Caravan or Motor home
This morning I went to collect my caravan a Swift Challenger Sport after its 4th service and damp check and pleased to say , all ok .
While hooking up and fitting mirror extensions etc a couple who had just retired , were weighing up the pro's and cons of caravan or motor home .... looking at both , after chatting for a while and advising them to take there time , look , research , think
about where they want to go , storage , layout , they had a buget of 40 k , they appeared to know nothing about at all about touring , advised the to join the club , they seemed very excited hope they make the right choice .
Comments
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Yes, they both have their merits and for now I enjoy the benefits I see in caravanning for us two and our dog. Things may change at a later date though moving me in the direction of a Motohome.
Very similar in pastime but quite different in how you go about it.
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We've had similar thoughts for years now & often look at motorhomes. They are lovely and do have merits, but at the moment we prefer our caravan. Legs down and leave it there, and when we go out, use the car. Thats the only downside we see, having to use
the motorhome to go off site, or, if theres a bus nearby.One day we may change when we are happy to just sit and enjoy the site.
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Legs down and leave it there, and when we go out, use the car. Thats the only downside we see, having to use the motorhome to go off site, or, if theres a bus nearby.
One benefit of a motorhome is not needing to go onsite in the first place.....
Although we did prefer the caravan at one stage for the same reason you mention.
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We have just made the choice and gone for the motohome having had a caravan in the past. The deciding factor for us was the towing, I hope we have made the right choice, I am very excited anticipating our first trip out and just love the space and layout
in our Autocruise Stardream, fingers crossed we have got it right!0 -
"One day we may change when we are happy to just sit and enjoy the site."
if you think this is what motorhomers 'do' you couldnt be more wrong.....see 'thebroons' post above.....many use the journey between sites/aires etc to visit places en route.
if parked up, many use bikes, public transport or (heaven above) even their legs to get about and visit places.
there are many threads on the merits of the different modes of touring but if you cant see beyond the driving seat of your car than i suggest you stick with a caravan.
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one advantage of a MotorHome is , driving back to your site after a day out and you come across a nice view and somewhere to park up , kettle on and cook some dinner watching the sun going down
,can
you do that with your car ?,no because everything is back at the site in your caravan
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We've had similar thoughts for years now & often look at motorhomes. They are lovely and do have merits, but at the moment we prefer our caravan. Legs down and leave it there, and when we go out, use the car. Thats the only downside we see, having to use
the motorhome to go off site, or, if theres a bus nearby.One day we may change when we are happy to just sit and enjoy the site.
Is that what you think we do, GF? There'd be no point in leaving home if that was the case. We tour, see things and go places before rolling up at a site to spend the night. You aren't ready yet.
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Hello ive had four motorhomes in the past sold the last one two years ago then last september bought our first caravan have just been out in it for first time and surprise surprise i enjoyed it just as much as camping in motorhome , both similar yet different
types of breaks , and i count myself very lucky to be able to get out and about and enjoy myself regardless of whether its a motohome or caravan
cheers mrs bc0 -
We have had five Motorhomes over the years but have now changed to a caravan, have we done the right thing? Time will tell but it will be nice to have a car available so that driving on mountain roads and into medieval villages will not be so butt clenching.
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we have had tents then caravans then boats then motorhome then caravans again and Imo all things considered caravans are the most practical for uk however if I was ever in a position to do extended tours abroad I would probably go back to a motorhome, campers
incidentally I see no point in due to serious lack of space, comfort and ridiculous cost.0 -
A lot depends on what you need and how you plan to tour. For us we have only the one car and would find adding a motorhome an unneccessary expense and a motorhome instead of the car is not practical for us.
Having said that we are wedded to the caravan. We prefer to leave the caravan on site and tour from there. A motorhome needs packing before leaving a site, you can find problems with car park height barriers and thieves know that motor homes are likely to
be full of valuables when parked off site.0 -
Were well into our 2nd year with our MH and we love it, had 10 weeks in total in it last year and going to do around the same this. We had a CV in the past and they both have their merits but for us a MH works. I think the biggest change we've made is, as
people have said, looking differently at where you go. We tend to aim for places with good walks and village/town close by, when ready, we move on. As for having to pack all the stuff up I can't see that! Glass lid down on the hob & sink, fruit bowl away and
of course restow any wine or spirit bottles & off we go. Whether it's CV or MH remember each to their own, people have different tastes and needs so respect that and happy travels everyone0 -
We love to " trundle " . We set off with a rough plan and stop when we find somewhere interesting and then carry on till the next place of interest. This we find suits a motorhome really well. Up to recently we had a camper plus caravan. Good combination.
We now though wish to go alot further / more often and a lot longer. Eg Norway, Italy, south Spain etc. We have now sold both and gone back to motor home as this we find this better for our type of travel. It really do depend on what type of traveling you
wish to do. Good luck.0 -
as above, if the 'journey' is part of the holiday and used for discovery/impromptu stops and changes of mind or direction, then a MH is better suited, no having to get to a 'site' before have a poke about in the area youre passing through.
if you like to have points plotted and the journey is a means to get to the next point, then tow a van and do your discovering once you've set up your base.
we actually do a mix of both....however our bumbling attempts at reaching a 'route point' would frustrate the pants off some, as we swerve away to visit some landmark spotted on a distant horizon (usaually in the 'wrong' direction)....
but, we are lucky and have plenty of time to swerve......
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A brown tourist sign, a strange landmark in the distance, any kind of quirky museum, church or lump in the ground is our undoing, usually. All got to be investigated. Slightly more care required in MH, but road sign " not suitable for large vehicles" is
like a magnet in Wrangler!(Tank trap on Okehampton Range was difficult in our MG Roadster, but we got it off, eventually!
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Another reason to look at the choice between the two is where you plan on parking it. A caravan, particularly with a motor mover, is a lot more manouverable. You can literally spin it in its own length. You'll never do that with a Motorhome. My caravan
sits beside the garage easily placed there but I could never get a Motorhome in the same place.0 -
Depends how good your parking skills are! We get our MH into an almost impossible space, because it has an engine and four wheels to push or pull it! OH used to drive Fire Engines at one time though, so a doddle for him!
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Tents, caravans, motorhomes and statics all have their strengths and weaknesses. We presently use a caravan because my partner can't walk very far so having the car makes it easier for us. I know I could tow a car behind a motorhome but I don't quite see
the point in dragging two engines about. Perhaps somebody will enlighten me.0 -
FLATCOAT sorry have just seen your question ,yes mr black caviar was on a cc towing course at askham bryan in fact he was on two ! First the beginners for a day and a half then the manouvering for a day , he enjoyed them very much and was glad he went on
them ,did you enjoy it too? Cheers mrs bc:)(again sorry i missed your question )0 -
Tents, caravans, motorhomes and statics all have their strengths and weaknesses. We presently use a caravan because my partner can't walk very far so having the car makes it easier for us. I know I could tow a car behind a motorhome but I don't quite see
the point in dragging two engines about. Perhaps somebody will enlighten me.Choice.
With a m/h you can choose to go with or without a car. Not so easy with a caravan.
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As I mentioned earlier, misconceptions abound! We don't tow a car with our 5.5 metre MH, we get about all over, still more places I suspect than some do in just a car! London is about the only place we wouldn't go in our MH, purely and simply because the
emission zones don't welcome us. But they don't welcome our new Jeep Wrangler either, so no great change there!0 -
We have tried both and have come doen in favour of the caravan. Having just spent a series of nights on CLs it brought home the problem of MHs. All the caravanners went off for days out. Most MHs just sat in on the sites. Those that did go out trundled down to a bus stop. One had towed a small car and used it. The problem relying on public transport is it severely limits your choice of sites to more urban areas. Although the theory of MHs is that you are more free to travel to places you would not tow it seems a lot don't want the to pack stuff away each day and then have to level up on blocks on return. If you are a dedicated tourer moving on a lot then MHs certainly have advantages. It comes down to your personal style of use.
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