Favourite places - why did you first go?

Birds! I always wanted to go to Eastern Austria, the flat area South East of Vienna but in those days there was no EasyJet etc. and no enlarged European bloc. Austria was outside it. Bought a caravan and off we went to a 3 week jaunt. Maximum I could take.

Hardly spoke a word of German, no bikes (we hired them) no shower in first caravan, changes of currency every time we left a country. Being told off by gun totting army for accidentally trespassing into territory between them and communist Hungary but surviving, even with binoculars on show. The Birds were worth the trip but the differences in culture stood out.

Magic. A real adventure. 

Must say AD that almost everywhere we went the first time was a great adventure. Like you we enjoyed Alsace, buying local wines and walking books etc. The Camargue and seeing those White Horses all in flight from the approaching thunderstorm.

The language, the hospitality of strangers, the food and drink. All I hoped for and more.

Good post.

My OH said the vultures were incredible in Spain. He was walking and camping up in the high mountains, wants to go back with me at some point. 
Meantime, we always enjoy the marine life around Cornwall. Seals are easy to spot, but I will never forget our first basking shark off the cliffs near Gunwalloe. We were at The Minack for an evening performance another time, pod of dolphins became the focus of attention for a short while. Otters on Dartmoor are another draw for us as well. 

One of our favourite places to go is South Devon. We went first many years ago staying in statics but have been back many times since with our own caravans. We are booked up for the Hillhead club site again for next summer can’t wait. We just love the areas Brixham is great and we enjoy Paington and Torquay and Dartmouth is just wonderful also Dartmoor is lovely. We just love the feel of the place and the beaches etc we have been many times over the last 30 years and never get bored of it. There are other places we love to visit a close second to Devon would be Berwick area where we visit a few times every year it’s handy as it’s only a 3 hour tow from home 

One Favourite place is hard to choose, but the one place I would go back to if only I could is North Island New Zealand. We borrowed an old car and toured quite cheaply for a month.  Why did we go?  Because one of our boys had worked his way around the country and told us how great it was. But alas NZ is completely out of reach for visitors from UK these days. 

We bought our first caravan, our first of 4 Eriba's, in 2003 and had a short run from Essex to Norfolk to get a feel for things. A couple of months later we set off on the non stop 600 mile trip to Bourg en Bresse in the south of France. A week later, south again this time 550 miles through Mont Blanc tunnel to near Florence. This was the year of 45c temperatures and people dying. This combined with the forest fires saw us pack up early and head north for the Lakes, where it rained, oh fabulous. 

We would like to return to Italy now there is just the two of us, out of high season and taking our time.

Our favourite site is in The Loire. It's in the C&MC book, Le Moulin Fort. We first visited in 2012 and have been back every year for between a week and a month except 2020 and 2021. For us it's the combination of a small site on a river with good size pitches, and a nice cycle ride in either direction along the river bank to a couple of lovely villages sets the scene.

Colin

We share location likes Francis😁 

And New Zealand is on our long haul list as well EuroT.

So many favourite places to take the caravan......

In Europe, we like: Mosel in Germany; the Mont Ventoux area of France; Provence (France);  Tuscany (Italy); 

In the UK:  Cornwall - the Lizard,  Roseland peninsular, Godrevy; West Wales; Cotswolds; Isle of Purbeck; The Hebrides/ Skye (usually not with the caravan); 

......missed out lots....

David