Motorhome or caravan

lizzieh

Guest
Really undecided, like that fact that a motorhome can go 'wild' but then if on a site and you want to visit the pub you have to pack up and take the whole thing. I don't do bikes, so please don't suggest we take bikes with us, also have a dog who comes everywhere with us. Can readers tell me their reasons for motorhomes?
 
Hi lizzieh,
Motorhome or Car/Caravan shouldn't really be used to go to the pub, best to walk and the dog will enjoy it. If you go to the pub in the Motorhome or the Car once the Caravan is detached, then you are restricted. For wildcamping a Motorhome is best for all the out of the way places, more easily manouverable, but everyone to his own I say. Have a look at some of the previous threads from over the last few months on this subject.

Happy Camping.:)
 
motor home or caravan

we were faced with the same dilema but we chose to sell caravan and take the plunge and got a motor home. we find it a lot easier no more pulling and pushing just jump in and go and arrive on site park up an kettle on yes there is a few draw backs you have to unhook cable if you want to go any where but not much of a prob. weve not wild camped yet but hope to very soongood luck with your choice .
 
Thanks for the post - however, it is a fact of life that campsites can be a long way from a pub, village, shops etc and I don't fancy long walks in the dark. Hence my problem with a motorhome as opposed a caravan.

Pioneer said:
Hi lizzieh,
Motorhome or Car/Caravan shouldn't really be used to go to the pub, best to walk and the dog will enjoy it. If you go to the pub in the Motorhome or the Car once the Caravan is detached, then you are restricted. For wildcamping a Motorhome is best for all the out of the way places, more easily manouverable, but everyone to his own I say. Have a look at some of the previous threads from over the last few months on this subject.

Happy Camping.:)
Click to expand...
 
motor home anyday, for a start of with a caravan you will have to use a site at all times as you cannot wild realy with a caravan. uaualy you can find a place to park up near a pub if you require a drink and a meal you can find some pubs may let you overnight in the car park so when you take into consideration camp site fees!!!! your drink and meal are free or near enough :D also i have a 4 berth coach built bedford cf and i use it for my daily transport petrol consumption is better than some large cars or 4x4 s most use for towing a caravan they are some of the reasons for a m/home lots more come to mind .
 
Thanks for all replies, one other question, do you use the over cab bed or make the seating up into the bed every night? The van we have looked, Swift Suntour 530 L, at has a big over the cab bed with quite good headroom. We were also told you can empty your waste over a drain in the road, if necessary, ie when wild camping, is this true?
 
Hi lizzieth

We have a Bessacarr with the same overcab as the one you are looking at with a long settee and dinette. I sleep up top and my wife lays her sleeping bag on the settee.This leaves the dinette free for morning. Works well for us'
Used to caravan many years back but would not go back.
Always make sure there is a pub within walking distance.

Brian
 
If you use a Caravan then you will be restricting yourself to sites.
I would not have found half the places that I have ended up if I hadn't used a Motorhome.
 
lizzieh said:
Thanks for all replies, one other question, do you use the over cab bed or make the seating up into the bed every night? The van we have looked, Swift Suntour 530 L, at has a big over the cab bed with quite good headroom. We were also told you can empty your waste over a drain in the road, if necessary, ie when wild camping, is this true?
Click to expand...

overhead bed only two of us, thats unless our daughter comes along then we make up the other bed easier to let her sleep on up top :D:D:D grey waste into the drain toilet waste in public loos or wait till we get home .
 
I tried pulling a caravan a few years ago and it was,nt for me,(Its just one more thing to worry about) but, each to their own:).

One thing Ive never understood:confused:, you see some gorgeous /expensive caravans on sites but they are still surrounded by fresh water barrells/waste water tanks, even domestic waste fittings for their black and grey water:confused:, Why cant they be fitted with underslung fresh and waste water tanks???:confused:
 
with a motorhome you dont need all the things for a permanant set up that you would need for a caravan things like awnings /water carriers /grey water carriers /large carpets / ect
most of what you realy need only takes a few moments to pack up but if on a site you can leave the door mat and table and chairs on your pitch.
if wilding there is only chairs and table to pack up and off you go surely this is not a reason to be put off getting a motorhome
my only advice is get the largest motorhome you can afford
also it is suprising how ingenious you get at finding places to put all the junk and gadjets you probably will never use
we have over the years had the same dilema as yourself but after spending many thousands of pounds changing backwards and forwards from motorhomes to caravans many times
we are now positive motorhomes are the more usefull vehicle
i do hear that mot and a driving test for towed caravans are in comming in the near future
some eec idea i think
 
with m/h you take a nice cup of tea and a plesant toilet wherever you go
1 day out or many days away

carravan would stop on the storage space alot more

i sleep in the overcab best beloved on the dinning sofa/seaty thing

and you get a second vehicle and dont need a large tow car to run for 12 mnths
 
If you like going away to one place for days on end, then a car/caravan is more useful.

If you like a different view from your lounge window everyday, get a m/home

voxy.
 
M/H or Caravan

You need to decide what you want to use it for, where you will be going etc. As for the overcab bed, the downside is the wind resistance the upside is either a very large bed at your disposal or very large storage area. Yes you should consider not putting heavy gear high up in the van but is probably balances out the axle weights aswell.

Choose your van very carefully, it could be an expensive error if you get it wrong. My advice would be a coachbuilt if you intend to use it all year round, although personally I keep considering a van conversion. The loss of space and lack of insulation particularly the drafts around front/rear doors puts me off. BUT I cannot recommend 6m as a max length enough to people who might want to park it in a town/city car park or on a parking meter. This is about the max you can get away with in these places where you pay to park.

I take great delight when I arrive on a site, park on a flat pitch and then get the kettle on. Can be as little as 2 mins. The watch the tuggers arrive, fight to reverse as most cannot, then get all the gear from inside the caravan and boot, connect plastic pipes for waste water, fetch water, wrestle with the awning the list goes on and on.

The tuggers do have one advantage to us on sites though. The park the bloody cars on other pitches to save it for there friends, yet if try they are the first to go running to the Caravan Club wardens. Rant over.

good luck with your choice.

Jon
 
I you are going to come on a forum such as this, where 100% of the posters are motorhome or camper van owners, then obviously you will get a biased opinion. Just as you will get a biased opinion for the benefit of caravans on a caravan forum.
But as this is a wildcamping forum, its a fact that you cannot wildcamp in caravan. All the other advantages and disavantages of caravan verses motorhome are down to personal choice and needs of the user.
 
Hi
We (Me, OH and Daughter 11)just changed from caravan to motorhome in june and must say so far dont regret it for a second. We went to Europe for 24 days and seen loads of places that we would never have seen with caravan. One of the main reasons we changed was due to the weather at Easter we booked 10 nights at Southport cc site and although no problems with the site due to crapy weather we drove to hundreds of places and of course drove back again, so we thought why not get a M/H then we can go to somewhere for 2-3 nights then move on. We also take our bikes with us this allows us to park on edge of towns and cycle in. We have also used public transport in Germany,Belgium and France. If you plan on going abroad then you will enjoy M/H even more as other countries are geared up for them.
We have also wild camped in Scotland and as someone said the money we saved on fees had a nice dinner out.

Gerry
 
thanks

So many of you have kindly replied. I think my mind is now made up, m/h it is. The caravan forum did nothing to make me think towing would be better and I love the thought of wild camping.many tks.
 
one more thing to recommend a m/h over a caravan what you pay for site fees goes a long way toward fuel ps shell station dodworth road barnsley just off m1 junction 37 £1.04 per litre unleaded
 
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