Abroad help please!

[User07]

So we are looking at either buying a tent plus all the bits and bobs or a caravan.

In terms of what we would like out of holidays, we would like some weekends away in the uk, maybe longer over the half terms but still keeping a week or so abroad in the summer.
We are thinking/hoping that we could take either camping equipment or a caravan abroad as well and do road trips etc. If we were driving to get abroad we would look at longer holidays.

As a young family of 5, kids are currently 7, 5 and 2 what would you suggested as the best option.

Thanks in advance.

I think it's mostly a matter of preference and cost. Caravanning will cost more, both to buy and to tow and in the actual pitches.

You'll also need somewhere to store the caravan when you're not using it.

Camping means you will need to pack the car up, especially with three kids. Camping requires a lot of stuff!!!

Cost is flexible but wouldn't want to waste money of course.

I know I will enjoy a caravan. Im uncertain of a tent but to be honest from what we have seen from searching online the possibilities are endless!

We a big car. It has 7 seats but when the back 2 seats are folded we have a really large boot. Its a ford smax, if that helps anyone with letting us know if thats big enough?

We have had this debate and converstation between ourselves for the last few years and know this year we might not actually get away but could be a good time to purchase ready for next year.

Thank you for your reply!

Camping is great fun but hard work, with three kids I'd go for the caravan in that case, slightly easier! You can pack it in advance, you can arrive late and not have the hassle off putting up a tent, it's easier if it's raining....

In terms of tents we were looking at the air ones. Not sure how they compare to a caravan for ease of setting up and taking down?

We used to tent camp. We had a small Erde trailer which held all our camping stuff and had bike racks on top for our bikes. It worked well in that camping requires a lot of equipment. Setting up camp takes a long time and everything takes forever! Having said that, it was exactly that that made the holidays so relaxing. We had to slow down. Breakfast took an hour, to set up and clean up. We usually headed for a cycle and out for lunch and then dinner took ages but washing up at the communal wash areas was fun and friendly. We used to have serious tent, camping equipment and caravan or campervan envy when taking a look around the campsites.

While I enjoyed it immensely, and the children did even more so, once we could afford it we started renting mobile homes in campsites which is a lot easier but a different experience. I think in your position I would aim for a caravan. Anyone I know who has one raves about them and I think it is probably a happy medium between tent and mobile.

We used to go away in our caravan when I was a kid. I appreciated not having to walk to the toilet block when it was dark or raining. Also think it saved my parents on having to find storage space at home as everything was already on the caravan.

With kids that age I'd go for a caravan (with an awning if you can)- much easier all round.

Thank you everyone!

A couple of years ago we went through a similar decision, although there's just the two of us plus dog.

First off, decide on your budget. That will decide a lot of things (mostly by ruling out the over-budget options).

Secondly, look at your car. What weight can it legally tow? Is that enough to get a caravan that's big enough for you all? If not, are you ready to change the car to get one that can tow more? According to Google the S Max has a tow capacity of about 2,000kg which is a very useful amount.

We did the tent thing for a while, but in the end one wet, gale-ridden trip west was one too many and the caravan guides came out. The problem for us was the car - it didn't have the tow capacity and we didn't want to change it. So we ended up with an older motorhome, for about the same that a decent caravan would have cost (and half the price of a micro caravan that would have been within weight). Keep an open mind and read a lot of caravaning/camping blogs/forums/social media groups.

This is such a hard decision. Everytime we think we have made a choice something else comes up and we change our minds again.

I see us been fair weather campers and know a caravan would give us a bigger window of when we could get away.

A few things that concern us about a caravan is that, my husband has never towed anything before we are likely to need a bigger caravan to fit us all in (we have a dog too) and that there isnt actually much space inside a caravan compared to the tents we have looked at.

Things that worry me about camping is that fact that your sleeping outside, I worry about the kids been cold.

A caravan with an awning gives the best of both worlds. The awning (basically a tent extension to the caravan) can easily double or triple the available space, provide sleeping rooms, and the caravan provides the loo, shower and kitchen facilities.

Towing is something you get used to. If he's not towed before then you can do the driving until he gets used to it. But it is better if you can both do the driving. There are organised caravan towing courses he could do to get some confidence. Odds are that if you go the tent route you're going to need a trailer to get it all in anyway. Camping gear and all the "essentials" you'll want to bring along take up a lot of space.

Kids being cold? - a decent sleeping bag and a blanket, they'll be fine. They'll be warmer inside a sleeping bag than they are in bed at home.

Can you wait to buy & rent/borrow both options to try out? Either is a massive investment to find out you don't like it!

Cost-wise they are two very different options.

We looked at a caravan in the past but felt that the money that we would pay for a caravan plus the cost of storage would pay for several years of holidays in a static caravan (or other option) if that's what we wanted to do for a longer break.

We now have a tent that we use for short breaks and weekends in the UK. It probably cost us around £1200 initially for the tent and equipment but we have added to it over the years, bought a roof box, and upgraded things like chairs, cool box, air beds to SIMs etc. Having never camped previously I've now officially turned into 'camping geek'.

We love our camping trips and the DC do too. After a couple of attempts we can pitch and be pretty much sorted within an hour. We also like having the flexibility to do other things for a longer break in the Summer rather than feeling that we have to use the caravan because we've invested so much in it.

@RomaineCalm

This is our thought process too.
Would be always be feeling guilty for been away in the caravan at every opportunity because it cost so much more?

Does anyone take their tent and families abroad to camp? We would love to start out in the uk but once we have got our routine and knowledge to start going abroad with it?

I always camped as a child but DH has never been in a tent in his life. About 3 years ago we bought our first tent, it's an 8 man air beam which is huge but can be pitched in under 15 minutes. We went very basic with all of our equipment to start with, second hand, hand me downs, make do's from the house etc... but we've now started upgrading as we know we enjoy it. The first year we did a few UK breaks and a week at the seaside then the last 2 years we've done a fortnight in France. Our children are now 8,6 and 4 and we have a 7 seater, roof box and bike rack, if we're just going for a weekend we don't bother with the roof box. For us it's been a great choice and DH from knowing nothing has become a bit of a camping geek!

Caravan, camping (on a serious level, when you start to accumulate a couple of grands worth of gear) or motorhome - it's not an investment, it will never pay or itself. It's a lifestyle choice that you choose to afford. It's not something to feel guilty about using or not using.

Before this year, we reckoned we'd be happy using our motorhome for four weeks in the summer, a couple of weeks in half-terms/Easter, and a couple of weekends in-between. If we felt we'd have to use it every other weekend it would become a chore not a pleasure.

For reference, around here storage for either a caravan or motorhome is £8/week. You pay that for your space whether it's parked there or you're on the road. If you can store it securely on your drive you could save that.

A used caravan in good condition and from a quality make (the basic rule is to avoid anything British built when it comes to caravans and MHs - quality can be shocking compared to continental models) will generally hold it's value quite well - they tend to depreciate quickly early on when they stop being the current model.

Have you looked at trailer tents. They have a kitchen, toilet and bedrooms and a lot smaller to tow. You can pick second hand ones up quite cheaply. We used to have a small caravan but swapped to a tent because you can just chuck everything in the back of the car. We used to have heated exchanges 😳when OH was trying to reverse caravan onto the pitch especially when the spirit level came out 🤣🤣

Many years ago we bough a tatty old caravan for £100, fixed it up a bit and never looked back, had some great holidays summer and winter.
You can heat it and dry stuff out far easier than camping.
Eventually saved up for a better one, currently have a Motor home but don't use it as much as kids are bigger.