To ask for your caravan / motor home experiences / opinions?

[Babooshkar]

Posting for traffic..

DH and I are thinking of investing in one for taking family (4 of us) on UK hols in summer and for weekends more locally throughout the year.

We are total novices though and could do with some stories / tips etc from the MN massive.

Don't have my own one but I love a caravan holiday!

Get a mobile home though, the parks are a rip off.

Investing? My mother in law has one cost thousands, rent has gone up each year was told by site manager she had to built a patio and use their builders that was £4k for tiny patio. She is thinking if selling static caravan back and she will get peanuts for it. Invest in house or something. Otherwise you will lose thousands

My dh and I bought a motor home about a year ago and it's been fantastic. We've travelled all over in it; down to Devon and Cornwall and all round the north coast of Scotland. Haven't been to Wales yet but that's on the list. I would say, maybe rent one for a weekend first to get an idea of what you like.

We rented motor homes a few times before buying, and decided that for us there were certain essentials: a fixed bed that you don't have to collapse and make up every day, a decent size shower, and not too big overall so you can park more easily.

If you have questions I'm happy to answer them - we started as complete novices but we learned a lot from other owners along the way. Oh, and motorhome owners wave to each other as they pass - it's compulsory .

As a child my Dad bought a motorhome and I loathed it.

Just more fodder for bullies at School when I was small. Added to that my parents slept inside the motorhome on a lovely double bed whilst my brother and I rapidly outgrew the other beds in the motorhome so we got to sleep in a tent beside the motorhome. The tent got flooded a couple of times and was cold and damp other times.

In addition for my Mum she ended up being expected to cook every single meal whilst away so it was no holiday for her. As we had the motorhome Dad felt that meant cooked meals and not even making sandwiches.

Additionally even then, nineties, it was sometimes hard to find car parks that were happy for motorhomes to park up.

As an adult I have enjoyed youth hostelling, camping and staying in static caravans (Havens do great deals) but would never use a motorhome. Especially given how heavy on fuel consumption they are.

Mind you some of the above issues reflect more on having a dysfunctional father.

Like MrsNai, our family had a camper van when I was younger. I'd say we had similar experiences, although my spin would be different as we enjoyed ours

We had frequent weekends away plus the regular school holiday camping trips. One memorable summer spent in Scotland. We took our dog with us most of the time (and the cats at least once that I can remember!).

I recommend an awning too. The extra space was so useful.

Watching as I am very interested in getting one as well but not sure how I would fund a motor home also worried if I would be able to drive it!

We bought a touring van last year as good friends do it and we've enjoyed visiting them. You can get one very reasonably - probably for the price of a 2 week holiday abroad!

We did lots of research online. YouTube has great vids for beginners (try the trudgians or making way with the Morley's) about hooking up / equipment required etc. Since buying ours we've done many trips - even short ones to sites not that far away but away enough if you know what I mean. We and the kids have loved every minute and it's been very cheap. We're even towing to Spain this year to a campsite by the sea. Can't wait!

Oh just to say - we chose a touring van over a motorhome so we can drive off for days out easily without packing anything up and we didn't even consider a static.

We loved it as children, dad loved it, mum loathed it as 'it's just like being at home but with less fucking space'. I imagine dad didn't think to help with cooking/cleaning, making the beds etc, although he was the only one to drive it (mum didn't have a licence), he'd park it, make sure it was on level ground, fill The Mighty Waterbottle, empty the portaloo mum has always been a fun sponge.

We had a motorhome - big Bedford thing where dsis and I slept over the driver's seat. Great times. I fell out once and woke in the morning on the floor with a blanket - no recollection

Dad and his partner have a caravan (to tow, not static) and have used it a ton, practically once a month. They love it.

We have just started camping and so far so fantastic. Perhaps when d's is all viewed up we'll get a caravan. What I have seen that I have loved is a motorhome towing small trailer with a Smart car genius.

Def rent a few different ones. No one gets their camper set up right first time. You need to know what works for you and what doesn’t.

We bought a touring caravan about 15 years ago when our first child was 2 as we were so used to travelling and felt it was unfair to drag a child all around the world. However we missed travelling and so we decided that we would tour our own country instead.

We got a cheap four berth caravan off eBay with an awning and all the gear for £1,000 and off we went. We enjoyed it so much that we have gradually upgraded our caravan so that we can go at any time of the year and we now have an all singing all dancing 6 berth twin axle caravan. Our three boys have grown up caravanning and have to say it's been one of the best decisions we've ever made.

We go whenever we can at weekends, long weekends and longer trips during the holidays. We tend to go locally so maybe an hour an hour and a half drive from home as we are fairly central to some amazing countryside and beaches.

It feels like the boys have been able to have the kind of childhood I had growing up in the 70s with the freedom to explore and have adventures that I don't feel children have any more growing up around where we are certainly. Our 17-year-old still loves coming with us and has developed a love of fishing from caravanning so we make sure that there's always somewhere for him to fish to tempt him along.

We have quite a few friends who come along with us now so there's always quite a party in the evening for the parents and the children all play together so it's a very sociable thing to do.

Reading back over all the replies, I should point out that I was dead against the caravan idea for some years. It's so different now though - the equipment and facilities are a million miles from the 80s and 90s! I truly feel relaxed and comfortable when away and we cook on a cadac most nights. We've made our van lovely and cosy with lots of fleece blankets cheap from Aldi, a few (actual glass) nice wine glasses. We have a good heater for the awning and other little cheap things that really have made a difference. Kids love it. Every trip is an adventure.

Not sure how far from Kent you are but towing thru the tunnel is a breeze and the kids have loved going to France.

I'll stop going on now! I put a post on asking pretty much what up you have yonks ago - before buying ours - and no-one replied so I'm trying to be helpful lol.

Ours is comfy as anything. A real home from home. It feels like a travelling hotel room rather than any kind of camping deprivation experience.

My caravan essential is a bag of ice in the freezer and a large bottle of gin.

You sound like my kind of camper @MenstruatorExtraordinaire

One of my best purchases was a powered cool box for the awning to keep the drinks cold.

Have, to my surprise, now bought a caravan. I would say you need to look at what your car can tow, the MPTLM of any van. You also need a towing license if you are younger (ie. don't automatically have it on the licence).

Nose weight is a 'thing' as well.

I would go and snoop round some caravan retailers and see what you like.

I heartly recommend a motor mover and a blow up awning. Alko chasis control helps stop swaying.

I luffs mine. It's nicer than my house!

We have a wee campervan with an awning for more space when we go away for a full week.
Ours is vw sized so we use it a lot for daytrips and it’s more like camping but warm and dry and snuggly.

What is really lovely is that you get to spend quality time together because there's very little to do housework wise in a caravan. It takes about 5 minutes to get it spick and span and you can then relax in the sunshine whilst the kids play in the fresh air.

We bought a touring caravan a couple of years ago and love it. We decided against a motorhome as preferred the flexibility of having the car to go out in (and easier to find parking spaces). We knew nothing about caravans but soon picked everything up. We only go to independent sites which are normally cheaper than Caravan Club sites.

We only paid £6k for ours - when we were looking at statics/lodges the ground rents were £2-3k per year so it seemed like a no brainer.

You have to have (or pay for) somewhere to put it.
It is an extra vehicle to maintain, tax and insure.
Think about the fuel costs -by the time you have paid for fuel and a campsite it can be cheaper to go to a b and b.
If you have a vehicle big enough to be comfy for 4 it'll probably be too big to park easily- find your compromise. Options for 4 are anything from a carefully re-fitted transit van (loads of lovely conversion ideas on pinterest) to a massive camper/winnebago. Insulation and heating will make for an all year round vehicle
When you buy do all the checks you would do buying a vehicle as well as choosing a camper layout.

If motor homes are anything like horse vans which I think they are then budget a fair amount per year to keep it on the road

Mines cost about £1.5k in repairs in 12 months due to lack of use.

You need to really decide which works for you and then go from there. Motorhome or caravans. Motorhome easier to travel but then you are stuck with using on site to move around v caravan, pitch up and you have a car. Caravans cheaper and generally more space but you need the car to tow (weight).

Decide and the do research in preferred option. It either is great fun especially for kids

We have a caravan and we absolutely love it. It enables us to have weekends away at short notice or whenever we feel like it, and we have had several longer holidays in it. The kids love being away in it! It also doubles as a convenient extra guest room if we have people to stay (we sleep in it and it feels like an extra little holiday!) Love the freedom of being able to go off out for the day in the car and come back to it rather than have to negotiate a campervan!

We have a touring caravan and keep it on our drive at home.
We do have a big car but overall it is a cheap way of having great holidays.

Defo go to a dealer for a look round. We learnt a lot doing that.

We've just got a caravan and a Kia Sportage to tow it. We took our time, did lots of research in terms of what van, what car, how much to spend etc.

There are legal requirements in terms of licence, MTPL, noseweight etc so you need to know about that.

I did a towing course which was v helpful - I didn't want to pay for a motor mover but I can confidently reverse Park a caravan now!

It takes some planning, meals etc so you're not taking unnecessary stuff or too much that you won't use.

Yes it's completely different from home, it's small but perfectly formed!

We get home and our modest semi feels like a mansion and the car drives like a Ferrari when not towing!

We have a touring caravan. We were meant to be camping in a tent at a 5 day event and the forecast was dire so we bought a £1k caravan off eBay and I was a convert (shocked myself, I thought I hated them!). A few years later we bought a slightly more modern one. I love that they're warm and dry in bad weather, have comfy beds and reasonable bathrooms and kitchens, yet the awning gives you the camping feel,if you want. I also love that all our stuff lives in it - we just chuck in food and clothes. We only go to quiet rustic sites and never use electric. We don't take the tv, we read, play game and talk. It still feels like camping. We're ready for a fixed bed now though.

We do toy with the idea of a motor home instead, but we've got 3 dogs so need lots of room, we like that you can leave everything set up and go out somewhere, and we like the big front windows on the caravan. Plus you get a very good condition, modern caravan for the same price as an old banger motor home.