How do you use your motorhome?

[dep1]

Considering changing the caravan for a motorhome - probably coachbuilt as opposed to a van conversion - but willing to be persuaded - and interested in how users get the best out of theirs in terms of local travel when on site. For example, if you don't tow a small car and don't want a scooter or to cycle, is it a case of just using sites near towns / bus stops?

 

How much hassle is it to have to pack up to go to the supermarket or into town from the site?

 

I am supposing that with a motorhome the big advantage is always moving forward after a day or three on site compared to always traveling back to the caravan. In this regard I am guessing you could say that the fuel expended in moving forward is therefore not wasted.

 

So, how do you use yours?

[snowie]

Hi and welcome.

 

You are very perceptive, and your description of a way of "vanning" is well put. It's our way.

 

You will open up the possibilities of Aires, and France Passions, and Britstops etc, as well as sites.

 

You will become very interested in public transport options, bus passes and walking/cycling distances. You may also consider mo-bikes and A-frames.

 

Exciting options, enjoy

 

alan b

[Brian Kirby]

Different folk do different things, of course. However, the main advantage of a van is that once the handbrake is on you are, more or less, pitched. So, unless you unpack everything on arrival, you can be on your way again as soon as the handbrake is released.

 

The potential for sightseeing, or shopping, as you travel is, therefore, much greater than with a caravan. It is generally fairly easy to pull into a place, park, get out and visit/shop, get back in, and then proceed to wherever you intend stopping for the night. So, there is no need to make special journeys for this and that if you plan ahead a bit.

 

Sites near towns are usually to be found, some are within walking distance, others require use of public transport: many take bikes. My experience on fuel consumption has been that we use less overall (relative to the consumption of the vehicles) than when we had tent, trailer tent, or caravan. This is precisely for the reason you suggest, you keep moving along, instead of making out and back journeys from/to the same place.

 

However, all will depend on the van layout you select, its overall size, and when, where, and how, you use it. Small vans are obviously more compromised, and can get a bit claustrophobic if the weather turns tatty, but they will get pretty well anywhere a car can go. Larger vans provide greater internal space, but their greater bulk can restrict access to some places.

 

I have two suggestions.

 

First, get a copy of this book http://tinyurl.com/8973u2p It is a fund of information, will answer many of your questions, and may prevent you making an expensive mistake with your first choice. Its authors (no connection) know of what they speak!

 

Second, once you have sorted out what type of van you think you want, hire one as close in type as you can find for a week or so, and see how it suits you. They aren't cheap to hire - but hiring is far cheaper than buying the wrong van and deciding you want to change it soon thereafter. Good luck with your researches.

[graham]

We keep to coachbuilt motorhomes of less than 6m in length. This gives enough space to be comfortable and it can be fitted into most car parks as long as you can back it over a grass bank say and there is no problem if going to an NT property or similar. We used to take push bikes but really hardly used them and don't bother now. We use it as daily transport when we are away and having facilities and ability to make a cup of tea while out for the day is very useful. You don't unpack everything on arrival on site and it does not take long to get ready to go out (I should add we don't use an awning either). We have been doing this for 20 plus years now and it all becomes second nature.

[graham]

We keep to coachbuilt motorhomes of less than 6m in length. This gives enough space to be comfortable and it can be fitted into most car parks as long as you can back it over a grass bank say and there is no problem if going to an NT property or similar. We used to take push bikes but really hardly used them and don't bother now. We use it as daily transport when we are away and having facilities and ability to make a cup of tea while out for the day is very useful. You don't unpack everything on arrival on site and it does not take long to get ready to go out (I should add we don't use an awning either). We have been doing this for 20 plus years now and it all becomes second nature.

[Pampam]

We are on our fourth van in less than two years as I told my husband "you've got to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince". We've ended up with quite a big one ,but we aren't tiny ourselves and after camping through the winter and falling over each other , we've fallen in love with the latest one so hopefully it's a keeper: we call at places on our way to camp but generally stay put and either use public transport or shanks pony it's good fun .my husband gets to relax and not drive , you can have a drink in a pub etc.generally get local produce for tea.and have staples always in van: good luck picking your van its a very exciting time: if we followed the weather and went to sunnier climes we might have stuck with van number three (which was new) but spent to long looking out the windo at the rain:good luck and happy hunting pampam.

[colin]

dep1 - 2013-05-28 6:04 PM

 

How much hassle is it to have to pack up to go to the supermarket or into town from the site?

 

This totally depends on how you use the van, if you put out an awning and spread your equipment around i.e. use your van like a caravan it could be a pita to go out, if you do like us and have only a couple of chairs for outside use and keep everything inside in it's proper place, popping down the shops is a doddle.

[malc d]

dep1 - 2013-05-28 6:04 PM

 

 

How much hassle is it to have to pack up to go to the supermarket or into town from the site?

 

 

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

As Brian Kirby suggests, we do all our major shopping ( supermarkets ) between staying on sites, we don't go out again to do it once we've parked up.

Local shops are usually available for odds and ends.

 

Also we normally plan to visit places of interest while moving between sites.

 

We do also take bikes for local visits / sight seeing.

 

 

 

.

 

 

[Muswell]

For us mobility is more important than internal space and we travel light, it only takes a couple of minutes to pack up and go. Apart from when we are on holiday we tend to use the van when we go out for the day because of the facilities and I use it quite often when my famiy are using the car.

[Muswell]

For us mobility is more important than internal space and we travel light, it only takes a couple of minutes to pack up and go. Apart from when we are on holiday we tend to use the van when we go out for the day because of the facilities and I use it quite often when my family are using the car.

[crinklystarfish]

I think 'moving on' is the key term.

 

If you don't, a caravan is probably the weapon of choice.

 

If you do, a motorhome becomes the logical solution. The more you move, the more suitable it becomes.

 

Big ones aren't as convenient as small ones, unless you use them as a caravan...

[gocro]

Mostly as an extension to the kitchen cupboards, everything that's not in the house is in there.

[Guest JudgeMental]

I use ours for farting and belching with occasional sojourns to sunny climes ( not France!)

[Pampam]

Basically it can be whatever you want it to be : you can spread your gear about awnings ,windbreaks etc and set up base camp or whip out a couple of chairs then chuck em back in and be off again , or your own personal hunting lodge,seaside chalet ,country cottage,gin palace,passion wagon,etc i see people doing loads of healthy hobbies etc in theirs personally I'm sourcing the best carrot cake in the British isles and up to now it's the little deli in Pitlochry that's number one for me . Pp

[Barryd999]

We have a scooter on the back so kind of have the best of both worlds. Dont have to move the van if we want to go 20 miles down the road or just go shopping. However once we are in touring mode say in Europe we seldom stay more than 2 or 3 days in one place then might just hop 30 miles further on and so on. The only big drive for me in a six month tour will be the drive from The Dales down to Dover (320 miles).

 

I reckon some kind of secondary transport has to be a good thing though even if its just push bikes.

 

If I have to move the van it takes a couple of minutes tops to be ready for the off.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Howls of disapproval no doubt from some quarters, but I have to say if we "toured" the UK, it would have to be a caravan, Europe is a whole different ball game, sites that are convenient to use, far less restrictions on parking, height barriers, etc, Aires, many of which that are free to use, car parks that don't have intimidating notices and someone lurking waiting to put a fixed penalty notice on your van because you've overhung the bay by three inches, or time restrictions

 

If you limit your sites in the UK to be near public transport or shops you're not going to find many, and that would be hugely restricting and kind of defeat the object of having a M/home IMO

 

As for towing a car, I've never got that at all. 8-)

 

In short UK, a caravan, anywhere else a M/home. ;-)

[Guest pelmetman]

We tour...............and we park up on one site for weeks on end ;-)..............having a flexible outfit is the key B-)

[duetto owner]

when we moved from caravan to MH spent ages looking at kontiki size down to a transit hitop andthe reason we went for the transit hitop was so when on site we could go into town and park easy, in fact we did away with a car and our hitop is our car too now.

 

when on site where possible use the local bus.

[dep1]

Many thanks for all the replies. Ordered the book suggested. All food for thought.

[dencol]

I have a MWB hitop van conversion that fits in a regular parking bay. Its used for both short stay and long stays on sites, its also used for days out. For short stays we just get the chairs out and don't unpack anything. For longer stays (5+ days) we may put up a drive away awning for the extra space. We also found it easier to get away as we could on the spare of the moment decide to just go.

 

However (and some may disagree with this) the biggest difference we found compared to the caravan was when we use it, which is all year round. The van is not fully winterised but heater and extra layers soon sort that, during the later months and over winter we find sites have mostly motorhomes with very few caravans. As such changing to the camper has extended our time away.

[mikemoss]

We went from a twin axle caravan to a 7.2m coachbuilt, so here's a list of our pros and cons for each:

 

Caravan pros: Quite enjoyed that feeling of establishing a 'base camp' and touring from there. Enjoyed towing as a driving discipline, if you like. Nice to get back to the caravan after a day's touring in the car. More space - much more space - for your money.

 

Caravan cons: Found it difficult to stop and either looking around or pop into a supermarket on the journey to/between sites. Only once in 25+ years did we manage to pop into the van during a journey for a cup of tea and lunch etc (too much faff moving all the wheel clamps, water barrels, waste tanks etc to make space). Worst of all, and the clincher, was not being able to fit the caravan onto the drive when we moved house and having to keep it in storage. Hated that.

 

Motorhome pros: Great sense of adventure as soon as you sit behind the wheel. Ability to go wherever, whenever, with all your stuff with you (apart from food and whatever clothing is called for by the current weather). Much, much easier to stop on route for a spot of sight-seeing or shopping. Much, much easier to turn around if you take a wrong turning. Love being able to take a spur-of-the-moment cuppa or snack overlooking a spectacular view you've come across on your travels. No need to get out at the end of the journey and faff about with water, waste etc (only need to turn on gas and connect to EHU if there is one).

No more worries about snaking or sticking to 60mph on motorways. Ability to wild camp (although we never have) and use Aires abroad (not been, so not relevant for us yet). Greater structural strength of motorhome v caravan (maybe this is just a perception, but our Bessie does seem to be much better built and more solid than any caravan we had). Ease of changing your mind if you don't like a particular site/pitch. Most being would list parking under the cons, but not us - in six years we've never not been able to park more or less where we want, just takes a little more forethought. Neither have we been prevented from using narrow, twisty country roads - most of our touring has been in Devon, Cornwall and on the Isle of Wight and I challenge any panel van to go where we cannot (I feel that width is far more important than length here. Stop sniggering at the back).

 

Motorhome cons: Errrr...not many come immediately to mind, apart from initial cost and relative lack of space per £. OK, not quite so easy to nip out to a pub in the evening, or to pick up a paper in the morning, but other than that...not a sausage really.

 

If you do go the motorhome route, my suggestion would be to try it 'as is' first (ie not with bikes, scooters, and definitely not with towing a small car) to see how you get on. Riding a bike or scooter might be quite fun, and will increase your flexibility a little, but in our experience neither is necessary. If you're going to tow a small car, or rely entirely on public transport, I just think you're missing the point of motorhoming and should stick to a caravan.

 

Go for it!

[Guest JudgeMental]

Just buy a bike/e bike. Makes all the difference and is fun and good for you as well. Can have a few drinks without worrying as well.

[Colin Leake]

If you do go down the Motorhome route just make sure it has sufficient storage space for all the kit you want to take. It's all to easy to sit in one and think this is great only to find out later that it has insufficient storage space for your needs particularly bulky items like chairs, BBQ and levelling blocks etc.