All of the beds and seats fold up and there are lashing points underneath, so bikes and other kit can go inside.

. OK, but be aware you only have 136 kg total load capacity in there. I believe that includes your clothes, bedding, food, your pans, crockery etc.

Caravans (all trailers) are sensitive to how they are loaded and how they steer – sticking 40 kg of bikes in the wrong place could make it horrible or even dangerous.

No frilly curtains or carpets.

I get that. But those can easily be removed from other vans and replaced with functional finishings.

Removable tote crates instead of overhead cupboards.

Which should make the joinery cheaper!

Bunks for the kids.

I’m sure this is not the first van with bunks. There is a weight limit on the top bunk which would stop you using it with 1/2 the people on this site (just in case you have any plans to use for “lads trips” too.

Outdoor shower and BBQ points.

you can retrofit those sorts of things to any van.

Better than a tent though in bad weather? Is the one opposite a 4 berth? I think the awning is a must

If you need an awning every time you use it, even for one or two nights, I would think you basically have half the inconvenience of a tent. You’d get a trailer tent for a fraction of the price.

A bigger caravan negates some of the benefits. We’d need bigger car and I might have to take the trailer driving test, but yeah there will be an upper age limit of the kids in a smaller caravan.

mmm… £20k for a van, but won’t spend £400 for the licence to use it – seems like you are restricting yourself. I’d also be certain that your current license and vehicle combo will cover that – including any future vehicle. e.g. my (post 97) license and car would cover it – but if I bought a bigger car ironically it wouldn’t!

How does the caravan to car matching work….?

Cars are rated to tow XXX weight, but it’s recommended that the (fully loaded) caravan be no more than 85% of the kerbweight of the car – so at 1500kg you can get a van up to 1275 MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass)

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/caravans/articles/practical-advice/caravan-weight-loading-to-be-legal

You CAN go higher but it gets trickier, and depending on your licence / towing combo you need to be wary of being illegal. You also need to be wary of where you put your gear, as above – this video is a good example of what can happen if you get the trailer weight in the wrong place

@poly

Good points. My entry point to this whole thing is seeing the Basecamp caravans first, so I don’t know what that particular model gives you over the more traditional caravans.

I’ve started to look at other small caravans for comparison. This is a whole new world to me

but it’s recommended that the (fully loaded) caravan be no more than 85% of the kerbweight of the car

Yes, although with modern cars this can be stretched slightly. But you won’t need to, dmorts. You have manynoptions. But as above it’s about car weight not power.

You do have to know a bit about towing a caravan. Basically get the tyre pressure right (often really high), get the nose weight right (buy a nose weight scale) and experiment with what works. If you have a rear washroom for example make sure the toilet is empty because otherwise it sloshes about which will wag the back of the van. Most vans can have suspension dampers fitted, it’s a very easy bolt-on DIY job and it really helps.

We now know where all the stuff goes in our caravan to get the nose weight right. But if it needs fine tuning we have some of the gear in a tote whose position can be adjusted.

I don’t know what that particular model gives you over the more traditional caravans.

Smaller, bike storage inside, theoretically suitable for parking up at random locations #vanlife style.

We moved from campervan to folding camper to caravan. I love it and find little downsides compared to a campervan the main one is the last day is driving home it is harder to stop somewhere on route but that only affects the longer distance breaks. The extra more useful space even in a small caravan is much better. Set up time is not hugely different once you know what you are doing.

We bought a small four berth Adria Altea 390DS brand new eight years ago for £9k and we have had nearly 500 nights in it, including in the garden where we keep it. It was a great space away from the house during lockdown. It is still in great condition and I would be surprised if it was worth less than 5k now.
Ours had bunks, I took the top one out to make more room on the bottom bed. Top bunks are not usable for long, kids quickly get too big for them.

Adria’s do not suffer from damp but many British vans still get it after about a year which is just crazy.

You mention having a 1.5 petrol engine I assume that is the VW one. It should manage a Basecamp, I think they have about 184lb ft torque so it will feel a bit slow but it will make progress, I think steady is fine and stability is more important so try to keep under the 85%. My Adria is a little lighter full potential weight but it can take over 200kg more payload so I will have been well under the maximum and I used to tow with a 1.6 Tdi Golf with similar torque levels.

It costs money to maintain them and for many people store them so they are not the cheap holidays people expect although if you keep the van as long as we have it works out well. Definitely join the CAMC we prefer it to the Camping and Caravanning Club but it is ten years since we were members of the latter. We have just come back from the CL below near Nairn. £5 per night for all of the family for basic setup and no electricity, small solar panel keeps the battery topped up and gas usage for the fridge is very efficient. We are the nearest van below

Regarding nose weight if you have a small van like ours with a long european style A-frame at the front it really doesn’t matter how you load the van it has so little impact.

find little downsides compared to a campervan the main one is the last day is driving home it is harder to stop somewhere on route but that only affects the longer distance breaks.

We put food and water in the van and stop in laybys if we aren’t going on motorways, and sometimes if we are. We just have a tote and a bag to move out of the way so we can sit down. We don’t un-hitch of course so no need to put legs down.

It costs money to maintain them and for many people store them so they are not the cheap holidays people expect

We don’t have our van serviced. I just pay attention to it as we go along. I don’t think you need to spend hundreds. It can be cheap holidaying; our two weeks in Cardigan cost something like £14/night in campsite fees for a fantastic spot on the edge of the mountains in a CAMC CL. Two years ago we stayed in a main CAMC site and it was £45/night for a sterile field with a tarmac loop in it. And the CL had a trampoline 🙂

We put food and water in the van and stop in laybys if we aren’t going on motorways, and sometimes if we are. We just have a tote and a bag to move out of the way so we can sit down. We don’t un-hitch of course so no need to put legs down.

We do this too, I was meaning more along the lines of ‘we are passing Pitlochry, lets have a good look around town and maybe have a walk up a hill’ I am never comfortable leaving the van on a carpark etc.

No that’s true, and we have had issues with that. We pulled into the back of a car park on a business park to go to a supermarket on the way somewhere, and the security guard moved us on cos he presumably thought we were travellers or something. As if we even remotely looked like staying FFS.

If you want to be different and don’t want a caravan… https://www.opuscamper.co.uk/
(Note thats over priced – you can get this much cheaper – but not quite as trendy looking: https://www.ventertrailersuk.com/savuti-off-road-camping-trailer/)

Adria Altea 390DS

That’s quite similar to the Swift Basecamp 4SE in a lot of ways and half the price!

dmorts
Subscriber

Adria Altea 390DS

That’s quite similar to the Swift Basecamp 4SE in a lot of ways and half the price!

If you are considering secondhand then models after 2011 had the better layout. Also it was known as the Shannon for a couple of years.

Other options might be Eldis Explore 304.
Adria 432 getting a bit heavier, fixed bed and bigger second bed if the kids are happy to share but longer term may be better than bunks. Lack of windows so not the best for taking in the view.
Tab four birth again poor windows.
Adria Eden heavier again
Desio very square so heavy on fuel in wind
Bailey Discovery

Adria Altea 390DS

These look great. Should be towable by most on a post 97 license too without extra tests.

We’ve a 6 berth bailey Orion. Fixed bed. Side dinette/bunks and front double. GRP shell.
1380kg mtplm.
Granted it’s got sacrifices to make it so light for a 6 berth but it’s comfy for our little family.
With the right vehicle you wouldn’t need a test.
It was 20kg over the legal limit for me so I spent the cash. Didn’t learn anything but at least I can tow most things now.

I personally would not like a trailer tent. Two key advantages of caravans are warmth and quiet.

Ours has an electric and gas heater, with optional blown hot air, which means we don’t need to be huddled into a sleeping bag we can sleep however we want; we use a normal duvet and the cushions are pocket sprung. And the van being rigid doesn’t flap in the wind, and it blocks out a lot of campsite and other sundry noises like cars.

All on a £2k used van.

Liking the Eriba line, but convincing Mrs TiRed is not going to be an easy sell. Do any have inbuilt showers of any form? Our diesel CRV looks fine for towing. I’ve been working on a MH or even a narrow boat (we’ve hired many), but it’s proving hard.

Check out the hymer Nova caravans.. I would get these if I was serious.. was good second hand models with a quality interior. Still prefer a Motorhome but they do make sense.!

I think Euro vans that they build for the UK i.e. with the door on the proper side also are build with UK specs in mind e.g. cookers and showers and stuff.

For example a Touran 2.0 TDI is listed as 1635kg, and the MTPLM of a Bailey Phoenix 650 (a good spacious family layout with fixed kids bunks) is 1394kg which would be fine. Aomyou don’t need to go for a ‘small’ van at all. Many many options for your car

And yet if he drove a touran 2.0 TDI and towed that van he would be 54kg on the illigal as he is limited to 3500 combined MAM the kerb weight of 1635kg is irrelevant.

With a 1.5tsi at 2090kg and that van he would have 16kg to play with.

I would be sweating at a check point in that combo for sure.

Of course spending 325-400 quid on a days towing course would negate all of that and you’ll probably learn a thing or two about towing a van. Dinnae be one of them eejits who for some inexplicable reason can not reverse a caravan onto their pitch.

Yes or the ones who wobble down the motorway with under inflated tyres, one lower than the other for added effect.

Euro vans often have much longer drawbar than UK vans.

This could be seen as a waste of space in storage….. But you can get bike racks to mount on the drawbar…

NBT….. Love that video!

Clearly shows that even without driver input, a correctly loaded trailer/caravan has the ability to self-cancel a snake.

Brilliant, Brilliant BRILLIANT!

Shows really nicely why loading up correctly is vitally important.

I’m gonna show everyone I know that video. Thanks.

This could be seen as a waste of space in storage….. But you can get bike racks to mount on the drawbar…

You can but I can’t see how that wouldn’t wreck the nose weight at least for a bigger van. I mean ideal nose weight is 5-7% at least on a UK van, and that would be 75kg on a 1500kg van. Then another 25kg of bikes would that over the draw bar limit for most non-SUVs

We picked up a 18 year old Avondale Dart a couple of years ago. It was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. Never regretted it. We have used mostly caravan club sites but to be honest we are done with them. Too daily mail for us. The van was £1500 included all the kit including awning and full gas cylinders. It is hearing aid beige. We are always the rattiest van on any site. The kids play spot the van worse than ours. The shoppers at Totnes Morrison’s gave me very dirty looks when I was waiting for MrsDts to come back out on Saturday😀 (for clarity it is behind a blue Ranger pickup, maybe understandable!)But it is warm, the heating works, it has a fridge to keep drinks cold and it is dry. We are not precious about it. I guess that pretty good for a 20 year old caravan. We do intend to rip out the sludge coloured curtains and soft furnishings. Cheap holidays really. Looking for a site for Oct half term.

Contrary view.

Get a 500kg or 750kg trailer a good quality six or eight berth tunnel tent and some decent camping furniture and cooker.

It’s easy enough to book pitches with electric hookup and get a good electric chiller box and low wattage kettle.

Have much more space, much less to store (volume wise).

We’ve got room in our 8 berth tent for two kids to each have their own bedroom and a shared one for us. Somewhere around 15m2 of open plan living space where we have a four seat table and bench seats plus four camping chairs and a coffee table and folding storage unit plus the porch bit we cook in.

To get that space in a caravan I’d need/want a monster of a 4wd to tow it, it would be an arse to store too.

I get caravans have a number of other benefits as others have pointed out though. Just worth considering the alternative (we did go through this a bit a while back). 🙂

Dirty looks in Totnes Morrisons carpark?

You sure it was Totnes?

You know Totnes is twinned with Narnia, right?

Semtex, I did see what I thought was deer at the side of the road on the way in, perhaps it wasn’t a deer?
RIP Mr Tumnus.

Sod packing away a massive tent and all its furniture in the rain!

Poke that.

Even packing and hitching the caravan sounds like a pain in the pissing rain 🙂

I hitched in the rain last week, coming home from Eden Valley. Sat in wet pants for three hour towing south into a ferocious headwind. It wasn;t pleasant 🙁

Taking down an awning in the rain is a pain, but you can check the forecast and do it the night before if necessary. You just have to do stuff like empty the waste and toilet, it’s nowhere near as bad as taking down a tent.

Definitely so much easier sorting caravan in the morning you’re leaving than a large tent, we have been lucky most times we’re away and manage to get the awning down dry and it’s just hook-up etc to do. We’re on our second caravan over 10 years and we wouldn’t change it to go back to a tent for family hols. Been a godsend this summer with having our own facilities on board too. Even taking costs of the van, insurance etc into account, we’re still better off than renting cottages for the six weeks we normally go away in a year, especially in the South West and unlike a tent we have heating etc so we can go away year round.

and unlike a tent we have heating etc so we can go away year round.

I’m told by people who go to campsites that there is electrickery available now and the luxury tent users have heaters too!

In the rain we just sort everything in the van then do the water tanks and electric cable all with the awning up if it’s already wet. Wet stuff into the back of the van (transporter not caravan) awning down and into the van. Hitch and go.

Really interesting thread this. been thinking about a caravan myself, also always dreamed of a camper but the idea of a tourer is growing on me…

we currently have a large-ish tent that we use 3 or 4 times a year, but im increasingly jealous looking at the set-ups up the tourer pitch end of the campsites! we camped over BH, paid for 4 nights but sacked it after 3. i could probably handle longer but the majority had had enough…

where do you folks peruse or purchase the vans from, any preferred dealers or websites? when ive googled any of the models mentioned here there does not seem to be many results…

also love the idea of having an extra guest bedroom on the drive at home!!

the Adria Altea 390DS looks just the job.

the luxury tent users have heaters too!

Well that sounds eco-friendly!

im increasingly jealous looking at the set-ups up the tourer pitch end of the campsites

What triggered our first caravan purchase was returning to a soggy tent at a wet Sleepless in the Saddle at about 1am – cold, muddy, tired, and walking past a caravan and seeing the warm cosy people inside laughing and drinking and having a great time. The following year we got one, and returning from my again wet muddy lap to a heated caravan and a hot shower to then slip between clean actual sheets and a duvet was absolute bliss.

It’s more than just warmth of course. In a caravan or bigger motorhome you have a proper sink with hot and cold water that you can stand at to wash up for example; you have a fridge, you have a wardrobe so all your clothes are hanging up or sorted, you don’t have to rummage around in bags, all your stuff is in overhead bins, and you don’t have to pack any of that kit away when you move on cos it’s already part of the caravan. I never thought we’d use an oven in a caravan either, but it means we can grab supermarket pizzas or ready meals if we want, which is pretty handy.

where do you folks peruse or purchase the vans from, any preferred dealers or websites? when ive googled any of the models mentioned here there does not seem to be many results…

The Euro models talked about here are pretty rare, especially the smaller ones. I’ve bought all my vans from eBay – but there’s a lot of junk about so it can be difficult. If they’re not local you have to ask the questions like ‘is it damp? Does everything work?’, bid, then pay on collection IF it’s okay – if you ask the questions first then you have grounds to walk away if they’ve lied.

This has turned into a very informative thread.

What are the things to look for in a second hand caravan? Not just damp, wear and tear, but things like GRP panels, types/levels of insulation

I’ve started to have a look at some secondhand caravans (still way off purchasing though). One thing I’ve noticed is that quite lot look like someone has just thrown my Grandparent’s front room, wholesale, into a much smaller room 😀

we bought one in June after a lot of debate and searching.

started with a £4K budget and ended top spending £8.5 to get a decent one!

Can not stress enough that you need a damp meter, 80% of the caravans I looked at had damp.

Many dealers appear to be very economical with the truth/crooks, we ended up buying privately and went for the Cris check before purchase.

Take time to look at loads of different layouts, we started off wanting a fixed double but it takes up so much space and you often get a shite bathroom as a result.

we got an Elddis 554, twin fixed bunks, huge bathroom with fully lined shower, more storage space than you will ever need and comfy front double when made up.

Would highly recommend and awning too, space for bikes, changing and for chilling in the evening

What are the things to look for in a second hand caravan? Not just damp, wear and tear, but things like GRP panels, types/levels of insulation

Well, over a certain age, say 2009 or so, they are all made the same way. So it’s just a layout you can deal with but the main overriding factor is damp. They are made from panels that have wooden struts and polystyrene sandwiched between lightweight ply on the inside and alu on the outside. If water gets into this badly enough it rots, and you’re in trouble. It can be fixed, but it’s a pain.

From 2009 I think Bailey introduced wood-free construction and whilst early ones did leak, stuff just got wet and nothing rotted. So the leaky ones were patched under warranty. Since then most manufs have followed suit, so things are a lot better. But really, aside from that there is nothing to choose between manufs. Most of them have the same three classes of caravan – more basic, lighter and cheaper; medium; and heavy and luxurious.

There are damp-free ones at the lower end, but you need to be luckier. First van was a bit rubbish (very old), second was a badly leaking van with a cover-up job repair that I. had to gut and fix (always buy a van that’s been used by holidaymakers who are selling it, never get one that’s ‘being sold for someone else’ from a field), and the most recent one is great and was only £2.3k.

Also bathrooms improve dramatically about 2009-10 onwards. And you want window blinds on all windows. Especially in Scotland in the summer 🙂

As for the upholstery – grit your teeth and bear it! Having said that, more modern ones improve, and in the last year or two they’ve FINALLY started using tasteful plain fabrics instead of flowery dreadfulness. It’s almost worth £18k just for that.

Also, if you fancy it, you can rip up the carpet in an old van and lay laminate style vinyl strips. Makes a massive difference to the niceness of a van. And finally, you can get the cushions re-covered too, would cost you about £5-700 but might be worth it for an otherwise good van.