Campervan or caravan?

[GatsbyWasntGreat]

Looking at travelling around the UK (Wales and Scotland, bit of England in the middle) and Europe (France and Spain) - which is better, smallish campervan or caravan towed by 4x4?

Will likely be away 3-4 weeks at a time, 6 times a year. All advice and experience appreciated!

Personally a campervan, with bicycle. I like to be able to easily move away from annoying neighbours. And also sometimes I like to sit in the van and eat/drink out on a day trip. Can also sometimes stay in places a caravan can't be.

It depends what you intend to do while away...lots of sightseeing? If so a lot of car parks restrict heights...will you be staying in one spot or park overnight and move on?
We chose caravan as we use it as a base and drive round in car..one lot of set up and tidy away st end of trip..

Depends on exactly what kind of holiday you want.

But I think you might prefer a caravan. You'll have more motorised mobility that way.

But neither would be my preferred holiday so I may not be the best resource.

Caravan. That way you are not restricted to where you can go.

Personally... campervan!

Can't say why, just love it, there's so much you can do to make them a home from home.

Do you mean campervan (something like a Mazda Bongo which is only the size of a large people carrier) or motorhome (getting on for truck size)? If the former - definitely one of those. If the latter then they really limit you in terms of where you can park and go on day trips whilst away and I’d opt for a towed caravan which you can detach from your car whilst on site.

Do you need a car? We have a compact MH. This is our second, have been using one for about 14 years. We don’t use a car as we live in a city, can get to work by bike/bus. Keep it on the street, insurance can be tricky to get.
Caravans are great if you need a car anyway, and does mean you can drive around when parked up. We take our bikes and use public transport. We carry an inflatable kayak too and use that whenever possible, by lochs, rivers etc.
MH is easier to pack up and drive to next site. We’ve just bought a drive away awning so give some you more room (and needed in West of Scotland in summer so you can sit out in the evening but not be devoured my midges) but leave on site if you want a day out.

REnt to try out beforehand committing? Let’s you work out not only which but what size and features you want, becuase there are so many design choices

If you expect to have a base for a week and do day trips in the area, a caravan may be best.
If ou expect to travel lots , campervan in a lay-by can be cheap (England and Wales less options)
If you want a big living area and want to explore the remoter areas of Scotland, again caravan
Lots of Europe is well set up for camper van. Park, handbrake on and bed...very low hassle. And often you get free local transport. England can get very annoying with height restrictions on park and ride however

We have a small 5.5m camper which is ideal for us, but we are happy to bus / bike/walk , and we are happy with the small space ( just about fit in a standard size car park space if not got the bikes on th back) . In fact, in our van we are happy happy happy!

We hired a giant motorhome and it was really stressful. Driving there and setting up was fine, but getting around on day trips was really hard.
We hired a smaller campervan but there wasn't enough space for us, 2 adults and 3 kids. We had a stand alone awning which made a difference, you could leave it on site with all your stuff, and it did give us extra sleeping space. But it was still squashed for us. I really wanted to love it, it was nice to park up somewhere and make a brew.
We bought a caravan. More space, easier to get around once we were set up. But harder to stop off for lunch on the way or drive it to the beach and have a changing hut and coffee stop right there.
So no solution is ideal really. Ideally we would have a campervan which doubles in size at the touch of a button once we arrive on site then folds back down to small when we want to drive somewhere for the day without us having to unhook awnings and pack beds away. But such a thing doesn't exist sadly.
You just have to choose what's most important to you, or what you are most willing to compromise on.

It'll be for moving-around touring type trips (sightseeing, very into hiking and walking) rather than visiting one site then home again, and thinking a smallish camper for 2 adults if I went the camper route.

Thank you for the replies!

We’ve just bought a touring caravan, we did look at some of the new compact camper vans ( the new one based on a the Peugeot Boxer , the Ventura), which was just gorgeous but expensive compared to a caravan for obvious reasons.

So we have ended up with a brand new 4 berth tourer, which we have sited for this year as we are new to caravanning and want to get used to it. We picked it up Tuesday and spent last night in it. We love it already.
We decided against a campervan in the end as we need to run two cars anyway and thought maintenance of yet another vehicle was too expensive. Though of course you do have to insure and maintain a caravan as well.

Whatever you decide , be prepared for it to cost you extras on top. We got a great deal on the van, but the extras which you need to get started have got over 1k on top.

It sounds like a motorhome with electric bikes could work well for you - the benefits ease and flexibility whilst still being able to see the local area. My in-laws have one and they are careful about picking sites in order to walk, bike or use public transport. Motor homes can be a headache to park in towns and (oddly) with supermarkets. Click and Collect will be your friend, there!

Having done both caravan and camper van holidays in my time...
Caravan- extra space, arguably more home from home comforts, can leave it behind to go off in the car. However restricted to where you can park it, probably need to book a site, can be a faff to tow it.
Campervan- less space, has to be packed up every time you want to go out during your trip (unless you can take public transport), but can be parked almost anywhere overnight, much more flexibility to just move about as the mood takes.

It sounds like a motorhome with electric bikes could work well for you

I love that idea! And Click & Collect is genius.

Definitely leaning more toward smallish (rather than monster) motorhome.

If you choose a caravan you will need to check your driving licence provisions very carefully to make sure you are actually licenced to tow a caravan. The rac has a fairly straightforward guide if you Google it, but it depends on the weight of the caravan, or the combined weight of the vehicle and caravan, and when you got your licence.

@katmarie DH has every licence going, luckily! He can drive HGVs etc so at least that's not a problem.

how many of you will be travelling?

what sorts of locations do you want to visit?

where will you be storing the camper / caravan when it's not in use?

what's your budget?

what are your priorities in terms of functionality in the living space?

Camper van with bikes on the back is much more fun if there’s only 2 of you. Much easier to drive along narrow lanes, easier to park, uses less fuel than a motor home

how many of you will be travelling?
2 + dog

what sorts of locations do you want to visit? Rural - scenic, quiet, countryside. The coast too.

where will you be storing the camper / caravan when it's not in use? Our driveway (big enough for 4 normal cars).

what's your budget? £10,000 but could push to more.

what are your priorities in terms of functionality in the living space

Toilet, shower, comfy bed. Don't need much room, DH and I have travelled extensively together and are very good at being 'close'!

My mum has a holiday home in Norfolk and when we go to see her there are loads of camper vans parked up early at the side of the sea view coast road with little deck chairs on the grass, not allowed over night tho, I'm on holiday abroad and there are a few parked up near the beaches here too,

What times of the year do you want to be able to use the van?

@99RedBalloonsFloating All seasons, year-round!

We have a T4 we don't pack up to move about. Although say we have breakfast, plates get washed & put back, everything has a home, so we tidy up as we go along. As you don't want to get back to everything everywhere.

The awning we have means that you can't just drive off. So that's good say for festivals, when you know you won't be moving.

The T5's have a roof space thing, so that's another double bed. You can check eBay, autotrader, sites for campervans.

It was a biggish job taking out the old interior and doing it up. There's electricity points, USB points, a stove, a sink, the toilet is under the stove, we have a tent for that if there's say no onsite toilets.

There's a festival at Santa Pod at the end of July, that's a great way to see what others have done, plus on the market bit there's stalls selling bits you can use for doing up your van.

You can get a van and strip it, then it's up to you.