Choosing the right caravan is the single most important decision for enjoyable holidays. It needs to meet your needs now and in the future, and often with a growing family in tow.

Let me describe for you the decision criteria that I used to select our caravan. We wanted to have a caravan that could fit two adults and two children for (mostly) summer camping but also some winter camping too. It should be towable by a mid-range SUV. (We use it in continental Europe so reference points in the UK may be different.)

New or used caravan?

Used caravans keep their residual value very well. In fact, caravans that are in good condition after a decade are still worth at least 50% of their purchase price. Compare that to cars ! Here’s a website where you can look at new and used caravans. It serves the German market.

On the other hand, a new caravan offers you a blank canvas to customise it to fit your particular requirements.

How much is a new caravan?

A “reasonable” new caravan is going to cost in the region of €25,000 to €35,000, fully kitted out. Of course there are cheaper brands and more expensive brands, smaller and larger caravans, but this is the range you are looking at. If you use a caravan 3 weeks a year, it pays for itself in “savings” versus hotels within about 5 years.

But a campervan is so much cooler than a caravan?

In short, a caravan costs a lot less to acquire and maintain. Its insurance runs off the towing vehicle. Inspections are every few years to check the brakes and lights and usually a caravan requires negligible maintenance. When you are at the campsite, you have a car to see places locally which is a big advantage.

What driving licence do I need to tow a caravan and does this impact what caravan I buy?

The short answer is, in Europe you need a “B-E” licence to tow combined vehicle and caravan weight above 3.5 tons. This is a separate category to the “B” licence and if you are not of an older generation who got this anyway with their basic driving test, you will need to get this licence. The normal “B” licence in Europe covers vehicles up to 3.5 tons total weight. A car plus caravan combination is easily over 3.5 tons. Now you can buy a small car and a small caravan and squeeze under 3.5 tons, but it’s not ideal for a family of 4 or more. The upside is that with a “B-E” licence you can then drive vehicles (including campervans) up to 7.5 tons!

How big a caravan should I get?

The temptation is to go for the biggest possible. That is a mistake because the bigger it is, the harder it is to manoeuvre, and the fewer campsites you can get into. You’ll also need a bigger towing vehicle. There are exceptions to the rule, for instance, if you intend to leave the caravan in one place for most of the time, then fine, or you drive the largest of the Range Rovers and are a confident caravaner who knows what you’re doing. But in our case we wanted to tour with the caravan and be able to squeeze up alpine valleys.

The length of the caravan to comfortably fit a family of four is around 7.5m including the tow bar. This gives a living space, the “box” as it were, of about 5m in length. That is sufficient for a double bed, kitchen, bathroom and children’s bunks. If you’re not familiar with caravanning, that may seem tiny. But actually, it’s like a Doctor Who Tardis in there… it feels way bigger.

The width of the caravan is also really important. Broadly, there are two widths: 2.3m and 2.5m. In Germany, the trend is to go wider because it allows the double bed to use the caravan width from head to toe, and thus get more utility from the overall space. In my view, 2.5m is best avoided. This is because touring down narrow roads or through motorway roadworks becomes really quite hazardous if the caravan is wider: you are pretty much the full width of the lane. The 2.3m version is a lot more flexible. It’s only 20cm but that is a meaningful difference.

Heights vary too but only on those caravans that have a ceiling bed that drops down. Otherwise they are typically between 3.1m and 3.4m.

How much does a caravan weigh?

It is critically important that you choose a caravan that has a maximum allowable laden weight that is significantly above its unladen weight. This is because you will be transporting loads of additional “stuff” in the caravan such as clothes, bedding, food, and so on. If you have sufficient margin, you will not be worrying about overloading the caravan. If you overload a caravan it impacts the handling and makes it difficult to tow, and even dangerous. It’s also illegal.

Typically, caravan manufacturers will offer you the option to upgrade the maximum laden weight to a higher amount. Always, always take this option! It costs relatively little to add the additional strength to the A-frame. It is impossible to do this afterwards (of if you do, it requires new paperwork and approvals from the vehicle licensing authorities).

A typical caravan weighs around 1.2 to 1.5 tons unladen. The maximum permissible laden weight ranges from 1.5 tons to 2.0 tons. Clearly there are other types of caravans above and below this.

The next check you have to make is whether your towing vehicle can tow the maximum permissible weight.

Our caravan weighs 1.35 tons empty and has a maximum permissible weight of 1.7 tons. Our car can tow a maximum of 2.0 tons. We can carry an extra 350kg of “stuff”. Great! We are good to tow. (we always seem to carry all 350kg in extra stuff…)

How do I manoevre a caravan once unhitched from the towing vehicle?

Buy a battery operated mover. Seriously. There is no way I am able to move a 1.7 ton caravan once it is unhitched. Downhill, sure. You can call fellow campers to help you, true. But a mover allows you to unhitch from the car and with a remote control device, engage an electric motor that turns the caravan’s wheels. Like operating a tv remote control, you can manoeuvre the caravan into the tightest of positions within millimetres of a tree or pitch line. It also helps when you are on sloping ground and need to ramp up onto a wedge. The mover can move the caravan 100 metres, up slopes as much as 12%, etc. The system consists of a lead acid battery and the motor system that is installed in the caravan. You can add this after you purchase the caravan or at the time of ordering. It does eat into your unladen weight allowance by some 50kg, but is an absolute godsend. The children, obviously, love using the mover – years of video games seem to have given them a useful skill.

What should I look for inside the caravan?

Bunk beds for the children with a curtain or partition to shut them off from the adults. A U-shape at the other end with table or double bed. The table can drop down and the cushions form a double bed. All caravans of this type come with chemical toilet, fridge, gas burners, sink, gas heating. Each merits a separate discussion on its own.

Additional items that we added were: a gas oven; gas boiler for hot water; extra large water tank; underfloor heating; air-conditioning; improved winter insulation (although all modern caravans are good for winter); television and satellite. We have tried and tested all of these and some are more useful than others. Some we have even removed altogether.

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