Hi all, long-term lurker here hoping for advice.

It looks likely I’ll be unemployed for a few months this summer (July/August) and I fancy taking a campervan around France for about 6 weeks with the wife and our new baby, who’ll be 5 months old by then. What I’m wondering is…

What kind of van would be best? The VW T5-type seem popular and I like that they’re nice and compact but lack of toilet may be a deal-breaker. Or shouldn’t we worry about that? Also any recommendations of where to hire a van from?

Anyone else done this with a young baby and know the dos and don’ts?

What’s a good source of information online? The STW equivalent?

And generally: is this a good idea? I’m pretty sure it’ll work for us but keen to hear anyone’s experiences.

Cheers!

It sounds like a great idea to me.

I have always had campers and always gone for the smaller van size due to being able to get it around the UK where I want to go and they are invariably daily drivers so need to be practical all year round. France will accommodate the larger vehicle a bit better than say, Cornwall.
I have had a T5 for a few years now. My boy came camping with us at 4 weeks old the first time and has been many times since. He loves it, it’s normal for him already and he regards the camper as home. I took the family around France for 2 weeks last year taking in Meribel DH WC on our way around.
I have to admit, the lack of toilet does restrict how freely you can camp with a family.
If I were to hire a camper specifically for a trip around France I would go for something bigger than a T5 with a toilet and left hand drive.

Do a weekend in the UK to get an idea of what you want in terms of size.

The big step up in size is when you go from a panel van to a coachbuilt. The width is the big factor that affects day to day nipping into town etc.

Fixed bed layout is also something you may want to consider, gives you a second ‘space’ in the van and you don’t need to find space for all the bedding, also you can use it as a dumping ground in the day for coats/kids bedding/drying towels.

It is a great idea. I have a number of children, and tenting around France and/or Germany has been our way of holidaying for many years. It has never been a problem; indeed, it is wonderful, and only becomes moreso as the children grow. That said, one thing that can make the experience more pleasurable is if the baby is breastfed. As funny as that might sound, it is simply the convenience of feeding in the night when you are in close quarters and perhaps slightly more anxious about the noise of a crying baby.

But regardless, I would say ‘go for it’.

As for the T5, I wouldn’t know. We have always used T4s and a tent. 🙂

Buy an old Talbot with a U shaped rear lounge! with toilet and shower facilities!

You’ll love the room compared to a VW type of camper and similarly to a VW if you buy one, you’ll be able to sell it for the same price when you’ve done with it, far better than hiring one which cost an absolute fortune!

My friend just sold his 1991 Talbot with a coachbuilt Burstner back end for £7k on Friday it was a tidy fully functioning spacious motorhome!

Get a toll tag for the tolls as it makes life much easier, if you want a link for it so we can both earn a fiver each let me know,

I’ve done it with a T3 which has more camping space than a T5. Given the choice I would definitely choose something much bigger. Being able to do stuff inside the van after the child has gone to sleep is the deciding factor.

I don’t even think it’s any more expensive to hire a bigger van.

Bought a converted T4 from a forumite about 7 years ago. Have put 70k miles on it since. We spend 4-6 weeks every year mooching about france in it. First just with Jr#1 when he was 12 months old, and then when he was 4, Jr#2 turned up.
Our first trip:

Our most recent, 7yrs later (whoopee cushions ‘n all)

Both boys have grown up with the Van. Last summer will be our last “tour” holiday though. The boys are at an age now where they prefer places they recognise and return to and the journey itself doesnt hold as much fascination for them as it does for their parents. So I’ve recently bought small cupboard near Morzine to call our own. We’ll keep the van for UK weekends away and to get us to Morzine and back in comfort.

We’ve had some great times

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v8mGr9dFKhs/U6FX69k20UI/AAAAAAAAIwE/nj3D1mu-xwg/s640/IMAG0136.jpg[/img]

Dont worry about lack of a bog. Aires in france are well serviced. If you really need one, think about a Shitbox. With a baby you obviously dont need one for them, but as they get older get a folding training potty seat that can have a carrier bag fitted for “catching”.

highly recommend buying http://www.all-the-aires.com/ for inexpensive stop overs.

When my type two campervan broke down on the way to Croyde I went straight and bought a roofrack, fixed it on the car, unloaded a tent, the cooker, freezer box, put two surfboards and a bike on the roof and set off again. It did make me wonder whether I could justify the expense of the van. After that I would take my kids to France in a car, with camping gear etc etc and do some time at Eurocamp sites. Every year we spent a month doing this. Just an alternative you might consider to be faster (important consideration with a young ‘un), more practical and cheaper.

Thanks folks, some great advice there! I think I’m inclined to go bigger and get something with a fixed bed and toilet since we’re new at this. The shitbox would be a bit of a hard-sell, I think… thanks for the inspirational photos though, Stoner!

Great idea to rent one for a weekend to try out, don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that.

Given that I need to do this in July/August the rental prices are steep at 5.5k Euros for 5 weeks. So I guess I should consider buying v renting, but I much prefer the simplicity of renting it and giving it back at the end. Guess you pay a premium for the easy option.

You could buy most vans and then sell on for a very similar price after the trip. We planned to do that with our Mazda Bongo – that was three years ago.

We also planned to take our nipper camping when she was born – from that point of view, make sure the rear seats have proper seatbelts for the child seat. We deliberately went for OEM seats over a rock and roll bed, although we since seen rock and roll beds with UK-legal seatbelts.

We took one of these and some heavy bin liners. Stored the cleaning kit in the bin, stuck the liner in a bin whenever stopped (after sealing, obviously).

An awning tent is also a massive bonus. Not only is it extra living space, but it’s extra storage space too (we kept everything in plastic boxes to make it weather-resistant and easy to move around). Personally I wouldn’t take a T5-size van camping with more then one person without one.

If I were to hire a camper specifically for a trip around France I would go for something bigger than a T5 with a toilet and left hand drive.

This. If you’re renting, that’s the route I’d go down.

Our trip, including France (twice!) is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pimpmasterjazz/sets/72157631537644890

bear in mind the great thing about the smaller vans is access.

Unlike a traffic/iveco big van conversion, or even a small motorhome, a T4 or T5 has a footprint no bigger than an estate car. You can get everywhere you would in a car – narrow passes, small villages, town centre parking, and with a pop roof at 2.1m even under most car park barriers (after which you can pop the roof and have a cheeky wild camp at a beach surfing car park 😉 )

Our van came with a drive away awning that was awful. Got rid of it as soon as we got back from the first trip and replaced it with a simple fly sheet w poles (see beach pic) and the quechua pop-up base tent you see in the pic above. 100 sq ft of static space which we treat like a yurt. works brilliantly and only takes up 900cm diam x 15cm deep in packing. Can be erected or dropped in less than 5mins.

£4k seems an awful lot for the easy option.
There is size of van between VW and coachbuilt which you should consider, the 6m long Transit / Ducato / Boxer/ Master type. They often have a double bed made up at the back (like ours) and can fit a bog and shower too.

eg
Sprinter

Given that I need to do this in July/August the rental prices are steep at 5.5k Euros for 5 weeks.

seriously buy and sell rather than drop €5k

Insurance costs me only £200 a year. Service and MOT is around £200.

6 metres is a reasonable length, my van is my only transport and it’ll get me pretty much anywhere except for height restrictions. Its longer than a space but lots of cars don’t need a full one so you just overlap a bit 🙂

If you can afford 5.5k to rent one, I would say buy. What if you love it so much you want to go back next year, thats 11k for nothing but memories!!

My 6m panel van has a fixed rear bed, garage, tiny bog, big fridge, proper oven and 4 belted seats. With some cleverness and losing some of the bigger kitchen stuff I reckon another bed would be achievable.

If you want to try a motorhome for a weekend these people are brilliant.

http://www.justgo.uk.com/

They even sell their ex rental motorhomes v cheaply too…

You will be spoilt by them though as they have everything in them!

Did this last summer. Ended up buying a bongo instead of renting, have now decided to keep it! Campsites in France are common and cheap so stayed on proper sites on all but one night (we were away for nearly 4 weeks) a koo-di in the pop up roof for baby left us space below once she was asleep. Don’t be too ambitious in how much distance you can travel in a day, anything over 3-4hrs on Google maps becomes a nightmare as you need to stop for nappies, feeds, food for you etc etc so 3-4 becomes 6-7 which is no fun. Get a phone from three and you get free roaming so can use Google maps etc for Navigation and to find campsites. We also used the acsi app as another source of campsite info. Go for it, a unique opportunity not to be missed. Final thing bikes with a trailer for the little one will allow you to go and explore if you both enjoy a bit of fairly gentle road cycling.

Don’t ignore the municipal sites in France, there are some crackers

http://www.camping-municipal.org

Buy an old Talbot with a U shaped rear lounge! with toilet and shower facilities!

Bit hopeless for actually transporting two adults and a baby in safety, though, on account of insufficient seatbelts :/

Anyway, splendid idea in general, go for it. We bought this when we had one 2yo:

and used it for the next seven or so years. Youngest first went away in it at 8 weeks. Great times. And yes, it had a toilet (Portapotti in a cupboard, but did the job(bies)). We had an awning for extra space. Now that the kids are somewhat bigger (and we found ourselves bringing loads of bikes and inflatable canoes and things with us) we’ve gone a little bigger 🙂

Caravan Club do 2 campsite guides for Europe. Most complete campsite guides i’ve used and you don’t need to be a member to buy them.
Reviews in them are given by club members. Also,depending when you are going,the ACSI discount card gives you reduced campsite fees on 100’s of French campsites out of the main season.

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice so far! Thinking about this overnight I know a few guys at work have campers and tend to avoid peak season (kids not yet proper school age) so I may be able to cut a deal rather than paying sky-high rental prices. It also seems that everyone has had a great time on these trips regardless of van size and spec. I’ll see what I can get for what money and make my choice based on that. Key thing seems to be just to go for it and not sweat over the detail. Should’ve realised sooner the trip will coincide with le tour, so will have to find a way of fitting in a stage or two!

PS I admit to always having had an eye on Bongos! Pimpmaster’s post had me back on Bongofury again…

Appreciate that would be much smaller than the other options, though!

Something like this?

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/CaravanClubApps/Applications/caravan-classifieds/details.aspx?id=833651&page=1

Much more preferable to a T5 with a mattress.

Don’t ignore the municipal sites in France, there are some crackers

http://www.camping-municipal.org

This. We stayed in some brilliant sites. Simple, cheap and clean, but often in some stunning locations. We also used a couple of aire de campings – not great if you’re not totally self-sufficient, but generally free and always legal.

HHH – we’re contemplating selling (unfortunately we’re not using it as a camper at the moment) – if that’s of interest give me a shout. Similarly, and again if it’s of interest, I’m sure we could rent the van for less than €5.5k for six weeks(!)*

*This would require confirmation from the other half.

Hmm… that looks like a very good option conkerman. Not knowing anything about motorhomes, is there a catch? Likely to be a moneypit? Just hard to see how it’s depreciated so much.

Something like this?

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/CaravanClubApps/Applications/caravan-classifieds/details.aspx?id=833651&page=1

Wow. That seems incredibly good value. The skinflint in me is wondering what the MPG is though…

conkerman – Member
Something like this?

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/CaravanClubApps/Applications/caravan-classifieds/details.aspx?id=833651&page=1

Much more preferable to a T5 with a mattress.

Great for 2 people, but what’s the OP’s nipper going to do?
I’m not sure rolling around in the back whilst on the French country lanes is a viable option 🙂

To be fair, that is a lot of van for the money though – i’d be tempted if it wasn’t for the fact we wouldn’t have anywhere to stow the 14 month old!

Good point! When it says 4 birth that doesn’t mean it has 4 proper seats, then. 😕

Good point! When it says 4 birth that doesn’t mean it has 4 proper seats, then.

They meant berths, ie beds

Aha, got it.

Picky, picky picky.

I did write “something like this” 🙂

Pram, bungeee straps, what could go wrong?

Just make sure the pram brake is on.

I was merely illustrating what was available if you look around. YMMV

Nah cable ties for securing the pram I reckon 😀

That example is an eye opener though, ta.

The skinflint in me is wondering what the MPG is though…

Low-20s at a guess. It’s curiously cheap, though.

The seats/berths thing is often an issue. It wasn’t until relatively recently that coachbuilts came with proper belted seats in the back, and there are still lots of new ones on the market that sleep more than they can actually carry. Daft.

I’d suspect that advert is a fake/scam given the price. Transporters are too small for a long period for me. Get something bigger with a couple of fixed beds and a garage area. Buy soon before prices go too high and then sell when you get back – definitely won’t cost 5.5k!

Heh. Scrolled down and found a picture of my T4 🙂

T4 is fine for us but it’s, er, cosy if the kids are kicking off. Nice thing, though, is that it’s pretty much the same length and width as an estate car, so car parks and twiddly coastal roads are fine.

Babies: fun! Hm. For our first trip our youngest was 6 months; the sterilising stuff was a right pain but other than that it was fine, the 4yo was more difficult. At 9 months it was a *nightmare*: she was excited and refused to go to sleep, and was merrily crawling out of her sleep gubbins and peering over the netting in the roof, looking like she would happily fall out. We’d get to sleep at 11pm after 4 hours of misery. Fortunately we were in gites more than the van 😐

Vango make a very good tiny-person sleeping bag. And, to put it in, we found a cardboard box shoved up into the roof was an ideal cot 🙂

£4k to hire one for a few weeks? Eek! For twice that you could get a 4-berth T4, and you won’t lose anything like £4k if you sell it 5 weeks later.

Beware of the caravan club classifieds. There has been quite a number of ridiculously under priced motorhomes.How the scam works i don’t know.

Beware of the caravan club classifieds. There has been quite a number of ridiculously under priced motorhomes.How the scam works i don’t know.

There’s some guys in Bristol that sell cheap Bongos and run a similar thing. I never worked out how the scam works either, but there’s plenty of warnings on Bongofury and Bongo FB groups.

Look at this, 10 yeas old but only 55k miles, not much more than the cost of a hire…
Transit

After getting such good advice I thought I’d let you know what happened next.

We’re just back from a six-week trip round France! It was a great experience: we saw a lot of France, I got to share some really good times with our son and the campervan really worked for us.

In the end we hired a T5 California from a company called Kamperhire based near the south coast. We got a good deal and got a virtually new and well-equipped van. The van was excellent for just popping into local towns without having to worry about where to park, and for making quick stops to feed the baby. It was just about big enough for us, but after 6 weeks we were yearning for more space!

Anyhoo – just wanted to say thanks to everyone here for their encouragement. If anyone’s got any questions, fire away!

How much, mister? 😉

Good to hear.

As for extra space, we generally have no problem. But we couldn’t wild camp for weeks on end comfortably. A pop up tent within which to sleep & play based at a campsite leaves the van as a canteen and just a quick stow to be transport for trips.

How much, mister?

Quite a lot.. not going to share the number here 😳

But the aim of the holiday was to recover from a period in a stressful job that paid well but had stolen my mojo. I had lots of money but no time to enjoy it. So it was worth it for me. Others would have bought a van and sold it afterwards but I couldn’t have been doing with all that stress at the time.

Starting my new job tomorrow, hopefully one I’ll actually enjoy!