Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Camper van users advice please...

2 replies

snowgirl · 26/01/2009 09:15

Hi. We've always been tent campers but recently started thinking about acquiring a small VW transporter type camper van for weekend use. Then we made the mistake of looking at some humungous 'motorhome' with bunkbeds, shower, etc... and the VW suddenly seemed very small. What vans do people have? what sort of use do you get out of them? We have a dd (4) and a ds (9 months). Thanks.

OP posts:
DownyEmerald · 26/01/2009 13:59

Hi Snowgirl - we used to be tent campers pre dd, when she was about 3 mo we bought a old-ishtalbot camper (dreadful name like symphony? an auto-sleeper?) see I'm really good at the details!

Did go into a VW and it just seemed way too small - think you'd need to have a tent as well, and for me the joy is not having to wait in the car for the rain to stop to pitch the tent, or take it down.

We do use it - not as much as dp probably fantasised or would like, but about three weeks a year plus the very odd weekend (its a lot of packing for a couple of days) and it is fantstic for day trips to the beach etc, and also of a weekend we might go and have a picnic about three miles away in it quite often!

Never really bothered with the loo, too useful for storing car seats etc till went on holiday mid potty-training when it was amazingly useful, now couldn't live without it!

There is a shower in the loo - never used, but then we haven't done that long trip up the west coast of scotland yet!

Think about where you will put car seats, pushchairs, booster seats etc etc when travelling and not travelling.

DD loves it - its like another member of the family.

Surfermum · 27/01/2009 20:20

We got one last year ... in fact dh started a business converting VW vans into campers last year!

We love ours. We first took it on our fortnight's holiday in Cornwall, but also took our tent. It was fantastic for taking somewhere with a view, getting out the table, having something to eat or a cuppa and playing cards. We could go out for the day and just stop somewhere on the way back that took our fancy and eat, rather than trying to find a pub, or wait to get back to the campsite. And of course it was great for changing in after surfing.

But it has completely transformed weekend camping. We leave it ready packed with everything we need, including tins of food etc, so all we have to do if we decide to go away is throw a change of clothes in a bag and off we go. When we arrive we park and .... well, open the wine! It's very cosy and if it's windy or raining you don't hear a thing so you get a better night's sleep too.

Oh and then it gets used if we visit friends for parties and there aren't enough beds - we just sleep in the van. And even now in winter we use it, we'll go out for a walk somewhere then cook some bacon sarnies and have a cuppa.

And we decorated it for dsd's birthday, gave her and her friends drinks and drove them round her home town as if it were a limo! She said she was embarrassed but secretly I think she thought it was cool .

We have a VW T4. Dh and I sleep on the double bed, dd fits in the boot space and dsd goes above the passenger seats. We have a two ring burner and sink, and a small beer fridge that we can fit butter, a pint of milk and a pack of bacon in.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread