Having a Holiday in Europe with a Rental Westy?

[tikibus]

This Question is towards our European Friends who frequent the Samba to those who may want to travel "over the pond" to enjoy what Europe has to offer.

Is there a Rental Service(s) in Europe for those who wish to travel in what their used to or wish to explore in a Familiar mode of Transport?

Just asking. Curious.


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Happy Trails!
Mark
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Founding member of the Empire State VW Camping Club.
http://www.empirevwcamping.org/
1984 Westy - Tiki
1997 Honda Civic -The Green Hornet
1971 Volvo P-1800E- needs TLC

[oorwullie]

yes, there are an increasing number of rent a retro camper companies.

i'd say that bringing one with you and selling it after the trip would be a better idea unless you only wanted to travel for a few days .

[Crughy]

I am not exactly sure of what you mean.

Westies as we know them are a thing of the past in Europe. There are a huge number of class C available from many brands (makers and finishers).
Search of RV Europe (or a country) in Europe, you will find many links.
I did look at it last year. Comparing car rental+ hotel. a small RV is great, pricewise.
Most of the RV/camper/motorhomes as they are called, are way smaller than what you can find in the states. Keep it small. 99% of rentals are Class C. 2 or 4 people to sleep. (4 with the added cabin on top of the driving cab). They all have shower etc.
I think you can find a T4 or T5 to rent as well. I am not sure it will be any cheaper. I would go with a class C.

It's the best way to travel in Europe I think (if you are familiar with the driving over there). Bring a GPS, that's the best way to deal with the complexity of highways, indications, etc.

If you are looking specifically for a T3, I have no idea. There was such a wide offer of small RV like our westies that T3 westfalias don't have such a following as in the US. True, they were appreciated, and kind of being among the first ones (in the Bus line) but with tens of makers.
Rental companies keep RV for 1 yr or 2 I would think.

JP

[MarkWard]

We have done two camping vacations in europe. We rented a VW caravan in Munich for our first trip. We spent most our time in Switz, so the next time we rented outside Zurich. Here is the german company. http://www.motorhomebookers.com/germany/drm/vehicles.htm
Here is the swiss company, http://www.mobycampers.ch/cms/front_content.php?changelang=4&idcat=2


We had good experiences with both companies.
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[Dogpilot]

Funny you should mention a GPS. I brought one on my last drive through Wales. Turned out to be a lifesaver, especially with the resurgence of the Welch language, or 'Whalish,' as my boys referred to it. It seems that a lot of roads in Europe do not make sense to our railroad grid engineering minds from North America. In fact it seemed that to get to the next town you had to drive up to Scotland, make a left and come back. That coupled with my wife's knack for picking picturesque little B&B's off the beaten (read: marked with legible street signs). I found Garmin's European libraries to be quite good.

The only issue with using a Westy in Europe is parking in Cities. By most European standards, the Vanagon is Huge. Parking my 88 Land Rover in Sicily was always a challenge. Luckily the Sicilians are not very critical of how or where you park. In places like Taormina, lovely town. Give it up, park outside and walk in. A lot of Southern Europe is like this, at least the places we didn't bomb into a lunar landscape during the war. They also do tend to be targets of thieves.

If I had to recommend a pleasant and inexpensive way to tour Europe in the Spring/Summer it would be to buy a touring bike (pedal) and take the train. Fuel prices are almost ludicrous in Europe, especially when you change the now nearly worthless dollar to Euros. If you take a bike, you can carry it on the train for a nominal fee. We would leave our bags at checked luggage on arrival, ride about to find a nice place to stay. Fetch the stuff when we found lodging. Bike camping in the Netherlands if really fun and they have the best bike trails in the world. Now if they could only fix the wind problem there it would be paradise.
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[scobax]

Here's a plug- Go to www.ideamerge.com .

(insert cheesy anouncer voice here)
This is a US company, and you will pay in US dollars, so the exchange rate will be working in your favor. IdeaMerge represents several RV rental companies in Europe to US customers, and passes on discounted rates that you wont get elsewhere. They have a full range of vehicles from the Eurovan up to the gigantic motorhomes.

You can also lease a car in Europe with them. This is way better than renting, if the duration is long enough.
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87 Syncro Westy w/ Suby 2.5
RIP: 2.1 WBX. You were a good dog 'ol feller

“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong, that's when adventure starts” -Yvon Chouinard

"It's not expensive, its priceless" -Unknown

[Crughy]

Well, if we are into plugging, I'll plug my friend's rental as well:

http://www.westhausmitewagen.com/
It's not in Europe, it's in Quebec (Montreal area to be exact)
Michel is a very nice guy to deal with, and a true bus lover.
They rent some buses, in excellent shapes.
They have 2 1975 for now, campers. They have a couple more that are being 100% renovated. Most of them are going with an engine conversion. Diesel, jetta I4, subaru, etc. for proper reliability/performance, etc. Easier to deal with when you rent them.

Quebec city is celebrating its 400th birthday of fundation. It's a very nice looking city, very european looking.
http://travel.latimes.com/articles/sns-trvmain1-wk3
http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/bienvenue-welcome-eng.cfm
The canadian dollar is not as bad compared to the Euro for US shoppers.

Quebec city is really well located, the Charlevoix region is really awesome. Great place for a westy.

JP

[MarkWard]

Parking is a problem in cities. Plus frei parking is not free. Translates vacancy. There are also places where you park for an hour free, and put a 24 hour placard in the windshield indicating the time you parked. Its and honor system. They also have parking lots where you park, and get a ticket as you walk out. You get the ticket repunched on the way out and pay. We try to find train stations to park in bigger cities and use mass transit or our feet. We are more into hiking, so we are more off the beaten path.

We enjoy camping and shopping for food in the little towns. The camper even though fuel is expensive is not unreasonable when you consider you have transportation, lodging and food. Last trip we drove to Monaco for the formula one race, back through Italy, up to Zermat and Lauderbruin. Maybe 2300 kilometers in 3 weeks. The 5 cylinder turbo diesel was very economical to run.
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[TRADESIZE]

[dragonfire709]

wot he said! ^^^^^^^^^^^

a couple of guys mentioned that its not as vehicle friendly in the cities over here. That is certainly true, but I wouldnt worry too much about that. If you can buy a westy in Germany and import it to the UK you would make a good profit and have a great holiday at the same time!
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My name is Roy

[usedcarr]

I am in Spain right now, the dollar is getting hammered (and so am I!). This trip cost us way more than we had planned. Just something to be aware of.

I would second the idea of parking outside and catching a train into the heart of the city. The signage is way different and the streets are either six lane boulevards or tiny little one way streets. A car can be more of a hassle than it is worth at times.

I don't know what you are looking for, but souther Spain and Portugal are really bitchen place to hang out and surf and such. Great beaches down there. Cheaper than a lot of Europe as well.

I have not seen one Westy van here in Barcelona, but have seen a few regular vans, it made me happy.
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10'0" Lance Carson
6'3" Hamisch Fish
Schwinn Beach Cruiser
Sold the westy, never even drove it

[oorwullie]

for anyone interested in renting a bay window bus in switzerland check this out:

http://www.bus-vermietung.ch/

'bout US $1000 per week.

there are some rental vangons as well in couple of places. prices about the same.

buying a €uro priced german westie with $$$$'s is not going to get any cheaper either..

[dr. no]

We rented a "California" (TDI-EV Westy) from Moby in Solothurn (not that far from Zurich, except after 12 hours of flying) several years ago. All in all it was a great experience, European camping is a totally different animal than what we usually do. The campgrounds are uber-civilized, no 80-ft rigs with generators running all night, coffee bars at the desk, etc. A yuppie fantasy of KOA. (But no wilderness...)

BUT, if you're going for more than 2-3 weeks it would likely be cost-effective to buy, and either sell back or ship back (TDI tri-star, oooh....drool) something. As you can see from the rental pages, most are renting much newer models.

Also, no matter how you clean the vehicle it will not be clean enough for the Swiss and you will end up paying the cleaning fee
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Scott
http://lungehphoto.com

'83.5 Westy s/p 1.6td JX and 4sp DK transplant--wonderful!
'86 MB 300GD
'06 MB Sprinter
'17 BMW X1
'89 Isuzu Trooper


PAST VWs:
'82 NA diesel Vanagon
'86 7-passenger Vanagon
'77 Bay
'71 Bay
'74 Things (2)
'69 Karmann Ghia (the only one I miss--in nice weather, anyway...)
'91 Fox

[oorwullie]

[MarkWard]

My wife and I are very neat and treated the rentals as our own, Kasper at Moby accepted our cleaning job. No charge for cleaning, So it can be done.
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[tikibus]

Had a funny feeling it would be Pricey, but worth it.

Reason for the original question was flipping thru TV programs and came across a PBS show on Ireland, Globe Trekker, I believe. Wife got nostalgic since being there as a kid.

I got Thirsty for a Guiness or a good single malt Wiskey.

wheels started spinning about - could it be done?

Thanks guys and gals!
_________________
Happy Trails!
Mark
______________
Founding member of the Empire State VW Camping Club.
http://www.empirevwcamping.org/
1984 Westy - Tiki
1997 Honda Civic -The Green Hornet
1971 Volvo P-1800E- needs TLC

[EXITSTRATEGY]

rent a westy in europe? sweet!
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I'm living down by the river and i don't even have my 'van'...

[noganav]

I just did this very thing in Spain, and it was fantastic! If you can do it, you should. There's no better way to travel Europe than in a Westy.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=309407

[cris torlasco]

Mark;

Have you inquired about shipping your camper? Depending on the length of your stay in Europe, it might not be a bad option...Anyone knows how much it costs to ship to Europe?

Regards,
Cris

[Boegrrl]

Just found this thread. Funny just arrived in Europe and was laughing with my crew "yes I tell my german friends I have a vanagon & they look at me like I am crazy - as in you cant afford anything NEWER?!" Eurovans and versions of Eurovans are everywhere.
Alas, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

DP is once again right, train train train. But if you have TONS of worthless us currency burning a hole in your pocket, why not?

Requirements: GPS, bicycle and good locks on the van. I could write much on the food.
IMPORTANT: a copy of Geert Meks "In Europe". A Dutch journalist that took a borrowed vanagon and wrote one of the most definitive histories of Europe 1899-1999 ever. City by city he drove through europe, reading journals period newspapers and interviewing witnesses.

A vanagon must have been a very nice nest to come home to after some of the days he must have had.
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'87 Wolfsburg Weekender