Caravan to Motorhome and back again (1 Viewer)

durhamahoy

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Hi,
We recently made the move from caravan to motorhome, and having talked with a few caravanners recently they have done the round trip of caravan to motorhome back to caravan.
I was wondering what the deciding factors were in people deciding that it is a caravan for them after all.
Is it space? motorhome running costs? a fixed bed? convenience of travel when on site?

Very interested to know.
Thanks
Steve
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Its a personal thing and also depends on your usage. If i toured in uk i would prefer a caravan, mainly because of weather (would spend more time indoors) and the roads. I dont tour in uk , mainly spend our time in Germany, France Spain and Portugal where because of the more reliable weather we tend only to use van for sleeping and travelling. We use cycles walking and public transport for site seeing. A motorhome makes far more extreme destinations accessible and travelling far more relaxing. HORSES FOR COURSES .

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scotjimland

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Hi,
We recently made the move from caravan to motorhome, and having talked with a few caravanners recently [HI]they have done the round trip of caravan to motorhome back to caravan.[/HI]
I was wondering what the deciding factors were in people deciding that it is a caravan for them after all.
Is it space? motorhome running costs? a fixed bed? convenience of travel when on site?

Very interested to know.
Thanks
Steve

I've done this trip several times.. and the reason is quite simple.. it's what suited us best at that particular time..

We now have a caravan as we don't do so much travelling, and when we do, we tend to stay in one place for several days or more, so a caravan with a car is more convenient ..

We've also done plenty of long haul trips with a caravan to France and Southern Spain.. the only drawback was not being able to use aires, so we used municipal sites .. it wasn't a 'deal breaker' .. and it was more than compensated for by having a car for day trips and shopping.

It's quite simple really ...

Motorhome is best suited for travelling and generally only stopping for one or two nights.

Caravan is better for longer stays and used as a base camp.
 
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Snowbird

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Whatever suits YOU at the time is best for YOU. Circumstances change many times in our lives and we must be prepared to change with them, otherwise we finish up with something that is completely unsuitable for what we are doing at the time.
 

motorhomer

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We caravanned for 30+ years before buying a motorhome. And there could be circumstances that make us go back.

We love our motorhome, and have travelled extensively on trips that would be much more difficult with a caravan (wild camping in Norway, morocco tours, E Europe etc).

But we find that most countries cater much better for Motorhomes than the UK, especially England. eg you can go into supermarket car parks to shop (no height barriers). There are aires or the equivalent. In many places you can park. Often sites are close into towns or there are good public transport routes. None of these are true in England, where sites tend to be further out and a car is essential.

So if we grow tired of continental touring and start wanting to stay more in England we will go back to a caravan.

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Nov 30, 2009
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Since 2009 with motorhomes several caravans then tents before that.
Well we've had both and prefer the MoHo.
We have never been abroad in it , furthest North the Cairngorms and South the IOW.
We don't like all singing dancing sites , always manage without hook up with the solar and trojan batteries .
I think its because we use our MoHo for weekend trips mostly , preferring to fly to far away destinations with only having 2 weeks off at a time.
Being able to flit from place to place when we do go away for a week or two in it though brilliant.
The fact that driving gives everything a big charge is a bonus too.
Layout is king IMO.
If you get that right , and quality fixtures fittings and of course insulation , your onto a winner.
If you don't a good quality high end caravan is better than a MoHo.
We nearly didn't make the swap because we had been spoiled with our caravan , our budget soon doubled to get what we wanted. But it was our first and will be with us for a long time yet.
Arriving at your destination , swivelling the cab seats around , flicking on a couple of switches is brilliant. Especially if it's chucking it down outside.
 
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durhamahoy

durhamahoy

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Thank you for all the interesting replies. All comments make sense, it's a personal thing.
Steve
 

Snowbird

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Now if these caravans were available in the UK I would consider one. This is proper caravanning at its best.[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk6KJXeOM0k"]GALL BOYS AUSTRALIAN 4X4 ADVENTURE - FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND - 4X4 OFFROAD 4WD - YouTube[/ame]

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scotjimland

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Now if these caravans were available in the UK I would consider one. This is proper caravanning at its best.

Reminds me of the Wally Byam Caravan Club's famous 1959 trip from CT in South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.

In five parts

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlEPeuXNAJQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlEPeuXNAJQ[/ame]
 

hilldweller

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A motorhome makes far more extreme destinations accessible.

I agree right up to "extreme". Depends on how you define extreme.

We were surprised to bump into a shedload of Dutch tuggers way down in Morocco. Seems they do it every year. Now to most on here, that is extreme.

We've never tugged but I do recognise how you get very much more for your £££ in terms of comfort. It's in no way an inferior way of camping.
 

enery8

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towing for 20 odd years but now have our first motorhome.
We are at the stage of wanting to change from a caravan to a motorhome. We have been caravanning for nearly 30 years with old style tents, a tipi and modern tents in between and along side. We have a comfortable 1996 22ft caravan (17'10 inside) and a capable tow car.

I have now decided that it is time we moved on from that arrangement as I am getting a bit long in the tooth to do all the setting up every time we stop.

We mostly use the caravan when visiting family, all of whom live to far for a one day there and back visit.

I am also looking forward making the trip(s) abroad, France etc (or most likely France ::bigsmile:)
 

mikebeaches

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We were surprised to bump into a shedload of Dutch tuggers way down in Morocco. Seems they do it every year. Now to most on here, that is extreme.

Interesting point. We have noticed how popular caravanning is compared to motorhoming amongst the Dutch. When speaking to one chap from the Netherlands, he mentioned that MHs are taxed to the hilt there, and suggested ours would have cost double the amount to buy in Holland compared to what we paid in the UK. No idea if that is true, but we have noted the ratio of caravans to MHs amongst the Dutch appears very different to other European nationalities.

Mike
 
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Ten years ago we never spotted a Dutch motorhome but see a lot more now, especially in Spain.

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