bit suspicious of their experience/safety.
To catagorise the places I went by whether I would go looking for a partner:
NO - Dolomites, swiss alps, Cornwall, Scotland NW.
Tricky - Chamonix, Finale, Sperlonga, Wales.
Fairly feasible - Verdon, Catalonia, Sicily, Tarn
I had arranged with various people to meet them at different places during the year, so sometimes I had an arranged partner, sometimes I was on my own.
If you plan on going with someone for the whole year, be honest about how you feel about that person!! I have some friends I think I would get on fine with for a year but others that, after a couple weeks, I am just starting to get wound up by. You are going to be living in this persons pocket; climbing with them, cooking with them, sleeping with them, chilling with them - same van, same occupation all the time. You really need to get along well if you are going to last the year.
When you are alone, you will meet a lot more other people. Not only do you approach people more readily but you are more readily approachable because you are not in the process of talking on climbing with someone already.
If you have not already looked into insurance. Get ready for a total pain in the bum. Your van is self-converted (btw, if you didn't already, take photos and apply to the DVLA to reclassify it as a "motor caravan") and you area looking for 12 months European cover and you will probably want 15k miles in terms of usage. Almost every company will not touch you for one of the below reasons:
-Your camper wasn't made by a reputable conversion company.
-They have no 12 month EU cover policies.
-Their idea of a "campervan" is something that a person uses rarely for holidays, so their mileage cap is 10k or 12k miles at the very most.
3
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Thanks everyone for giving me loads of information, it's been really useful.
I've got a friend who wants to come who I've been away with before(only for a week though), and who I've been climbing with for a good while.
Lee - the WWOOF thing sounds awesome, hadn't even heard of it before, really worth knowing about though!
AJM - thanks for all the location suggestions, I'm currently climbing somewhere around 6c-7a, but hoping to push that up into mid 7s by the time I go. I had a feeling from the info I've been able to find that spain and further east are good in terms of cost, but always good to hear it from someone who's been out there. Also insurance is a good point, I've got the van reclassified now, so it's legally a "motor caravan" which makes insurance with the right company super cheap, but it does limit my options, I'll have to talk to the company I'm with, see what they can do for me from that point of view!
Ben - That's really useful, in theory I should be able to do my job as I go as well, just not sure about the logistics of it. I'm a web developer, so I could work from anywhere with internet, not sure if your work is in a similar sort of thing, would be awesome to talk to you about that side of things more if it is.
Hands solo - haha I've got a 53 plate mid roof MWB transit If you want any pointers on the conversion side of it, especially if you're going to reclassify, let me know, info can be a little tricky to find, and some of it isn't exactly true, rules can be bent etc. Heres a link to my album of photos from the conversion https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153042131454116.1073741829.6697...
Victor - I've heard and seen some amazing stuff from morocco (all trad, but I can deal with that), is there an easy way to get a vehicle from europe over there? I'd guess a ferry or something.
Thanks everyone for giving me loads of information, it's been really useful.
I've got a friend who wants to come who I've been away with before(only for a week though), and who I've been climbing with for a good while.
Lee - the WWOOF thing sounds awesome, hadn't even heard of it before, really worth knowing about though!
AJM - thanks for all the location suggestions, I'm currently climbing somewhere around 6c-7a, but hoping to push that up into mid 7s by the time I go. I had a feeling from the info I've been able to find that spain and further east are good in terms of cost, but always good to hear it from someone who's been out there. Also insurance is a good point, I've got the van reclassified now, so it's legally a "motor caravan" which makes insurance with the right company super cheap, but it does limit my options, I'll have to talk to the company I'm with, see what they can do for me from that point of view!
Ben - That's really useful, in theory I should be able to do my job as I go as well, just not sure about the logistics of it. I'm a web developer, so I could work from anywhere with internet, not sure if your work is in a similar sort of thing, would be awesome to talk to you about that side of things more if it is.
Hands solo - haha I've got a 53 plate mid roof MWB transit If you want any pointers on the conversion side of it, especially if you're going to reclassify, let me know, info can be a little tricky to find, and some of it isn't exactly true, rules can be bent etc. Heres a link to my album of photos from the conversion https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153042131454116.1073741829.6697...
Victor - I've heard and seen some amazing stuff from morocco (all trad, but I can deal with that), is there an easy way to get a vehicle from europe over there? I'd guess a ferry or something.
In reply to Jon Thorne:
I guess you should be able to do it with internet being the problem you will have, im a arborist so where there are trees i get work so its not too hard for me. Im not huge on the insurance thing but you could take out two policies that last for 6 months and alternate them. Personally i just wing it its more to show the police when im stopped then anything. By the way you done a great job with your van mine is a skip compared to that. Nice work.
I guess you should be able to do it with internet being the problem you will have, im a arborist so where there are trees i get work so its not too hard for me. Im not huge on the insurance thing but you could take out two policies that last for 6 months and alternate them. Personally i just wing it its more to show the police when im stopped then anything. By the way you done a great job with your van mine is a skip compared to that. Nice work.
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Boffi and round tarn is good in that sort of 6c-7a region. Plenty to do around siurana and margalef and stuff. We really enjoyed chulilla although it's better when you hit about 7a-b? Gandia has a good few days at low 7s. If you can do it onsighting on big routes then there's riglos and verdon? Frankenjura starts to become a bit more rational by that grade, although it's stiff grades. So many places, so little time.
Boffi and round tarn is good in that sort of 6c-7a region. Plenty to do around siurana and margalef and stuff. We really enjoyed chulilla although it's better when you hit about 7a-b? Gandia has a good few days at low 7s. If you can do it onsighting on big routes then there's riglos and verdon? Frankenjura starts to become a bit more rational by that grade, although it's stiff grades. So many places, so little time.
In reply to AJM:
Getting down the adriatic coast - croatia, some areas in greece, then returning via ferry to southern italy will also be an interesting option with some less known, smaller, but reasonably cheap places for autumn.
Getting down the adriatic coast - croatia, some areas in greece, then returning via ferry to southern italy will also be an interesting option with some less known, smaller, but reasonably cheap places for autumn.
In reply to henwardian:
Thanks for all the information dude, really helped me get my head around working out the cost, the rough monthly cost is really helpful too.
Vans reclassified anyway, so that's a start will have a chat with my insurance company who I'm with now, see if they'll cover it for a year in Europe, see what they can do.
Thanks again!
Thanks for all the information dude, really helped me get my head around working out the cost, the rough monthly cost is really helpful too.
Vans reclassified anyway, so that's a start will have a chat with my insurance company who I'm with now, see if they'll cover it for a year in Europe, see what they can do.
Thanks again!
In reply to Jon Thorne:
I did this a few years ago, and spent 7 months in France, Italy and Spain. 2 of us in the van for 4 months, and just me for the other 3 months. I budgeted, and spent, about 10 euors a day on average. This included food, diesel, accomdation (which was free), van insurance, travel insurance. We did try to live cheap, but still ate well. My tips would be:
Stock up in cheap supermarkets (e.g. lidl) when you can.
Don't travel around too much (fuel will be the biggest cost). I.e. once you get somewhere try and stay there for a little while. Although this is weather dependant, you may prefer to chase the sun all the time, but it will cost you more fuel.
I did this a few years ago, and spent 7 months in France, Italy and Spain. 2 of us in the van for 4 months, and just me for the other 3 months. I budgeted, and spent, about 10 euors a day on average. This included food, diesel, accomdation (which was free), van insurance, travel insurance. We did try to live cheap, but still ate well. My tips would be:
Stock up in cheap supermarkets (e.g. lidl) when you can.
Don't travel around too much (fuel will be the biggest cost). I.e. once you get somewhere try and stay there for a little while. Although this is weather dependant, you may prefer to chase the sun all the time, but it will cost you more fuel.
In reply to Jon Thorne:
On the gas, you don't need to lose a deposit on the bottle or buy a new adapter every time. I have one on, one off and use camping gas which was pretty good for availability in France at any rate (can't think if I replaced it in other European countries). If you have two you're never over a barrel for needing a new one. Mind you, I'm on small bottles and think with the amount of cooking I was doing one would last four weeks (my lifestyle seemed to involve a lot of baguettes and not much cuisine).
On the gas, you don't need to lose a deposit on the bottle or buy a new adapter every time. I have one on, one off and use camping gas which was pretty good for availability in France at any rate (can't think if I replaced it in other European countries). If you have two you're never over a barrel for needing a new one. Mind you, I'm on small bottles and think with the amount of cooking I was doing one would last four weeks (my lifestyle seemed to involve a lot of baguettes and not much cuisine).
1
In reply to AlisonSmiles:
We got about 6 weeks from a big campinggaz cylinder which was usually €20-30 to refill. That's based on morning coffee and evening meals each day.
Available everywhere we went I think but not always necessarily easy to find.
We got about 6 weeks from a big campinggaz cylinder which was usually €20-30 to refill. That's based on morning coffee and evening meals each day.
Available everywhere we went I think but not always necessarily easy to find.
Post edited at 14:22
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Try Adrian Flux - they got me 365 days cover on a self-build van for next to nothing
Try Adrian Flux - they got me 365 days cover on a self-build van for next to nothing
In reply to Jon Thorne:
Do you have a gas heater in the van? If so it's definitely worth getting an LPG tank. I got a safefill bottle which was fine in France but has been a bit of a pain to fill in Spain, as they tend to want to come out and help you here (although safefill has the same security features as any permanent fixed tank, filling bottles is generally not allowed). When I go home and find a job, I think my first upgrade will be an underslung tank with a fixed fill point on the side of the van.
Do you have a gas heater in the van? If so it's definitely worth getting an LPG tank. I got a safefill bottle which was fine in France but has been a bit of a pain to fill in Spain, as they tend to want to come out and help you here (although safefill has the same security features as any permanent fixed tank, filling bottles is generally not allowed). When I go home and find a job, I think my first upgrade will be an underslung tank with a fixed fill point on the side of the van.
1
In reply to Ciro:
Definitely second the LPG recommendation - we have just switched to this after years of using Camping Gaz - can't believe how much cheaper it is!
Definitely second the LPG recommendation - we have just switched to this after years of using Camping Gaz - can't believe how much cheaper it is!
In reply to Jon Thorne:
We're boarding the ferry home from Calais tomorrow, after almost a year in our van. Take a look at www.rockaroundtheworld.co.uk for posts on most of the 100 or so crags we visited along the way. Rough itinerary was:
July & August - Sweden and Norway
September - UK
October - Ariege, France
November & December - Catalunya and Aragon (Riglos etc)
New Year - Antalya, Turkey (not in the van )
Jan to March - Costa Blanca and Valencia
April and May - Slovenia, Croatia & Italy (Oltre Finale)
A few tips. ..
Whilst a list of destinations is important (and the above is a pretty good start) stringing them into a continuous trip and matching this to the seasons is the key to the most productive trip. There's a "Climbing sweet spot" of dryish sunny weather in low to mid teens that you want to try to follow. We pretty much managed this with the above itinerary, but probably suffered unnecessary cold by staying too far north in Spain before Christmas. We probably only lost a dozen climbing days all year due to weather.
I'd echo the comment about ideally having a partner. There are a bunch of crags "on the circuit" where you'll easily find a ready made community of van-based road-tripping climbers (eg. working North to South in Spain: Riglos, Rodellar, Terradets, Siurana, Margalef, Montanejos, Chulilla, Calpe, and El Chorro) BUT there's so much more to discover off the beaten track.
Even if you only plan an occasional night in a campsite for a shower, it's worth getting an ACSI card. Costs about a fiver and you'll save that on your first night's stay.
Guidebooks can mount up to a significant cost. Obviously you can beg and borrow at the crag, but there's loads of free stuff available on the web. Camptocamp.org is good for France and the desnivel website is excellent for Spain. Two investments worth making are Donde Escalar covering 1000 crags in Spain including "get you started" topos for 60 of the best, and the Jingo Wobbly guide to crags in Europe. We never go anywhere without it!
Hope that helps. Have fun and feel free to PM me for any specific beta on any of the crags mentioned in the blog.
Cheers, Dom
We're boarding the ferry home from Calais tomorrow, after almost a year in our van. Take a look at www.rockaroundtheworld.co.uk for posts on most of the 100 or so crags we visited along the way. Rough itinerary was:
July & August - Sweden and Norway
September - UK
October - Ariege, France
November & December - Catalunya and Aragon (Riglos etc)
New Year - Antalya, Turkey (not in the van )
Jan to March - Costa Blanca and Valencia
April and May - Slovenia, Croatia & Italy (Oltre Finale)
A few tips. ..
Whilst a list of destinations is important (and the above is a pretty good start) stringing them into a continuous trip and matching this to the seasons is the key to the most productive trip. There's a "Climbing sweet spot" of dryish sunny weather in low to mid teens that you want to try to follow. We pretty much managed this with the above itinerary, but probably suffered unnecessary cold by staying too far north in Spain before Christmas. We probably only lost a dozen climbing days all year due to weather.
I'd echo the comment about ideally having a partner. There are a bunch of crags "on the circuit" where you'll easily find a ready made community of van-based road-tripping climbers (eg. working North to South in Spain: Riglos, Rodellar, Terradets, Siurana, Margalef, Montanejos, Chulilla, Calpe, and El Chorro) BUT there's so much more to discover off the beaten track.
Even if you only plan an occasional night in a campsite for a shower, it's worth getting an ACSI card. Costs about a fiver and you'll save that on your first night's stay.
Guidebooks can mount up to a significant cost. Obviously you can beg and borrow at the crag, but there's loads of free stuff available on the web. Camptocamp.org is good for France and the desnivel website is excellent for Spain. Two investments worth making are Donde Escalar covering 1000 crags in Spain including "get you started" topos for 60 of the best, and the Jingo Wobbly guide to crags in Europe. We never go anywhere without it!
Hope that helps. Have fun and feel free to PM me for any specific beta on any of the crags mentioned in the blog.
Cheers, Dom
1
In reply to dominic o:
and on the subject of "free stuff on the web" - while travelling might I recommend McDonalds WiFi ...
and on the subject of "free stuff on the web" - while travelling might I recommend McDonalds WiFi ...
1
In reply to dominic o:
Thanks for the suggestions, that's something I've been wondering about, the order to go to all these places in to make sure the weather is as good as possible. Really helpful info, thank you
Thanks for the suggestions, that's something I've been wondering about, the order to go to all these places in to make sure the weather is as good as possible. Really helpful info, thank you
In reply to dominic o:
Looks great to have - will be getting one!
Its 10 euros annual subscription by DD or 14 Euros one off for a year.
http://www.campingcard.co.uk/
> Even if you only plan an occasional night in a campsite for a shower, it's worth getting an ACSI card. Costs about a fiver and you'll save that on your first night's stay.
Looks great to have - will be getting one!
Its 10 euros annual subscription by DD or 14 Euros one off for a year.
http://www.campingcard.co.uk/
Post edited at 15:51
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