Soldato
My favourite colour units Ive fitted, which Pete supplied
VW T5.1 4x4 Off-grid Camper Conversion - Eastern Europe Road Trip Content
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Blue Denim? We were close to choosing that but was swayed by the green in the end. Looks smart with that flooring.
Update time,
We had a trip planned with the rest of the family and some friends to a site with no electric so I decided to experiment with adding an extra solar panel to the system so I could cope with running an extra fridge and charging untold number of electronic devices etc. It will also be nice to have in winter camping where the light isn't always strong enough. I bought a cheapo flexible panel from Amazon that had some good reviews and wired it in parallel with the permanent panel.
I used a couple of bungees to attach it onto the awning roof and store it in the poptop bed when not in use. It came in handy as, being Wales, it was dull and rainy for several days. I don't think we will take it to Europe with us as I'll probably sleep in the roof if the weather is too hot.
We also took a boat with us for the trip, which had a few trailer issues and ended up on the back of a bigger trailer turning our journey into a 10 hour nightmare. Worth it once we got out for a sail though!
There are a few jobs on the list before we head off to Eastern Europe, one of which was adding a rear shower point to the system, quick job to run a couple of pipes up and mount the shower point where the solar control panel had been mounted. This will be relocated to the same place as the other controls so I can keep an eye on it without opening the rear doors, which makes much more sense in hindsight.
Another job was tackling the spare wheel issue. The van now sits on 235/65/17 tyres which gives a fair size increase over the standard tyres, of which the spare is still. I can't fit a 235/65 wheel inside the normal spare location but, in the UK, had been happy with a can of tyre weld and the undersized wheel as a "get me to safety" solution. This is just about suitable when you're close to civilisation and on tarmac but with the prospect of wilderness miles from the nearest town and rough roads tearing holes in sidewalls a better solution needed to be found. Enter the rear wheel carrier.
This mounts to the hinges and requires a few holes in the door with a bracket to give support. Hinges needed the holes enlarging before a couple of rivnuts were added
Holes drilled and bracket added internally before bolting it all back together. I then tried the spare to find the wiper was in the way
So, all apart again, wiper removed and hole filled with a washer and some sealant. I then ordered a spare alloy to match the current wheels which turned up with a slight issue;
So I'm currently awaiting its replacement, a 5th AT tyre is on order too, which puts my mind at rest slightly with regards punctures. Eventually I will probably mount an external water or LPG tank under the vehicle to free up some storage inside. That needs to wait until we return from holiday though!
Speaking of which, Eurotunnel is booked, leave approved and planning has started. Breakdown cover has been purchased and I'm just in the process of gathering and paying for the various vignettes required in Austria, Hungary and Romania.
We had a trip planned with the rest of the family and some friends to a site with no electric so I decided to experiment with adding an extra solar panel to the system so I could cope with running an extra fridge and charging untold number of electronic devices etc. It will also be nice to have in winter camping where the light isn't always strong enough. I bought a cheapo flexible panel from Amazon that had some good reviews and wired it in parallel with the permanent panel.
I used a couple of bungees to attach it onto the awning roof and store it in the poptop bed when not in use. It came in handy as, being Wales, it was dull and rainy for several days. I don't think we will take it to Europe with us as I'll probably sleep in the roof if the weather is too hot.
We also took a boat with us for the trip, which had a few trailer issues and ended up on the back of a bigger trailer turning our journey into a 10 hour nightmare. Worth it once we got out for a sail though!
There are a few jobs on the list before we head off to Eastern Europe, one of which was adding a rear shower point to the system, quick job to run a couple of pipes up and mount the shower point where the solar control panel had been mounted. This will be relocated to the same place as the other controls so I can keep an eye on it without opening the rear doors, which makes much more sense in hindsight.
Another job was tackling the spare wheel issue. The van now sits on 235/65/17 tyres which gives a fair size increase over the standard tyres, of which the spare is still. I can't fit a 235/65 wheel inside the normal spare location but, in the UK, had been happy with a can of tyre weld and the undersized wheel as a "get me to safety" solution. This is just about suitable when you're close to civilisation and on tarmac but with the prospect of wilderness miles from the nearest town and rough roads tearing holes in sidewalls a better solution needed to be found. Enter the rear wheel carrier.
This mounts to the hinges and requires a few holes in the door with a bracket to give support. Hinges needed the holes enlarging before a couple of rivnuts were added
Holes drilled and bracket added internally before bolting it all back together. I then tried the spare to find the wiper was in the way
So, all apart again, wiper removed and hole filled with a washer and some sealant. I then ordered a spare alloy to match the current wheels which turned up with a slight issue;
So I'm currently awaiting its replacement, a 5th AT tyre is on order too, which puts my mind at rest slightly with regards punctures. Eventually I will probably mount an external water or LPG tank under the vehicle to free up some storage inside. That needs to wait until we return from holiday though!
Speaking of which, Eurotunnel is booked, leave approved and planning has started. Breakdown cover has been purchased and I'm just in the process of gathering and paying for the various vignettes required in Austria, Hungary and Romania.
Have to say I've not been too impressed with tyre weld - atleast the ones that come stock with several brands of car - I've had several friends and family whose vehicles have no spare and just the included emergency foam and even with tiny punctures it hasn't been effective including brands like BMW and Mazda.
On the subject and not sure it is necessarily appropriate for your setup - a friend of mine has a swappable bonnet with mountings for a spare on the front if they go abroad - they don't use it in the UK like that (additional to having a spare underneath the van).
I'm tempted to still carry the undersized spare under the van and the full size spare on the rear, just gives another option should things go wrong, although I'm not sure how well the van would react to having a smaller wheel on one corner...
They tyreweld is a last-fix attempt but it's unlikely to work with anything more than a small puncture, I'm not a massive fan myself. I've also taken out EU breakdown cover.
Associate
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2019
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- 1
Update time,
Awesome project - loving the set up! Have you managed to attach the ARB awning straight onto the multirail? If so how!? and what fixings did you have to source?
It's attached using brackets onto the multirail and into the van roof, same brackets that would have been used for the Fiamma awning but without the part that attaches to the Fiamma;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiamma-F...621562&hash=item520bc52536:g:XMcAAOSwCx5bKh3i
This allows 4 bolts per bracket into the back of the ARB, into the long slots on the back of the awning, and gives the ability to position fore/aft as desired!
One of the reasons we decided to build a 4x4 VW Camper rather than retain the caravan or use a larger base vehicle was road trip type exploration adventures, trips with no real itinerary and the freedom to go as we pleased be it on road or exploring tracks in forests.
With several UK stays under our belts and most of the kinks ironed out, keeping this ethos in mind we set about planning a trip through some Eastern European countries. I'd previously spent 15 days in Romania in an old Range Rover using hotels so had some expectation, however, this trip would be purely camping and exploring some of the more remote areas and without the help of my native speaking Romanian friend who joined me last time.
We created a map of places we would like to visit and decided to plan the first few days of the journey but beyond that we would decide where to go the day before and often change route during the day. Camping spots were a mix of rough camping locations either spotted while driving or using various apps, campsites that we would turn up at hoping for the best and a couple of pre-booked locations.
I haven't uploaded many photos to this write-up but if you want more there are 100's over on my IG @eight_pistons
Day 1
After a rushed week beforehand where I fitted a new set of lift springs having been sent the wrong set a week previous and then needed a new windscreen after a stone flicked through it, We eventually finished work (well I did, OH is a teacher and had been finished for a week already) and drove down to Folkestone in the evening.
I had a few spots mapped for camping but decided to head straight for the tunnel and see if we could grab a train earlier. We ended up camped overnight on the Eurotunnel terminal car park which was secure, although a little noisy.
Day 2
We woke up early and grabbed a coffee from the terminal before driving down to the train, we had moved our booking forwards a few hours when checking in the night before which helped give us more time on the other side. After driving off the tunnel we headed for Wolfsburg stopping for fuel a couple of times and quite a bit of coffee!
Upon arrival we headed for a supermarket to stock up on some German sausages and beer then headed to our campsite next to the stadium and river, close to our destination of the VW museums for the following day where we parked opposite and next to a couple of stunning split-screen busses.
Day 3
We walked to the two VW museums and spent the day admiring vehicles both old and new, both museums are worth a visit although Autostadt is by far the more impressive and could easily take a whole day. Grabbed a lot of photos and sat in some of the new offerings from the VAG range, the exhibits were all in amazing condition and the park was entertaining.
With several UK stays under our belts and most of the kinks ironed out, keeping this ethos in mind we set about planning a trip through some Eastern European countries. I'd previously spent 15 days in Romania in an old Range Rover using hotels so had some expectation, however, this trip would be purely camping and exploring some of the more remote areas and without the help of my native speaking Romanian friend who joined me last time.
We created a map of places we would like to visit and decided to plan the first few days of the journey but beyond that we would decide where to go the day before and often change route during the day. Camping spots were a mix of rough camping locations either spotted while driving or using various apps, campsites that we would turn up at hoping for the best and a couple of pre-booked locations.
I haven't uploaded many photos to this write-up but if you want more there are 100's over on my IG @eight_pistons
Day 1
After a rushed week beforehand where I fitted a new set of lift springs having been sent the wrong set a week previous and then needed a new windscreen after a stone flicked through it, We eventually finished work (well I did, OH is a teacher and had been finished for a week already) and drove down to Folkestone in the evening.
I had a few spots mapped for camping but decided to head straight for the tunnel and see if we could grab a train earlier. We ended up camped overnight on the Eurotunnel terminal car park which was secure, although a little noisy.
Day 2
We woke up early and grabbed a coffee from the terminal before driving down to the train, we had moved our booking forwards a few hours when checking in the night before which helped give us more time on the other side. After driving off the tunnel we headed for Wolfsburg stopping for fuel a couple of times and quite a bit of coffee!
Upon arrival we headed for a supermarket to stock up on some German sausages and beer then headed to our campsite next to the stadium and river, close to our destination of the VW museums for the following day where we parked opposite and next to a couple of stunning split-screen busses.
Day 3
We walked to the two VW museums and spent the day admiring vehicles both old and new, both museums are worth a visit although Autostadt is by far the more impressive and could easily take a whole day. Grabbed a lot of photos and sat in some of the new offerings from the VAG range, the exhibits were all in amazing condition and the park was entertaining.
Day 4
We departed Germany, headed for a small campsite north of Brno in Czechia, we took a leisurely drive down only to find that our first choice of site was fully booked, we did manage to find a pitch on a second site but it was a tight squeeze as I hadn't realised the touring bikes were racing 3km away over the weekend.
There was a small bar onsite and Beer was cheap with a great atmosphere so we relaxed and enjoyed the night.
Day 5
In the morning we had a booking at Trigger Services in Brno to use a firing range with an instructor, we arrived and selected some weapons. Semi-Auto rifles, Desert Eagle handgun and a shotgun and spent an hour doing target practice.
In the afternoon we headed to Brno Technical Museum for a visit, interesting place with some great old computer hardware on display alongside vehicles and other items. We then aimed for Miscolk in Hungary and decided to camp in the hills in Slovakia, more of a pitstop for sleep and water although it was a stunning location and one I hope to re-visit.
Day 6
We finished our journey towards Miscolk, choosing to camp at an unusually clean site run by a Russian guy in the mountains not far from Miscolk itself. On our approach we detoured through a forest track and enjoyed some shade before visiting a monument and lake resort.
We departed Germany, headed for a small campsite north of Brno in Czechia, we took a leisurely drive down only to find that our first choice of site was fully booked, we did manage to find a pitch on a second site but it was a tight squeeze as I hadn't realised the touring bikes were racing 3km away over the weekend.
There was a small bar onsite and Beer was cheap with a great atmosphere so we relaxed and enjoyed the night.
Day 5
In the morning we had a booking at Trigger Services in Brno to use a firing range with an instructor, we arrived and selected some weapons. Semi-Auto rifles, Desert Eagle handgun and a shotgun and spent an hour doing target practice.
In the afternoon we headed to Brno Technical Museum for a visit, interesting place with some great old computer hardware on display alongside vehicles and other items. We then aimed for Miscolk in Hungary and decided to camp in the hills in Slovakia, more of a pitstop for sleep and water although it was a stunning location and one I hope to re-visit.
Day 6
We finished our journey towards Miscolk, choosing to camp at an unusually clean site run by a Russian guy in the mountains not far from Miscolk itself. On our approach we detoured through a forest track and enjoyed some shade before visiting a monument and lake resort.
Day 7
Today was a "treat day", we had booked a massage and mudbath at the Hungarian spa resort location of "Spa Caves" to have a bit of R&R after covering the miles in the previous days.
In the afternoon we swam in the medicinal waters inside and enjoyed the outdoor pools.
After we had our fill of swimming we headed for the Romanian border, making good time we decided to cross in the evening to save time queuing the following day. We seemed to hit a guard change as it took a good hour of waiting before the queue began to move, eventually we made it through and checked into a small site just over the boarder I'd found while waiting to cross where we witnessed a lovely sunset before the mosquitos came out and we went to bed!
Day 8
Our first stop in Romania would be the Viseus De Sus Mocanita in Maramures, the only place I'd already booked and paid for as advised by their website. Taking the odd detour for anything that looked interesting and spending a few hours walking around "The Merry Cemetery" we eventually arrived at the Mocanita yard to collect our tickets and decided to camp overnight in the car park, they had excellent facilities and a bar so it wasn't a hard choice!
Day 9
We woke up early and took in the misty hills with a coffee then grabbed a shower before making our way to the train and choosing a carriage, the very end of the train as I thought it might give us the best view while we travelled up the valley.
Viseu De Sus Mocanita is a narrow gauge railway that runs up the valley towards the Ukraine, used for logging operations they also offer tourist rides which are very popular in the summer months.
Our ride through the stunning countryside was not uneventful, on the way up the mountain carriage 3 derailed due to a fault with the track. In the UK this would likely lead to a lengthy closure of the service and a refund for all involved, in Romania they spent an hour smashing the track back together with a sledgehammer and lifting the carriage back on with a farmers jack while people stood about watching whilst dodging rocks falling from the cliffs above.
Our journey was broken up with a stop at the "turn around" point where a meal was laid on accompanied by traditional Marumeres dancing for entertainment.
It seems there may have been an oversight when coupling the train back together as the same carriages became detached from the train half way down the valley, so with much whistling and shouting, they were shoved the 200M down the track by a large tracked excavator, that took a break from bridge building, and were reattached. Suprisingly we arrived back at the start point exactly on time despite the delays.
There were a lot of vans converted to run on the rails that are used for work-busses and taxis, fascinating to watch a transit van trundle along the tracks behind a steam train and very odd.
After we had returned to the van we set destination for Sighsoara and ended up rough camping in a wooded nature reserve over looking the town, a colossal thunderstorm entertained us before we drifted off to sleep.
Today was a "treat day", we had booked a massage and mudbath at the Hungarian spa resort location of "Spa Caves" to have a bit of R&R after covering the miles in the previous days.
In the afternoon we swam in the medicinal waters inside and enjoyed the outdoor pools.
After we had our fill of swimming we headed for the Romanian border, making good time we decided to cross in the evening to save time queuing the following day. We seemed to hit a guard change as it took a good hour of waiting before the queue began to move, eventually we made it through and checked into a small site just over the boarder I'd found while waiting to cross where we witnessed a lovely sunset before the mosquitos came out and we went to bed!
Day 8
Our first stop in Romania would be the Viseus De Sus Mocanita in Maramures, the only place I'd already booked and paid for as advised by their website. Taking the odd detour for anything that looked interesting and spending a few hours walking around "The Merry Cemetery" we eventually arrived at the Mocanita yard to collect our tickets and decided to camp overnight in the car park, they had excellent facilities and a bar so it wasn't a hard choice!
Day 9
We woke up early and took in the misty hills with a coffee then grabbed a shower before making our way to the train and choosing a carriage, the very end of the train as I thought it might give us the best view while we travelled up the valley.
Viseu De Sus Mocanita is a narrow gauge railway that runs up the valley towards the Ukraine, used for logging operations they also offer tourist rides which are very popular in the summer months.
Our ride through the stunning countryside was not uneventful, on the way up the mountain carriage 3 derailed due to a fault with the track. In the UK this would likely lead to a lengthy closure of the service and a refund for all involved, in Romania they spent an hour smashing the track back together with a sledgehammer and lifting the carriage back on with a farmers jack while people stood about watching whilst dodging rocks falling from the cliffs above.
Our journey was broken up with a stop at the "turn around" point where a meal was laid on accompanied by traditional Marumeres dancing for entertainment.
It seems there may have been an oversight when coupling the train back together as the same carriages became detached from the train half way down the valley, so with much whistling and shouting, they were shoved the 200M down the track by a large tracked excavator, that took a break from bridge building, and were reattached. Suprisingly we arrived back at the start point exactly on time despite the delays.
There were a lot of vans converted to run on the rails that are used for work-busses and taxis, fascinating to watch a transit van trundle along the tracks behind a steam train and very odd.
After we had returned to the van we set destination for Sighsoara and ended up rough camping in a wooded nature reserve over looking the town, a colossal thunderstorm entertained us before we drifted off to sleep.
Day 10
We spent the morning walking around the medieval town of Sighisoara, a Unesco World Heritage site and home to some stunning buildings and views.
In the afternoon we headed towards Zarnesti, near Brasov. We found a pensiune in the mountains catering to outdoor pursuits that allowed us to camp in their garden, giving stunning views towards Castle Bran and the surrounding hills.
Day 11
After a hearty breakfast of local cheeses and toast we headed towards Zarnesti Bear Sanctuary, a rescue centre for bears throughout Romania and beyond who can now rest in acres of natural habitat and be cared for through the program.
We spent a good few hours being guided around and watching the bears enjoying life before we got back on the road and headed towards the foot of the Carparthian mountains where we camped at Albota fish farm, a place I had visited many years ago but now has a large campsite of which we were the only patrons.
We enjoyed a meal of fresh fish cooked and some local wine.
Day 12
We woke to beaming sunshine and wandered over to the main complex for breakfast before deciding to take a dip in the outside pool shared between the campsite and some camping pods.
A quick dip very quickly turned into all morning and we took the opportunity to do some hand washing of clothes and clean up the inside of the van before retiring back to the pool for the rest of the day.
During the cleaning I noticed the damage to the solar panel and subsequently realised it was no longer charging the twin habitation batteries, I turned the fridge down from the higher setting and made a note to keep a keen eye on the battery voltages.
Day 13
After a quick swim that was in danger of becoming a second day laying by the pool we dragged ourselves and the van up the north side of the Transfagarasan Road, which became a traffic jam towards the top.
After passing Lac Balea and realising the queue we had endured for the past hour was for the carpark, we headed down the south side of the peak before turning off the road onto a dirt track that follows the road with Vidra lake between the two, finally meeting up again at Vidra Dam.
We had a camping spot in mind, which we pulled into, but several large signs warning of bears coupled with the litter everywhere made us move on.
After again turning off the Transfagarasan we followed a gravel track that forded the same river a few times before we found a great camping spot, as we were turning around to park we spotted a mother bear and 2 cubs which was somewhat ironic but an amazing sight. Appologies for the photo quality, I used the zoom as I didn't fancy getting much closer!
We spent the morning walking around the medieval town of Sighisoara, a Unesco World Heritage site and home to some stunning buildings and views.
In the afternoon we headed towards Zarnesti, near Brasov. We found a pensiune in the mountains catering to outdoor pursuits that allowed us to camp in their garden, giving stunning views towards Castle Bran and the surrounding hills.
Day 11
After a hearty breakfast of local cheeses and toast we headed towards Zarnesti Bear Sanctuary, a rescue centre for bears throughout Romania and beyond who can now rest in acres of natural habitat and be cared for through the program.
We spent a good few hours being guided around and watching the bears enjoying life before we got back on the road and headed towards the foot of the Carparthian mountains where we camped at Albota fish farm, a place I had visited many years ago but now has a large campsite of which we were the only patrons.
We enjoyed a meal of fresh fish cooked and some local wine.
Day 12
We woke to beaming sunshine and wandered over to the main complex for breakfast before deciding to take a dip in the outside pool shared between the campsite and some camping pods.
A quick dip very quickly turned into all morning and we took the opportunity to do some hand washing of clothes and clean up the inside of the van before retiring back to the pool for the rest of the day.
During the cleaning I noticed the damage to the solar panel and subsequently realised it was no longer charging the twin habitation batteries, I turned the fridge down from the higher setting and made a note to keep a keen eye on the battery voltages.
Day 13
After a quick swim that was in danger of becoming a second day laying by the pool we dragged ourselves and the van up the north side of the Transfagarasan Road, which became a traffic jam towards the top.
After passing Lac Balea and realising the queue we had endured for the past hour was for the carpark, we headed down the south side of the peak before turning off the road onto a dirt track that follows the road with Vidra lake between the two, finally meeting up again at Vidra Dam.
We had a camping spot in mind, which we pulled into, but several large signs warning of bears coupled with the litter everywhere made us move on.
After again turning off the Transfagarasan we followed a gravel track that forded the same river a few times before we found a great camping spot, as we were turning around to park we spotted a mother bear and 2 cubs which was somewhat ironic but an amazing sight. Appologies for the photo quality, I used the zoom as I didn't fancy getting much closer!
More to follow when I get a chance to write it...
Associate
Great write up so far. Looks like you’re having a great time.
Soldato
Looks amazing!
Any chance you could give a rough idea of vehicle and conversion costs? I'm seriously considering doing the same thing.
Any chance you could give a rough idea of vehicle and conversion costs? I'm seriously considering doing the same thing.
Last edited:
Thanks, I must post the second half of the journey!
Be great to see a thread, pop one up!
Romania is a hidden gem. We went in January a few years ago and spent a night in the Ice hotel they build next to lake Balea in winter. The road from the north closes at the gondola And it’s completely covered in the south, you could hike through the snow and through the tunnel for a view over the south side. Pretty impressive.
Lots of great scenery and old towns/villages too.
Lots of great scenery and old towns/villages too.