Is there a large presence in Europe of RV’s (recreational vehicle)?

21 comments

1. Depends on the country. The Netherlands are probably the country most known for its camper vans.

   In Russia, in comparison, practically no one owns an RV. One my acquaintance loves camping, but he just carries a large tent in the trunk of its SUV.

2. Not many RVs at all, caravan (trailer homes?) were popular in the 60s to 80s but not anymore. We also don’t have many pickup trucks, if you need a work vehicle, you use a van. Our cities are more urban than many American cities, so small cars are more sensible. Many choose to leave the car at home and commute with public transport, which also means air travel (with public transport on each end) is very convenient and hotels are affordable. As a result we don’t have a culture of driving days on end to get to somewhere as a vacation. Sure some folk love a road trip, but it’s not very popular, these people might convert a van into an RV since they are so rare. If you want to explore somewhere more remote most European campsites have great facilities so you only need to bring a tent and air bed. Your water, showers and power is provided and you can eat at the restaurant if you don’t want to cook and then use the provided washing basin.

3. Dutch, Germans, Belgians and some Fr*nch boomers love their camper vans. They travel to the Dutch and French coasts all the med up to Croatia.

   People in the South don’t earn enough and prefer to spend their hard earned money in summer houses instead – at least those who can afford that luxury

4. It’s typical to see families that go to camping areas in summer with their caravan, although most of the times the caravan doesn’t move ever from the camping area and the family goes when they feel like it. So, at the end, the use the caravan gets is more like a bungalow that can be moved if necessary.

   These places (specially among coastal areas) tend to receive a lot of visitors from France and the Netherlands mostly, but also from other countries of Western Europe.

5. As the other guy said, dutch people are most known for this.

   We have an RV that sees plenty of use for long weekends to walk with the dogs for my sister, a concert/event far away where we sleep over instead of turning back the same night, etc. It’s basically a family RV that gets passed around a lot.

   Parents are taking it for a trip around the Balkans in a few weeks.

   Renting one and going on holiday with it is also seen as an alternative for taking a plane to a hotel somewhere or driving to a hotel.(very common in Belgium to just drive to the South of France or North of Spain or something in a day)

   It’s always “an alternative” though and not the main thing. I think I’ve done 4 in my life(I’m 31). Traveling Italy with it and visiting Rome and Venice and such certainly was a lot of fun.

   If you’re willing to pick a cheap hotel and with flights so cheap in Europe using an RV would just be way more expensive as well and of course it’s not really an option in winter.

6. Agreed on Netherlands being the camper van paradise. They swarm to southern Europe as early as April. Lately (since Covid) camper vans are getting more popular in Spain. Less, but still noticeable, German and Swiss.

   And of course, the old and new school hippie types have them ascwell

7. Campers and caravans are very common but virtually all of them are small, maybe 1.5 times the length of a mid size car. Plus some camper vans here and there. Those huge RVs the size of a freight truck or bus don’t really exist here. They’d take up 3 spaces on your average campsite and that’s if you could even get it into position.

8. It’s common thing during the summer holiday. People have a trailer and go south to mainly France or Italy. RV’s are seen as well, although a bit less common I would say. Here in The Netherlands I see a lot of Germans with those as well.

   However, I think it’s just a small group of people who have either of those. Nowadays the majority like other types of accommodations during their holiday.

9. There’s quite a few of them. But there’s not really a culture of the road trip like there is in America, however there is quite a big camping culture, so most people who have them get them out once a year to go on holiday to a camping ground and that’s pretty much it. But you do see quite a few of them.

   you also see a lot of Dutch RVs going through France all summer heh ^^

10. Numbers of RVs and campervans are soaring since the pandemic here in Germany, and I assume in some neighboring countries, too.

    Generally the size of RVs is smaller than what I‘ve seen in the US; many RVs under 6,50 meters in length for being able to enter cities and smaller places in general. We see an increase in top-tier large land-yachts (they really advertise them so) built on the basis of a bus in the last few years, too.

11. Yes. Well at least somewhat, but they’re probably nothing like the ones you’re thinking about!

    Most range in size from a VW California to something like this https://campingferie.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IMG_3038-1200×900.jpg and almost all of them weigh less than 3.5 tonnes, vehicles heavier than that have speed restrictions and in some (most?) countries also need a different drivers license, so larger vehicles are less desirable for most people.

    Caravans are more popular than auto-campers though, size wise they are usually not much bigger either.

    Trucks (pickup trucks?) with caravans are very uncommon, probably because they not very popular vehicles in the first place, in the town/suburb where I live I’ve only seen 1 pickup truck and there’s maybe 1000-1500 homes.

12. Depends on what you define ‘large presence’. I’ve always seen RVs or Caravans or stuff like that when traveling to the Mountains in Romania. There are more people with their own tents, but I do see RVs.

13. It’s becoming more common for the holidays, but no one lives in them full time, except maybe people who travel for work (but there are cheaper alternatives). You can’t just park anywhere for the night, it’s only allowed on designated camping sites which cost money.

    Many people just rent an RV (Wohnwagen – “living waggon” in German) for the holidays instead of buying one, but nonetheless the number of them standing around is increasing.

14. Finland: Somewhat common, with RV’s having taken over from camping trailers which used to be the more common alternative. They’re generally smaller than the ones popular in the U.S., and many are actually built on a van’s baseplate. I’d say [this](https://original.accentuate.io/84625719487/1631101920284/knaus-sky-ti-platinum.jpg?v=0) is about average in size. One thing limiting the bigger one’s popularity is that you can drive a vehicle up to 3500 kg with a regular driver’s license but going beyond that you’ll need another class license that most people don’t have and there’s a bit of a threshold to cross going back to driving school – most just buy one they are allowed to drive with their current one. Having a trailer in addition is super rare.

    While Finland has an “everyman’s law” that allows for camping almost anywhere, it applies to using a tent, not an RV or camping trailer. Generators are not really a thing because of this: 99% of the nights spent in RV’s will be at official [camping grounds](https://www.visitlakeus.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/KokoAlueHyva-1024×683.jpg) that tend to have full services including electric posts, saunas, recycling bins, and wifi.

15. Caravans are popular amongst boomers here, they’re just trailers towed by your car. Motorhomes (small RVs) are rarer but seem more popular amongst Dutch and German tourists in particular, who come to Britain in huge numbers in the summer.

    I get a twisted pleasure out of camping with my small and very robust canvas tent in a storm and being woken up at 3am by all the motorhomes revving up their engines and driving off.

16. Not too rare in Germany. There’s no wild camping here, so if you camp you go to an official campsite, and about half of the space at any campsite is taken up with caravans and caravenettes – though a lot are on permanent plots, so used like a holiday home for regular weekend visits.

    Two (out of 14) of my direct neighbours here have large camper vans parked in their driveways. There’s also a small “van life” culture around surfing, water skiing, wind-surfing etc at the coast. I know a couple of out of the way spots where you will often find people sleeping in their vans.

17. Lol I always thought RV means Road Van. Never asked anyone, I just guessed.

    In Greece they’re very common to see, but almost always used by foreign tourists. Greeks usually have a caravan trailer parked in a paid campsite.

18. Caravans people… weird humans here in Sweden. Goes to the same camping place every years and meet mostly the same people and do the same thing, same thing different summer. So weird to me.

    It is like summer cottage light, you could do so much more then stay on the same place, but that is what people do.

    I have a friend who has summer cottage, spends 2 weeks there and then 1 week in the caravan on the same spot and then 1- 2 week of road trip and hotels.

19. In Spain its not common, you some from time to time, but its nothing like in the U.S. The reason behind this is because in Spain its illegal to camp anywhere (unless you go to a designated area), there are very very few RV camping sites and most of them are in the middle of nowhere or in some beaches.

20. I always thought it would be hilarious if top gear imported some American dually pickups (common for towing trailer homes here) and tried to drive them around Europe and pretend they’re practical.

    Google Ford F350 dually for reference.

    I bet they aren’t legal road width for Europe. And their diesel engines may not pass emissions.

21. There’s three group:

    Norwegians having their caravan permanently placed on a camping site in Norway or across the border in Sweden.

    Tourists traveling with caravans along the coast or up north. Most often Germans, but could be Norwegian, Dutch or other Europeans.

    A tiny, tiny group living in caravans as their main home. Maybe the same amount as people living in boats or homeless, give and take. More people are living year round in holiday homes.