Hello! switching from motorhome to caravan

Never owned a MH so can't really comment but do have friends with a MH and once you are used to towing a big white box, the main difference is space and storage. There's only the two of us in a 4 berth with fixed bed but there is still loads of stretch out room and not in the cabin that you've just driven 250 miles in! Good luck.

After owning 3 motorhomes for many years we swapped to a caravan a few years ago because we were beginning to find walking or cycling 10 or 12 miles to the nearest town or place we wanted to visit challenging. We used to have a small motorbike (think pizza deliveries!) we carried on the back of the MH but found it too heavy to lift on and off as we got older. Also so many rural bus routes are being withdrawn. The advantages have been that we have our own transport on tap whenever we want it which has made our holidays completely different as we can visit so many more places and stay on many different sites, not necessarily one which is close to a town, village or local transport.  The space and comfort in the caravan is so much better. We can put up a permanent and robust awning if we want to which doubles our living space. The disadvantages are that it takes longer to start off and set up when we get to a site so shorter trips of only 2 or 3 days are not quite as easy. If we were on a site for longer with the MH we never did move it to fill up and empty the water as it was too much trouble.  We used to fil up with a watering can and empty into a bucket and only used the MH service point on arrival and leaving. We never travelled with much water on board as it made the MH too heavy. Yes we had to buy a tow car but kept my little car to use around town as it is more convenient and fuel efficient  We have noticed quite a few hybrid cars on sites these days which might be a consideration. In short the caravan is so much better when we are on site but possibly travelling is not quite as easy as with the MH. We have never regretted the change.

Many of us have changed one way or the other, some more than once. Some of us have even swapped to statics, hotels, cruising or glamping and back again. Thing is most of us involved in such 'swaps' do so due to personal circumstances, constraints, needs or wishes. Non are wrong, just right for that stage in our lives.

An almost mirror image of our time with motor caravans

Hi David

Our change was a lot to do with running costs. George (our moho) needed tax, insurance, MOT, servicing for van and habitation, on top of our 2 cars! We loved George and were always happy parking up and walking with our 2 dogs, but think the caravan may suit our needs a bit better for now and will eliminate the engine costs of a 3rd vehicle!

Fingers crossed it works out!

Helen

Good point. We were taxing, insuring, servicing and MOTing the motorhome, 2 cars and a motorbike. Good luck. I do hope all goes well. Ask away. You will find plenty of help if you need it.

Only advice I will give us to use a tow car that has a good towing capability, and that can cope on grass. It will extend your range of sites extensively. Hope the change goes well.😁

I tow a 4 berth 'van with a Mazda CX-5, £30 a year road tax and averaging over 40 mpg around town. less when towing though, but not much. Diesel, of course.

I've back-packed, Trailer-tented and caravan'ed for years on and off, but now we have our new 'van, I find I'm back to the learning stage again. So far, so good though.

Hello Helen and Ian.  We did a swap from a motorhome to a caravan in 2011.  We shared the motorhome with the in-laws, but sold it and bought a 2 berth caravan when father-in-law died because it suited (and still suits) our holiday requirements better.  We like to visit towns and cities, as well as countryside/seaside etc., but found a motorhome restrictive in terms of access, parking, and just having to pack the whole lot up to do shopping, or relying on public transport.  Of course, you’ll know all this.  From our point of view, being able to park the caravan up and use it as a base, whilst having the car available for going out and about suits us much better.  I hope you find you’ve made the right choice too.

We have considered swapping the other way from caravan to motorhome, but after considering all the pros and cons of both we decided a caravan suits us best. The main thing I love is using our caravan as a base to return to after going out in the car to explore. Then there is the added benefit of an awning for table and chairs, dog stuff, fishing gear, walking gear and wet or muddy stuff, which can all be dumped there instead of having to pack it all away. I disagree that it's not convenient for short stays, as we do lots of weekends away between longer breaks and once we arrive on site it only takes about an hour to get all set up. Serviced pitches are a bonus, but I actually don't mind filling the water barrel too! Actually we've just bought a second barrel, so we have a prefilled spare for when the water runs out, just as you want to have a shower!!

One piece of advice I'd give you is to investigate routes to sites more closely than you may have had to with a motorhome. There's nothing worse than blithely following a satnav that doesn't know that some roads aren't suitable for caravans! We've had some very "interesting" experiences in The Lake District and Scotland 😉