Talk to me about the differences between caravanning and having a camper van

[Katymac]

I was against a camper van as it's another vehicle to insure & tax but I have seen a Renault that is a car with a flatpack campervan in the boot....or a very expensive VW

I fancy a little caravan but DH is all edgy about driving it & our car is little (but I checked the breaked towing weight & it's 1000 so I guess 850 is legal and maybe 750 would be better but I don't know what I am talking about really)

Help me!!

Bump

We have a small campervan. It's great for day trips as well as holidays. Super easy to drive, even in single track roads, no stress about reversing. Fits in normal car parks (eg supermarket on the way to campsite). Can park up in unofficial places when in the wilds so no need to always book ahead. Cheap on ferries.

Interesting

DH is adamant he doesn't want to tow - I am less worried but corcerned about the additional costs

Are they hard to tow?

I thought you could do one - DH said they wouldn't exist

found a local one

OK now I need to convince DH, find out a price to fit a towbar & start caravan shopping

So £330 for the course £300 for the towbar, say £370 for tweaking once we have bought it plus the price of the caravan

I like the look of the Go-Pod but it's too expensive - the little teardrop ones are lovely what else is small?

2 as DD has a litttle tent and may no longer holiday with us regularly

If you have a campervan you have to pack every morning, if you have a caravan you can drive off for a day out,

Caravans having satellite dishes & solar panels may have swung the caravan idea with dh - now none of you tell him campervans can have them too!!

I've had both and we own a campervan, the main reason it's easier to drive as I once jack knifed the caravan and is difficult to park.
We go all over just back from France but often go day trips. Another option for you might be a Mazda bongo they are day vans and so easy to drive we had one and now have a Talbot

Ive had both and much prefer the caravan. They're very easy to tow.

But you're going to be so restricted about what you can legally tow with your car being so small/light.

If you're staying in one place for a while you can use a drive away awning with a campervan so don't have to pack up every time you go out.

Or use bikes, scooters or tow a small car. (If money's no object, obviously!)

There are advantages to both though really.

Eriba do some very small but cute caravans. Plenty on eBay. T@B do a teardrop range.

And you can fit a mover which lets you park it on site with a remote control instead of manoeuvring it with the car.

Plenty of pros and cons to each. I have an Eriba puck but covet a VW camper.

Having had a caravan for 30 years, the cost of insurance and storage and the hassle of towing and setting up finally convinced us to get rid of it last year.
We have had our people carrier converted into a camper (with modular furniture so we can put all or some of the seats back in if necessary), and it is amazing! The freedom to just pull up on site and be ready instantly is the pay-off for cramped and unheated living conditions but I wouldn't swap back for anything. We have a pop-up gazebo and also a drive-away awning that we use depending on length of stay and number of extra bodies coming with us. On its own it's perfect for overnighters and days out.

I was assuming I could just put the caravan on the drive? Isn't that OK?

I am loving the teardrop shaped ones; we will have to see what we like in person vs what we can afford!!

I think DH would like the Go-pod - it's all shiny & new and has everything in it

I'd like an old retro caravan but I couldn't do the maintenance on it so I think it would be a bit of a money pit

So I guess I'd better start saving

We sold our Mazda Bongo camper last year and managed to buy a 4wd and caravan for the same money. I did love my Bongo but for me the disadvantages outweighed the love.....we had a driveaway awning, used the seats folded down to make a large double bed 'downstairs' and we had the pop-up top for ds to sleep in (although he actually slept in a cab hammock as he was a bit young to be up top) and then had thermal screens that went over cab windows. So every time we wanted to go out, the screens had to come off, the bed unmade and seats back up, ds's car seat back in, cab bunk out, blinds up, top back down and then rewind when we got back. Ds was also a 'bolter' when he was younger and I just needed him more contained.
Setting up caravan is a piece of the proverbial - ds and I usually wander off and fill up water etc. while DH puts up the awning and then we're pretty much done, just some unpacking of clothes etc.
Our caravan is stored as we don't have a driveway but if we did, it'd be on it.