Motorhome / Caravan
Good afternoon everyone.
I hope you’re all keeping safe and well.
I would be interested in your thoughts re changing from caravan to motor home. We have been contemplating this change for a while now and the present situation plus age has made us seriously think about it. We think we have covered the pros and cons but would appreciate any comments from other members who have possibly made the decision to change.
Obviously this will not be happening in the near future but we welcome any comments from yourselves.
Comments
-
Many of us have done it, Ginny, and my personal view is that it’s important not to try to duplicate your caravan but to look at a MH in a completely different way.
Whereas a lot of space in your caravan was good and there’s not a huge difference in towing a 19ft van of a 23ft one, space in a MH equates to a large vehicle which you may find trouble parking in towns, car parks and so on. In my opinion the best MH is the smallest one you feel you can comfortably live with.
So much depends on how you intend using it but, unless you opt to tow a car, carry bikes or use public transport, it will be your means of transport once away for sight seeing, shopping and so on. All those things we find best to do en route to the next site so that once pitched we don’t go out again that day.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
0 -
there are a few members on CT who have done this and will be along with advice, for sure...
in the meantime, it might be helpful to outline where you tour (uk and or continent), how you tour (sites only, looking to do others like aires), do you always have ehu or are you (would you like to be) more self sufficient, do you stay in one place for a long time or do you (would you like to) move the van around a bit more...
all these things might help to advise on the switch....van size, type of vehicle, how it might be equipped etc, etc...
good luck.
0 -
We have been contemplating this change for a while now and the present situation plus age has made us seriously think about it.
Hi Ginny, we too contemplated a change, when we were in a position to achieve it financially, but stayed with a caravan.It may help to know what your ‘pro’s and con’s’ are but I am intrigued by your comment above and wonder how the ‘current situation and age’ are factors, in your opinion?
0 -
I would go so far as to say that it depends on your proposed destination. Whilst a compact motorhome is fairly flexible, given the vagaries of the UK weather, they can become a bit claustrophobic if cooped up for long. On balance I am of the opinion that caravans for UK and motorhomes for Europe with its extensive network of aires in addition to sites. I swapped to a motorhome about three years ago.
2 -
alanandjean
Thank you for your comments. In reply to why the current situation and age affects our decision, as we are now well into our 70s, we feel perhaps a motor home would be easier for us to set up etc. Also we would be able to set off at the drop of a hat, so to speak.
The current situation has made us more determined to enjoy the money we have worked hard for and have saved( now hardly any interest)
We love our caravan and have been caravaners for over 20 years. We have not fallen out with the caravan but just feel perhaps? a motor home would be more suitable for us in the years to come. I hope this answers your question.
0 -
If you are not going to have alternative transport, close at hand,do not get a motor caravan that is uncomfortable to take out from a site ,as you have been able to with the caravan tow vehicle
We are well into our seventies and had two M/Cs (after many caravans) before realising to have the space of a caravan you need to add about 6ft with a M/C,
Also if relying on public transport ,or close to any populations ,care is needed when choosing sites,
It depends as others have said are going to use it to tour or as a motorised caravan and once on a site not move until moving to the next site ,which it seems many seem to do
0 -
A MH is certainly easier to manage, Ginny. You can forget all that wheeling around of water carriers and back breaking corner steady winding.
0 -
We have a Motorhome only bought it about 11 months ago, before that, we were under canvas, my brother has a caravan and has had it for a fairly long time.
since we bought the MH we have been meeting up on occasion and using same site etc.
My brother keeps his caravan in storage, I keep my MH on my drive. First difference is that the MH is ready to roll at short notice, so when we leave for a trip, there is no messing about, in the meantime it takes my brother 2-4 hours to access his caravan, hook up and get rolling.
Parking at rest stops and laybys is probably easier in a MH and on arrival at a site at the minimum, top up water at service point, stop engine ehu if needed ( to put the kettle on)and turn on the gas. pull out a deck chair and watch my brother spend another 2 hours getting the caravan 'just right' while we sit drinking coffee. Then, he still has to park the car
If I rig my driveway awning that's about 30 mins,
Downside with the MH is having to use it for trips into town or attractions from site especially if you find height barriers when you get there (even park and rides have them!). We tend to look for campsites with a bus stop nearby if we can which alleviates the problem.
0 -
True, it makes life easier but you still need to bend or kneel so it’s not old hat.
0 -
It all depends on your state of health and ability, David. IMO those are certainly downsides. I guess that’s why you still tow a caravan and I don’t.
0 -
It’s rarely necessary if you eye up the pitch correctly. Used ours twice last year.🤷🏻♂️
0 -
We changed to a motorhome about 4 years ago , A motorhome can be quicker to setup when arriving on site , but the down side can be getting around ,depending on the area ,finding parking etc , but we have found with changing the way you plan things ,it’s not a great issue. Depending on which area we tour ,we tow a car behind the M/H
For us ,it was the best decision we made ,but remember there are upsides and downsides to owning either a M/H or caravan
0 -
My brother keeps his caravan in storage, I keep my MH on my drive. First difference is that the MH is ready to roll at short notice,
Lots of motorhomes are kept in storage so not ready to roll at short notice. Lots of people myself included keep their caravan on the drive so ready to roll.
pull out a deck chair and watch my brother spend another 2 hours getting the caravan 'just right' .
I think your brother must be painfully slow as takes us about 20 mins to set up water, electric, waste and legs.
if using an Awning add another 40 mins
3 -
Hi Ginny, Please don’t feel I was ‘questioning’ you, I was genuinely curious having contemplated the change myself.
Back in 2009 we were in a position, financially, to change but it was other factors that led to the decision to stick with a caravan.
The main was space, as it’s unusual fo just the two of us to be in the van, and even what, to us, were quite large MH did not offer the space we needed.We have discussed the decision many times and also realise that the way we like to holiday, long periods in a couple of places, is not suited to a MH.
I had a romantic notion of just going away on a whim but the reality is we have too much going on to do that often
As for age I don’t know but suspect there may not be too much difference-the motor mover and drill to wind the steadies take the strain on site-and the thought of having to learn a new way of holidaying is definite ‘con’ for us.
Good luck with your deliberations!
1 -
Ginny
It's always an individual journey to change from one to the other. After 30 years of caravanning we made the change to a motorhome about 7 years ago. Do we miss some elements of caravanning yes, will we go back no. In fact in 2010 we should have probably changed then rather than buying a new larger caravan. What we suspected when we changed has in fact been prove right for us. We are lucky that caravan or motorhome we are fortunate to be able to keep it in our back garden but we often found we couldn't rely on getting the caravan out on the road and having room to hitch up if there were cars in the way which if not me certainly stressed my wife out. The same on our return. We were also getting fed up with all the checks like was the nose weight correct, was the wheel torque correct, were the towing lights working all areas of stress which are absent with the motorhome. I can drive it out of the back garden and park it anywhere whilst I lock up and off we go. It's usually easier to park when making stops en route. Setting up on site is certainly easier and quicker. One thing I would suggest thinking about carefully is what size of motorhome to go for. Initially we purchase a larger motorhome because we were worried we would miss the room we had in the caravan. Our second motorhome, purchased is smaller rather than being small. I think it pays to think about what size you want carefully. Finally you need to think about how you are going to get around once on site. Do you want to take the motorhome off site, if so the size will make a difference. There are a surprising number of campsites near to towns and villages or with good transport connections. Only you can say whether that will suit. In the later years of our caravanning we were already using that sort of site as we preferred to leave the car on site. Lots to think about. Be it serendipity or not it looks as if you will have at least a couple of months to mull over what you want to do
Good luck.David
0 -
Ginny for 30+ years we had a caravan then we bought a MH 6 years later we moved back to a caravan.
We liked the MH for ease of travel, for the payload, for not getting wet setting up in the rain, for stopping off en route for a lunch but being able to stay inside the vehicle, for having on board water.
What we missed was transport once on sites, having to choose sites near to towns or public transport, missing out on visiting some of the places we couldn't take a MH, on uneven pitches levelling a MH can be a PITA, if you have to park on grass it can be a problem. Parking in towns all so can be a problem .
As said above depending on where you intend to tour these problems might not arise, we toured both UK and abroad we are fit and have ebikes so used them to get around but they do have a limit too.
We have discussed just recently about going back to a MH but the only reason, was so that we could travel to Spain in winter easier using aires instead of sites.
Not a good enough reason to change back, as we know we would miss the freedom of being able to go out for the day in the car and come back to a lovely set up caravan.
As to setting up a caravan compared to a MH, there is very little in it if you have to fill up with water when arriving, queue to empty water when you leave, fit silver screens to the cab to prevent condensation, drive onto ramps to level the MH (not always needed) plug in the ehu.
We set up the caravan in around the same time, as we split the duties, one winds legs down and plugs in ehu while the other one fetches water and sets up the waste container. Both of which are only 20ltr containers as we use onsite facilities. We don't bother with an awning and if its nice and sunny it takes us but 10 mins to set up the sun canopy. As we are not in a race to do any of these jobs and have all the time in the world to enjoy our time away it doesn't bother us in the least.
Can't wait for us to be able to go away again and have all these problems
3 -
We changed from a motorhome to a caravan in 2011. We found the motorhome didn’t suit our style of holidaying. We like a mixture of country/seaside breaks and visiting towns and cities. We found it difficult to park in places that we wanted to visit, and restrictive having to rely on public transport. It was inconvenient for us having to take such a big vehicle to the supermarket, or if we wanted to go out for a meal in the evening.
We have a 2 berth caravan and a modest sized car. We like being able to pitch up the caravan and go out in the car to visit places.
We don’t have space on our drive for either a caravan or motorhome, so easy accessibility is not a consideration, and OH works long hours, so we can’t go away for weekends as it would only be one night. The cost of buying and running a motorhome compared with a caravan for us is just not really worth it.
If you want the type of holiday that a motorhome can provide, go for it.
2 -
"As to setting up a caravan compared to a MH, there is very little in it if you have to fill up with water when arriving, queue to empty water when you leave, fit silver screens to the cab to prevent condensation, drive onto ramps to level the MH (not always needed) plug in the ehu"
TG, we only need to fill/empty tanks about every 3 days, only use the silverscreens early and late season (a lot of people don't use them at all) and as I said earlier we rarely need ramps so, for us, pitching and decamping with a MH is much simpler and quicker.
Most times pitching consists of no more than plugging in the ehu, flicking a few switches and putting the kettle on.👍
0 -
"Can't wait for us to be able to go away again and have all these problems"
im only drinking a cuppa at the moment, TG, but "here's" to that
1 -
Ginny we converted to a motorhome this time last year, we had been caravaners from the early eighties. l thought l would never change has we liked the freedom of having the car to visit places. Early 2018 l was diagnosed with prostate cancer which upto now thanks to the the wonderful Christie is now under control, not quite out of the woods yet but hope to get the all clear this time next year fingers crossed. Which brings me back to changing to a motorhome. We were at Ludlow touring park the wife watched me struggling to peg down our Awning plus sorting out the van when pitching up it took a good 1 1/2 hours to complete. A short while after l had finished we watched a Motorhome pull up and saw how easy it was to pitch up. When we got back we had serious talk, put pros and cons down on changing to a MH. WE spent a good 2 months looking at all the different layouts, lengths and weights of all classes of motorhomes and most important our budget. We had already decided that the next purchase of a caravan would be our last so we new we had to be right on which Motorhome we chose.
Our advice is take as much time as needed to make sure you get the right one, test drive each one you look at. Some say its hard to park up, we tend to use public transport, plus our Bikes. We have always used the CMC sites ever since we started caravanning so we'll always try and look for sites on a bus route or within cycling or walking distance to a village or town, which their are numerous. We found its easier driving the motorhome tha towing, granted ours is only 6.3 metres in length, we have far more weight we can carry than we had in the van 150 kg more, so that's a bonus, we can stop on our journey far easier than with the caravan. One thing we need to do if we plan to go off site we need to check if we can park up, not had problem so far, good luck l am sure you will find easy to transfer to motorhoming we did, never thought l would.
Keep Safe
Heethers
0 -
i get the impression that Ginny's main driver for the change is 'ease of setting up' and theres no doubt that sticking a MH on a pitch is less of an issue than with a caravan....
often we already have water, we arent using hook up and the pitch is level so, whats there to do?....park, handbrake, kettle on.
for many of our stops, especially those when in 'touring mode' overseas (aires, other interesting lunch/overnight stops) that really is all thats involved...
but, if one is touring the UK and ebiking isnt your thing (or age is a disadvantage) then there needs to be another way of getting about.
this is where the big choices have to be made and, if going for a MH, there will be compromises....with size being the biggest factor.
trying to replicate a car (convenience for getting about on site) and larger caravan (plenty of room to live in) with a single vehicle is difficult.
unless your going to visit sites with public transport and all the constraints around this (busses never seem to go when you want to) you will need to be able to get about.
so, with a MH of any size, parking in car parks may be an issue with height barriers, so on street parking may be the only choice, with the best spaces further from the 'action'....are you fit enough to walk longer distances.
shopping is certainly doable in most MHs, supermarket car parks are generally less busy further from the entrance..
if trying to replicate living space, this will be tricky as MH use 1.5m or so in accommodating the engine/cab dashboard...so a 6m caravan (not vast) equates to a (at least) 7.5m MH....which is getting into largish territory...
touring location is certainly an influencer.....our stop/start touring of Portugal last year was perfectly served by our MH....no booking, no setting up, parked exactly where we wanted to be....
the uk, especially in season, requires more planning, booking and consideration of how to explore that area around the site.
then there is the issue of cost....MH arent cheap.
a nice PVC might be £45k-£60k, up to three times the price of a new mid range caravan.....a smart coachbuilt (especially something German) might cost double that....
so, this is a big decision.
again, as others have mentioned, perhaps a bit more info about your touring style would help..
where do you tour? do you stay on one site for weeks or flit about? do you cycle? can you walk far? are you happy with less living space? do you use an awning?
1 -
where do you tour? do you stay on one site for weeks or flit about? do you cycle? can you walk far? are you happy with less living space? do you use an awning?
Hi BB, great post which pretty much reflects our thinking when considering changing.
The last para is the key.
We 'holiday', rather than tour, so the van suits us.
If we were going to tour a MH would be far better but whilst that has some appeal for me it has absolutely none for my wife. I even struggle to get her to stop for a few days on the way out to our destination, she wants to get there and 'start the holiday'.
I love cycling but my wife cannot cycle and walking is OK if its flat otherwise not.
We could not mange with less space-when looking at MHs we sat in a Rapido and realised that there was not enough room to fit a travel cot to accommodate our imminent grandchild-and we use an awning.
Our main foreign holiday is usually with our MH buddies and the mutual benefits of this are many, including the opportunity to take the mickey out of each others outfits!
As said by others Ginny, sadly, has the luxury of a bit of time and I am finding these threads are whetting my appetite!
0 -
Alan, nice post, too!
dont get me wrong, we have plenty of time when we are away and we also 'holiday' for some or even all of the trip....it just depends....
we take a three month trip in the winter and in Jan '19 we were enticed to Lagos in Portugal by a pal. we had been there many times without the MH, my parents had an apartment there and ive golfed there since my late teens.
however, we still fitted in several stops before we got there, varying in duration from 2/3 nights in Seville and Granada to a couple of weeks (holiday?) at Kiko Park in Oliva (we wanted to try it as it had great reviews, justifiably).
after two weeks (holiday?) at Touriscampo we then went into 'trundle' mode back east along the Algarve, pulling in purely where it looked interesting...a night here, two or three there, just lunch at one spot.
so, our 'mode' can change with our 'mood'.
fast forward a year and we headed down to our regular first stop at Bonterra Park where we had booked a couple of weeks to chill...
following discussions (with the boss) and a terrific spell of weather, and the fact that we did loads of miles last year, we decided it wasnt neceesary to do more....and, Benicassim has all the cycling, bars, culture we need....we stayed put and 'holidayed'....till kicked out due to Coronavirus.
so, mix and match suits us.....we are only ever a twoball in the van (apart from the odd day with our granddaughter.....but we have four seatbelts and two large double beds) and, as we do 80% of our trips in the warm sunshine we only sleep there, eating and relaxing outside.
yes, all this talk about vans certainly gets the juices flowing, i might take my morning coffee in the van later...
stay well, enjoy.
0
