Moving from Caravan to Motorhome

We changed to a MH about 6 years ago after many years of caravans (and tents) as my OH has always wanted one, having driven a hired one to Le Mans 24 hr several years running with all his work mates!  As we are now retired and the kids grown up we like to tour around, mainly abroad choosing sites where I can use a mobility scooter to visit villages etc.  As others have said, so much depends on how you like to holiday and where - we find the UK is not very MH friendly - eg the need to book sites, parking etc. so we have short visits to well researched UK places.  I was initially concerned with having to pack up each time we moved or went out but found no problem with this as you soon get used to where things go and can do this very quickly.  We love the MH and OH much prefers it to towing.

We caravanned went to motorhomes for twelve years now back to a caravan, personally I prefer the caravan, the motorhomes mean`t a smaller cheaper car now we have a large luxury car which is used all year round. One other point is if you spend a lot on a motorhome you feel as if you have to use it all the time which is fair enough if thats what you want. We`ve mixed caravanning with trips to NZ, Australia and in May we are in the USA for three weeks as well as six weeks caravanning in France this year. In the end its horses for courses.

We moved to a motorhome 4 years ago after 34 years caravanning, while we enjoy the M/H I don't think I would have changed while we had the children and dog coming away with us. The caravan gave us much more freedom and flexibility.

We changed to a MH 18 months ago. We couldn't store the caravan on the drive, the MH fits on, and is much much easier than having a caravan in storage. We are able to travel without worries in high winds, but tend to book sites that are less isolated than we used to, but not always. We take less "stuff" ... you learn to manage. We still go out in the van some of the days... fairly  easy really, you need to plan ahead a bit more and find a suitable car park or whatever, but an unexpected benefit is that you always have all that you need with you for the day. With a caravan we used to stay for a week then move, now we stay for 3,4, or 5 days max then move on but for a shorter distance than with a caravan so visiting an area is done from more base camps than we once did. Would we go back.. no way 

Quite right easy T lots of van owners do move about but we have found it easy for us to have a motor home as I said it is what is right for you that matters not anyone else and if I am using public transport or walking then what on earth do I need a car on site for.

For us any extra cost has been more than offset by replacing the large tow car for a small very fuel efficient car for everyday use. Yes I could have got a smaller van and smaller car but not as small as the car I now use.

It is just perfect for us that's just my thoughts but it is a lot of money to commit if you don’t find any benefit from a van over a motor home.

If it is perfect for someone to have a van instead of a motor home that’s right for them just pointing out our experience which is what the original question on the thread was about.

an oft occurring theme, no single 'right' answer. however it takes some experience to understand if a MH might be right for you (one) yet that is hard (and expensive) to come by....you could hire bit will that be for a long enough period to really understand....?

we have just had nearly 10 weeks away through France into Spain and return and we couldnt have 'casually' (without planning) stopped where we did on the route down, using aires and (recognised) carpark stopovers.

our time in sites varied between 6 and 14 days and our exploring of vinyards, orchards and tracks was delightful on our bikes and driving (a large towcar or small towed car) was the last thing on my mind.

if i was confined to the uk, i guess at some point we might consider (say) an Eriba and car, or even a panel van conversion, but as it is, we are now on a slimmer/shorter/lighter version of our MH which passed its  5000km shakedown with flying colours.

when i see the many posts asking for 'sites open on journey xxx' or similar, im so glad we dont have to consider this when travelling, there are so many stopping places for a MH to choose.

however, if in the UK only, my view might change as we get (even) older.

good luck with any decision.

ps, if you do think seriously about a MH please check the 'weighbridge/tyre pressure' thread for my link to a sorry tale of a MH that just isnt workable at 3.5t.....

If we moved to a motorhome OH would want the same space as we have now with our side dinette with full length front bunks. I would not wish to even attempt to enter some of the small town and village car parks in the UK that we do when solo with our tour car - plus I would have to use a storage site. If I was on my own then I might consider alternatives.

So it's not for you, Easy. That's fine as we all choose what suits the individual but if one day the compromises are outweighed by the advantages, then you'll know the time is right.

We did c/vans for years,then in 2002 had a Campervan(too small)so in  2004 a coachbuilt Autocruise motor caravan which we did 56000 miles touring,all in the UK ,but,as we got older we more and more missed the versatility of the car/c/van combination ,so we have been back to c/vans since 2011 and cannot see us going back, the next move will be to let trains or coaches do the driving to our breaks ,more likely the train as we do not pay on them any where 

We did it , we liked it but in the end the negatives outweighed the positives for us and when we changed we went back to a caravan.

We go to a site and stay there so maybe we werent using it 'properly'.