Right, stay with me here… My dad called me the other day and said ‘son, why don’t you buy a small caravan so that the missus, your two dogs and yourself can get away at weekends and chill out more on the cheap” i nearly put the phone down and run 100 miles to where he lives just to give him a good hiding at even the thought of me having a caravan.

Then i started to think, maybe its not such a bad idea, sling the bikes in it, 2 dogs in the boot and away we go, scotland for the weekend, Cornwall the next, the worlds my oyster!

I suppose the point is, can i really persuade myself to be old and have the stigma associated with buying a caravan? 🙂

Sounds like a very practical option……in the same way that going on a cruise does.

lol, just about sums my feelings too.

Would a campervan be a better option for a short weekend break?

I look at ours as ‘somewhere to sleep and cook’ and not a means in itself like some of the people than own them. Cant beat them for the weather in the UK if you ask me.

Would a campervan be a better option for a short weekend break?

If I had to have either, I would choose a caravan. Why?

It has one purpose so there is more room (unless yo have an American monster that won’t go round most UK corners).

You can unhitch a caravan and drive like a normal person once you have got to where you are going, as opposed to having to tie everything down every time you want to go somewhere.

I would love a camper van, but too expensive and it would be sat doing nowt in the week.

And you don’t have to MOT/Service/Insure a caravan

(although you might want to insure an expensive one, it isn’t compulsory).

campervan, can wave a flag for the Fiat Hymer here, did cornwall in it and as long as you don’t mind living below 50mph you’ll be fine 🙂

Our camper also doubles as bike transport as the seats slide to create more or less space so it’s used for both camping and general bike duties so multifunction 🙂 this way it gets used for general stuff.

Would be dearer than a caravan though, and as we don’t out trinkets on shelves it’s pretty quick to head off somewhere if need be.

Oh and the camper can overtake the caravans 😉

I look at ours as ‘somewhere to sleep and cook’ and not a means in itself like some of the people than own them. Cant beat them for the weather in the UK if you ask me.

Marcus talks a lot of sense. My main problem with them (and it is my problem), is one of image. On the one hand you have the road blocking doddering old gits which clog up the nations rural roads from March to October. On the other, you have the upwardly mobile fat chav element which park up on campsites with their crates of stella, copies of the news of the world and muzac. Their kids usually have BB guns and terrorise everyone else on the campsite.

You get a better class of chav in a tent as it takes a bit more work.

On a practical level, they do make a lot of sense though.

Oh and yes I am a complete and utter snob.

Just get 2 Bivvi bags and a roof rack

I’ve got a caravan and have spent about 45 nights in it this year. I normally take half a day on a friday if we are going for a weekend and generally drive about 50 to 100 miles. We have also had a week in Devon in August as well. We leave ours with everything in except for clothes, so we just have to put a couple of bags in.

Generally if we stay on a Caravan Club site it is about £35 for the weekend and the week in Devon was about £140.

I don’t know what the legal requirements for servicing are, but we get ours serviced for about £150 a year, and insureance is about £250, I’d highly recommend both, having had to claim on mine for repairs and a new awning at £3000!

Oh and the camper can overtake the caravans

But when you get there, the car that towed the caravan will overtake you back 😉

Hate Jeremy Clarkson nearly as much as he hates caravans, burn them all.

But when you get there, the car that towed the caravan will overtake you back

Fail to hitch the caravan properly and it will overtake the car. 😆

with a campervan you get the benefit of not being reliant on campsites.

Fail to hitch the caravan properly and it will overtake the car.

😀

Have you seen the Inbetweeners caravan club episode?

if you have young family and a partner who is willing to go in one then I imagine you can have lots of quality time together for a good few years.

Cant see kids older than 12 being interested in being in them though, they normally start having other interests at 13 ish and dont want to hang with the old folks.

they normally start having other interests at 13 ish and dont want to hang with the old folks.

we’ve reached that point now.

I intend to take my 13 year old camping with us for at least 2 more years.

Mostly to get my own back for those early morning wake ups and endless winter afternoons I spent in softplay centres with him when he was younger.

We had one for about 6 years- I think the ‘just get up and go’ idea is a bit of a myth- we always had to spend quite a bit of time packing/unpacking- I also hated the towing (albeit we did end up with a monster twin axle job) and my knuckles would be white when in narrow country lanes for fear of ‘the tractor’ coming the other way!

Admittedly better for rubbish weather but we took the view the cost of insurance/ servicing plus depreciation just werent worth it- so we bought a family tent- albeit we will only use for long weekends and used the rest of the money to go and get some sun ( after 3 consecutive summer holidays in cornwall washed out!)

You may also have to change your car to be legal for towing 😉

I got a caravan recently, and am loving it!

The driving part of it is not as good as a campervan, but it’s got loads more space and you don’t have to sit in the driver’s seat turned around when you stop. Definitely more room in caravans imo.

HOWEVER, the cost of camper vans is a total pisstake. We spent a grand and got a solid free from damp 2 berth van (big enough for us and the 18mo cos the bed is huge) with a shower, hot and cold running water, oven, motor mover, cartridge loo, leisure battery and blown air heating. Plus, we get to travel in a comfy quiet modern reliable saloon car with airbags and the rest of it. Ok the decor is naff as hell, and it’s old, but it’s brilliant.

£1k gets you a heap of junk campervan if you are VERY lucky! I’ve seen campervans at £5k that are 15 year old vehicles with crappy tiny interiors. Total madness.

Then we looked at brand new caravans recently – brilliant new ones that are massive inside, separate shower cubicle, really lovely and they only cost £16k. Compares pretty well to the £40-50k campervans that I see at the dealer near my folks’ place.

I’ll put up with 60mph driving if I can have a caravan.

I have exactly Whe same problem with my opinion as the OP. They seem like a good idea on many levels but the white wobbly box (I would paint any caravan of mine) image kills it!

Having said that I’ve been tempted since I ‘ve seen my fokes new one, seems good for the autumn and spring when rain is more of an issue. I think small it beautiful as it means better towing easier to manoeuvre, store e.t.c With a tent on the side the area is still big. Their one still has hot water, electric e.t.c and complete length is only 14 feet. It’s one of these Polish freedom things, even my Mum’s little 206 diesel will toe is comfortably at 60 mph on main road and motorways.

Molgrips – you are right about vfm on caravans but the residuals on caravans are rubbish- we paid £17k for our last one- 3 years later had to sell for £10k- that plus the servicing insurance would pay for alot of ‘proper holidays’. We justified it because we lived in it for 8 months while extending the house but if not (and even with) its a big hit.

Campervans on the other hand hold their value really well albeit a decent size one would be just as much of a pain in the arris around small villages/ narrow lanes etc

we paid £17k for our last one- 3 years later had to sell for £10k

Shoulda bought a 3 year old one then 🙂

To be fair to campervans – heard that the depreciation is so low that you can buy one on a 25 year loan, then sell it later and make enough to clear the loan. So you are basically leasing it off the bank for £100-£150/mo or something.

I am well fed up with tent camping though. So much crap to pack. We spent an hour or two packing up the van last time we went out in it, but that was just sorting out clothes and food. All the cooking equipment, eating utensils and basic foodstuffs were already in there which helped loads.

And the feeling of closing the door on a crap drizzly day (big bike bash anyone), lighting the stove and brewing up; then sitting on a warm dry comfy sofa drinking tea and eating biscuits as the rain runs down the windows can’t be beaten 🙂

Caravans are a great idea, we took ours to Dawn till dusk and were mighty glad we did.
We had hot showers, cooked meals, heating and a comfy bed to sleep in.

Motorhomes are also a great idea but very expensive and a faff if you want to do the simple things like pop into town to get some shopping. 😆

Can you get decent ones for a grand then?

I must admit I would quite like a caravan now I have a young family but my wife isn’t so sure.

My brother just bought one last year…

Then moved to Cornwall anyway (and took it with them???????!!!)

I did, but it wasn’t easy. I wanted one with a shower (for mtb races), so that means hot water too. I looked at some right piles of crap for £1500 being peddled by some extremely dodgy geezers. Some of them the floor was so rotten I though I was going to fall through when I went in! I saw vans at three locations before finding one that was being sold privately.

It’s two berth like I say, and they tend to be significantly cheaper. I had to change the tyres on it too since people tend to look at the tread and think the tyres are ok, but the tread doesn’t wear on caravan tyres, they just age to the point where they fail.

Extremely pleased with it, but I’m gonna have to change the lampshades as they are so nasty it’s untrue 🙂

If you want to be a nasty shed-dragger, go ahead.

However, do the maths first. Tell me how many weekends in a nice B&B/hotel you could have for the same money – given that you’ll be driving the same distance, just without a frikkin shed dragging behind you. Then put that against a shed you’ll have to park somewhere, maintain etc etc.

Is it really any cheaper? I really doubt it.

. Tell me how many weekends in a nice B&B/hotel you could have for the same money

B&Bs are no replacement for caravans/campervans.

They tend to be highly variable in quality, and you can’t make yourself at home in the same way. Plus, in B&Bs you hanging around in the daytime is usually out, and you have to eat in restaurants which is expensive and a pain in the balls after a while – depending on where you are.

We used to do 5 week holidays in the South of France when I was a kid in our caravan. It cost the same as our friends’ 2 weeks in Torquay in a hotel (seriously). We had the caravan for what, 12 years, it didn’t owe us much!

Chillin out on a warm evening in the open air, plenty of food and cold drinks, good scenery, good company – definitely beats B&Bs.

Oh and B&Bs are usually in short supply at Mayhem 🙂

Tell me how many weekends in a nice B&B/hotel you could have for the same money

Wanted to go to Cornwall in August for two weeks – it would have cost around £1400 for a self-catering cottage.

Actually going in two weeks time for a week and it is costing us £585 for one week.

So, as we have a young family and it is my sincere intention to have them experience our own wonderful country rather than making them sit on a beach in Magaluf for two weeks, it wouldn’t take long.

There – took me 8 minutes to do the math 😉

Carbon337:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-BERTH-TOURING-CARAVAN-JUBILEE-RALLYMAN-1990-/250707201184?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3a5f504ca0#ht_500wt_1089

Have to admit, the Eriba (stylish retro caravans) brochure did slip throygh the door this morning.

However having just spent two nights at a rather swanky hotel, it would be a bit tough caravanning it…

Does have some appeal though.

Caravan, as an alternative to family camping. Much much easier, everything is already loaded up. Just book in, hitch up and away you go.

Dogs? in a caravan??

Even a little bit chic

However having just spent two nights at a rather swanky hotel, it would be a bit tough caravanning it…

Hotels are less mobile tho 🙂

Check out this beauty – the 2010 Bailey Pegasus!

However having just spent two nights at a rather swanky hotel, it would be a bit tough caravanning it…

I have done swanky many times (possibly the swankiest was a suite in the Ritz-Carlton at Powerscourt). But I also love camping and getting close to nature – it’s just a different sort of experience. Still to convince my wife though 😐

Charlie, I absolutely love those things, but they are only 2 berth no?