Allo,
I’m going to be driving a UK spec unit with trailer around Europe (Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Germany for a couple of months and wonder what advice you can offer for making life easier for simple stuff like junctions, observations, things I might try and persuade the gaffer to fit to make life easier (special wide&low view mirrors on near-side etc).
cheers me dears.
Just do everything you normally do but with even extra time and care.
If you have a co-driver and want help with overtaking make sure he/her is only telling you if it is safe to nose out for you to have a look.
It is only then for you, and you alone, who makes the decision to go or not.
if going to be on nationals much, get yourself a plain mirror about 12" x 4" and fix it to corner of windscreen inside, angled to look straight down the road in front from the driver’s seat - although pretty redundant if using motorways 
jj72:
if going to be on nationals much, get yourself a plain mirror about 12" x 4" and fix it to corner of windscreen inside, angled to look straight down the road in front from the driver’s seat - although pretty redundant if using motorways
Surely you mean from the passenger’s seat? 
erm no it means YOU have a view straight ahead FROM the drivers seat - i know it could be taken either way but i think you knew what i meant, too much time on one’s hands? 
jj72:
erm no it means YOU have a view straight ahead FROM the drivers seat - i know it could be taken either way but i think you knew what i meant, too much time on one’s hands?
Certainly not JJ, I don’t want to get pedantic but you did say ‘the mirror…angled to look straight down the road’. I see what you mean now but if it I can misunderstand so could others.
I know what you mean JJ, but I would disagree. You can see over cars and around vans well enough to be able to go around them safely. If you hang back from a parked wagon, you can see well enough to know whether its safe to push out for a better look and go around it or not.
I think the best extra to fit, is a mirror or camera to cover the blind spot by the passenger door. You can pick up a mirror to fit to the inside of the passenger side A-pillar for about €10 in Belgium.
Apart from that you don’t really need anything other than the attitude that you have a lot to learn. When I first started going back over the water, I got a long piece of card which I drew a big arrow on. As I was about to drive off the ferry, I turned the card so that the arrow pointed to the side of the road I was supposed to be driving on.
I have driven Right Hand Drive wagons in Europe and Left Hand Drives in the UK and Europe. I find it easier, overall, to drive RHD wagons. Partly because I have mostly driven RHDs, but also because of the way the majority of UK road junctions are laid out. For eg. most entries onto round-abouts are angled to make it easy to accelerate onto it. But that angle also makes it difficult to see anything on the round-about from a LHD wagon. That’s only rarely a problem in Europe in a RHD.
Your biggest problems will be at roundabouts and left turns, both take a little bit of getting use to.
You’'ll be surprised how quickly you become accustomed to driving on the right but make sure your left hand mirrors are well adjusted and check them constantly. Them furriners love to sit in your blindspot. 
Don’t cross a solid white line where ever it may be as this can cause the local plod to get quite excited.
Above all keep legal and obey all the road signs i.e. No Overtaking and speed limits as ‘on the spot fines’ can get expensive.
the driving on the right bit don’t worry me, ridden the bike thru holland often enough - just things differ slightly from 600cc bike, to mahooosive truck
cheers for the advice folks. hoping many things won’t be too much problem as I’ll be driving in convoy, just the junctions worry me really.
will prob mostly be nationals since there’s 4 or 5 wagons and a couple of cars in convoy so would cost a fortune on toll motorways
el gordo 78:
, just the junctions worry me really.
That is the most dangerous part, especially turning left into a major road.
It is sooooooo easy to turn left onto the left hand side of the road, but that is nothing to do with it being a right ■■■■■■ of course.
I used to have no problem back in Blighty with my lhd wagon, but the first time i came back with my rhd car, I turned right onto the right hand side of a dual carriageway 
. Good job it was just in a local road with one bemused wagon driver coming towards me . Funny thing was, the worst bit was trying to turn round to go the other way 
.
just take your time look once look twice then pull out bump…just be careful 
A mate of mine taught me to line my knee up with a point on the dash and the white line 
It worked for him, but he had an advantage, he drove a roadsweeper with 2 steering wheels 