Gandalf the VW campervan has been on a very special mission recently, testing a very cool new gadget that has just hit the UK Market; a Campervan specific Sat Nav Device.
The Garmin CamperVan is a device aimed at those who like to take more time to enjoy the world around them. It differs from other Sat Navs/mapping software and apps by pointing out attractions along your route, linking to pictures, trip adviser ratings and more.
One of our favourite features is the Custom “Trendy Places”section- something that you can set up in advance; for example a category of shops, beauty spots etc – in our case we programmed it to look for Farm Shops- close to your destination, or along the route. We’ve trialled it on each of our trips this year and as a result we have found some cracking farm shops to divert to as we close in on our destination, allowing us to stock up with enough local meat and treats to see us through our stay.
We really love the “Trendy Places” feature. Even without our own custom farm shops popping up as we drive along, it flags up all sorts of attractions such as theme parks, museums , pubs etc which are close by or on the route as we make our way from stop to stop.
Another really cool feature is the “Road Trip” option – something for those who aren’t in a rush, and want to see the scenic route rather than just stick to the motorways or larger A roads. If you have the time, then this option is brilliant to see off the wall places that you never would have known about without.
The tag line for this product is “Plan to be Spontaneous” and whilst right now, as we come out of lockdown, it’s a little harder to be as spontaneous as one may like to be, this device is certainly geared up for the moment we CAN relax our plans a touch. With an option to search Campsites at the touch of the button, we look forward to the day we can roll up to a new area with no concrete plans at all and rely on the Garmin CamperVan to look after us!
The device connects to your phone via bluetooth and offers live traffic updates on route. The screen size is great, and the maps show up very clearly on the device. Even in full sunlight- which our “car play” screen struggles immensely with – It’s really very easy to use with big clearly labelled icons to navigate around the Home Screen at just the touch of a button.
Living in Norfolk, where the phone signal isn’t always the best, we’ve previously had many times where we haven’t had enough Mobile Data to get our maps loaded to get us home. We’ve tested this device now for a number of months and it’s never let us down in finding a signal and getting us home as it relies on GPS rather than 4G.
Whilst in Cornwall last week, this device came into its own. We like to stop at supermarkets to stock up on fizzy water and other larger bits each time we move campsites. The Garmin was fabulous as it allows you to search on your “active route” – ie your route to your next destination- for certain categories on route. So we left a campsite, then searched for grocery stores “on route” and we had huge success with this, saving us bags of time googling the nearest Tesco (other supermarkets are available 😉) and then matching it up with our route.
We really REALLY love the device, and feel confident that it will enhance all our future trips immensely.
This is a sponsored post and the product has been sent to us by Garmin, but this did not affect my review or feedback at all. All views are solely my own.
Love em’ or hate em’, you can’t deny that the invention of smart phones has changed the dynamic of camping. Long gone are the days where nipping out on a camping excursion means no contact with the outside world (unless you switch it off that is!) and for many (myself included) the invention of these annoying yet addictive devices has done nothing but enhance our trips away. So what appsdo I use on my iPhone to enhance my holiday? Read on for my top 10 camping holiday apps.
The Camperstop App is a great bit of kit, especially when you are touring Europe. It is linked to the Camperstops bible and lists near enough every Motorhome stopover, whether its free or paid, what type of stop it is, and even lists just the service point stops. In UK there are a few listed on, but as Aires aren’t quite so popular over here there aren’t so many listed on.
the fact that you have the option of which maps you want to download- having got the Europe version of the app, I had the option of downloading “Europe”, “Eastern Europe”, “Western Europe” then the individual countries as separate maps. This was useful for me as I have limited storage on my iPhone 6, so I was able to just download UK, although when we go to Germany over the summer I have the option of downloading “Western Europe” or just “Germany”.
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