We've got a few events coming up this Summer. The OH wants a camper van, I'm totally against it, firstly as we can't really afford it, and secondly it'll be sat on the driveway for 50 weeks of the year.
My usual solution has been to book a hotel whenever we want a night out, but it's not looking good for the nights we want this year, as everywhere we want is full, so we'll have to camp, which is fine, unless it's raining.
My thoughts have now turned to getting an awning type extension for my work van, and using the van to sleep in, with the added dryness of the awning for a bit more room. Something like the one linked below is what I was thinking of - for around the price of two nights in a hotel in Ft. Bill in June.
Anybody tried similar, and how did it work out?
I didn't want a full camper so have a people carrier van (Vivaro Life Elite). We have a Van Gear bed system in the boot under the parcel shelf. We also have a big tent and a cheap Decathlon Arpenaz Base Awning (free standing) so we have extra space if just sleeping in the van.
Also doubles up as a bike carrier. Currently away in the van staying in hotels and a static van, and I've had two bikes hidden in the boot out of sights. Also very handy being able to shove all the camping gear in without blocking windows.
Last year we did 2 weeks in it doing van sleeping, hotels and tent camping. All the chairs came out for this trip. We left the bed up as we then had tonnes of space under fot tent, paddle board, porta potti, other camping stuff with nothing on show other than the bed. Left in a public car park for two days when in Cardiff.
We have the cheaper £120 free standing awning - similar to what you linked. I use screw in tent pegs and it stands up to the infamous 'Shell Island' winds.
Like this 
Why not just hire a campervan/motorhome for the period you need it?
good example here on FB marketplace
I’ve got a camper but if you don’t want one, just get a decent tent that has a standing height living area, then rain isn’t really a problem.
If you have a van plus awning, there isn’t much difference to a tent except the rain will probably be more noisy than the gentle patter on a tent, and you’ll still have a wet tent to dry out when you get home.
Sleeping in a tent or campervan, great.
Sleeping in a car or unconverted van, rubbish, I’d always choose a tent over the above, unless it was storm force winds and the tent wasn’t up to it!
Our daughter has the air version from Decathlon. She has used it all over the UK and Europe with a mattress and the bikes in the van. Works well.
Thanks all, I reckon we'll get one. As for renting a campervan - cost and convenience. There are a few rental places near us (Scottish border), but, It's only the odd weekend away, a decent hotel is the same price as renting a campervan, and then trying to get one for a short period in peak times likely be difficult, just like trying to book a weekend near to the Nevis Range in May is proving hard. It's £40 a night for a van pitch at Nevis Range, so hopefully we'll go for that.
For comfort, and insulated bed, get decent self inflating air beds especially if the better half is coming (we have Thermarest Mondokings - spendy at £200 each and definately for car camping as they are quite large rolled up compared to backpacking ones or cheap airbeds).
Definatelty a stand up tent or awning. Huge difference in comfort. We use the tent for longer stays as it's alot bigger to carry and takes ages to dry being polycotton. The awning I can hang over the bannister, washing line or draped over the bikes and dehumidifier in the garage.
We have a couple of friends that use ex work vans. They just have camping gear boxed up and use a futon to sleep on. Another friend has a partially converted caddy, just has a fold out bit of wood to sleep on. These vans aren't insulated so they just wrap up. We camp from early April onwards and it can be cold at night but sleeping bag and a duvet work fine.
I'd use what you have (plus awning for sitting) especially if its not too often. Just make sure your work van has clear space to get a bed down. Another plus point, you can use the awning for a porta potty. Wouldn't be without one as it saves a trudge over fields in the night in the dark, MrsF missed a hole last year (she had a torch but the sea mist rolled in) and broke a bone in her foot. Cut the trip short.
Get on FB Marketplace for a used one. We bought our Vango Kela air awning for about £250 (literally looked like it'd never been used). Used it for about 5 or 6 years and then sold it for £250.
Thanks all, I reckon we'll get one. As for renting a campervan - cost and convenience. There are a few rental places near us (Scottish border), but, It's only the odd weekend away, a decent hotel is the same price as renting a campervan, and then trying to get one for a short period in peak times likely be difficult, just like trying to book a weekend near to the Nevis Range in May is proving hard. It's £40 a night for a van pitch at Nevis Range, so hopefully we'll go for that.
Cost and convenience? In which case, do not buy one! Cost is craaaazy. Convenience is great the day you need it, but you have to service it, MOT it, insure it, clean it, buy stuff for it....
(Best thing we ever did BTW)
I've got the Decathlon air version the same as Traceys Daughter and it works fine but is not sealed if people want to sleep in it, we have a clip in bedroom that my daughter uses sometimes so it keeps bugs out.... I'm going to repace it with one of these this summer though. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152704926364? That has a tunnel between the van and sealed room section.
Then we have a bed that folds out over the folded down rear seats.
My brother in Law uses his work van and builds a bed using bits of scaffold poles and planks then puts an actual matress on it. Its great!
I don't know if this is a real thing, but an old biking buddy of mine met up with me and a few others at a popular campsite down in the Lakes. She was in a windowless works van and the campsite we're pretty adamant that she wasn't getting in for 'safety' reasons. I can't remember the exact details but the problem was definitely something to do with a lack of side / rear door windows.
Mind you, it could be that she just didn't want to hang out with us.
Campsites don’t normally like vans or campers without windows. They are worried about travellers, and tradies looking for cheap digs whilst working away unfortunately. Obv most are fine but then you’ll get some that want to drink their earnings every night in a noisy group.
Yeah, when my brother in law has used his in this country, he's had to ask first if they'll let him. When we've spoken to the before going he's usually been ok, but hasn;t been allowed on some sites.
In Europe (Spain especially) they don't seem to be bothered though.
Sleeping in a tent or campervan, great.
Sleeping in a car or unconverted van, rubbish, I’d always choose a tent over the above, unless it was storm force winds and the tent wasn’t up to it!
It's entirely down to how good the bed is IMO.
It's not colder than a tent. it's not warm either in the middle of the night, but it's not colder. It does get roasting hot very quickly though when the sun comes up so the swings in temperature don't make for a great nights sleep. It is nice and dark though compared to a tent at 4am in the summer.
I don't know if this is a real thing, but an old biking buddy of mine met up with me and a few others at a popular campsite down in the Lakes. She was in a windowless works van and the campsite we're pretty adamant that she wasn't getting in for 'safety' reasons. I can't remember the exact details but the problem was definitely something to do with a lack of side / rear door windows.
Mind you, it could be that she just didn't want to hang out with us.
I think the justification for no work vehicles on caravan sites starts with "I'm not racist but.....". although I'm sure someone's tried to cook a meal in the back of one at some point and given themselves CO poisoning as well.
Cost and convenience? In which case, do not buy one! Cost is craaaazy. Convenience is great the day you need it, but you have to service it, MOT it, insure it, clean it, buy stuff for it....
Much as I hate them, I'm coming round to the idea of a small van + small caravan being a far more practical setup. The van is more useable 365 days a year. It can function as a bike shed, boot room. drying room, or storage locker when camping. It's smaller on the road / in car parks. The only downside is having 2 things to store o the driveway not one, and stealth camping becomes impossible (although that's mostly been ruined now anyway).
For Nevis area we tend to book a pod at Glen Nevis (several months in advance) - they are really good.
This year we've a longer trip taking the motorhome up to the North North, so staying at the site for a couple of nights on the way up. We've taken all the seats out of our transporter historically and slept in there - i think I'd prefer a small tent / awning on the van though than kipping in the van.
Motorhome weekends are awesome though in my experience - a lovely way to get away from things
Get on FB Marketplace for a used one. We bought our Vango Kela air awning for about £250 (literally looked like it'd never been used). Used it for about 5 or 6 years and then sold it for £250.
I bought and then sold a used for a week awning - and only used it twice - so sold it. Vango something or other RRP £350-400, bought for £85 and sold for £100.
Thanks for all the replies. Looking on FB Marketplace, there are many for sale, most with an unrealistic price, but one stood out, albeit 60 miles away, a Vango Fistral Driveaway at £160. The pictures were poor, but the Seller said it was like new. So doing a search on that model, Cotswold Outdoor have the exact same one for sale at £165, so the order has gone in today for free delivery tomorrow.
Thanks all.
I don't know if this is a real thing, but an old biking buddy of mine met up with me and a few others at a popular campsite down in the Lakes. She was in a windowless works van and the campsite we're pretty adamant that she wasn't getting in for 'safety' reasons. I can't remember the exact details but the problem was definitely something to do with a lack of side / rear door windows.
We had this once, maybe 10 years ago in our old self converted van that only had windows on one side. We pulled in with the windowless side facing reception and the campsite guy told us he wouldn't let us stay. He said it was to do with ventilation but he also seemed to have some general suspicion/prejudice about panel vans. Even after we told him it had been converted and reclassified he didn't want to let us in. I said come over and I'll show you inside but bizarrely he refused to do that. Eventually he let us in but he still wasn't happy. If there had been another campsite nearby I'd have told him where to stick It but It was late and wet. It was all a bit strange and I've never encountered it anywhere else.
I think the justification for no work vehicles on caravan sites starts with "I'm not racist but.....".
Have you ever stayed on a caravan site when the travelling community have turned up? I have and it's a complete PITA.
Personally I've never had a problem being allowed on a site for work, but I don't have a van as such - my Chapter 8'ed up Disco Commercial, or various pick-up's look quite pikey'ish though. C&CC and CAMC sites are ones I've stayed on regularly and they don't have an issue with workers per se - it's a decent income for them, especially through the colder months. I do usually call ahead though
Much as I hate them, I'm coming round to the idea of a small van + small caravan being a far more practical setup. The van is more useable 365 days a year. It can function as a bike shed, boot room. drying room, or storage locker when camping
If you’re staying on campsites I would agree. If you want to wild camp then it’s much harder than in a van. Depends what you want to do
Ive had vans since i was 21 and never encountered the hostile campsite situation even in my windowless vans ......
Currently building into an MWB nv400 and bought a 5 berth awning to go with this time - while i loved my big van (7.4m) it was great for using - getting on the ferrys was a mare.
dropping to an MWB i can get on ferrys that were 800 quid in the old van for 100 quid.
I'm going for a single fold out double bed in the new van , 4 traveling seats - removable rear seats , spinny front seats to form the sititng area and a kitchen down one side that will be "under" the bed. so its still useful as a camper for 2 and when the 4 of us go with the awning we can use it as a kitchen/cosy sitting area.
first trip booked in July - Currently its a van with 4 seats and 1 window . need to get the other window and a roof vent fitted when i get back from the Hebrides.
Just a reminder to “wild camp” as mentioned above you need to arrive on foot or on a bike or canoe. Parking overnight in a lay-by in a van, camper or motorhome is not wild camping.
Just keen to get that message out there as some folk looking for free overnight spots can be a real pain here in the highlands.
Wild camping = on foot / not involving sleeping in a vehicle.
Stealth camping = vehicle camping
We did a lot of stealth camping pre-kids in the late 2000s but can't imagine repeating it now going with the number of vans we see parked up everywhere. We'd only ever stop somewhere if there was nobody else already there - that doesn't seem possible now.
I've got similar thoughts to @thisisnotaspoon. A small caravan with small(ish) van for daily use is what I'd like. We currently favour a stupid-big family tent plus medium van but it can be an utter PITA at times. Definitely see the appeal in a small caravan again but need to sort our driveway setup to allow one, or change the garage doors to allow a pop-top Eriba to fit under the entrance...
I'd never stealth camp, got a friend that does it all the time, but prefer things like loos and showers !
Just a reminder to “wild camp” as mentioned above you need to arrive on foot or on a bike or canoe. Parking overnight in a lay-by in a van, camper or motorhome is not wild camping.
Semantically correct, but I don't think anyone in the thread was confused.
like A11y said though, it used to be a great way to do an outdoorsy weekend on a shoestring, I'd drive up to GT after work from Teesside, arrive at 1am, sleep for a few hours, ride all day, sleep again, ride Inner's, drive home all of the cost of some petrol and a Chinese takeaway. Or the Lakes, or North Wales. Although I tended to blur the lines and "wild camp" a few hundred meters away from the road in a pop up tent so I could stretch out properly. Even if you picked somewhere that I now suspect would be absolutely rammed (or closed off) you'd be unlucky to see anyone.
I did once do it on Sheppy for the round the island race and got mistaken for a homeless person!
It's hard to say "other people spoilt it" because while there are those who really do take the piss parking a rusty Sprinter in a scenic location for weeks/months at a time and s****** in the hedges, there's just too many doing even with a level of responsibility thats hard to complain about on an individual level, but when 100 van's turn up on a Friday evening spoils it. Unless you're just going to stay in less popular spots (i.e. some industrial estate in Ashbourne rather than Stanage Edge) it's not really sustainable. The road upto the Broken Road out of Castleton looks like a refugee crisis in summer! Hard to take the "vanlife" forum cry of "we'd use Aires if they existed" when there's several campsites just up the road.
Similar but different, my retired parents just bought a big-ish camper, but still use sites with glamping pods sometimes as the pods are often £50, only slightly more than the van fee's!
Our tow car is probably a bit overkill but our T@B works well. German build quality and clever layout.
Van camping for the weekend you say...?
Just keen to get that message out there as some folk looking for free overnight spots can be a real pain here in the highlands.
Not just the Highlands. There are regular reports in D&G of the mess involved. Only this week a local litter picker reported a load of scattered rubbish, and human waste in a quiet spot, where the night before had been a camper/motorhome.
Our village has a football field/park with maybe 5 parking spots. A sign on the wall saying 'no overnight parking' was removed by someone last year. Surprisingly(!) only that sign was removed and disappeared, the others stayed intact.
Its the rubbish that made the Community Council ban overnight parking, there is one small bin, just for the use of dog mess really, and that is inevitably rammed full with supermarket bags full of rubbish, and when thats full, they just leave it on the ground next to the bin, the foxes come along, then the rubbish is everywhere.
It's not the act of roadside camping that is the issue for me.
It's the rubbish, poop, disrespect and more that so many roadside campers leave.
I've done more than a few roadside camps. But, we have never left rubbish in bins, we take it home. We wait for the village loos in the morning to drop the kids off at the pool, and on very rare occasions we have been caught out we take a walk with a trenching spade... We've never offended anyone where we have stayed. We arrived late, leave early, don't set up tarp and seating areas etc. But this seems increasingly rare.
A farmer friend lets walkers camp in his fields just off the Kerry way, not often it happens but if they ask he'll suggest where to pitch and where there's a tap they can use. Never had any problems. Vans around here though, parking up on private land, digging fire pits, crapping all over; they don't do themselves any favours
We did a lot of stealth camping pre-kids in the late 2000s but can't imagine repeating it now going with the number of vans we see parked up everywhere. We'd only ever stop somewhere if there was nobody else already there - that doesn't seem possible now.
I still do it a lot but I live in the Highlands and have a pretty good knowledge of where to go and when. We also tend to be away over the busiest times. If I'm going to do it somewhere else it's generally just an overnight on a journey or one night before moving on and I always make sure I've researched a spot so I don't end up having to park somewhere that might upset people.
Short story is that it's still very much possible but requires a bit more thought and may not really be possible in some areas.
how do you know? Is the assumption that British people who are offended come and tell you - because I think that is flawed. If you need to arrive late and leave early it certainly suggests that your presence has the potential to offend (reasonably or not). Then when someone wants planning permission for a facility that might attract more van campers the quietly offended are more likely to object.We've never offended anyone where we have stayed.
We arrived late, leave early, don't set up tarp and seating areas etc. But this seems increasingly rare.
Even the most responsible road side camper is at least a tiny part of the problem. It sends a message to less responsible people that roadside camping is ok. It becomes a slippery slope. They can’t see the good things you are doing so assume you must just be taking a dump near the verge and that must be ok.
roadside camping was acceptable imo when few did it. now too many folk do and local communities are fed up. its not just the irresponsible. its the sheer numbers.
many years ago i used a spot near scourie a few times and maybe saw one other van. A couple of years ago there was a line of 20vans. now its fenced off with no camping signs
