Caravan owners ,help me out here !

[mickeyspal]

We are thinking of getting a caravan, we've had a few in the past, but they've come a long way since then,
Would you recommend a fixed bed with an end bathroom. ?
I really like that layout but DH thinks it takes a lot of room up, but what else would you use the bed space for anyway.
Theres 2 of us but looking at a 4 berth.
Also what sort of prices are we looking at for campsites,
Should we get one,would we use it enough, ( thinking of paying around 5k)
Or should we have a big holiday to china and Japan instead ?

[Tigger71]

Definately fixed bed. 👍

[Smilesonfaces]

We don’t have a van now but also had lots of them in the past. I too am after a new one but husband doesn’t fancy starting up again.

If there were only 2 of you I would certainly be looking at a fixed bed. That was one of the things I hated, making beds up. If you ever take anyone with you they can always sleep in the awning. You are right to look at a 4 berth to give extra space. You will have the fixed bed made up and also the dinette to use to sit on. The fixed bed also gives lots of under bed storage,

The main thing in a van costing £5k is to look for damp. We had a damp detector to check around windows, doors etc. I would take one of these to check when you are looking.

Campsites depend on what type you want. You can get the small Certificated Locations with no electric from £10 a night, extra for electric. Caravan club sites will be about £30-£40 a night. All singing dancing sites with pools etc will be more.

If it is worth it depends on how you will use it. When we had ours we were away every other weekend and possibly 6 full weeks, all year winter and summer !

If they are on this year I would suggest going to one of the big shows in Manchester or Birmingham. They will all be new vans but you can look at all the different layouts in one place.

[Gingerlife]

If you go for a fixed bed you need to consider if you will be happy with a French bed (tucked in to one corner) or would like a transverse bed. The French bed can be smaller as the corner is usually cut off. One of you will have to climb over the other if you need the loo during the night. Also the person sleeping next to the wall may find it cold.
A transverse bed on the other hand means you can walk all the way around the bed so no climbing over.
You also tend to find with a French bed end bathroom combination that the bathroom is more of a wet room so everything gets wet which isn't great when you need to go back to the toilet a short while later and the floor is still wet.

[pawwavingpuppy]

Definitely a fixed bed and end bathroom. It's a pain making the bed up every night .

We sold our house and toured the country for a year in an 8 metre moho, we had a ball. This had a fixed bed and end bathroom, it was brilliant, insulated for winter use, with on board
Tanks and on board refillable gas tanks.
One think I would advise, buy yourself a damp meter. Even new vans can suffer with damp.

[Twin mummy]

We don’t have a fixed bed as we bought ours when the girls were younger and went for bunks and a small dining table at the back.
If we change I’d like an end bathroom but don’t know if Dh and I would cope with a fixed double as they look small. We may go for a 4 berth with fixed twin singles and an end bathroom.

[Apricota]

Having had many vans, would prefer for ease of getting in and out, changing bedding etc, two singles made up for bed. Then space to sit elsewhere. The chopped off corner bed is a compromise, sheets can be wrinkled or costly, bed is high and end was area just ok

[Sunset girl]

We’ve got an old 2 berth at the moment which is great but we now want a 4 berth for the extra room
We’ve been around a few and we like the island bed with the bathroom on the side of the van rather than the back. If we have any one staying with us in the van then they don’t have to walk past us to get to the toilet at back of van!
You need to go around a few different layouts and sit in, lie on the bed you’ll soon know what type suits you.

[Guest]

we used to own a small pop-up caravan, it was great, the top popped up and the solid walls folder up, it was our " camping box " , small kitchen, portaloo cubicle and slept 4 ( with a large 4 person dining area and a small 2 person dining area, which formed the beds and a bunk bed

we paid £800 for it and recovered the seats, painted the walls and put down new laminate flooring, it was lovely, we only sold it last year as we were moving and didnt want to pay for storage ( we actually moved to somewhere that has loads of land ) it owed us about £1200 and we had it 4 years, used it twice a year, so it paid for itself and the last year we once used it for 2 nights as the weather was rubbish every time we had a trip planned

so my advice, if you are questioning will you use it enough, dont spend too much money on your 1st van, that way you will not feel you " have to use it to get your moneys worth out of it " yes the bottom end of the market will have damp issues, you can keep a dehumidifier in it when not in use ( if you have power ) which will keep the damp at bay

we looked at new ones, £20000, then dropped down to 16000, then kept on dropping the price, after all 10000 is a wdw holiday, then couldnt decide on the layout, so looked at 3500 ones, now these will be looked after, yes they are older and might need " sprucing up " a little, they might have a little damp, but in 2 years time the chances are they will still be worth 3500, so you can see if you like caravaning, test out the layout to see if its for you and then decide what you might like to change, sell the old van and look for something that you fancy more, or you might think, well i like caravaning but i dont want to go all the time, this van works ok for us, lets keep it

i know a guy in my local caravaning store fairly well ( via my children ) and they make so much money by selling top priced caravans to people and at the end of the summer buying it back for £3000 less, they will valet it and then store it for the winter and its back out for the higher price as people think they will love the lifestyle but when push comes to shove it isnt for them

[mickeyspal]

Fabulous advice from all of you ,thanks so much. That has given us a lot to look at when we go to view some