What to pack for a Eurocamp holiday

We’re off next weekend, for our first big holiday since 2019. We love a Eurocamp caravan, even doing our first fly-drive at the beginning of June. Every time we go, I think of things we didn’t take. So, I’m going to write a list of things I’m packing in case it’s useful to anyone else and to help me this time next year.

Of course we have the massive truck so I can basically pack the kitchen sink and it won’t be a problem. Some of these things might be a stretch for a normal family car.

Kitchen and bathroom

To save on buying full containers of kitchen stuff, I like to take my own. It seems such a waste to buy a bottle of washing up liquid only to use 10% and throw it away. So…

• Washing up liquid
• Sponge and cloth
• Tea towels
• Hand towel
• Bin bags
• Small bottle of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Decaf coffee
• Tea bags
• Pizza cutter (because the place we stayed in Italy didn’t have them in the drawers but the restaurant did take away pizza and then sold a cutter for €2)
• Wet wipes
• Normal towels
• Full bedding to save on the Eurocamp charge of £70 or so to provide it (this also saves himself’s skin as ours has been washed in fragrance free detergent so no risk of getting irritated by whatever the hired linen is washed in)
• Shopping bags
• Sharp knife in case of picnic on the road down or back
• Wet wipes
• Kitchen cleaner decanted into a little cosmetic spray travel bottle
• Laundry detergent (himself’s skin is so sensitive, I’m not risking buying a pod on the campsite and I won’t get through 2 weeks without doing a load of washing)
• Bathmat because the shower invariably leaks a bit and the Eurocamp bath mats are useless foam things
• Soap
• My gin and tonic
• Caffeine free coke because it’s less common in Europe I find

I put all the little kitchen bit in a box so it’s easy to lift, no need to unpack or pack back up, and generally convenient.

General

• Water bottles galore
• Tissues
• Toilet roll (just in case we end up at an old-fashioned hole-in-the-floor service area, also maybe in case of massive queues to depart the UK after last weekend’s fun and games)
• First aid kit and general medicines we’d have a home like painkillers and antihistamines, steroid cream, antacids
• Vitamins
• Sewing kit
• Bug spray and bite cream
• Sun cream and after sun
• Fly spray
• Paper and pens and activity books
• Lots of books
• Various games including draughts, dominoes, Uno, Dobble (we have some firm favourites)
• All the chargers for all the gadgets and lots of adapters (yes you can take a couple of adapters and an extension plug thing but who wants to charge everything in one place, have a big cable trailing or use up half the table or work surface in a confined space with that?)

Outside

• Outside toys, including a fold up badminton set, rugby balls, and boules
• Water pistols
• Pool toys including weights, floating balls, pool noodle, inflatable ring
• Bikes and bike locks, helmets, lights, repair kit, pump, bottles that fit the holder
• Flipflops and water shoes
• Might take the camping chairs in case we end up in a massive queue for the tunnel as it’s been dire lately.
• My running kit, I will run on holiday! I will!

Car stuff

• Bike rack, obvs! (Confession, the picture for this post is from 2019 before we had the bike rack or even bikes for the grown ups, hence the kids’ bikes in the back)
• Warning triangle
• Hi vis vests for us all
• UK sticker (boo hiss, can I put the GB one on as well?)
• Headlamp adapters
• Sunshade for the windscreen
• Car sweets to keep us going in case of even longer journeys due to delays or traffic

What have I missed?

Have I got everything? I’m bound to forget something fairly important, usually my hairbrush. Can you think of anything else? What are your top tips for a roadtrip holiday to Europe?

Addendum: things I forgot

• Hats for me and himself
• A lighter
• Pegs
• Clippits
• Kids shampoo