OK...The biggest dilemna....MH or Caravan!

[Daves]

Hi... we're really new to all this as we're living in Cyprus at present but returning to the UK shortly. Our intentions are to travel UK & Europe in a MH or caravan..... but which to get?

We're aware of the obvious pros & cons of both and a MH just snatches it overall. However, what do you really do when you're esconsed on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!).

Any comments that finally tip the balance would be gratefully recieved.

Many thanks.

(ps The Autocruise Starfire or Starmist are favourites at present so any comments about those will be welcomed also).

 

[malc d]

Welcome to the forum !

 

Depends a bit on the size of your motorhome. If it's up to about six metres long you can usually park it anywhere a car can park ( as long as there are no height barriers ).

( I don't know how big those vans you mention are).

 

Or visit the local attractions on your way to, or from, the site.

 

Very often there is public transport available.

You can sometimes get info about that from the internet.

 

Why not bikes ?

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

why no bike? we and lots of others use electric bikes... they are quit and immense fun, plus you still get excercise but they flatten out those hills!

 

other then that: walk, train, bus, taxi, electric/petrol scooter :-D

[Caroline]

We have had the same dilemma, we took the plunge and changed from a caravan to a motorhome we have never looked back, nicer to drive than tow, pull up on site just turn the seats put gas on and a cupper is yours…….but I guess you have already thought about this.

 

As to additional transport we have after long thought decided on an A frame for our small car for this country as the sites seem to be further out of the city than abroad, and as we are not retired public transport is a tad to expensive. For when we travel abroad or going to places where it might not be suitable to take the car, we are going to get folding Electric Bikes, my favourite at the moment is the 26” with 36V from AS Bikes. We will get an inverter for the times when we are not on hook up.

 

We have considered all sorts of transport, with and with out trailers and this seems to be what suits us the best.

 

Have fun in making your decision. (lol)

[Guest JudgeMental]

Caroline, before buying an E Bike visit pedelec forum

 

it is a mine of info regards electric bikes, with some very knowledgeable people:-D

 

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/

[Klyne]

I am sure its a subject even us caravanners think about from time to time and thus far we have always come down in favour of the car/caravan combination but of course that could change in the future. Looking at it from someone who has no experience of a motorhome I would have thought you need to consider the type of touring you are likey to do. If that involves spending a week or more on a campsite somewhere then perhaps a caravan would be the best option. On the otherhand if you want to hop from one destination to another and be on the move quite a bit then I could see the convenience of a motorhome. I suspect also with a caravan there is a greater need to plan what you want to do which for us is no problem as we like to get out and explore with the convenience of the car but come back to base. Not sure about relative room between the two options but we have plenty of room with separate living/sleeping areas plus a sizable bathroom. I don't know enough about motorhomes to really pass any useful comments. I suppose the one thing that scares us about buying a motorhome is the initial outlay which seems for what we would want would be a minimum of £35000/£40000 and we would still need a car.

 

David

[Brian Kirby]

Daves - 2010-05-14 11:25 AM Hi... we're really new to all this as we're living in Cyprus at present but returning to the UK shortly. Our intentions are to travel UK & Europe in a MH or caravan..... but which to get? We're aware of the obvious pros & cons of both and a MH just snatches it overall. However, what do you really do when you're ensconced on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!). Any comments that finally tip the balance would be gratefully received. Many thanks. (ps The Autocruise Starfire or Starmist are favourites at present so any comments about those will be welcomed also).

First point is that not everyone uses sites, and in France, Italy and Germany there are extensive networks of motorhome specific stopover points.  Most are quite limited, providing just a parking place and somewhere to get fresh water and dispose of all wastes.  Their main advantage, apart from cost (some are even free!), is that many are installed by municipalities to attract motorhomers to their town/village.  They require you to use the autonomy of the motorhome which is, in general, greater than that of a car/caravan combination.  So being 3 miles out need not arise.

We carry folding bikes, and use there where necessary.  We do not generally use the above stopovers, preferring sites.  We select sites near places we wish to visit, or visit places en-route from one site to the next.  Something that is much easier, IMO, than with a caravan in tow.  If our destination is a large city, we pick a site near(ish) the city that has nearby public transport, or a city site.  So far this has worked well for us in France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and for our limited forays into Germany.  Our only failure was at Kosice in Slovakia, where the site wasn't really a site, and the tram was a mile away down a murderous dual carriageway with no footpath!  So, on that basis, I would say it proves less of a problem than it may at first appear!

[tonyg3nwl]

Daves - 2010-05-14 11:25 AM

 

Hi... we're really new to all this as we're living in Cyprus at present but returning to the UK shortly. Our intentions are to travel UK & Europe in a MH or caravan..... but which to get?

We're aware of the obvious pros & cons of both and a MH just snatches it overall. However, what do you really do when you're esconsed on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!).

Any comments that finally tip the balance would be gratefully recieved.

Many thanks.

(ps The Autocruise Starfire or Starmist are favourites at present so any comments about those will be welcomed also).

 

Hi Re car/caravan or van option. We have been there and back several times currently settled on motorhome option with pedal bikes attached

 

better half still prefers caravan, (cos it had a microwave), but accepts van as good alternative for touring and access to places you wouldnt want to tow a van. My preference is biassed to van for easier driving although for the times we had a caravan, towing wasnt too stressful

 

In recent years we had a starfire, (too small compared with previous lunar van), this was changed to AS inca with 4 belted seats "so that grandchildren could come", but this only happened one day as the are living 80 miles away now.

 

Inca seating not convenient for lounging (in our view) so back to caravan for a year.

 

got tempted by excellent trade in deal at Shepton 2 years ago, and changed back to van (Autocruise Stargazer on boxer base x250 2.2 litre

job) didnt know about judder issues at the time so didnt check it in reverse, so have had the difficulty of getting it sorted. Peugeot say there is nothing else to do after 3 attempts ( some improvement but not total cure), so now hoping it will keep going forwards at least.

 

Bikes on back as stated .which is best? just about even split, but van costs more in initial outlay and potentially more aggro re judder issues

 

tonyg3nwl

[RogP]

Hi Daves

 

to answer your mobility question , if you are miles from attractions without car or bike you could consider a taxi , hiring a car for the duration or as a fair few do tow a small car with you.

 

We've opted for the latter , we wont need to tow our car everytime we go away but on occassions we have that option and that suits us.

 

(you could always be cheeky and blag lifts from fellow campers ;-) )

[maggyd]

We were always very happy in our caravan, but they came the time when the stress of driving everywhere sight seeing became to much and not very restfull! we came back tired and stressed, so decided to buy a motorhome, this way we sight see on our way to a destination, and once parked up we either use public transport, walk or use our bikes. We very rarely stay anywhere for more than three nights, and abroad if we find a nice site where we can relax with eating places and shops within walking distance we might have a week.

 

You have to decide what you really like doing and if you are thinking of touring abroad, are you happy to find camp sites all the time or do you want to see as much of the country as possible without returning to base every night.

 

p.s to that, we go for about six weeks at a time if we were to stay on camp sites it would be much more expensive than staying on aires or stalz;

 

Whatever you decide to do Good Luck and enjoy. :-D

[Porky]

When we started on this thought process we had pages of questions. It took some while to arrive at a solution which we could both agree on. It is a very personal decision because we all have our likes/dislikes/concerns/health issues/age/amount of use/numbers to be accomodated etc etc etc.

My main advice would be TAKE YOUR TIME. That would include renting before you make a decision.

We have just had several months in Spain and France in our first motorhome and for just two of us the Autotrail Tracker EKS has proved to be perfect. At a smidgeon over 6m parking and access is not a problem and enough room not to get in each others way. We use sites mainly with two Brompton fold up bikes which take up little space but work extremely well. Also bear in mind "the bed thing". Carrying your fixed bed around costs money as well as the substantial extra initial outlay. We find using two Duvalays is no effort, they roll up/out in seconds. It becomes a simple routine.

You can afford to have quite a lot of taxis and public transport for the cost of another car which has to be towed, and which to my mind is just a caravan the wrong way around.

Good luck with your decision(lol)

 

Roy Fuller

 

[Tony Jones]

Hi Daves, and welcome.

As others have said, take your time and think about what kind of holidays you want to take. Both options involve compromises, as you've already noted.

 

Daves - 2010-05-14 11:25 AM

 

However, what do you really do when you're esconsed on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!).

 

 

I suppose that my immediate response to that is:

"If that's likely to happen to you often, go for a caravan."

 

They main way WE use our motorhome is to focus on the places we want to visit or see during the daytime. In between those, of course we need to sleep somewhere, but we only occasionally use a site as a "base," and then only when it has good public transport links or is in (easy) walking distance from civilisation.

 

Brian's point about "Aires" in France is important, if you're heading that way. The nearest equivalent in the UK would probably be the CL/CS networks of the major clubs, but they're usually more remote. Great for stopovers en route to somewhere, but only any good for staying put if you're keen on nature or need to catch up on your reading. :-D

 

In the end it's horses for courses. Have you posted this on the Caravan forum too? You'd get a different perspective there.

[rupert123]

We nearly always use sites and often stay for several days, have tried bikes but did not suit us. Now carry a small 125cc scooter which means we can easily visit around a 30 mile radius of the site but in practice rarely do more than 20. Scooters are great especially to visit towns because you can park pretty much anywhere. We also walk a lot in hill country and on occasion use public transport. Both caravan and M/H are a compromise but you can adapt and work out a way of getting around. We did consider towing a car but in the end decided this was the wrong way round, if you want to tow buy a caravan. This is very much a personal opinion and towing a car, for some, seems to suit but to me is slightly weird.

[bob b]

The other convenient thing about a motorhome is that you can go out for a day trip. All conveniences on board. I don't think that many people would bother to hitch up the caravan for a day by the seaside.

 Are you teetering ?

[flicka]

Hi Daves & welcome to the forum

One advantage of a Motorhome that is rarely mentioned.

You can see a lot more of the countryside whilst travelling due to the high seating position & not constantly needing to check the caravan through the mirrors.

The high driving position also enables you to see further down the road so anticipate a lot earlier than when in a car.

 

[LordThornber]

Daves - 2010-05-14 11:25 AM

 

However, what do you really do when you're esconsed on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!).

 

 

Hello and welcome to the forum. My simple answer to your query is don't use sites/stopovers/whatever with such distances between them if you intend to use the local attractions. Just pitch nearer...

 

Sorry if that appears harsh, it's unintentional but from a motorhomers perspective it seems blindingly obvious.

 

It's like the other nugget we, (well us anyway), motorhomers get asked a lot. How do you go on packing up all your gear when you want to go somewhere?

 

Err, well we'd have a car/bike/feet/bus about us if we chose to visit somewhere rather than pack a van again and move it.

 

Martyn

 

 

[rupert123]

LordThornber - 2010-05-15 5:04 PM

 

Daves - 2010-05-14 11:25 AM

 

However, what do you really do when you're esconsed on a site 3 mls from all the local attractions with no bikes or car? (Yes, I know, we could walk!).

 

 

Hello and welcome to the forum. My simple answer to your query is don't use sites/stopovers/whatever with such distances between them if you intend to use the local attractions. Just pitch nearer...

 

Sorry if that appears harsh, it's unintentional but from a motorhomers perspective it seems blindingly obvious.

 

It's like the other nugget we, (well us anyway), motorhomers get asked a lot. How do you go on packing up all your gear when you want to go somewhere?

 

Err, well we'd have a car/bike/feet/bus about us if we chose to visit somewhere rather than pack a van again and move it.

 

Martyn

 

 

We to have been asked this one but we seem to pack stuff away in any case so if we want to use the van just means un-pluging the hookup. If we have chairs outside have always just left them, never a problem on sites. Caravaners because they have a great big awning which takes hours to sort out, a vase of plastic flowers, bowl of fruit, windbreak, flag pole, solar lights, couple of garden gnomes etc etc seem to think M/H,s have the same.

[Brian Kirby]

Good Lord no!  Motorhomers have 400 assorted teddies in the windscreen, so how could they possibly get all that other stuff in?  :-D

[Mel B]

Brian ... what TYPE of teddies are we talking about exactly ... and are they yours or the wife's ! 8-)

 

Oh ... back to the thread ... just one question that hasn't been covered in all of the postings above - do you have dogs? If so IMV that pretty much rules out caravans especially if you're going to warmer climes as you can't take them with you in the car as they'll cook if you leave them. Motorhomes are ideal for dogs ... mine think it's their special giant dog kennel! :D

[Clive]

Tried both modes - twice and a MH wins for us. Each time we went back to a caravan it wasnt long before we knew we had made a mistake. We carry a couple of small motorbikes.

 

C.

 

[Big Momma]

Also depends on your storage arrangements, can you park on your drive or do you have to store somewhere.

 

I have had tents, trailer tents and 4 caravans before moving to Motorhomes. Found that caravans are great if you have kids and need extra space with Awning. Also if weather is bad you can jump in to car and go out and find something to do, leisure centre, shopping arcades etc.

 

Now that our kids are all grown up and there is just the two of us we tend not to stay in one place for more than 3 nights. Arriving on site it literaly only takes the time to switch on gas and plug in electric and that's it, first cup of tea only minutes away, satelite switched and soon all relaxed and watching the news.

 

In my experience of caravans most accessories are stored in the van when travelling and need to be re-located once on site. Even if you are competent at reversing the van on to the pitch it still needs to be unhitched and then the 4 corner steadies wound down, not nice when it is tipping it down. I know that you do not have to put out a full awning as caravans these days have the roll out sun canopies fitted so no differences there.

 

Our last van was 7.5 metres long and we have just got our new one which is 8.7 metres so too big to drive around narrow country lanes or find parking in towns. However, in the last 12 years we have toured Europe and UK and never not been able to get anywhere we wanted. We either use our own foot power, use bicycles (just changed to fold away electric bikes), local buses and trains and in Europe we have even used river taxi's.

 

In my personal opinion I do not think that the Choice between Caravan or Motorhome is the question as you can do the same sort of things in either. The choice is probably more down to your individual likes/dislikes, touring styles (long stopovers at one site which is used as base to tour from or short stopovers and move to different locations). The setting up time on arrival at site is also a factor, especially if you plan to do a lot of touring in UK where the weather is so unpredictable. No matter how co-ordinated you are it will still take longer to pitch a caravan than it does to site a Motorhome, although even in a M'Home you still need to get out to turn the Gas bottles on and plug in the electric.

 

 

[Basil]

Big Momma - 2010-05-16 6:44 PM

 

In my personal opinion I do not think that the Choice between Caravan or Motorhome is the question as you can do the same sort of things in either. The choice is probably more down to your individual likes/dislikes, touring styles (long stopovers at one site which is used as base to tour from or short stopovers and move to different locations). The setting up time on arrival at site is also a factor, especially if you plan to do a lot of touring in UK where the weather is so unpredictable. No matter how co-ordinated you are it will still take longer to pitch a caravan than it does to site a Motorhome, although even in a M'Home you still need to get out to turn the Gas bottles on and plug in the electric.

 

 

Having had both I agree with most of what has already been said, the two are just different ways of doing the same thing, some things more convenient than others either way, and I believe the whole thing turns on the paragraph above from Momma how YOU want to use it.

When we changed from caravan to motorhome we had the 'jitters' about not having a car or seperate transport and we actually bought an additional small car prior to getting the motorhome with the thought of using it with an 'A' frame. In practise we have never used the 'A' frame or car as the need has never arisen and we did not even bother to fit a tow bar. We have tended to motorhome abroad most times (where motorhome beats caravan hands down IMO) and I would endorse all that has been said about Aires and of course Municipals which all tend to be within easy reach of most towns on foot or have public transport nearby.

In the UK however as has been said campsites in the main tend to be away from the town centres and far less 'camping' friendly, however if you join the Caravan Club they have an excellent discount scheme where you can have a hire car for as little as around £20 per day (which can be less than using a bus) where you are picked up to get the car and dropped back to the site after returning it. Financialy taking into account the cost of a car and an 'A' frame plus insurance tax and additional fuel costs to tow it, this is quite a favourable option if you decide you want to site for a while and use a car.

So for our part the motorhome comes out well on top, but I would add that if for any reason a caravan fitted the bill better I certainly would not hesitate to return to one.

 

Bas

[lennyhb]

We were tuggers for nearly 20 years changed to a Motorhome 2 years ago best decision we ever made. I would agree with Big Momma Caravans probably just win if you are carting around a family. With just 2 of us now we are much happier with the Motorhome.

 

Biggest difference we noticed is we cut down the daily driving, with a caravan you need to be on a site and every time you go anywhere you have to drive back to the site.

Last year 3 weeks in Germany only stayed on sites for 2 nights just ambled along to the next village & Stellpaltz some days only driving 10-20miles. We find Motohoming much more relaxing.

 

As for getting into towns and villages we either walk, cycle or use public transport so far it has not caused any problems and find it more relaxing.

 

Just wish the UK was more Motorhome friendly we do get fed up with height barriers everywhere, it is the UK that looses out as being on the south coast it is easy for us to cross the channel and France/Germany/Belgium etc., get the benefit of our hard earned cash.

 

Before changing to a Motorhome we hired a couple of times to make sure we weren't making an expensive mistake.