Always up for a challenge we made the trip to Germany for the Caravan Salon Düsseldorf again, this is our third time at this huge international motorhome and caravan show. This was the 54th Caravan Salon and it saw a record 202,000 visitors over the 9 days and there were more than 70,000 overnight stays at the shows own camp site. Mind boggling numbers.

Having suffered the daily commute in to the huge Messe Düsseldorf exhibition centre in previous years Chris decided to take the caravan this year which would mean only a short cycle ride between the shows own camp site and the exhibition hall, a lot less stressful and a lot quicker. The only problem left was how to get our 7.5 tonne truck and the caravan to Germany. The obvious solution was for Colette to join Chris at the show and drive the caravan out but it clashed with the autumn show in Newbury the following weekend and we didn’t want to let down our customers that would be expecting to see us there.

So Tuesday 25th August saw Chris in the truck and Colette towing the caravan with the 4×4 both leaving for Germany, first stop Hull then on to the ferry to Rotterdam and from there on to Düsseldorf. Colette stopped in Germany until Friday to help set up and then flew back to the UK to prepare to do the autumn show in Newark with Grandad while Chris handled things in Germany with help from our German colleagues Jazz and Adele.

Caravan Salon is a massive show with manufacturers from around Europe and beyond demonstrating their products, there are more motorhomes and caravans than you can imagine and some fantastic displays (see some of the pictures below) and things you won’t see elsewhere.

After nine days of seeing visitors from all over Europe and beyond we were finally done (and done in, or fix und fertig as the Germans would say), the stand was packed back up in the truck and ready for the off. Without a moments rest after the Newark show Colette flew straight back out to Germany to bring the caravan back, following Chris in convoy via a detour in the Netherlands to pick some stock up and arriving back in Cheshire on Tuesday morning with a big sigh of relief.

Preparing for a big show like this is a challenge at the best of times but international travel, flights back and to and all the timing involved introduces a lot of extra logistics but thankfully it all went without a hitch.

After that you would think it would be time for a rest but no chance, it’s more shows for the next 3 weekends starting with the Motorhome Show in Shepton Mallet, followed by The South Coast Caravan and Motorhome Show in Romsey then The Motorhome Show Season Finale in Lincoln and finally a weekends breathing room before the big one at the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC in October. THEN we can relax. For a short while anyway.

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Here is a selection of pictures from our trip and from the show:

Dankeschön Deutschland.