Hi everyone- considering buying a motor home

We would have benefitted from owning a motorhome if we'd  done it earlier as we towed vintage racing cars to circuits and we'd have had ready made accommodation. Motorhomes are versatile in that respect they can also tow boats and even caravans. They're also good as day vans depending on size. Much depends on what you like doing so as DK says it's a perennial conversation! 

Hope the OP has gained some insight from our comments. 

I never found  towing a caravan stressful. It was just as relaxed as using the motorhome. A motorhome also gives you a higher point of view on the journey.

The biggest thing is setup time. Removing all the security from the caravan,  winding up corner steadies, shifting it across the road ready to hook up the car, fitting and adjusting mirrors, plugging in and checking lighting circuits. Undoing all of the above at the other end. Such things can be extremely tedious after a while and can dissuade one from the spontaneity of a spur of the moment short trip away.

Would I go back to a caravan? Extremely unlikely.

We've never caravanned or tented, coming to this hobby through friends who motorhomed. As we were regular visitors to Continental Europe via plane, we quickly decided that we could do this in our MH and have all our home comforts with us as we travelled.

having more time as we retired and noting how easy the travelling and parking was there, the size of the vehicle was less important...many visitors there use liner sized vans...however, we did still want to use the van in the uk in the summer time and this lead is to have rethink on size when we last changed vans.

we had a 7.5m full width van which had lots of inside space, large twin single beds and huge garage but we were both conscious that it wasn't the easiest van to get about in nor to place on smaller pitches.

in the end we kept to the same brand (it did what we wanted) but a slimmer version and a metre shorter. in addition, the weight class dropped from 4.25t to 3.5t but we still have plenty of payload due to the smaller vans much lighter MIRO.

This has proved to be so much easier to use. Add in a shorter wheelbase (another consideration) and mini roundabouts are dispatched with ease and the small turning circle allows us to squeeze onto just about any pitch we choose.

I doubt we would go back to a larger van now.

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Travel iis undoubtedly easier without towing but the object of the exercise for us is to be able to go somewhere we actually want to go not somewhere dictated by the restrictions of lacking transport

I think that applies more in this country AD, or if you want to stay longer as you tend to. On our two trips to France with the MH we haven't  found anywhere that we wanted to go out of bounds, there are just so many stopping places available, which can be utilised for the day or overnight. Of course when it comes to visiting something up a really narrow twisty / hilly road, the use of a car, or public transport is essential.

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It's such an individual choice regarding motorhomes v caravans there's even the popular choice of getting a vw type campervan plus a caravan. Out for the day in the van and back to the caravan in the evening.Or even a tent etc and a van.  Every holiday style is unique so it's what suits those who are contemplating a change that's important. 

We now have no appetite for the frequent short stays and feel exhausted just looking back on our tours of 20+ years ago

I know what you mean 21 days, 3,500 miles to Italy with two young kids. 11 sites putting up 2 tents each time. It makes me feel tired just remembering.😂

Our experience is overseas so that may not help.

We toured everywhere for half a lifetime with a small caravan with minimal kit  - 5 or 6 days here and 5 or 6 days there. We came to know of lovely campsites - friendly family owners, swimming pools, room to sit out under trees in vital shade, food and drinks available , free wi fi, fresh croissants every morning,  and so on.  Typical low key French campsites.

But there were never any motorhomes there. Simply the locations and situations were quite wrong for them. The campsites were in the countryside. There were no buses. So the motorhomers were somewhere else altogether - often in grim situations just to get the location they needed - to be near the beach, near the shops and so on.  Location seemed to be their vital factor 

So we saw them in awful places like this - they seemed content  but we decided not to join them .

but ET that does not stop motorhome owners using sites like you describe. They can do both.

peedee