Motorhomes & in's & out's but from the owners

We made the mistake of buying larger and larger caravans so when we switched to a motorhome we stuck to a moderate size. Having caravanned with a family of young, then older, children and listened to other people with families I have to say that a caravan is a much better option for a family. Others will have different opinions but I could not imagine touring Europe with a family in a large, twin axle, motorhome.

I agree with 'hitchglitch' touring with a family is IMO better done with a car and caravan.

We had caravans for 30+ years then a MH for 6 years. Now going back to a caravan once again. Loved owning a MH but after 6 years decided that we were missing out on lots of interesting places to visit because we couldn't get parking nearby or there wasn't a campsite that we could cycle from safely nearby.

Don't forget you can take your MH off site to do visits but you have to pack everything away first and if returning to same site leave a sign out to say MH occupied pitch or you stand the chance of someone taking it.

On the continent its slightly easier if you are willing to stop on Aires and supermarket car parks (we are not) parking at most places is better catered for abroad as MH's are the king over there its rare to see height barriers.

MH's are a BIG expense not to use often, can you be sure that you will be able to do so, also will you be able to keep it at home or will it go to storage.

If you can, our advice is go as small as you are comfortable with, travel as lightly as possible, try and keep it at home and use it on a regular basis.

We use ours most days to travel to and from sites, can set up in 5 minutes, pack away in 15 minutes, have it ready to roll on our drive, and  in our first three years, probably averaged a trip out every fortnight. Some health concerns and caring duties have prevented us getting away quite as much recently, but we take the MH out for the day sometimes as well. We haven't been abroad yet, but won't change our out and about habits when we do.

Carol,  We were at Beausoleil in La Palmyre in June. - a site the motorhomers do use because it's central in the village and just a five minute walk to the shops and the market, but it's an old established campsite with well grown trees and with a layout which was never designed for big vehicles.

An Auto Trail Arapaho arrived - twin axle and almost 9 metres long. He needed an eleven point turn to reverse into a pitch, then couldn't get his rooftop satellite dish up through the branches, so moved along the row and started all over again. It looked hard work despite power steering. So horses for courses if you buy a biggie. 

I'd say that if fuel consumption is a consideration, then don't buy a motorhome!  They are not made for economic travelling, even less so in the case of a 6 berth twin axle model.

One of the biggest factors to consider is payload; you don't say how many of you will be travelling in/using the MH.  When arriving at payloads, manufacturers only take into consideration the driver, and a  full water and fuel tank.  Therefore, each passenger's weight, as well as all clothes, pots, pans, crockery, maps, books, tables, chairs, food, etc have to be added.  If you want to transport 6 people, possibly 2 adults and 4 children (I'm guessing!) I would be very careful in choosing a MH with adequate payload.  

Do your research very thoroughly, there are various MH forums, motorhomefun, motorhomefacts and outandaboutlive; a good idea would be to hire one to try it our first as has been suggested.

Hello, we are on our third van and struck lucky on our first because it was the right layout. This is the most important element and inevitably you will compromise space/berths depending what you want to do - if you have dinettes, you may have to make them into beds. There are vans (Mc Louis I believe) that have fold down bunk beds and you will probably have a pull down/overcab and a make up dinette. Decide what's most important to you and go to a show to see which model has the least compromises. Good luck and remember God has a motorhome, because it's gods way to travel. 

I agree with those above regarding going on holiday with children/teenagers - we caravanned when travelling with ours, staying in one or two sites and using the car for outings.  Now we enjoy moving more frequently, visiting places as we go.  We've had 3 motorhomes - a entry level one, bigger second one and now have just changed to a smaller one partly in order to park off site more easily, this is particularly relevant in this country (not very m'home friendly imo).  Do loads of research and consider all options including what you want to do on holiday and where you want to go.  best wishes.