What are the downsides of swapping tent camping for a campervan?

[Thickasabrick89]

We currently do a lot of tent camping and have done (with the same tent) for years.

2026 so far, we have 5 weekends/long weekend camping trips booked in. We go, rain or shine.

We don't want a bigger tent as we would then require a bigger car (and bigger air tents can be 50kg!!!). We also don't want to compromise on time as we regularly go after work on a Friday and get to location for around 6:30-7ish. We then don't want to have to put up a tent for the next hour and mess about.

I'm tempted by a campervan that would replace one of the 2 cars we own. We are a small family of 2 adults and a 4 year old and we do not plan more children. Soon she'll be starting school and we'll have school holidays separate. It would mean I could go camping with her with ease without having to faff about with a tent. Or even days out to the beach. My husband is a big lover of astro photography too so he could go out and not have to rush back home for bed on a Saturday night or whatever.

We would look at VW transporters or Ford Transit custom campervans size wise with a pop roof.

Currently we restrict our camping to second may bank holiday (due to it being cold in the tent prior) and early September (gets dark at 7 after this so we avoid putting a tent up in the dark)

We would most likely buy outright. Not brand new but newer

For those in the know, can you be brutally honest with me about the negatives we should consider.

We had a VW transporter when DS was between the ages of 6 and 14 - was perfect and super easy to just go off for a weekend!

Finally (and reluctantly) sold it when DS became too tall to sleep on the pop top bed and FIL gave up driving so we kept his car for when DS becomes old enough to drive.

Highly recommend van life!

We're not a tall family so I doubt DD will get bigger than 5"6!

The other thing I forgot about is that after every camping trip we have to dry out the tent in the garden and it winds my husband up no end!

Cost. A lot more cost. I own a VW Transporter, but still it's a big vehicle with bigger servicing bills, less mpg, bigger tyres, more expensive insurance and more to go wrong. Adding it all up, but excluding depreciation, mine costs something like £350 a month over last 3 years.

As a family of 3 you need to think about how small a Transporter or similar is, particularly a short wheelbase and pop top. Do hire one for a weekend before you buy. It's the best money I spent before I bought mine.

As you mention a bigger tent, do think about size.

I spent this weekend watching a family of three constantly shuffling kit from front to back, outside in pouring rain. They were cold with the roof up, too crowded for three in a narrow bed. Mine is a hard top, factory converted van that's really well insulated, lots of storage in the roof, lots more space than a swb. I can reach everything from inside my van and everything is in cupboards, it's warmer, drier and quieter than a pop top. You only find this out by hiring one.

Mine though is brilliant. I've used it for dozens of nights and multiple holidays since I got it. But I'm now single and free of kid stuff so can get away really easily.

The obvious one is cost - apart from the initial outlay and upkeep of a camper, many campsites charge much higher pitch fees for vans and there are usually fewer of them.

In terms of the style you choose, the pop roof can be a pain in the butt: if one of you need to go to the bathroom during the night, the other has to wake up as well. The sleeping area also isn’t terribly spacious. Having a 4-year-old sleeping alone down in the main cabin isn’t something everyone is comfortable with. You have to do a lot of packing things up and tidying away before you can drive anywhere for an outing, it’s more faff than just zipping the tent closed with all your stuff in situ and getting in the car.

I was a tent camper then thought the same as you about being able to go away on a Friday after work and not have to faff around with a tent. Just park up and plug in the electric hook up. But I hated it.

When the bed was folded down there was no space to move, when the bed was up it wasn’t particularly comfortable to sit on as a sofa. If I wanted to go out for the day, the van had to be packed up as I didn’t have an awning.

Then there were the running costs. It was my only vehicle and did about 22mpg plus expensive to tax and insure.

I went away in the van a couple of times then sold it for a small profit. I’ve ended up with a tiny convertible Smart car and a pop up tent that takes about 5 minutes to pitch and has enough space for me to be comfortable. It’s great being able to zip it up and go out for the day without any hassle.

Obvious one is cost as mentioned. We have a camper van - grown up now but 2 dogs instead. I often work til 6 on Fri or Sat am so DH will take it & set up & I go straight there from work. Done several trips to Europe too for hols .

Thank you for the reality check so far. My husband would be happier with a caravan but then that comes with other issues such as it probably just about fitting on our drive but being quite unsightly.

A plus to include is that you can stop enroute or at the beach for a cuppa/lunch and loo stop (if you have one inside the van).

Bad or cold weather won’t have much of an impact.

I would hire one before buying though as the layout is so important to get right.

Other than cost I really can’t see any major downsides. The issues with space and having to pack up are very easily solved with a driveway awning and I definitely wouldn’t use a camper for more than a bed to crash in without an awning.

The bonus for me would be everything in the van already so you just have to pack some clothes, toiletries and food.

I’d buy one tomorrow if we had a second smaller vehicle.

Parking it when you go out and having to pack everything away before you go out.

There’s less space For storage than you’d think in a vw . I had to be very minima

we have a camper. It is amazing.
it’s warm, sound proof and relatively comfortable.

however we found doing day trips when you are sleeping in the van is a proper hassle. Converting the van back to a vehicle takes 30 minutes and then you have to convert back again when you get home. If you have a drive away awning this is even more complicated.
we are either very fussy about the sites we stay at (walking distance to the beach etc) or we take a second car.

We hired one for a few days and hated it…felt too cramped and nowhere to store anything. It just felt like we were in each other’s way all the time and we had to keep moving things from one place to another which quickly became frustrating.
DH changed his mind about buying one, but then he changed it back again, and then we ended up buying one after all.
I would say that hiring one gave us a taste of what it would be like but it’s completely different having your own and having it set up to your own needs. Things like storage, what kind of bed, having a single front passenger seat or a double, a driveaway awning, basically so many choices which will have an impact on whether you have a positive experience or not.

What is your £350pm breakdown?

We’ve had two campers. The first was pre kids and was a Ford transit high top conversion on a long wheel base (nothing like the current Ford Transit ones). King size bed, toilet/shower, small kitchen, heating and hot water. We still needed an awning for our stuff in order to set the bed up 😂. We loved it, but it could be awkward to park (higher than car park barrier) and as others have said was a pain to pack everything up just to go out for the day.

Second one was a Mazda Bongo, full width bed but even that was narrow, pop top and tiny kitchen. The kids hated sleeping in the pop top (don’t blame them!) and we never made the bed downstairs comfortable for two. Still needed an awning obvs.

We used the Bongo mostly as a day van, it never fulfilled its purpose as a camper for us. Others love them but they must be less fussy about where/how they sleep.

If I had my time again knowing what I know now I’d say a compact caravan is a better bet, a swift basecamp 2 person is about the same space/facilities as our transit (I really loved the loo!) but with the bonus of having a car for days out! They do 4 berth ones too.

Definitely hire one to see how you find it, if you need an awning then you don’t resolve the drying out a tent issue (and awnings can take up a lot of space in the van!).

Get a van where you have a bed permanently set up - no packing away etc. and we only use the awning (attached to van) for sitting outside when it’s nice as we have everything we need inside for cooking, sleeping, chilling etc - which is why you need to hire one to work out what you need for your own van.

Annual costs this year:
VED: £362
Insurance: £590
Annual service: £340
MOT: £50
Two tyres: £270
Side windows repair (they started leaking) £380
Habitation/gas check: £120
Heater replacement when it broke: £600

So that's £180 a month.

Plus I burn 1.5-2 tanks fuel a month, so that's £180-240. I'm in Scotland though so do a lot of miles.

Well, £1000 of that is unexpected failures which could happen to any vehicle. And 340 is pricey for a service. Get my t6 serviced for 250 at VW main dealer.

So realistically more like £90 a month plus fuel. Not quite the daily mail headline "350 A MONTH!!!!"

I have a newer VW & mine is fairly cheap to run. Insurance is ok, as we're older & it's still under warranty. Used a van as a daily driver for nearly 20 years. Different iterations, hire one to see what suits.

We did try a caravan, lovely but did not end well.

Why did it not end well?

Just so I know the pros and cons of everything.

We moved from camping to a Bongo Friendee back when they were being first imported and so not yet rusted through!

Disadvantages - cost and diesel cost when using it for local drives as your second vehicle. Having to use it when on holiday - packing it up just to go to the supermarket. Finding car parking spaces that are big enough.

Obviously lots of advantages. Some more unusual ones: we enjoyed using it for walks and having virtually free tea coffee and snacks after, rather than needing the cafe. And our DS and his partner stayed in it on our driveway at Christmas when the house was full!

If you enjoy camping I think youll love a campervan so long as you buy a decent one not needing repair - but do look into the cost of diesel especially if you are using it during the week.

Sitting in stationary traffic for several hours as the fuel gauge descends, only to eventually drive past an overheated camper van in time to join the next queue behind the next broken down camper van. Repeat around nine times between Stonehenge and Basingstoke, nearer 17 times around festival season and Bank Holidays.

Finding out that the apparent road on the map is actually designed for horse and cart, not camper van and combine harvester approaching one another. And those dry walls look amazing, but they make it even tighter.

The gusts of wind across the moor just as you're at the bit with the really big drop down into the leat.

Sitting in concrete car parks because camper vans couldn't access the nicer areas of the only campsite that accepted them. So waking up next to the toilets.

Where there isn't concrete, waking up to realise that you aren't going anywhere because it's rained and that slope is no longer a gentle incline/the AA can tow a car but haven't got anyone near enough with kit to pull a van out of the mud/sand.

Weight, height and wheelbase restrictions on bridges.

The cold. They are so cold. Except when it's hot and then they are the stinkiest, sweatiest oven.

Waking up cold in a tent means decamping to the car, putting the heating on and most likely heading for somewhere warm a hotel preferably. Not quite so easy with a camper van that's got to be packed up, disconnected and then driven off site.

The locals. Family with a normal car and a tent - no problem. Family with a camper van getting some shopping from Sainsburys - OMG THE TRAVELLERS ARE COMING.

Not being able to park up and go for a walk or shopping without somebody from the council pointing out that they do not allow overnight sleeping/camper vans are not allowed.

In order to prevent both of the above, height restrictions or outright bans. Or just not being able to fit in an enclosed car park at all.

Might not be an issue these days, but crawling up the hill hoping that the gearbox would take it in 2nd. And the noise inside.

Miscreants knowing that as it's a camper van, there may be some really expensive stuff inside/the parts are worth a lot and the owners aren't around. Worse ones seeing a single woman and kid outside the camper van (because they're far more visible/clearly on holiday compared to woman and kid getting into a car who could be locals or on a day trip).

Finding that instead of your nice, easy to handle car that doesn't cost too much to run, the other party decides that he needs that and you'll have to drive the van around.

Great when I was 17 and we all just wanted to spend the summer surfing. Not great in November or once there was a kid I preferred to not suffer hypothermia. And the ex morphing into a 'We're Campervan People' and refusing to go anywhere that didn't offer free parking for campervans or that wouldn't have been suitable, despite having a perfectly adequate car instead, wasn't exactly on my wishlist when staring at the skies as a teenager.

We bought a SWB VW Transporter three years ago. It's DH's daily drive and we spend about thirty nights away in it each year (several long weekends plus a longer trip).

One disadvantage compared to tent camping (which we used to do) is that it's a bit of a faff to change the van from camping mode to driving mode if you want to drive somewhere for the day. We have a driveway awning which we can leave our stuff in, but it still starts to become a chore if you're doing it every day.

The advantages compared to tent camping are many:

• Quicker to pack: we keep most things in the van and only need to add our awning, a small bag of clothes each and some food.
• Quicker to pitch / set up / pack away.
• More comfortable bed: we have a mattress topper and duvet which we just roll up each morning and the bedroll fits behind it when in seat mode.
• Quieter: especially with the pop-top bed down.
• Can block out most of the light: useful on midsummer mornings.
• Stays cooler on hot days: especially with reflective windscreen cover on.
• I find the fridge, sink and gas hob convenient.

We’re on our second VW Transporter. Initially we rented one for a weekend to try it. We ended up with a high top after there was a problem with the pop top we booked and we really didn’t like that. We liked the van life aspect but the high top was hideous, noisy, had terrible mpg and we couldn’t get into car parks.

Our first van was bought from a guy who converted them as a hobby. A basic, slightly chunky conversion with no pop top on a 10 year old van. We loved it, we just got used to being very organised. Don’t take too much stuff, have a place for everything and get everything you need for the evening out before you settle. We always needed a drive-away awning when we went for longer trips though and that was as much hassle as a tent to put up, and then you have the fun and games of getting the van back into the right place to hook back up to it after you have been out for the day.

We bought a brand new T6 conversion from Autohaus in 2017. It’s been fantastic. Sadly Autohaus are no more but their build quality and service was excellent when we bought from them. We now have a poptop…I’ve slept in it once or twice but usually we use the main rock and roll bed downstairs. The bed in our pop top can be pushed up when not in use so you can stand up in the van. That makes a huge difference for cooking, getting changed etc. We have a canopy that connects to the awning rail that is incredibly easy to attach and disconnect so we are set up in 10 minutes. It makes day trips much easier. We take folding chairs and usually sit outside under the canopy to eat and of an evening.

An SWB drives like a car pretty much and you can usually park in regular sized parking spaces. We tend to have roof bars on for bikes and we have a note of the van’s height in all its configurations so we know if we can get into car parks with height barriers.

Cost is the main downside, especially the initial outlay. We sold a car and our first van to buy the second van, moving to one car and the new van. On a side note we struggled to sell my low-mileage well looked after Honda CRV but we had more than 20 calls about the old van and we sold it for more than we paid for it after we’d had it 5 years. Our insurance is reasonable, we’re both over 50 and the van is garaged. Tyres are more expensive, things like ferries and Le Shuttle cost more for a van.

I’d definitely hire one before buying and do as much research as you can about layouts on offer. Good quality used vans sell very quickly so you need to know what you’re looking for and set up alerts with potential vendors. Also be wary of scams. There are a lot of scammers out there advertising non existent vans on sites like Gumtree.

Absolutely love ours and wouldn’t swap back for the world but the cost is high. We have a small van so driving small roads and fitting into ferries and car parks are all fine (even most height limiters are ok) but it means we also had to invest in a driveway awning for both longer trips and as a weather porch for bad weather trips in the uk.
apart from cost the only downside is the few lovely car free campsites that don’t take vans or don’t let them park by the tents so you can’t group camp with friends.