Should I buy a caravan instead of paying so much for holidays?!

[Flossyts]

There’s five of us, so even in the uk a hotel price is wild to me. Most of them aren’t dog friendly too.
Am I crazy to consider buying a caravan? Are there hidden costs for me to consider? Do they hold their value if I want to sell?
Any warnings, hints and tips anyone wants to give me?
kids are 9,7 and 3. We also have two small dogs.

We are tent campers and we love it, have been camping for about 12 years since the kids were small.
We're in wales for the week, it’s cost £250 for 6 nights for 4 of us plus fuel, food and days out we’ve probably spent £700, which I don’t think is that bad.
I don’t fancy the idea of a Tin Tent, my neighbour has one and it sits in her car port and they hardly ever take it away.

We have a touring caravan, it's not that cheap, SUV does much less mpg when towing, site fees are £30-£50 a night if you want a niceish site, we mainly use CaMC sites, insurance is about £300 a year for our caravan and servicing about £200. We use our caravan a lot as we are retired and go away for at least a week at a time but if you don't use it much it's a lot to pay for not so much time away, they are a lot of setting up if you only go for a weekend especially if you need an awning to set up as well. We don't use an awning much as there is only two of us.

We bought a old cheap £2,000 caravan about five years ago and has had lots of good holidays and weekends away in it. Sites cost anywhere from 30 pounds to about 40 a night so you still have to factor in that cost but when you've got three kids that's a pretty cheap night away. Caravan sites are totally set up for your kids age range as well with play parks and things like that. if you can park it in your drive then it saves cost and it means it's easy to be spontaneous also you can use it as a nice place to have your dinner or playboard games or something like that. I totally recommend giveng it a go. There are plenty caravans on Gumtree that are somewhere between two and five thousand which are in pretty good nick. You don't really need to buy anything super expensive as long as you have a car that will tow it and are brave enough to give it a go!

We often end up going to sites that are less than an hour away from our house but you could be anywhere in the world really and it feels like you're on holiday!

As well as the financial considerations already mentioned on here I would consider the work involved. It's a work intensive holiday, packing, cleaning, making up beds, packing them away everyday. Fetching the barrels of water, emptying the toilet. If you are willing to accept all that and treat it as a hobby that takes quite a bit of effort fine. If you like to go on holiday for a rest it's not for you! We have caravaned for 17 years. I won't go for longer than a week now as I struggle with the lack of space but we have toured the country and further in that time and had some great family memories. Teenager won't come anymore unless it's abroad or going with friends 😄

You can buy a caravan, if you like, but you do know that every other motorist will hate you? 😂
I don't see the appeal of spending holidays cooped up in a tiny little box, that you then have to drag around with you. I would never have one, but they are bizarrely popular, so......6

True about the other motorists as we are restricted to 50mph on single carriageway and 60 mph on dual carriageway and motorway, bear this in mind as journeys take longer than a car

Do your research, consider the points others have made. I doubt you would save much, but I could be wrong.

We grew up with a dog and a caravan. Two words for you.... DOG FARTS.

I think the idea is that you spend very little time in the little box 😂. I want to be able to go up to Northumbria or the highlands at the drop of a hat without winning the lottery. I’m going for the scenery rather than the hotel room.

More worried about the husband and the 9 year old I think🫣 give me dogs over boys anyday

I had absolutely no idea - thanks!

I love touring, but you have to be of a certain mindset, are you practical? It's absolutely brilliant we go all over the UK and are members of the caravan club.
I couldn't do it on my own because there's always something wants seeing to and I couldn't do that. If you could go for it

We have 4 kids (similar ages to yours plus one older) and the highlight of the year for them (so far! 😁) is our week camping in our tent. We've been going for 8 years and pitch price has gone up in that time but it's still a cheap holiday and usually really lovely for our family of 6.

Also the tent cost about £280 and it has 4 'rooms' much more spacious than most caravans/camper vans which is great when it rains. It packs down to the size of a large suitcase which we keep in our shed. No real ongoing costs to consider.

We've had many caravans over the years. No towing, it stays and is stored at the site in Dorset. We drive down and they pull it out. Works beautifully. Most 2nd hand caravans come with awnings, everything you need.

That’s the mistake we made, sites get booked up early so you can’t be spontaneous.

Our friends did caravan holidays every year, got themselves a towing caravan and sold it after 12 months. They would happily drive to a site for a weekend but found it too much hassle to go and fetch their van, load it up, drive then have to get home in time before the caravan storage shut on a Sunday (midday and they couldn't get in after this time)

They did keep it on their drive but there was a covenant in their deeds that said all houses were not allowed to keep caravans on their drives, no one ever did and then people complained when they put there's on and started legal action which is why the ended up looking for storage. The storage was also a 20 mile drive from home.

How often do you think you would realistically use it?

If you go for a site based one, then you also need to be aware that some sites only accept caravans of certain ages and expect you to remove or replace your van when it hits that age, they can stipulate that the van has to be made free during peak holiday season for them to rent out (my Mom had a van and she had to make it available for use for 3 weeks of the summer, 1 week of Easter and all half terms and couldn't use the van at all from November to February as the site was closed) she also had to pay ground rent, utilities and service charges and had to remove personal items each time she left (luckily for her she only ever rented it out for income but it's just to give you an idea how some parks operate)

With young kids - just get a big tent and book camping holidays in France where the weather is better.

And make sure you're both confident and able to drive and tow the van. Our friends who had the van I mentioned earlier assumed they both would be. Husband did all the driving then broke his ankle while away and she couldn't get to to grips with towing it so they had to get his brother to come and get them.

I had a tourer for 10 years & never regretted it. We had it on a seasonal pitch but could take it off if we wanted to go away. We used in 52 weeks a year, been in it in winter when it was snowing, at Christmas & new year. Prices look to be bottoming out at the moment because several large dealerships have gone bust so the market is flooded with vans for sale, now is the best time to buy.

Oh gosh- didn’t think about that!

Any recommendations of where to buy from ? We live in Yorkshire. I hadn’t heard of anyone going bust

As one who spent holidays of my youth with my family ( 5 of us plus large dog) in a touring caravan, all I can say is ‘ aaaargh’

But if you must, look at the caravan Club who can suggest marques and sellers.

Don't buy from Yorkshire Caravans - we bought ours from there at the beginning of the year at they've been a pain in the arse getting all the relevant paperwork etc!