Our plastic lovebox….

IMAG0229 by Lodious, on Flickr

can we have a pic of the inside please, looks really nice.

If there’s just the two of you,I’d have a serious look at a fixed bed version.
We’ve just part exed our old 2 berth for a new fixed bed model. Best thing we ever did.
No faffing about with setting beds up at night or taking down in morning.
Also check out http://www.whattowcar.com ,it gives loads of info about weights.

There is only two of us (and the dog) , should I go for a two berth or as people suggest a three / four birth. I have a VW Tiguan does anyone tow a caravan with one? Buying a caravan is this another sign that I am getting old?

I’d be interested to know more on towing options – I’m caught at the moment in terms of heading down the camper van route or the caravan route.
If we go down the caravan route, I’ll buy a new car and would like something large and probably 4wd (quite like the higher driving position and have always fancied one, dont need one – needs to be better on the road than off it..)

Suggestions welcome – I’m not too concerned with MPG but would like to at least doff my cap in the direction of singlehandedly saving the planet by not getting a 4 litre. Current thoughts are CRV/X3…

Abu marauderer 400, circa 1993, in New forest as we speak.

Hmmm help!

hopefully, here you go kev…..

EDIT: nope, url is wrong……

If there’s just the two of you,I’d have a serious look at a fixed bed version.
We’ve just part exed our old 2 berth for a new fixed bed model. Best thing we ever did.
No faffing about with setting beds up at night or taking down in morning.
Also check out http://www.whattowcar.com ,it gives loads of info about weights.

aye, think we’d defo look at fixed bed. be looking at the smaller end of the range i think. if kids came itd be an awning or pup tent i reckon.

and with an octavia i dont think id need to worry bout weights, itd be fine 🙂

We tend to put the minimum amount of food and drink in our van then go to the nearest supermarket once we’re pitched up.
Also the loading of the caravan is important with special regard to the noseweight and also the towball height.Ideally the caravan should ride slightly nose down,and never nose up.

You don’t need a 4×4 to tow with. You can tow pretty big vans with a normal large car eg Mondeo/Passat.

and with an octavia i dont think id need to worry bout weights, itd be fine

An Octavia would tow an older 4 berth van fine but possibly not a newer one, depending on the van.

Fixed bed vans are fine if you have the room to store it as they are larger.

Lodius – let me know how that van does with fuel. They look like they should be more economical than usua.

Nice set-up Lodious, are the three windows up the side for three bunks?

Stage one complete. eurotunnel tomorrow then overnight near Dijon.

Here,s our tin box, just got home from a week in Cornwall in it where she stays….sod towin that about!!!!!!

ok, its a minefield putting ‘fixed bed caravan’ into ebay, i still dont know the makes, models etc. some good info on here, but still too many to choose from! 😀

so far narrowed it down to fixed bed, ideally shower, oven, L shaped dinette would be good but not a dealbreaker.
what about awnings? dont fancy all the heavy canvas jobbies with rigid poles that i see most people putting up. do they make em with the light bendy poles these days?

thanks

The lightweight awning in my pic is a Kampa
http://www.kampa.co.uk/products/caravan-awnings/lightweight-awnings/

We also have an Isobella ( I think) **** me thats a days work!!

I would not bother with a ln oven. What are you gonna bake?

Also do not worry too much about make. Just choose layout, go see it, check if it’s damp and moldy. If not -bid!

Ps if anyone had a decent 850cm awning I would like it…!

This is our Adria 390 which we bought new last year. We came from a campervan via a folding camper and wanted to go as small as possible for a four berth. It can be towed by my 1.6tdi Golf as well.

@ sadexpunk,loads of info to read up on http://www.caravantalk.co.uk.
Also check out http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk for different layouts.
As for awnings,you can get lightweight porch awnings, but apparently the heavy canvas type is much better,but having said that we have a porch awning and I can’t remember the last time we used it,I think they are OK if you need a bit of storage space but we tow with a van and everything gets chucked in there 😀 ,they can also be handy if its raining and you need somewhere to get changed before getting into the caravan.
One more thing,you do realise as soon as you get one its going to rain for weeks don’t you

Nice set-up Lodious, are the three windows up the side for three bunks?

Yeah, triple decker. The kids love it a each bunk has it’s own light 😉

Lodius – let me know how that van does with fuel. They look like they should be more economical than usual

The car is 2.2D (manual) and normally does c.38mpg. With the van it does c.28mpg, is that good or bad? I tend to do at 60 on the motorway, I think the economy is quite a bit better @50. If you slipstream a coach it does low 30’s.

We’re continually looking at camper vans, then nothing, then caravans… Realistically we’d be looking at £20k+ to get a T5 kitted out how we’d want it and yet for £4k we could get a decent looking caravan and retain the car to use whilst we were away…

Something to think about maybe later this year. £200 a year to store them seems cheap too – I was imagining it’d be a grand or so!

I really like the look of that Adria Altea 390, nice and light. We came from camping and even the smallest caravans offer a big step up in comfort compared to tents.

We get about 60-65mpg from our Passat on motorways, our first van would give us 29 on a good run, the newer one (same size and weight) gets 34 on a similar good run.

The first van had a ridiculous spoiler type thing on the roof at the back, the second has a rounded back end which seems to make a big difference. I reckon the rounded back end on the Orions would make a significant difference, but then Bailey also claimed their Pegasus range had better aerodynamics when it came out and that has a very square back.

I really like the look of that Adria Altea 390, nice and light.

me too. how much is one of them bad boys? theres one round the corner from us, might go have a sneaky word and a look round if we could afford one.

We picked up a previous year model Adria 390 for £9k new from Venture Caravans. We were getting very close to that price for second hand vans that were tidy enough for us to feel comfy in.

I would recommend it. It is very stable to tow, modern and comfy inside and our daughter loves the bunks. The main bed would be tight if you were over 6ft tall though.

ok lets try again, in new forest, £had it two years bought for £1600, 21 years old, love it.

just been having a quick look at a couple of local vans, 2 berth. think its made us realise we want 4 berth. but….. we wouldnt want the 4 beds, just the size of a 4 berth. am i being realistic in this?
for instance, i can accept a fixed bed may be out of our price range, which is prob less than 2 grand thinking about it. so……every van seems to have its ‘lounge area’, the 2 settees, table, settees make into a double bed etc.
but the 4 berths also seem to have this extra ‘side table’ (dinette) which will prob make another bed? id rather not have that and do all the eating, playing cards, watching tv etc from the lounge bit, and do away with the ‘dinette’ and have a decent kitchen area, shower and storage.
does that caravan exist? or do all 4 berths have this extra table?

Mine (above) is a bailey ranger 500/5.

It’s five berth, has lounge at the front which turns into a double and a dinette at the back whic turns into a double with a bunk above. You could leave the double made permanently if you wished.

we wouldnt want the 4 beds, just the size of a 4 berth

There are plenty of big 2 berths. They are usually big so that each side of the seating area is big enough to use as two single beds. It makes it quicker to set up the beds for frosty old people who don’t like to get busy on their caravan holidays. The 2 berth we just sold was the same size van (16 foot) as the 4 berth we replaced it with, and that’s not cramped.

There are loads of different 4 and 5 berth layouts, not just side dinettes. Check out caravanfinder.co.uk, all their listings have little diagrams of the layout, which makes it really easy to see what’s out there and what you might like.

Click here for a selection of layouts. Ok so the prices may not be what you want but it shows you what’s available.

great stuff thanks chaps (how much was your bailey ranger paul?). off away for a week now, but im sure ill have more questions over the next few weeks 🙂

ta