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WELCOME TO OUR SITE
Do you take your own car,with or without a caravan, on holiday? Then this website is for you. We will give you information about taking your own car on holiday in Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, The Faroe Islands, The Shetland Islands, Wales and eventually many more countries.
Our intention is to tell you something about the countries that you may visit and show you places that could be of interest. On each country page we aim to put a number of pictures and, if possible, information about the area in which they have been taken. Our intention is also to have, on each country page, a map and a weather forecast.
As well as this we are including a number of tips giving useful information about driving in England and abroad.
To further help you plan your holiday with your own car and to save you money the site has links and banners to various organizations and services that could be of use to you. Please click the links or banners to get more information.
If you have won the lottery and don't know who to give your winnings to the e-mail address is charmingjim@hotmail.com
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USEFUL LINKS AND BANNERS ON THIS SITE Worth looking at! Please scroll down the page to find the appropriate banner or link for the service you would like. Many of these links will save you money.
American Express has just launched a deal where if you join now and spend 2000 pounds in the first three months of cardmembership you will receive 22,000 points from them. American Express say that this is enough for two return flights to Geneva. Have a look on this website: referamex.co.uk/jamesf291 or click here.
Caravan owners: If you own a caravan or trailer tent have you considered joining the caravan club? The cost is very low and there are a wide range of benefits. Click on the banner lower down this page for more information.
Days out in England: Have you joined The National Trust yet? We have been members for over 30 years and find that the membership fee is excellent value since they have a wide range of properties all over the country offering a varied range of activities. Great for the family. Click on their banner and find out more.
Diesel Engined Cars: We have important information for owners of diesel engined cars please visit the "Your Car" page on this site or click here to see this.
Extended Car Warranty: If the manufacturers warranty on your car has expired you would be well advised to take out an extended warranty from Warrantywise. If you visit their site and use the code WWDIS13 you will be able to get a substantial discount on the normal rates. You can also phone them on 0800-001-4550
0800-001-4550. We had a warranty wise warranty on our last car and passed it on to the people who bought it from us. They actually had to make a claim after some months and were very glad that they had the extended warranty which paid out for them.
Ferry Operators: There is a simple to use search box where you can select your destination from the drop down menu and book your ferry trip.
Hotels: On this page you will find a search box for Hotels Combined. This site offers price comparisons for hotel rooms offered by different booking companies and enables you to obtain the lowest possible price. It is great to use and can really save you money. Try it out and see.
Web Hosting: We have built this site using the 1 and 1 website system. We are not experts and if you want your own website either for business or as a hobby then you could do the same. Click their banner to find out more.
DURING 2014 WE HAVE ALSO VISITED DUBAI, SINGAPORE, EASTERN AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, HAWAII, SAN FANCISCO AND NEW YORK. OF COURSE WE COULD NOT TAKE OUR OWN CAR TO ALL THESE DESTINATIONS. WE WILL BE PUTTING SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THESE PLACES ON THIS WEBSITE SOON.
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Not all of the countries shown above have information shown on them yet. This is being done as quickly as possible. Please re-visit this site frequently to see updated information. If you have information about interesting places in the U.K. and Europe, that you can drive to, which may be of use to other visitors please contact us.
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TAKE YOUR OWN CAR ON HOLIDAY TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD (SEE NORTHERN NORWAY PAGE)
Are you really adventurous? Try taking a trip to the Nordkapp (North Cape) at 71 degrees North. This photo was taken at the entrance to the undersea tunnel leading to Mageroy about 40 Km, before the North Cape. The Nordkapp is the furthest point North that you can drive to. It really is the end of the road. Right at the very top of Norway. The tunnel is 212 Metres under the sea and 6.87 Km. long. Fortunately it has not yet sprung a leak. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? | Up here life is very different. Almost no traffic, clean fresh air, 24 hour summer daylight (and if you are lucky sunlight) and, of course the scenery is fantastic. A complete antidote to the pressures of heavily populated and polluted cities. Here there is no law of trespass. You can wander wherever you want freely, except through the tunnel of course. Summer temperatures are generally 10-20C. START PLANNING YOUR ROAD TRIP NOW! |
YOUR MOTORING HOLIDAY STARTS HERE
My wife and I have been taking our own car on holiday for over thirty years now and enjoy the freedom of being able to travel wherever we want, finding interesting places both here in the U.K. and abroad. We have driven extensively in The British Isles and visited most Continental countries as well as The Faroe Islands and Iceland. A lot of our holiday time has been spent in that most beautiful country of Norway and this site devotes a number of pages to it. We hope that by sharing some of our knowledge with you we can give you some ideas and help to make your holiday a more interesting experience.
Please have a look at the information on this home page and then visit the getting started page (click here) From there you can have a look at the various country pages to see what ideas they may give you about where to go. Clicking on the various banners for accommodation, ferries and guides will also give you ideas.
You could find the happiest place in the world. You could discover The Nordkapp, You could find the largest sauna in the world How about finding out where Muckle Flugga is? Which town has 3,000 people and 100,000 reindeer?
The answers are all on these pages.
We hope that you find our site informative and helpful to you in planning a great holiday!
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HOTELS:
BY FAR THE EASIEST WAY TO SEARCH FOR A HOTEL IS TO USE THE BOX BELOW. THIS SITE DOES THE WORK OF MANY SITES AND IS A GREAT WAY TO FIND AND COMPARE PRICES FOR THE SAME ROOM IN MANY HOTELS. TRY IT AND SEE HOW GOOD IT IS! WE ALWAYS USE IT OURSELVES. IN MAY 2013 WE MANAGED TO GET A FIVE STAR HOTEL ON THE CONTINENT WITH A RACK RATE OF EU 260 PER NIGHT FOR ONLY EU 170 FOR TWO NIGHTS. A GREAT HOTEL AT A FANTASTIC PRICE. YOU COULD DO THE SAME. GO ON--CHECK IT OUT NOW!
 Using Hotels Combined saves a lot of time and probably money. because the site searches over 100 sites at once. This saves you a lot of work. Try it by using the search box on the right. | If you want to find a hotel at the best price then please use the search box above. It doesn't matter where in the world you are going the search covers almost everywhere. |
TIP: When staying in hotels always bring some herbal teabags with you. That way, if there is a kettle and you want a cup of tea but either have no milk or are unsure of the quality of the milk containers in the room, you can make a cup of tea because you don't need milk with herbal tea. Another good idea is always have a kitchen roll packed in your suitcase so that you can wash and dry cups. It is not unknown for hotel maids to just wipe cups with the cloth that they are using for cleaning the worktops etc. The cups may look clean but??? Always better to wash them out yourself.
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We know Scandinavia particularly well and will readily admit that our favourite foreign destination is Norway where we owned a holiday home for many happy years. This is why you will find a number of pages devoted to that most scenically attractive country. There are also pages devoted to many other countries we have visited. We hope to add to the number of countries shown as time goes on and to update the site periodically.
Inside of our former holiday home (hytte) at Lussevika in Lindesnes Kommune, the most southerly kommune in Norway. Static population is about 4,500 but in the summer this can rise to over 10,000 because of the number of holiday homes in the area. This area gets around 2,000 hours of sunshine every year. That is more than anywhere in England and not much less than the south of France. You can rent holiday homes like this, sleeping 8, for less than 1,000 pounds sterling per week in the high season and for less than 500 pounds in the low season. |
Lower terrasse and view from the back garden. There are many holiday homes like this for rent throughout Norway and Sweden. The view looks out over the fjord and islands towards Spangereid and on to Lindesnes fyr (lighthouse) which is the most southerly point in Norway. The latitude is 58 degrees north which is about the same as Aberdeen in Scotland. On some of the pages of this website there are banners for Novasol, Click on this to find holiday homes like this to rent. Novasol actually have some nice ones just up the road from this one in Lussevika (Sorlandet area) with similar views. |
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Tip. If you are driving abroad for the first time you may be apprehensive particularly as, in most countries, you will be driving on the right hand side of the road with road signs in an unfamiliar language and probably with a lot of traffic around the port of entry. The first time we drove on the continent we went to France and landed at Calais. That was a mistake. It is a busy place. If you can, have your first experience of driving on the right hand side of the road in somewhere relatively quiet like Denmark. You land at Esbjerg and follow the traffic out of the port area up to the traffic lights at the main road. Turn right onto the wide main road, which is usually fairly quiet, and keep going for a few miles. You are quickly out of the city limits and onto a quiet motorway which gives access to many different routes. You will soon get your bearings. As a bonus almost everyone in Denmark speaks perfect English
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HAS YOUR CAR MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY EXPIRED? IF SO THEN PLEASE CLICK BELOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT WARRANTYWISE. THEY TAILOR AN EXTENDED WARRANTY TO YOUR NEEDS AND INCLUDE CAR HIRE, HOTEL AND TRAVEL EXPENSES. WE BOUGHT A POLICY. NOW WE CAN GET YOU A DISCOUNT. JUST USE THE PROMOTIONAL CODE WWDIS13 AND YOU WILL SAVE A LOT OF MONEY. YOU CAN ALSO PHONE THEM ON 0800-001-45500800-001-4550.
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THE NATIONAL TRUST.
For day trips in the U.K. we would strongly reccommend visiting National Trust properties. We have been members of the National Trust for over 25 years and have found that the annual cost of membership is excellent value considering the number of properties that we visit each year. There are many properties im each region of the country and each offers something different. For information on the National Trust please click this link.
There are many fine National Trust properties like this to visit.This is Wimpole Hall Cambridgeshire near the junction of A603 and A1198 about 10 miles Southwest of Cambridge. As well as a fine house and lovely walks around the grounds there is a working farm. Great for the kids to have a wander around. . | This is the rear of Wimple Hall with its fine gardens. There is ample parking, free to NT members, cafeterias, gift shop, toilets etc. By joining The National Trust you are helping to preserve our heritage as well as being able to enjoy visiting some of the finest properties and grounds in the country. An annual subscription is great value. |
Please click on the link below for information about The National Trust. The annual membership is not expensive and, if you want to enjoy days out, it will save you a lot of money as well as doing something to preserve the nation's heritage.
FROM THIS WEBSITE THERE IS CURRENTLY A SPECIAL OFFER OF 1 MONTH'S FREE NATIONAL TRUST MEMBERSHIP WITH DIRECT DEBIT. PLEASE USE VOUCHER CODE NT15018MO THIS OFFER IS ONLY VALID UNTIL 31 MAY 2015
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Do you have a caravan? Then you ought to be in the Caravan Club. You will get discounts on new cars, favourable admission prices on many U.K. attractions plus free legal and technical advice services as well as saving on insurance and financial services. All this plus sites and expert services for travel abroad. The annual membership is very cheap for the benefits that you get. Have a look now!
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DRIVE TO CORNWALL, DEVON AND SOMERSET TO SEE OUR SOUTHWEST.
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Dunster ,Somerset. England. Near Minehead (A396 off A39) Torquay. Devon, England ( A3022 off A380)
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TIP: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW. IT IS NOT THAT DIFFICULT OR EXPENSIVE. PLEASE HAVE A LOOK.
All information that we put on this site is given in good faith and with information that we have to hand. We cannot, however, be held responsible for any inadvertent errors that we may make. We are not yet perfect.