Hazel Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I am in a bit of a quandry! Do we buy a motorhome or caravan? The pros and cons of caravan or motorhome.Owners of either will be biased but constructive opinions will be helpful as I compile my pros and cons file. My partner and I are planning to take 2 years out to go travelling in UK/Ireland and Europe. Motorhomes have a great attraction but are expensive even for a decent second hand one. If we buy a motorhome we will have to sell our high top VW Bilbo's conversion which is only 5 years old with 40,000 miles on the clock. If we buy a caravan, we can buy a decent second hand one at a much lower price and tow it with our VW campervan. We have driven motorhomes in the past but never towed a caravan. The obvious hesitations are; Are caravans difficult to tow? What about reversing a caravan onto a site or indeed reversing on a road situation? I suppose a calm and confident attitude is the order of the day. Will we be charged double site fees for caravan and campervan even though we will not be sleeping in the campervan. Motorhomes are rife in France/Spain etc but are caravans happily tolerated on sites etc. by comparison? What caravan will give us a good double bed and living space without being too large? Remember, we have all the cooking facilities we need in the VW so the caravan does not have to have large kitchen facilities. Space to sit and sleep is paramount. We want to be able to negotiate smaller roads so nothing to long/wide. Hope you can help Hazel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 It seems to me that the big question is: "What do you mean by "travelling"?" If you plan to stay for a reasonable period in one place, using it as a "base" for touring around the local area, then a trailer caravan gives you a "home" which you don't have to take with you on every trip out. If your "travelling," like ours when we're on holiday, means doing things and seeing places during the day, then finding somewhere to stay at night before moving on, a motorhome is the business. It not only gets you to more inaccessible places durng the day, it's also easier to find somewhere to sleep at night. Chances are, you'll be doing some of each, so it's a question of balance: which will you do more of? Campsites seems to welcome both kinds of vehicle equally, but motorhomes have the edge as far as cheap or free overnighting is concerned, as we don't generally expect to see trailer caravans at Aires etc. Sorry not to be more helpful, but if there was an obvious answer that was right for everyone either caravans or motorhomes would have disappeared by now! Whatever your choice of vehicle, have a great time. Wish I could do the same! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 We have tried both and Motorhomes suit us. But you need to be aware that if you go for a larger motorhome you will also need some wheels for getting about when camped for any period of time. With a caravan its easy, with a motorhome it is possible using bikes, motorcycles on a ytrailer or in a garage or towing a small car. Its a lifestyle type decision. We found that the weight of all the clutter we enjoy taking with us effectively rules out a caravan (snapped the towing coupling in the Alps!) You should also think about the much better views you get sat up high in a large motorhome compared with a car. Your VW will be sort of half way. If you are spending 2 years potteriong about then I suspect that the VW will be a bit underpowered for towing around a small housefull. Good luck in the quest C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Hazel - 2007-04-17 10:40 AM I am in a bit of a quandry! Do we buy a motorhome or caravan? ..................... The obvious hesitations are; Are caravans difficult to tow? No, but it is an acquired skill. However, it doesn't take that long to acquire. If worried, there are one day courses run by both Caravan, and Camping and Caravanning, Clubs.What about reversing a caravan onto a site or indeed reversing on a road situation? As above, this is perhaps the major skill to be acquired.Will we be charged double site fees for caravan and campervan even though we will not be sleeping in the campervan? Generally, you shouldn't be. If the site owner want to take that attitude, go elsewhere!Motorhomes are rife in France/Spain etc but are caravans happily tolerated on sites etc. by comparison? Yes, perfectly tolerated. Very few sites exclude caravans, so long as they are not twin axle caravans.What caravan will give us a good double bed and living space without being too large? Research, research, research. Only you can decide what will suit you. My own preference, bearing in mind the Bilbo, would be to look at the Eriba range of "pop top" caravans, as they are fairly compact and narrower than most others. They are also a very stable tow and would fit nicely behind the T4, adding little extra wind resistance........................ Hazel, hope the above comments help. You'll need to list out all the items you intend taking, to be sure you can accomodate everything. Do check towing limits for the T4, especially the gross train weight (see manual). The T4 may struggle in the hills if it is a smaller engined variant. Check what you get in the way of heaters if you are liable to be away during winter.Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 We have owned both,but wouldn't dream of giving up the freedom that our motorcaravan gives us. Remember, if you don't want to tow everywhere, you have always got to have a site to return to,and, caravans are definitely not allowed on French Aires or German stellplatz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 We've done both and love the 6 Mtr motorhome we have, as you don't have to return to the same site after a day out, but move on to the next spot. If you want to tow a van a Rapido or Estorelle would suit you as you have somwhere to sleep and they are light an easy to tow. We had one as our first caravan and loved the build quality. You don't even know it's there. But we would never go back to towing, as the motorhome gives you much more freedom to go where you like. You can park up on the seafront and have a meal in the van. Try doing that with a caravan. As long as you don't get too big a Motorhome which will restrict where you can get to and park fairly easilly. This is where not too big low profile Motorhomes score over large overcab ones. Plus they are not affected by the wind and overtaking lorries as much and the ferry fares are not as steep. It needs a lot of thought as it it quite an expensive step and it must meet your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazel Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 Thank you all for you very constructive comments. I am interested in knowing what van you have Peter> We are definately leaning toward a motorhome and indeed the question of caravan was thrown into our pot of things to check out. We have owned a Wildwind motorhome in the past and I recall that was about 5.5 or 6 metres. I think a rear u shaped lounge with decent toilet and shower facilities are even more important to us than the kitchen layout/facilities. Our list of questions is being steadily ticked and we will soon be able to start investigating whats out there. Being in Guernsey, we feel rather at a disadvantage as there are no dealers here and not too many van owners to sneak a look at what they have ALL HELP IS VERY WELCOME!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Would it be a possibility for you to stick with your existing van for a while at first on your grand tour? You could get a nice free standing awning to go with it so that you can at least have some more room on site when you need it. If you find after a while that this option is working well then you haven't lost anything, if not then you can use the opportunity to see what's available on the UK mainland whilst touring around and might come across something that fits the bill perfectly, and if you the go for a second hand motorhome you won't have to wait long for delivery either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Hazel - 2007-04-19 3:12 PM Thank you all for you very constructive comments. I am interested in knowing what van you have Peter> ALL HELP IS VERY WELCOME!!Hi Hazel my van is a Rapido 710F which is slightly under 6Mtrs and has U shape lounge and 2 other beds for not too large a frame, one being a drop down and the other made up from the front side facing seats. It has an additional smaller swivel out table at the front and swivelling front seats. So you have in effect 2 lounging areas. We are very pleased with the layout as you can use the whole van for lounging., and have breakfast at the front table without having to dismantle the rear bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 Hi Hazel We've had a number of motrohome over the past 15years, from teh autosleepers Van conversions, to the Rapido 710F like Peters, whcih we've just sold. Ou first 'main' trip away was 7 months in europe in a Compass Drifter (overcab) and that was really great. However, that layout offered little real lounging abilility, and we likes=d the Rapido for that very reason. We're now chaning to a similar layout Burstner, which is just a litle longer, but still I hope managable. We find the rear lounge offers an excellent compormise for lounging/dining/ sleeping, all with a minimum of fuss or time needed to set up! We've also had caravans, but I would not go back to towing, and for our present lifestyle the Motorhome is far better. We like to use public transport, or else walking, and if you have bikes they are a useful accessory. At the end of the day, its' very much 'horses for courses'....what you want it for, and how you wish to use it. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazel Posted April 20, 2007 Author Share Posted April 20, 2007 Mel, another good and useful idea! This indeed could be one way to go and we will chew that over!! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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