Family of 6 - in a touring van
Hi all.
I’m after a bit of advice if possible? My wife and I have four young children (two, four, six, eight years old). We thought for years about getting a touring caravan. We are closer and closer to taking the plunge now that our last child is no longer a ‘baby’.
We’ve looked at plenty of vans before and really want to have quad bunks in a separate room or a room that shuts off. We don’t mind our bed being that we have to make up from sofas although a pre-made one would be great. It’s more important for us to have access to the kitchen and ideally the bathroom without disturbing the kids in an evening.
We love the Bailey Unicorn Segovia (discontinued) and the Phoenix 760 but wondered if there was anything else offering a bit more space whilst still being under the magic 7m length. we’ve also been looking online at Tabbert, Adria and Knaus and every other brand we can think of but any views/comments/recommendations etc would be gladly welcomed!
The maximum weight fully loaded that we can tow with our car is 2250kg.
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The maximum weight fully loaded that we can tow with our car is 2250kg.
there are folk on here much more experienced than me when it comes to towing weights, but dont be mistaken, the max towing weight may be 2250k but in reality the real recommended towing weight is based on the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. So if i am correct your recommended safe towing weight would be 85 per cent of the kerb weight of your vehicle, this is not law, but is recommended for safety reasons, especially if you are an inexperienced tugger
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I assume you have the correct driving licence for towing the set up you're considering?
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As per previous posts do not fall into the trap of thinking 2250Kgs is what you can tow safely, 2250Kgs chiefly refers to the mechanical including braking capabilities of the car. Your car will tow safely 85% of its kerbweight you can go to 100% but 85% is used as a safety margin and taking into account young children in the car its probably worth sticking to. e.g Volvo XC60 - Volvo quoted max Towing Weight is 2400Kgs Kerbweight 1843Kgs car can safely tow 1566Kgs.
Check your license you may well need to take a Towing Test to permit you to drive a combined weight in excess of 3.5T
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We had (still have) 4 children so assuming you have worked out the very important above details look at vans which have a fixed set of bunk beds at the back with another two beds to be made up opposite them and the whole section can be partitioned off with the adults at the front either on two full lengths single or one big double with kitchen and bathroom in the middle. Look at the Swift Sprite major 6 TD which has won a few 'best family' van awards in the past and is relatively light weight, we have one although only one 'child' now comes with us.
see here
There are other same layouts in the Challenger range and other manufactures have similar caravans.
Good luck, it's a great way of having family holidays.
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Hi all.
Thank you so much for the help so far.
I was half-hoping not to get into the car debate as we’re in a slightly unusual position here and didn’t want to open a can of worms! Haha.here goes though: We have a Tesla Model X p100d with a tow pack.
For most places we’d want to go to we wouldn’t need to charge en route, but would need to charge up on arrival using the electric hook up. But I’m hoping not to go into this detail ha ha. Most places are within 150/180 Miles of us.
happy to hear your views though
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People were asking questions in order to help you stay safe and legal.
Tesla - I know nothing.
No doubt you are aware that the club only permits charging of EVs via the caravan and not direct from the bollard.
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Hi, as your cars kerbweight is given as 2300 kg then the licence issue is quite critical.
Licences issued from 1 January 1997
If you passed your car driving test on or after 1 January 1997 you can:drive a car or van up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg0 -
Thanks again guys!
I wasn’t aware that you could only charge via the van itself. That’s interesting. May instead mean using a charger when we’ve hitched up and we’re out and about.
Yeah, we’ve seen the impact range but we’re generally within 100miles of some the last line we’d like to be visiting routinely a few times per year and then 150-180 miles away from somewhere we might go to for a week per year. The latter one might mean charging once en route and would definitely use the Tesla superchargers for that.
i have to admit, I did look into the licences a few years ago, but had totally overlooked that now we’re looking at caravans again so this is very good prompt! Thank you.
are there any particular views on vans and layouts for a family of 6 too?
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Info on driving licences can be found here -
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/advice-for-beginners/driving-licences/
There is much other info available in the Advice and Training section of this site.
You can, as I said, only charge the car via the caravan in order to have RCD protection and, being blunt, to stop you from having more than your fair share of electricity. The supply on most club sites is 16A. CL owners may well not permit charging of your car at all. It will also cost you extra to charge your car on club sites. Here’s one of the threads where it's been discussed -
Personally, I think you’ve a huge mountain to climb to achieve what you want. Good luck.
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The Club will at present also charge you £8 for every day that you need to charge the car on the site, so certainly less expensive doing it elsewhere!
I would agree with CS that the Sprite offers the layout you are looking for, and you can even get a very small payload upgrade, and with all the stuff you will need to carry I would think that van payload should be a major consideration.
Continental vans often have a higher payload than U.K. vans, but also are often heavier to start with.
Your car's kerbweight is only slightly higher that ours and we tow a1900kg twin axle, which includes a high payload as we upgraded it at purchase. I would not want to tow anything heavier, even though the car could, and I have been towing since the early 70s. As a new tower, you will need to be cautious and heed the guidelines.
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How do you all manage to fit into the car?
My nephew in Norway has a Tesla (a company car) his children are teenagers, he finds it quite cramped with him and his wife in the front and 2 large teenagers in the back. He is however a big lad!
His is probably an older model than yours.
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The caravan layout we had long ago for two adults and four children right up until they were teenagers was very simple and very compact.
Big dinette at the front end made two six foot single beds with a bunk above each one. Kitchen was central at one side and wardrobe was opposite it. A smaller dinette in the back corner made up into an adult double every night. No fixed bed, no separate bedrooms, no bathroom or shower, just a small toilet cubicle in the corner by the door. We towed with a big Peugeot 504 diesel estate car with 3 rows of seats.
The caravan was only a 16 foot body shell - say 5 metres in modern parlance - but people want grander things and more space and comfort today.
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How do you fit 2 adults and 4 kids in a tesla with only 5 seat belts, isn't that illegal.
. Have you thought about finding a site with club house and swimming pools for the kids and purchasing a seasonal pitch and go whenever you want even long weekends. 0 -
You need to be very careful with payload and gross train weight in your considerations. You will have a lot of weight with gear for 6 people and passengers, and that is before you start with options such as ATC, motor mover etc. In addition i think you need to research the real world range of the Tesla, especially when towing. I suspect you will be lucky to get 80 miles, if that. And, how do you get to park at the recharging point en-route with a caravan on the back? I love the idea of an EV, however i think you are a brave pioneer. There are quite a few PHEV caravaners who have reverted to diesel.....
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Not all cars have just 5 seats 😉
The Tesla Model X has the option of 5, 6 or 7 seats 😉https://www.whatcar.com/tesla/model-x/hatchback/review/n161/space-practicality
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Hi guys.
Thanks again for the replies. I’ll try to go through them one by one
Tesla have Model 3 (smaller saloon car - this is my daily car), Model S (bigger hatchback car and what I used to drive for 3 years) and Model X (bigger 5, 6 or 7 seater). We’ve had our Model X for 3 years and are about to change for another. I’m 6ft 1in and I can easily fit in the third row of the Model X so I assume the nephew has a Model 3 or Model S, but I‘m surprised he’d find either more cramped than another type of car. But everyone is different I do appreciate. My kids are all younger so fitting them in my Model 3 is a breeze.
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Not at all! We have a front trunk (no engine) and a huge rear boot still. Plus, all the middle row seats are mounted on singular posts so there’s lots of storage space underneath them. We regularly drive to and across europe with the full family, travel cots, double pushchairs, luggage for all, food etc etc and no extra requirement for a roof boat or anything outside the car. But, it does all add weight of course and if then add a van on the back too...
I think I’ll see what test I can do and keep you all updated
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I think you might be right. We like the Unicorn Segovia too although they don’t do that model now. VERY similar but slightly different dimensions. They’re both nice in that there are 2 doors between us and and the kids but if we want to access the kitchen we can and if we need the loo there’s still a door between us.
Thanks Rich81.
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I was assuming that they are now only available second hand. Some manufacturers refuse a weight upgrade if the van is more than a certain age, so if you prefer the Segovia you should check that out. Also check the upgrade which would be available, as this is already a heavier van.
If you plan to fit a mover, an upgrade, to my mind, would be essential.
Layouts are fairly similar, but the Phoenix looks to have more kitchen work surface and less wardrobe space, do you need more hanging space? Work surface space is good.
What about the shower? The Segovia looks to have it over the wheel arch, which is limiting, not sure about the Phoenix.Would you be making much use of the shower? We use ours a lot so that would be important to us.
Do you have heating preferences? The Segovia has the Alde wet heating, which I would prefer, but is not everybody's preference.
Have you seen and spent time in both? It is difficult to judge from photographs.
Have you checked gross train weight for your vehicle? You do not want to exceed the limits.
Will you need to take the towing test? If so, check out what is involved in organising that
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