Family of 4, currently boys are 5 and 7. 3 trips a year, slowly increasing duration – plan to be a week at a time

Large inflatable tent, khyam airtek 8 & fridge bascially fills our sportages boot. 500l Roofbox on top takes most of the furniture / sleeping bags, thule bike rack on the tow bar takes 4 bikes and then everything else is piled on top of the kids / passenger.

Obviously not ideal, as the kids get bigger the space around them gets smaller and I’m not sure the tow bar hitch will take 4 adult weight bikes.

ideally we would also like to take the SUP’s / inflatable kayaks in the future, but zero space. Most of the stuff we take isn’t hugely heavy just very bulky

I’m thinking about a small camping trailer – however these are not cheap at nearing £3k
https://www.bigbearoutdoor.co.uk/product/anssems-gt-750-251-ht-trailer-with-spare-rack-4-x-thule-proride-cycle-carriers/

Or maybe even a tailer box trailer which could be used as storage at home, or even toyed with a micro camper which could double as a home office when not on camping duties!

Or I put the money towards getting a bigger car – it is only a 1.6l petrol – It seems okay at the moment with current load. Even the biggest SUV I would imagine would struggle to fit this amount of kit comfortably. I’ve even started looking at vans and the like, but they seen another league in pricing!

Others must be in a similar position ? How are you transporting all your kit for an active family trip?

Have been looking second hand but ok condition trailers seem rare, and often still asking decent money.

There is a small amount of kit that I’d say we could ditch (such as lights and the like) which my missus always wants to take, in the scheme of things its only a small holdall

what are your setups?

You need a van..

Tourneo Custom (Transit) here, back 3 seats out gives huge storage. We have 3 boys and active holidays much as you described. Used to like big estate cars but as we also have dogs the boot is no use to us. Had the van 6 years now, perfect for us if very expensive to run (but we don’t do huge annual mileage with it at least).

We don’t have the tent & living equipment storage issue though by towing a caravan, so one problem solved for us if not many others created.

I use a van but wow that trailer is expensive. You seem to have chosen the most expensive option there. If you’re happy with a small trailer like that you can do grab something for much less than that.

Don’t get a van. Shit fuel economy the rest of the year when you don’t need the space.

I nearly bought a trailer years ago when we moved to Germany. There was a local place that would assemble them to your spec from a chassis and marine ply, would’ve only cost about £500 back then.

I think it was this https://www.sgmtowing.co.uk/trailers-and-accessories but there are no prices.

T5, but with 7 bikes and 2 kayaks and a SUP. I’ve given up on camping

T6. Sorry not the answer you want. We went through the same pain when ours were young, travelling all over UK and Europe. We managed a number of trips with a Peugeot 307SW which was one of the most spacious and practical cars ever, given its external proportions.
Only suggest packing as light as possible which I am sure you are expert at. We only took 2 kids bikes.

A big estate car. Much more interior space than an SUV

He’s worried about £3k for a trailer so you recommend a T6 at how much?

You probably don’t need four Thule carriers for bikes. Just have a trailer with deeper sides and put the bikes on top of your gear wheels off, and a cover for the top. You won’t be able to leave it unattended, but nor would you with those carriers on top.

Be warned about box trailers though. I hired one once to collect a sofa, ok so it was really big and twin axle, but it jiggled the car around so much both empty and loaded that it made me feel sick and I was driving.

Buy a caravan…sorry, not being flippant, but when I weighed up the pros and cons of towing a trailer anyway, weather, amount of gear as the boys got older it just seemed to make sense. They loved it and even christened our first caravan The Good Ship Golden Hamster. No idea why but they did and loved the adventures. (Maybe because it had bunk beds my youngest got to sleep in the top bunk and called it the captain’s bunk????????) Bikes go on the car roof. Caravan gear etc in the caravan, clothes in the car boot. Heating is good when the weather is not. Still had the tents for short weekends with one of the boys for a dad and son camping adventure.

A Skoda Octavia Estate and a Roof Box coped with all our family camping rubbish for many years. SUV type cars can be rubbish space-wise compared to a good estate.

And don’t take bikes! They add a whole load more clobber that takes a lot of space. Use the holiday to do different things. 🙂

Buy a caravan

That’s what we do. Bikes on roof, kayaks and crap in the boot, the caravan does everything else. Far better than tent camping IMO.

Berlingo/Combo etc. in XL lwb is a good compromise if you don’t want a van. Pretty massive inside and a lot cheaper to run/buy than a van, swallows bikes/people/kit.

(of course, it is a van really, but far more practical for family life day to day)

We used to have a Ford SMax, 2 adults 2 kids, big old tent, proper fridge, all other camping gubbins beds/furtniture etc, inflatable SUP, 4 bikes and what seemed to be equipment for playing most poular sports!

Roof box and bike rack meant could still see out of the back windscreen, I did tend to removed to the extra 2 seats in the back. Boot was freakin huge!

I’ve got a van now though….

Loads of trailers on Facebook marketplace for under £500 round here, must be similar where you are. Absolutely no need to spend that much money.

I have a Toyota hilux with a roof rack/cage and still struggle to fit it all in. I’ve toyed with going in two cars but have to question wtf is wrong with me 👀 and just take less stuff.

I think a trailer is the answer – but not £3k for a ‘camping’ trailer.
You want a normal open trailer with ‘cage’ sides –

ebay trailer

Look round as they often come with a fitted waterproof tarp cover.
All your bulky camping kit can go in here, with just the valuable/delicate stuff in the car.

When we were at this stage we had a huge XM estate. Possibly the favourite car I have ever had.

We had narrow roof box so I could bring a canoe along side but still ended up with a small trailer like a Brenderup 1205. I then made up some bars so I could put bike racks on it out of some old roof bars and U bolts.

So I vote get a trailer if you have space to store it securely.

Caddy Maxi with the back 2 seat outs gives a boot of plenty. Then a mahoosive roof box and bike rack on roof too. The stuff expands to fit the available space as you just take more or get worse at packing.

The thing about camping is you can manage with 15kg per person or 150kg per person of stuff. At some point you need to cut back to suit the available transport.

similar family, we get everything inside our zafira tourer (no roofbox, although we do have one), using a smaller tent for weekends away, making dubious use of the footwells. Something like a grand tourneo connect will hold 1,200l of gear, and is a little less unweildy than a transit/t6

No matter what size of vehicle – family hatchback or big van – you’ll fill it. That’s how it’s worked with us at least. We use Transit Custom, dual-cab L2. Most stuff goes inside inc 4 bikes, 2 SUPs, a massive 6-person inflatable tent that weights nearly 50kgs (polycotton Vango). Plus a 690ltr roofbox for the lighter camping stuff (sleeping bags, sleeping mats, folding table/chain picnic table, etc). TBH we could squeeze the roofbox contents into the van too but having it lets us access stuff enroute more easily.

Van’s a luxury for camping trips but we make use of it year-round – again, also luxury but it makes our lives and pursuits easier.

+1 to those saying adding a normal trailer with higher sides. FinL recently bought an Erde trailer with the side extensions for £250 locally to him via Gumtree/FB.

3 children + 2 dogs for 2 weeks in Cornwall. Peugeot 5008 with Roofbox and trailer.

Dogs have half the boot then a divider for the tent and a couple of bags in the other half. Everything else in in roof box or trailer. The trailer I got for £60 from a bloke who had used it as a market trader weekly but was retiring. It was half the height so I extended it upwards to double the capacity. It’s 4x3ft length/width. Replaced the light bar on it with anew one for £20 off Amazon and good to go for maybe £120 all in. Took it to the local weighbridge and fully loaded it’s 300kg which is less than I was expecting.
But, as has been said – whatever space you have you will fill and will want more. I’d love a larger trailer but the prices can start to get a bit silly very quicky.

Yeah, been through this.

Our configuration is:

Family of 4, 2 teenage boys

VW touran. Great practical everyday vehicle. Takes some of the kit in the boot. Still loads of room and no squashing items around the kids

Bikes on the roof of the touran

Second-smallest Erde trailer with a hard top and roof bars.
Camping kit and 2 paddle boards in the trailer
2 paddle boards lashed to the roof bars on the trailer.

Bought the trailer for about £300. It lives stood on end in the garden under a tarp. Doesn’t take up too much space when unused.

Agree that a van is not the best answer, at least for us.
The extra cost and environmental impact involved in running a van year round isn’t warranted for a few trips per year.
Touran on its own with no trailer is fine for everything apart from long camping trips with lots of gear.

Another benefit of trailer is that you can use it as a short of camping shed while you are away.

Need to mitigate theft risk, however.

Has anyone suggested two de-restricted e-cargo bikes yet? 😉

I think a trailer is the answer – but not £3k for a ‘camping’ trailer.
You want a normal open trailer with ‘cage’ sides –

Yeah that’s what we looked at only the sides were marine ply. It had a bungee-on tarp cover too.

Another benefit of trailer is that you can use it as a short of camping shed while you are away.

One of the reasons I regretted not buying the trailer at the time was that it would have been endlessly useful for all sorts of other jobs over the years.

We have a Sportage and a Passat estate. The Passat is the holiday/activity car but is filled to the roof with 2 adults, an adult sized child, a golden retriever, 2 SUPs and camping kit. The kayak on the roof doubles as a roofbox. Could fit bikes on roof or towbar as well but no idea where I’d fit the extra kit. It’s the bulk of the SUPs and watersports kit which is the problem.if I were you I’d probably go for the trailer option now which you should be able to sell for what you pay later and change the Sportage to a large estate or people carrier next time you change the car.

Storage for a small trailer is doable, a caravan would have to be stored offsite somewhere, adding to the cost, unless I got a small one we don’t mind looking at every day.

I have been looking but not seen many ‘cheap’ trailers though, most of those cheap erde ones are still £300+ and then need to add a hardtop and 4 bike carriers. Still likely to be close to 1k and i’m not to sure one the sizing of them

A big trailer is going to be harder to hide in the garden, little ones go on their side I believe so could be stashed behind a screen / hedge potentially

It sounds like the answer is probably a second hand trailer and try it out, and they swap out the car for something like an smax when we decide to change cars. Which may come sooner than anticipated.

I would very much like a T6 but I can’t see us being able to afford one for a long time yet!

We’re a family with 3 girls (5-10) and have just done a camping trip with our new trailer towed by a seat alhambra.

The trailer is a faro pondus (made in Poland) with extended height sides, approx 2×1.1m, and with roof bars and bikes above the trailer. Cost about £1k new. We go fairly full-on with camping equipment, and we were fully loaded, but it worked really well.

The trailer is loaded with all our camping gear at home which keeps it tidy and ready to roll, and with a soft top it provides useful storage at the Campsite when it rains.

He’s worried about £3k for a trailer so you recommend a T6 at how much?

Mine cost £15k (2017) and I converted it myself. If space is so important then the sale of the current car would probably cover that.

Trailers are quite practical but storage is an issue. I had one when I was extending my house for trips to the tip etc. Sold it after 3 months for what I bought it for. Would have liked to have kept it just for occasional use but storing it was a pain.

TRAILER

Airtek 8 owners here, kayaks, bikes all very familiar!

Unloading the tent is like that scene as they approach the Death Star…that’s not a moon it’s a rolled Airtek 8…

I’ll get some pics up on Flickr later tonight and link them once I’ve blurred a number plate or two. Very happy to swap a few PMs on this if it will help.

I changed my nice estate for an SMax to deal with the camping gear. After one trip I was so cheesed with the packing I bought a trailer. Good thing I like the SMax anyway and it tows a bit better, although the economy is bobbins 🙁.

As my kids got bigger I had to change my general philosophy of car camping. Switched to a pyramid tent that packed down much smaller than a house style tent. Stopped bringing lots of furniture – sitting on rugs and cushions on floor with low level table for cooking. Use small gas stoves instead of big bottle monsters. Much more sociable and closer to what camping really is I think. Too much stuff is the problem, not lack of space.

All this crap is for me and MrsRNP and Bert the doggo for a ‘quick’ weekend away in the lakes. We had a LWB Transit so it got filled with everything.

This is our heavyweight setup!

We also have a large dog on board so that’s half the boot gone before we’ve started. Even with all the kayak gear and bikes (and the towbar rack on top for day trips to CYB) the trailer wasn’t full on that trip but it is a bit of a beast (750kg).

We’ve just come back from a few days away with no bikes, no kayaks and the trailer was only about 2/3 full. We had everything except day packs/jumpers in the trailer ok this trip.

We could definitely get away with something smaller but we got a good deal on this as a last in stock end of season purchase. I’m used to hauling 5-6m long dinghy trailers around and I’d rather a slightly longer, heavier trailer for stability and ease (sort of) of reversing. Short trailers are harder to reverse so I don’t mind a bit of oversize!

If you’re on the Khyam owners Facebook group I’ve posted a couple of times on there lately about packing routine etc and there’s a few comments around how we make that work with the trailer.

As said, the Anssems trailers are lovely but about the most premium option. Lots of others like the cheap Erdes can have bars on top for bikes. I like the idea of having a trailer of stuff ready to go, just chuck clothes, food, etc in the boot – but I don’t like the idea of needing to store it or tow it.

We have a boxy MPV car (Honda Stepwgn) so can get plenty in the boot by piling vertically and there’s space under the seats, etc. Then a roofbox on top. No idea how we’d manage in a normal car. Our kit has been expanding more and more though – not just adding new things but comfier versions of chairs, self-inflating mat, etc that are bulkier. And kids stuff, obvs. Definitely a balance to be found, my back can’t handle minimal backpacking style kit any more, but you see some people turn up with a massive van plus a trailer of home comforts.

Haven’t taken bikes away with us so far, would have to go towbar. TBH have been fine with walking and car trips out so far, or anywhere good to cycle will have hire options nearby.

Now I have a proper keyboard…

Or I put the money towards getting a bigger car – it is only a 1.6l petrol – It seems okay at the moment with current load. Even the biggest SUV I would imagine would struggle to fit this amount of kit comfortably. I’ve even started looking at vans and the like, but they seen another league in pricing!

We worked out you’d be in Q7 territory for anything like the space of a Galaxy or even an S-Max at a massive price premium. We went through this whole process with thoughts of vans too (the threads are probably archived on here from early 2020) but for me they are just too rubbish at daily driving / fuel costs etc for anyone who does mostly normal car stuff and whatever people say they really don’t ride or drive like a car.

Pickup with a Truckman top works for us.

In Oz I have a Mitsubishi L200 with rooftop pod and bikes on a roof rack over the tub. Do 3 week trips with four people fine like that.

Farm sales for trailer, might need a clean though.

Trailer tent? That’s all your sleeping/cooking/living arrangements sorted, with that space freed up in the car? Plus the benefit of “proper” beds and more space than just a tent?

I think the new long wheel base Berlingo or Peugeot equivalent is a good shout

We have the short wheel base. I love driving it. mpg round turn is better than our previous mid size mpv as it’s lighter. But slightly worse in a motor way. We did 5 adults (full size children) camping no problem. Removing a seat for 2 kids adds more space.

Maybe look at a smaller tent as well.