Our new adventure.... (1 Viewer)

[4matt]

Hello Everyone,

I have just found this site and would like to introduce myself to you all. I haven't taken anytime to search for any answers yet and hope to find lots here for I have lots. So forgive me if I repeat things others have and ask the same questions many already have.

We, My partner and I already have camping experience and have Caravaned since 2006 where we started with a Freedom Jetstream and progressed to a Elddis Odyssey 482 shortly after. So we are use to some of the peculiarity of towing and taking your home with you when you holiday. We have both become less confident while towing and have been drawn to a less complicated way to holiday, last year we actually just took the car away and had a holiday cottage!!! for the first time in a good number of years. While this was nice it didn't have the same sort of freedom we enjoy while we caravan.


My first question is this, How much different to a caravan is using a Motor Home? Yes I know there is a cab, four wheels....and engine for instance.

While I like the rear bathroom in our caravan I could live with a smaller one however SWMBO is less keen on a smaller one and many of the motor homes we have looked at seem lacking in the bathroom department.

While we both favour the rear lounge layout (more caravan like) We like two single beds and some MH's we have looked at don't seem to offer this option without using the driving seats. making a less comfortable single bed. So another compromise....

We have a storage space able to accommodate our caravan at home but finding a MH with the same footprint seems hard. We do not want to take down gates and loose the Drive and car parking we already have. So suggestions of 2.1 wide MH's that are under 6 meters long would be good.

So what does a MH offer us over a Caravan? Other than not having to stress about towing.

Would you recommend an older MH from 1995 to 2002 for instance. We have seen a 2001 Hymer swing that seems quite good layout wise. No cab aircon however. While we are on that subject is Aircon a major consideration? Our budget is less than twenty thousand including trading in the Caravan. So thoughts anyone?

Our Campsite preference is CL type where facilities are limited and Hide away sites too although these are slightly tricky to access with a caravan what would it be like with a Motor Home. Do you need sites with hard standings? How about levelling a MH, Ramps and chocks?

Well I am going to have a look round the forum now but any thoughts and suggestions would be welcome.

Should we embark on this new adventure? Change from caravan to MH?

 

[dylan]

:welcome::welcome::welcome:

 

[Mel]

Welcome to fun.

Mel &Lieve

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[alfandM]

HI to you both and a warm welcome from us up here in Sweden, the Hymer you mentioned is a good choice, it ticks all the boxes for comfort and living in, and you get good reliability if its built on the good old Mercedes chassis , of coarse that in my opinion, we have a hobby built on a Mercedes and it has tick all the boxes for us and at 360000km and still going strong, the old Germans are great !, to have a motor home rather than a caravan the only difference is more flexibility and its just to stop and enjoy where ever you would like or just to have the odd day out has its pleasures, so have fun looking for what meets your needs and happy travels, Alf

 

[Jim]

Hello Everyone,

I have just found this site and would like to introduce myself to you all. I haven't taken anytime to search for any answers yet and hope to find lots here for I have lots. So forgive me if I repeat things others have and ask the same questions many already have.

We, My partner and I already have camping experience and have Caravaned since 2006 where we started with a Freedom Jetstream and progressed to a Elddis Odyssey 482 shortly after. So we are use to some of the peculiarity of towing and taking your home with you when you holiday. We have both become less confident while towing and have been drawn to a less complicated way to holiday, last year we actually just took the car away and had a holiday cottage!!! for the first time in a good number of years. While this was nice it didn't have the same sort of freedom we enjoy while we caravan.


My first question is this, How much different to a caravan is using a Motor Home? Yes I know there is a cab, four wheels....and engine for instance.

Most caravanners use their vehicle for the annual maybe biannual holiday, whereas most motorhomers tend to use it more than they might have previously used a caravan, a lot more. (of course there are exceptions) So while it might cost more to buy and run, you will get more out of it

While I like the rear bathroom in our caravan I could live with a smaller one however SWMBO is less keen on a smaller one and many of the motor homes we have looked at seem lacking in the bathroom department.

At 6m you are never going to have a palatial bathroom, but as long as you weigh less that 20 stone you'll easily have a useable one.

While we both favour the rear lounge layout (more caravan like) We like two single beds and some MH's we have looked at don't seem to offer this option without using the driving seats. making a less comfortable single bed. So another compromise....

There are plenty of rear lounge vans, not long ago it was hard to buy a british van that did not come with a U shaped rear lounge, but look around you are spoiled for choice.

We have a storage space able to accommodate our caravan at home but finding a MH with the same footprint seems hard. We do not want to take down gates and loose the Drive and car parking we already have. So suggestions of 2.1 wide MH's that are under 6 meters long would be good.

I'd suggest you look at a Hymer A Class, there are a lot of models to choose that would suit and they all have a legendary comfy drop down bed.

So what does a MH offer us over a Caravan? Other than not having to stress about towing. You will use it probably 10 times more than the caravan, soon you'll be swanning off to France and beyond with the rest of us

Would you recommend an older MH from 1995 to 2002 for instance. We have seen a 2001 Hymer swing that seems quite good layout wise. No cab aircon however. While we are on that subject is Aircon a major consideration? Our budget is less than twenty thousand including trading in the Caravan. So thoughts anyone?


Definitely; a ten year old Hymer easily has another 15 years camping in her,


Our Campsite preference is CL type where facilities are limited and Hide away sites too although these are slightly tricky to access with a caravan what would it be like with a Motor Home. Do you need sites with hard standings? How about levelling a MH, Ramps and chocks?

Any site you got onto with you caravan rig will for the most part be OK with the motorhome too. Don't really need to bother with levelling on <6m But if you want it dead level, yes you carry some small plastic ramps.

Well I am going to have a look round the forum now but any thoughts and suggestions would be welcome.

Should we embark on this new adventure? Change from caravan to MH?

Yep:thumb:

Welcome to the Fun Matt:thumb:

 

[Taran_Las]

:welcome:4Matt


From him with a U shaped lounge.

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[f6c]

welcome

Welcome aboard

 

[DesRes]

Hi and welcome.Terrific response from Jim, says it all...:thumb:

 

[Reallyretired]

Just need to bear in mind that to get the benefit from a motorhome you need to tour with it. If you're going to sit on a site for weeks then a motorhome is not ideal.

I have had motorhomes and caravans and whereas a caravan sits on a site and you go out in the car to places and come back to the site, with a motorhome you go from place to place, stopping a night or a few days and then moving on. You thus actually do much less mileage in a motorhome than in a car with a caravan.

An example is that a caravan going to southern FRance will probably use toll roads to get there as quickly as possible and then stay pitched for a week or two. A motorhome will take a slower route, stopping off at half a dozen places and will thus see far more of the country (and save on tolls:thumb.

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[scotjimland]

Just need to bear in mind that to get the benefit from a motorhome you need to tour with it. If you're going to sit on a site for weeks then a motorhome is not ideal.

I have had motorhomes and caravans and whereas a caravan sits on a site and you go out in the car to places and come back to the site, with a motorhome you go from place to place, stopping a night or a few days and then moving on. You thus actually do much less mileage in a motorhome than in a car with a caravan.

An example is that a caravan going to southern FRance will probably use toll roads to get there as quickly as possible and then stay pitched for a week or two. A motorhome will take a slower route, stopping off at half a dozen places and will thus see far more of the country (and save on tolls:thumb.

I agree, .. except the last paragraph.. I don't think you can generalise like that ..

we toured France with a twin axle caravan several years running, all the way down to Spain.. not using tolls, stopping at municipal sites for a few days to explore the area.. conversely, some motorhomers hit the toll roads and thrash it down to Spain.. others of course take their time.

We did more exploring with the car than we did with the motorhome.. I'm looking forward to doing that again..

 

[Reallyretired]

I agree, .. except the last paragraph.. I don't think you can generalise like that ..

we toured France with a twin axle caravan several years running, all the way down to Spain.. not using tolls, stopping at municipal sites for a few days to explore the area.. conversely, some motorhomers hit the toll roads and thrash it down to Spain.. others of course take their time.

We did more exploring with the car than we did with the motorhome.. I'm looking forward to doing that again..

Agree with you Jim, the last para was meant to be an illustration of my point rather than a generalisation, I do realise people will do different things according to their own preferences.

 

[4matt]

Thanks Jim for the nice reply to my long first post......Thanks everyone else for you warm welcome.

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[Touchwood]

Hi and welcome.

As has been said our illustrious leader (Jim) has provided a great response to your queries - I'll just give you my thoughts on a couple of issues: -

Single beds - Jill and I also have a preference for single beds - our 'van has an "L" shaped lounge, and we manage quite well though our feet overlap in the corner. There don't seem to be too many 'vans around with the ideal layout of a single bed on each side like a traditional caravan layout, but there are some, I'm sure others will be able to advise. If and when we change our 'van that's what we will be looking for.

Hard standing/levelling: - speaking purely from my limited experience this can be an issue, albeit a fairly minor one. Because you have to drive on and off the pitch, anything soft can cause problems and I always try to get a hard standing - not so pleasant as being on grass for sure but much less hassle. Levelling as Jim says can be achieved easily with ramps, though not to the same degree as a caravan. Some 'vans have built in stabilisers but ours doesn't, and of course the increased weight of a MH over a caravan means there are limits to what can be achieved with these. I always ask when booking if the pitch is reasonably level, certainly I've seen pitches on which a caravan could be levelled but a MH couldn't. This is probably the only element of setting up on site with a MH that is potentially slightly more troublesome than with a caravan, though please don't think it's a major problem, it isn't.

Welcome to the wonderful world of motorhoming! Choosing your first MH is a challenging and exciting thing - take your time and don't hesitate to keep the questions coming.

 

[sedge]

French couple parked next to us on an aire last year, had recently changed their van to a new Adria (dunno model) - single beds. Door in between em went into (rear, obviously) bathroom. You stepped up into the bedroom area and there were cavernous side/rear lockers.

Looked a nice layout, 2 x 2 seater settees either side of the van behind the front seats, hence sit on front seats and legs up on the settees. Removeable table. Kitchen was mid-van behind the dinette part.

Looked like a very nice layout.

 

[4matt]

Sounds interesting that Adria van. I have been looking at MH on the net and have come to a conclusion that most seem good. I now favour a Low profile coach built. I like the look of Autosleeper their Eton, Devon and Nuevo models look good. I also like the Sherbourne as this would appeal to my Partner as it has a good Bathroom similar to our Caravan. The Windsor seems very well appointed but still over budget as the oldest I found was 2009 at 36,000 quid.

Its amazing seeing so much difference between manufacturers. Something I have noticed is the Habitation certificate wording. Whats that all about then? I will have a look around plenty before making up my mind what to get. We are set on it now and both want to change from Caravan to MH.

Thanks everyone for your warm welcome.

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[4matt]

Well the adventure finally begins with our Lovely well cared for 2002 Autocruise Pioneer Magellan. The van has only had two previous owners and the last one had it close to ten years. Its an amazing van and came with a briefcase full of info detailing all the service work and extras that the previous owner has had done. We feel privileged to own such a nice example.

We are off in it very soon to try out our first Camping trip with it..... Look out for us if your in The Dales later this month....

I will be a waver Not a Scowler. :thumb:

 

[duane0001]

The one from springfields in bridlington?
You might see me around, don't forget to wave :thumb:

 

[Toffs-G]

Hi and welcome :thumb:

When we had our euro MH we didn't have cab air on or any air on for that matter and didn't find it essential others opinions may differ of course. Also with the RV although we had cab aircon we didn't use it and that included driving down to Lake Garda in August

We have never had a caravan but one thing we liked about the euro MH and regretted we couldn't do with the RV was just jump in at the weekend and head off. I remember the first summer we had the Elnagh the second May BH looked like it was going to be good weather so we just checked around for a campiste in Dorset and off we went late on the Friday night, arrived and literally just pulled up handbrake on plugged in no set up to speak of and wandered off to the pub for dinner that's what we like about the motorhoming idea.

Good luck with your search, we are also in the process of looking for a sub 6m MH to get back to it :thumb:

Cheers
G

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[Peter & Elaine]

One word my friend
Enjoy

 

[Dave and Ginny]

You will enjoy...we had tourers for 20 years and our first motorhome, a 2002 Hymer A class B544 was purchased almost a year to the day. We have only just returned from a fantastic 8 weeks in France and Spain and the only thing keeping me cheerful whilst I'm cleaning her out is that we have already decided to return in the Autumn!

Go for it...you will not regret it!

PS...this is also a great site for all the answers to every question you can think of... (although very biased towards motorhomes )

PPS...as an ex caravaner I can tell you that a motorhome is sooooooo much easier!

 

[4matt]

The one from springfields in bridlington?
You might see me around, don't forget to wave :thumb:

Yeah That' s the one. Any thoughts on it? Did you see it yourself? They only had it is a couple of days before we bought it.....Not been away yet but hope to soon.

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[duane0001]

Yeah That' s the one. Any thoughts on it? Did you see it yourself? They only had it is a couple of days before we bought it.....Not been away yet but hope to soon.

It sold almost straight away :Sad: