Towing a Smart car behind our Burstner Elegance

  • Thread starter Fun with cancer
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Hi guys. We are off travelling again. Spent 3 weeks in France in June/July and decided we needed transport from where we pitched up. We have bought a Smart car and a trailer to tow behind Bertie Burstner as I can’t walk far. We never decide where we are going and stop in France Passion places, aires or just find a site. Is this practical??
 
I have terminal cancer so we are working through my bucket list of places to visit ❤️?
 
If you are asking about the car and trailer , you have probably got a tow limit of 1600kg so as long as the total of car and trailer are within this you should be OK with your choice of MoHo you obviously have the suitable licence . :)
 
You might find some of the Aires a bit of a tight squeeze but if you have your own car with you you could possibly find some of the less popular Aires, then drive from them,
But in your situation I would have thought taking the car with you is the best thing to do
 
You might find some of the Aires a bit of a tight squeeze but if you have your own car with you you could possibly find some of the less popular Aires, then drive from them,

Just do what the British guy did at Watten when we stayed there ( 1 night ) earlier this year on the way back to Calais for the ferry.

Motorhome in one space, trailer in the next space and the Smart car in the next space.

He already been there for 4 days and was planning on another at least 3 days there.

He didn`t see what the problem was and his attitude was ............................... fcuk em, i got here first.

BTW.

Watten has been enlarged and now has 12 spaces instead of the 5 it used to have
 
If you are asking about the car and trailer , you have probably got a tow limit of 1600kg so as long as the total of car and trailer are within this you should be OK with your choice of MoHo you obviously have the suitable licence . :)
Yes I do.
 
We met somebody who towed a car. They would stop a little away from the aire and then use the car to drive to the aire to check how much space. Also to check the route in. It just means that you have to give yourself a bit more time to find an aire that is free enough and with enough space. But bear in mind that you can arrive at an aire at 4 o’clock and it is empty, but by 10 o’clock it will be full due to lots of late arrivals.
Google satellite view will be quite helpful too. We have used a lot of France passions and I would say that they’re 50/50 for a car and a motorhome. But if you have basic French you could always ring them first.
Enjoy your trips and good on you.
 
Despite the ambiguity over legality issues, you can see why so many
car tuggers go for the 'A' Frame option. Arrive at tight overnight aire spot?
Just detach and leave the car somewhere nearby, pop the 'A' in the
garage or car, back to the aire.

Aire today gone tomorrow.
 
Despite the ambiguity over legality issues, you can see why so many
car tuggers go for the 'A' Frame option. Arrive at tight overnight aire spot?
Just detach and leave the car somewhere nearby, pop the 'A' in the
garage or car, back to the aire.

Aire today gone tomorrow.
As we intend to go to Spain not an option
 
Even with an A frame aires in France can be a problem, we were told to remove our car from the aire at Le Tréport even though it was attached, I told the man collecting the money it was classed as a trailer, he said "move your trailer, they are not allowed either".
A few years ago at St-Hilaire-de-Riez a frenchman was told he had 30 minutes to remove his motorhome, car and trailer or he would be fined, I have only seen a Frenchman leave an aire that quick when he has overslept and it was getting close to the time they come round to collect the money.
 
Even with an A frame aires in France can be a problem, we were told to remove our car from the aire at Le Tréport even though it was attached, I told the man collecting the money it was classed as a trailer, he said "move your trailer, they are not allowed either".
A few years ago at St-Hilaire-de-Riez a frenchman was told he had 30 minutes to remove his motorhome, car and trailer or he would be fined, I have only seen a Frenchman leave an aire that quick when he has overslept and it was getting close to the time they come round to collect the money.
Doesn’t sound good ?
 
Doesn’t sound good ?
I wouldn't worry, these instances are few and far between, it depends on the aire, on the coast they are strict because they are popular, 20 miles inland you can do anything more or less, just go for it, I have towed with an A frame in Europe for over 30yrs, I stopped a few years ago because of the hassle (which I never had), having a car with you is worth it if you need it for mobility
 
There is always someone with a scare story to share. What you don't tend to get is for each one of those folk, the hundreds of people who went away, had no problems, had a great time and came home and posting on a forum "stayed at an aire/site/whatever and no one hassled me"
 
Obviously an A Frame sounds much better and simpler but my husband did some research and discovered A frames aren’t legal in France and Spain. Being very law abiding citizens ? we decided on a trailer. Not been on a trip yet but will report back. Just love this site. Thank you everyone. My husband always the joker, and this isn’t being insensitive, said he could always use the trailer to tow my coffin to the cemetery behind the Burstner. I laughed my head off. I love Bertie Burstner and given terminal cancer you have enjoy and look on the bright side of life. I would actually love that Lol ❤️?
 
Sorry if I got this wrong but if you come to Spain my son said you have a very good chance now of getting a Denuncia That can cost you up to 150 euros fine they are not legal here
 
Yes I realise A frames are not legal in Spain. Thank you.
 
I towed a Fiesta 1.6 diesel behind our Burstner Elegance for many years, pulled it no problems at all. The Elegance was a manual which I think is better suited to towing, now have a Carthago Auto but don’t tow the car anymore.
 
How do you find the Carthago? Our Elegance is auto or can drive manually.
 

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