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.

I've done a fair bit of both in my time, and if cost isn't an issue, I would say a camper van is a no brainer - it's so much warmer so can be used at almost any time of year, so nice not to have to set up and pack away, fine even if the weather turns unexpectedly horrendous, etc etc.

But if you are not sure, you could look at it this way - as long as you aren't buying the camper van new, you won't significantly decrease it's value by using it once or twice, and it's not like you are going to immediately throw your tent away.

So get a camper and give it a try. If it doesn't work for you, for whatever reason, you can always resell it and go back to your tent!

God I miss camping. Now my daughter is older she is less keen, tho I wonder if I may be able to persuade her to come away with me for a weekend over the summer - reading this thread has inspired me!

How old is your daughter? Mine starts school in September so there will be school holidays in 2027 which I'll be taking on my own (May is 2 weeks in my district council and summer of course).

A couple of midweek nights away would work nicely for us

I'd say don't do it.....

We inherited a van (VW T25) from my dad who died. I had HUGE emotional attachment to it and it was an absolute money pit. The last visit to the garage for what initially looked like a fairly straightforward bodywork repair ended up with me crying in the garage and having to basically trade the van for the coat of the repair. The more the garage cut back the worse the rust got. Before this repair we replaced the whole exhaust, the tyres, loads of bodywork, every mot it would have some other disaster and it cost an absolute fortune in fuel.

If you buy a decent modern van you will have a huge initial outlay which if you calculate how many times you would have to go camping in it to make it back you will be touring til your grandkids are grandparents....

We've gone back to a tent and it's so much simpler.

Edited for spelling!

One other thing, with tents you bag your spot and keep it while you're off doing other things. In a camper you can get a prime spot but if the campsite doesn't allocate spaces you can go off for the day in the van and comeback to have lost your spot and you're stuck on a slope or in a bog and have no view......

Something to consider- if you love camping, you will find a van will ‘separate’ you from the sensory feeling of being close to nature, under canvas. Unless you add the expense/another piece of kit to transport/clean - of a drive away awning. A caravan/trailer tent could tick this box and be so much cheaper.

Team VW here, no where close to £350 a month for us.

love every minute

Once you have a pitch, you can put a little sign on it saying pitch taken by GR20 9BH. We would leave our sign out, along with our outdoor table and chairs. No one ever took our pitch.

I've had two VW T5's as I've always wanted a tiny home on wheels. By the time I could afford one, I had chronic back pain and everything is a struggle going away with my two dogs. The rock and roll bed is so bloody hard to get up and down, if you sleep in the roof and need the loo you have to slide down onto the front seats then out. There really is no room to move once the bed is down-so basically my camper is a very expensive dog mobile, however I'm still in love with the 'idea' of freedom and it's all paid for so I'll never get rid of it as th engines go on for ever. I'd probably find an awning handy but I can barely lift 15kg (I'm also petite). I have no air con either - mine was converted on a base model van and I've had to spend £1k on to get a portable aircon unit that is effective. (You can't fit permanent aircon if you have a pop top). I never use the cooker - it's a spare cupboard for me now. The best time I've had was a festival without the worry of the dogs-just me sleeping in it. They can be a handful on a campsite and I always wanted to wild camp anyway, which isn't too easy in England. You sound like you'd cope way better than me, - it's like another hobby in a way which is nice, and belonging the the groups and the little waves you get when travelling are really nice. I'm going to put mine in storage soon and buy a runaround for the daytime. I'd also like to drive to France next year but will possibly rent a Motorhome for that trip. Campers are not big enough in my opinion, to do a full week - 1/2 nights for me max 🤣. Def try before you buy and don't get ripped off with prices. They went up to silly £ in/post Covid. I'd never pay £70k for a camper-would rather have a motorhome.

Are there many (any?) campers with permanent beds (excluding LWB vehicles which I don't think the OP is referring to)?
Permanent beds IME are a MoHo thing and TBH, having tried one (worst mistake we ever made in decades of Moho ownership) would never have another as during the day it is dead space.

As an upgrade from a tent, I would recommend the OP goes for a camper as it is practically as back to basics as camping but better in poor weather conditions (if a bit cramped).

As a dedicated Moho owner I would not want a camper as a gift as we like our space too much but I understand they have there place and for what the OP wants, will do the job perfectly.👍

What about folding camper? Or trailer tent?

We also had a Mazda bongo when our DDs were younger. Got it when they were about 10 and sold it about 7 years later.

We all have lovely memories of our trips around the UK … it wasn’t that big but we had an awning which was fab.

Easy to use as a day vehicle and to park. Problem with rust as someone else has said and they are quite old now.

We didn’t spend a lot of money on it maintenance wise … we were lucky. And we sold it for £2K less than we bought it … not bad for 7 years worth of holidays and memories.

My girls are mid 20s now and talk about those holidays with more fondness than AI in Turkey or a few days in New York, despite my memories often being rain and mud 🤣

I'm on my third VW........last one lasted 25 years with hardly any major repair bills til it corroded from old-age 😭 so I bought a new one which I reckon will see me out 😂 what i would recomnend is buying the van version and get it converted to your requirements. With my first we were family of 5 so I designed it how i wanted it. Rock and roll bed was full width (5'6") with safety belts for all three children, high top with double bunk for older two, over cab bunk for youngest but he always ended up in the king-sized with us. Sold it (from necessity) and made a profit, they really do hold their value! Bought a caravan after this but hated driving it, sold after 3 months🤷
This time I'm retired and single, wanted simple, no pop top or high top, just more of a camping car really, bought a vw kombi which has 5 adult seats when required (although rear bench seat will fold forwards or can be removed) but enough room to put a camping pod in the rear which converts to a 4' wide bed just for me and cupboards underneath which hold bedding, camping gas stove etc. Its my only vehicle, automatic and I love driving it😍 as a single woman I feel safer being able to lock myself in than I would in a tent and very convenient for overnight stays if I want to go camping as I leave it fully stocked ready to go.

I'm just going on personal experience.

I had every intention of using it more often but school and work commitments meant otherwise. May, July and October were the only times I could take a week off at the same time as my DC.

It wasn't a second vehicle and could not have been used as one. I had two anonymous letters from different neighbours asking for it to be moved despite it being parked in quieter parts of the road and being fully taxed MOT'd.

Very few people in my town have driveways - it's far too hilly.

Everyone in your work car park will get annoyed at the increasing number of massive camper vans taking up spaces and rendering half the parking spaces unusable.

A campervan is not massive and fits easily into a normal parking space.

Surely it depends on what kind of van has been converted and they might fit in the spacd but with no gap for door opening. Boxers and Transits pretty much fill a space and when they are parked every other space and along the side it makes it really tricky to park and then still have room to get out your car. My comment was slightly tongue in cheek because there are so many at my work now that it is regularly pissing me off....I am not making things up.

We loved ours, had a fiat ducato. Took it as far down as northern Italy. They’re brilliant for travelling all over Europe in as there is dedicated places to park overnight, either for a very low sum of 5-10 euro or completely free

It gave me the confidence to travel a lot more solo with my daughter. Having a travelling kitchen was a great perk. As was having a bed for a daytime nap when out

Only downside for us was camping spiralled in Cornwall (where we go) and van pitches were more, especially if they only had electric hook
up

We've just done the maths for this (another campervan or MOHO), and it doesn't really work, not even as a second car. I had an oldish low mileage VW T5 for 7 years, and although loved it, was only using it as accommodation for maybe 10 nights a year. It was good as we had a massive airbeam awning for times when we were with all the family, but when there was two of us, we would just put up with the beds in it. The main benefits were - it had a loo thetford type, and you could just use it as a day van, and you could just kip in it when you were at concerts etc. places where acccom was in short supply and high demand and prices. BUT, the upkeep of it was high, and it broke down regularly, sometimes wrecking what we were trying to do. I gave it away eventually. When i looked again recently, I had to compare what I could buy a second car for (and then pay hotels etc wherever I was going, there are now just two of us) vs a Van, and there is not really any comparison. I realise it is not just a money choice, it is a lifestyle choice, but the cost was too much for us. Hope this helps

Would you consider a trailer tent.
We started off with a really good and big canvas tent that we used a lot and then DH got a notion!! to buy a camper van, bought a big 6 berth and while we did love it, we didn't like being restricted to having no car to go off, having to watch out for height restrictions and the limited space inside compared to our tent space.
Replaced it with a trailer tent after having the camper for only a year and it was brilliant, two double sleeping pods, one for us and one for the 3 boys, loved that they were up off the ground and loads of space outside of the sleeping area for cooking/washing facilities, table and chairs. We then had the car to use during the day.
I was still able to head off on my own if DH wasn't around and put it up with no problems.

I think my only concern with a trailer tent is that they are about 30 years old and may be leaky if you buy a poorly kept one..

I've never seen one in a shop brand new but admittedly not looked into it much.

The towing makes me nervous too

We have a folding camper (different to a trailer tent, as it has a kitchen and loo inside) and it’s a piece of cake to tow. There aren’t many companies making these now, but there are several still making trailer tents - Trigano, Camp-let, Jamet, for example.

We dislike camper vans and motor homes, so have recently been toying with changing to a caravan, but I’ve rather fallen in love with the Opus air folding camper, for which you don’t even need a pump https://www.opuscamper.co.uk/

There's some interesting posts here.
We bought our VW a year ago and absolutely adore it. Went for a LWB, pop top, diesel heater, full conversion (CamperKing) and yes, although it's ten years old it cost quite a bit - but for us it's the lifestyle not the budget.
Going away in a few days and cannot wait. There's something so relaxing about time away in the van, it's easy to set up and pack away even with a small air awning.
We love it in the winter when it's cosy and warm to come back to after a good walk etc, and campsites are quiet. Wouldn't change it for the world.

I have a classic vw camper, it’s definitely changed how often I camp because I can just go with not much prep. I slept in a friend’s field last night after staying longer than planned.
No soggy tent and nice and warm despite the rain.
I can change in it after a swim, park up and have a coffee to break up a long journey and even wfh by the beach.

Obviously when they go wrong it’s going to cost more than the tent to repair but either learn some basic skills or make friends with someone who is mechanically minded!

I still use the tent occasionally but if I had to get rid of one it would be the tent.

I would hire a camper and see what you think.
Don’t hire a classic though!

This may have already been mentioned, but every time I pipedream about the romance of a campervan (at least once every couple of monrhs), I look at the outlay and running costs, put that against the number of times a year I'd actually use it as a campervan, how much my tent cost (and it's running costs), and how many nights I could stay in even a basic hotel for the difference.
And every time I talk myself out of it. (As I have just done ... again.)