Please talk to me about caravans (or campers?)

[Maneandfeathers]

I’ve been dreaming of a VW camper to go for the odd night away, maybe a few days in half terms etc. Abroad holidays have become really unaffordable for us at the moment as we have 3 children to pay for, couldn’t find much under £4k for a week in Spain this year which isn’t possible.

Our second car died and we were seriously thinking of a vw transporter until we saw one and it looks really small, are these managable for families rather than just couples?

Would I be better off with a proper caravan? Is it much more restrictive to have to have a caravan/tow everywhere? How much does it cost to store them when not in use and what sort of price are you looking at to stay somewhere for a night? A motorhome isn’t an option as we can’t afford to tax/insure/MOT a 3rd vehicle.
Oh and what sort of vehicle do I need to tow with? Is it a case of bigger the better?

For context I have 3 children and 2 dogs (German shepherds) so not a small family by any stretch. We probably wouldn’t take the dogs all the time but sometimes we may have too. On that subject, do people leave dogs in caravans while you go out to eat etc? Does it not get really hot in them in summer?

Are they actually worth it, or is a day out somewhere just as good if your a small child 😄

Lots and lots of questions. Apologies in advance!!!

Ok op I'll attempt to answer your question re caravans as we have one. First of all if you're looking at a second hand one are you practically minded,?there's always something that needs tweaking, and setting it up re hook up etc. Needs a certain amount of practicality. Have a look at the caravan club website regarding towing vehicles, it will tell you what car you need to pull a certain weight, there's also lots of advice on which model will suit your needs. If you have dogs it will depend on them as to whether you can leave them, re barking etc. most places quite righlty frown on it if they are noisy. you can leave the skylight open to let in air, also people use their awnings a lot for dogs,also very useful when you have large families, as you can put dining stuff in there along with all the other stuff like shoes etc. Price wise, we have just paid 60 for three nights on what is called a cl. Small location that are set up usually on farm type places, theres usually nothing else much re. Facilities but they are usually in spectacular locations and have electric hook up, sometimes a shower and loo even though you you have these in the van it's easier to use the ones on site if available.you need to be in the caravan club to access these,sites it's well worth joining. It costs about 400 a year I think to store ours at large secure site. For the size of your family I don't think a VW camper van would cut it, we love our really old caravan and have had loads of fun in it with our chocolate lab go for it op!

Caravans are much more practical with larger families.
plus if you want to stay in the same place for a few days to a week, it is so much better to be able to leave the caravan on the site, jump in the car and go. If you are in a motorhome/camper you have to faff around with the awning and what not, and take anything of importance with you in the van. For me, this was a massive consideration in buying my caravan.
Also, you can take so much more stuff!! The caravan awning more than double the size of the living space, we have chairs, tables and a blow up sofa in our awning.
And another thing that a transporter won't have is a shower room. Your own shower, your own toilet, no running to the campsite toilet block. Again, especially handy when the kids are involved.

We're a family of 4, two small dogs in a twin-axel 6 berth and it's tight for us! We've toured for many years, getting some amazing deals such as £99 for 11 nights in the summer on Haven sites. There are many deals to have if you have the time to look. We have now sited ours as partner works away so we were finding it difficult to head off on a Friday evening after work. This year we're in Lincolnshire and it's £2000 for the season PLUS electric. Electric seems to be the new add on for many sites recently, so bear that in mind too.

Regarding the dogs, now we are sited we have a full size awning and they live in there. They absolutely hate it in the caravan as it just gets too warm, however in the winter one sleeps under our bed and the other randomly likes it in the shower cubicle! We are able to leave ours for a few hours as they don't bark, and they're also inside a large pen (not cage), so they have access to the outside space too if they want to. If you have a barker however, it will be frowned upon. I wouldn't ever leave them long either as it can get warm too in the awning. You can buy really cheap porch awnings which might be a solution for you.

Also, be sure to check the site allows two dogs. Flower of May, for example, only allows one.

We've had many enjoyable holidays in our caravan, especially if you have dogs that love the beach and walks like ours.

Regarding holidays abroad, please shop around. My kids are 15 and 13 now and weve managed to get 10 days in Cyprus in August for £2k. Granted it's self catering but I love to cook and there's an aldi nearby so all good!

With families, get a caravan. I'm a campervan owner (a larger converted van) previously I had a VW T4. With 2 adults and a dog it was a squeeze and if the weather is shit or during the shorter days, it's a long time stuck in a very small space with limited room to move. You can set up a caravan and go off in the car, you have to take a camper to every location. VW vans also cost much more than equivalent other brands due to "scene tax" and even newer T5/T6 models do need regular repairs. Don't consider an older model unless you have very very deep pockets.

I adore my campervan BUT in your situation i would make the most of a caravan and the many great family friendly sites available!

All my childhood holidays were in our caravan (2 adults, 4 kids and sometimes the dog) with big awning. The adults & 2 kids slept in the caravan and 2 kids in the awning. If we had friends with us they slept in the awning too. Felt like we had plenty of room as us kids would barely be in the caravan during the day/evening, we'd be tearing off around the campsite having fun. This was back in the minimal to no supervision of kids era! I look back quite fondly on it, but it might just be rose tinted glasses. We only had a normal saloon car for towing, no idea if that was right or not!

Other holidays were in my DF's trailer tent which to me was the most amazing thing ever! Looking back it was probably absolute crap but I was fascinated by it and used to love lying in the bedroom bit as it felt like some kind of genie in a bottle situation. I definitely didn't realise that we were in a trailer tent because we were basically poor!

A VW camper (or other make of camper) is very small and most models don't have a toilet or shower, they are most suited to couples.

Re. storing the caravan, you can pay to keep them in a storage facility. But if keeping at home, make sure it is kept really, really secure. Caravans get stolen a lot. One of ours was stolen, never to be seen again.

Thanks all of you!! Definatley ruling out a camper van based on this. Caravans seem cheaper anyway purchase wise. I could potentially store it on the drive but my neighbors are snobby so storage may cause less drama 😄

The dogs are the main consideration. They are big and heavy coated so it wouldn’t be much fun to listening to them panting and moaning the whole time we are gone. We couldn’t kennel them every weekend though. Definitely something to think about, perhaps a trial week would be a good idea.

My husband is quite handy and used to towing (horsey people originally) so I’m not too worried about that aspect.

OP Sometimes there are covenants regarding caravan s on drive, check your deeds. A trial week sounds a good idea, we don't leave our lab in the van cos he howls lol, but our previous one we did no problems, for a short time, you can leave the skylight open and close the blinds to keep it cool.