Caravan or Motorhome?

Techitone

My wife and I want to spend the next 3 summers travelling the length and breadth of the UK in some sort of “mobile” home. So we will be spending up to 6 months at a time touring places like the West coast of Ireland and the Shetland Isles.

 All we have at the moment is a 2 year old Fiat Panda, nice car, but not a “mobile” home.
I would like to know, from anyone who has done something similar, “what did you use, and why?”.

 As I see it, we have 3 choices

 A caravan (probably a fairly small one) and an appropriate car to tow it

1. An average sized motorhome and tow a little car on the back

2. A small motorhome and hope that we can drive it to all the places we want to go.

 We're not complete novices at motorhoming as we drove right around OZ in a Ford Transit based Winnabago a few years ago. We have also towed a folding camper around Western OZ several times.
However, we've never done anything like this in the UK and I'm quite sure it's different from OZ in many ways.

 We're in our 60's and reasonably fit.

 We have a capital budget of £35k-£45k

 Any advice, suggestions or alternatives would be much appreciated.

  Many thanks

Tony & Patsy Little

 

Tinwheeler

We have done it with all 3 of the options described. A caravan/car is the best option, in my view, if you intend staying several days in one place. A larger MH towing a car we found to be a pain with very little advantage over the caravan option. A smaller
MH as we have now (6.4m) we find to be ideal for shorter stays at each location and we can get to most places with it.

Chris102

I have toured with caravan, largish motorhome with and without towing a car and now smallish motorhome.

if you intend to move about regularly say every few days then a motorhome would be my choice.

Shoping can be done when changing sites and if you choose sites carefully you can use public transport to get about off site.

If you have free bus pass all the better, though it is probably only valid in England.

The alternative to towing a car would be to hire one when needed. It is quite expensive to buy a suitable car and then have it converted for towing.

Have you considered hiring a motorhome before committing.

You have a good budget. Spend wisely.

By the way I am a widow on my seventies and have taken Motorhome to many parts of France and Switzerland when my husband was alive. Now I stay in UK.

Wildwood

There is no right answer to this and a lot depends on how you tour. If you stop only a night or two in one place a motorhome may be easier as it avoids the setting up a caravan needs. If you stay longer a caravan saves the motorhomes problem of having to use it to get around or having to tow a car to do this.

Cost wise there is not a lot in the difference in cost of a car and caravan or a single motorhome either new or secondhand. If you need the motorhome to tow a car you would probably looking at either a higher cost or older vehicles.

On running costs a small motorhome could be cheapest with only one vehicle to insure. A car and caravan or motorhome and car have two insurances and the latter a second road tax for some cars.

Having tried a motorhome and a car and folding camper you probably know which of these suited you best. If it was the motorhome then go with that, if it was the camper then a caravan might be better for you.

cyberyacht

If you are planning on moving frequently in your perambulations around the UK then a MH would appear to be the better option. It may well prove more convenient for far flung Scottish islands as well and may be a bit cheaper on ferries than a car/caravan
rig. Disclaimer - I speak as one who has never owned a MH.

Techitone

There is no right answer to this and a lot depends on how you tour. If you stop only a night or two in one place a motorhome may be easier as it avoids the setting up a caravan needs. If you stay longer a caravan saves the motorhomes problem of having to use it to get around or having to tow a car to do this.

Cost wise there is not a lot in the difference in cost of a car and caravan or a single motorhome either new or secondhand. If you need the motorhome to tow a car you would probably looking at either a higher cost or older vehicles.

On running costs a small motorhome could be cheapest with only one vehicle to insure. A car and caravan or motorhome and car have two insurances and the latter a second road tax for some cars.

Having tried a motorhome and a car and folding camper you probably know which of these suited you best. If it was the motorhome then go with that, if it was the camper then a caravan might be better for you.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions, they are much appreciated.  I guess the answer to your question is that we are likely to be spending  a significant length of time parked in one place while in the Shetlands and Orkneys and Highlands of Scotland, but may want to travel about a bit more whilst in Ireland and England.  However, I think the distances, by and large, won't be great when touring round for the day.

OZ, I'm guessing, is a lot different to what I expect the UK to be, mainly in terms of distances between sites and the climate - "it's bloody hot in OZ mate".  Also, in OZ we did some free camping.  Is it quite easy to free camp in the British Isles? 

katieb

We have just returned from a very enjoyable 7 week tour around Scotland in a caravan.

following this trip, my thoughts are that its six of one and half a dozen of the other regarding a caravan or a small motorhome or campervan.

A large motorhome doesn't seem to suit most of our requirements of this part of the world.

Many of the roads are single lane which is fine when you are just moving from one site to another but not for every day purposes.  

With a caravan we stayed on most sites for four to seven days and used the site like a hub on a wheel - travelling out every day.  The advantage was that we could go wherever we liked and could return back to the site at the end of the day with nothing to set up.  The disadvantage was the increased mileage in that we had to return to the same place each night.

Personally, we like the space in a caravan - fixed bed, large lounge etc but after this trip I could really see the benefits of a smallish motorhome, if you are the sort of person who is good at planning ahead - one site we stayed at was 29 miles away from the nearest shops.

Looking at the areas you are intending to visit, I would suggest you look closely at both the distances you have to travel each day if you intend to stay a while in each place and also do not underestimate how long it takes to get to your destination.  Single track roads can be very slow although we really enjoyed getting about at a more leisurely pace; also everything seems to be a long way from everything else!

None of the options are perfect - as another poster suggested perhaps you could hire a campervan or motorhome first and see how you get on.  Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great time

 

Wildwood

Wild camping is not allowed anywhere in the UK except Scotland but even there it is now very restricted. The cheapest option is CLs but in Scotland they can be very limited.

Tirril

I have tried caravans, campervans and motorhomes and personally found motohomes the most restrictive. Despite the apparent freedom of the road their size especially height made many roads impractical. I also see a lot of motorhomes parked up for days on sites with their owners standing at bus stops which restricts you to sites in more urban areas. Campervans were fine for travel but have limited space and generally not brilliant in very cold weather due to the non-coachbuilt insulation and lack of 'double glazing'. They are best for on the go touring in the warmer months. We have settled on caravans because it suits us to site it for a few days and use the car to explore an area before moving on. The concept of towing a car behind a motohome seems to undermine the very reason for having one in my opinion. However it is great that we have a choice and what works for one may not for another. 

Fysherman

A small (ish) motorcaravan that you can use as a day van or a couple of nights away towing a caravan has always been my ideal but the costs are prohibitive. For me anyway.

TerryFlech

I have read a lot of the previous threads over the last couple of days regarding the caravan/
motorhome debate and the one item that seems to puzzle me and others is this -

The main benefit of using a MH is that when travelling from Site A to Site B is you can visit places such as Locations  1,2, 3, 4 etc on the way.

If however on the spur of the moment you decide to stay at Location 2,it seems to me , for some at least, that the idea of then using the MH to visit Locations 1, 3 ,4 suddenly becomes "impossible" when before
it was part of the plan

Possibly someone could explain this puzzzle

 

spk

no mate.     

Wildwood

I have read a lot of the previous threads over the last couple of days regarding the caravan/
motorhome debate and the one item that seems to puzzle me and others is this -

The main benefit of using a MH is that when travelling from Site A to Site B is you can visit places such as Locations  1,2, 3, 4 etc on the way.

If however on the spur of the moment you decide to stay at Location 2,it seems to me , for some at least, that the idea of then using the MH to visit Locations 1, 3 ,4 suddenly becomes "impossible" when before
it was part of the plan

Possibly someone could explain this puzzzle

 

It is not impossible but it should mean you have seen 1 and then 3 and 4 can be reserved for another day. Changing your mind can happen to any of us and provided you accept you might not be able to see all you set out to see then it should not be a problem
assuming you can find alternative sites to accomodate you.

Chris102

Well it depends how far away other locations are and the size of your motorhome.

I agree that if you going to stay in one place for a couple of weeks then maybe a caravan would be better, but that is not always the case.

Some people do not want to tow a caravan but are happy driving a motorhome and doing so allows them to have the freedom that caravaning and motor homing gives.

Many older people, such as myself, have spent many years towing a caravan but like the ease of driving a motorhome without all the hassle of towing a caravan brings.

I am recently widowed and am about to set off on my first motorhome trip on my own. I would not consider towing a caravan again motorhome for me.

Tinwheeler

I have read a lot of the previous threads over the last couple of days regarding the caravan/ motorhome debate and the one item that seems to puzzle me and others is this -

The main benefit of using a MH is that when travelling from Site A to Site B is you can visit places such as Locations  1,2, 3, 4 etc on the way.

If however on the spur of the moment you decide to stay at Location 2,it seems to me , for some at least, that the idea of then using the MH to visit Locations 1, 3 ,4 suddenly becomes "impossible" when before it was part of the plan

Possibly someone could explain this puzzzle

 

It's not a puzzle but a different choice. You make your mind up and decide your priorities as you go. It all depends how important the plan is to you.

What's to stop you visiting the other locations the following day en route to the next site?  I think you're seeing pitfalls where they don't exist to be honest.

Techitone

I have read a lot of the previous threads over the last couple of days regarding the caravan/
motorhome debate and the one item that seems to puzzle me and others is this -

The main benefit of using a MH is that when travelling from Site A to Site B is you can visit places such as Locations  1,2, 3, 4 etc on the way.

If however on the spur of the moment you decide to stay at Location 2,it seems to me , for some at least, that the idea of then using the MH to visit Locations 1, 3 ,4 suddenly becomes "impossible" when before
it was part of the plan

Possibly someone could explain this puzzle

Techitone

I think that, if you plan well enough ahead and, especially if you don't any time restrictions and don't try to do too much or drive too far each day, this won't be a huge problem.  You also have to be realistic that you will never be able to see everything

Techitone

I've had a motorhome and towed a folding camper, as I said in my original question, but I've never had a proper caravan.  So what hassle do you find in towing and setting up a caravan?

QFour

Wild camping is not allowed anywhere in the UK except Scotland but even there it is now very restricted. The cheapest option is CLs but in Scotland they can be very limited.

We wild camp all over the UK.  You just have to know how to do it, we also use CLs.  We find motor homing very flexible, as everything is self contained.  We can set up in about five minutes.  We like meandering round and to be absolutely honest, parking is rarely a problem.  We've just had  a weekend away and used a CL but parked by the beach during the day.  You really don't need to tow a car.

brue

I see you have plans for Shetland. We took our motorhome up there last year, we were self contained in our vehicle and used several of the community run sites up there. Having owned a caravan a few years ago it was generally easier using a motorhome especially
moving on every few days. We enjoyed parking and brewing up with our facilities to hand. Since the journey also involved four return ferry trips this was easier too.