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I have found that my m/home is great in europe. you can stop almost any place for the night, 24 hrs and you can't set up stuff outside. ~Thats the free side of europe,
I try to stop at a camp site to empty and refill every 2 or 3 days.
Wild camping in the UK you dont have many places you can do that. you even have problems trying to get to local shops, with parking.

So if you want to use a m/home for hols on a camp site (IE: a week or so at a time)
dont get one, caravan and car would be better.

If you want a cafe, loo, changing room or cabin in the hills, for an overnight stop, go for a m/home.
hope that helps.

floppy

PS. i have a m/home and only do meets and stops for a few days at a time.

>>>  Using a caravan we would have to go on campsites  <<<

Actually this is not correct. It depends on your set up. There are motorcaravans that have to be used on campsites although most can also be used for wildcamping.

There are also caravans that can be used for both wild and conventional camping. Ours being such a unit.

We too have owned all types of units and the only one that we found that could not easily be used to wildcamp, was a TT.

"Days out to the seaside etc we have eaten breakfast overlooking the Norfolk Broads, made meals up the mountains in Portugal."

The only problem with day trips to beauty spots is that the view at these places soon get spoilt.  Lets face it caravans and motorhomes are better off out of the way in camping sites, thats why 'travellers' become unpopular.

One advantage I don't see mentioned very much is that if you go away for the weekend you can have a day out on the Sunday as well as the Saturday, can't really stop off at a museum / theme park etc whilst towing a caravan, parking's a bit tricky!

If you're mostly going away for full weeks a caravan is probably great

Hi we like many other done tent folding camper caravan now motorhome and we love the mh suits us best but caravan was great also only you will know what you really want or need.

Someone mentions you have more flexibilty with car and caravan combo iv'e yet to see someone take their caravan without their car  so not that greater flexibilty

Gerry

Quote: Originally posted by Vickit on 14/5/2010

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One advantage I don't see mentioned very much is that if you go away for the weekend you can have a day out on the Sunday as well as the Saturday, can't really stop off at a museum / theme park etc whilst towing a caravan, parking's a bit tricky!

If you're mostly going away for full weeks a caravan is probably great

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Careful LOL someone will be saying you spoil the view in the car park 

I think you have hit the nail on the head if you are going somewhere for a whole week etc then the caravan is probably a good option, what we love about the MH is that if we don't like somewhere we stay a night and then move on, something we would never have dreamed of doing in our caravan, when we first got the MH that was what I so enjoyed moving from place to place. We do sometimes still book a site for a week or few days etc if our Son and his WIfe are with us with their caravan and we do still enjoy doing that when with them.

 

Hi Yvonne,

As I am sure you appreciate, there are fors and against for both set ups and being a caravan user, I am sure you have already figured out what those are from a caravan point of view. Therefore, I think the first thing you need to do is to decide what predominantly you want out of your camping experience?  Do you by and large prefer to drive to a campsite, maybe erect an awning and then remained pitched up in the same spot for the duration of your holiday, if so, then maybe a caravan is more suited to your personal tastes and lifestyle? This way you would always have your car to get about in and explore your surroundings.

If however, you have more of an adventurous streak within you and fancy the idea of being a little more spontaneous and independent, then a motorhome can open up a very exciting world for you and the freedom it will give you is immeasureable. Some may argue that you can enjoy the same freedom and independence on the road with a caravan but although this may be possible with a very small touring caravan and car, it would definitely not be so easy with your averi've size caravan and tow car and of course, you cannot just pull up and
park a car and caravan like you can with most motorhomes. Also bear in mind that most everyday touring caravans do not come fitted with onboard water and waste tanks, which again does tend to restrict their freedom of use somewhat!

Pay little attention to those people who claim that if you are pitched up on a campsite in a motorhome and then you suddenly decide to take a quick trip to the local supermarket for instance, that there is lots of packing up to be done before you can drive off because this is complete and utter nonsense and all I can say to this is they have either never owned a motorhome themselves before or if they have, then they have not or did not learn how best to organise themselves or their vehicle so that they could be up and away at the drop of a hat! We ourselves and most other people I know who also own a motorhome, can be ready to be off in a matter of a few minutes and for us, its a simple case of unhooking from the electric, popping the kettle away, putting the automatic Oyster Satellite dish down (by the simple pressing of a button) swivelling the cab seats around and then hey preto ........ that's it we're ready for off!

Arriving on a campsite is a doddle too and we simply just drive onto our pitch, hook up, kettle's boiling or a glass of Chardonays cooling and within minutes we're all ready to unwind and chill out! What more could you want?

We have wildcamped in some spectacular and secluded places and as we have onboard water and waste tanks, a 135 watt solar panel and an onboard generator fitted to our vehicle, we can pull up anywhere and be totally self sufficient! As for spoiling beauty spots, well again, this I suspect is a bit of an over exaggaration made by people, who I can only presume have a touch of the green eyed monsters about them and for some bizarre reason they seem desperate to find reasons to knock the benefits one can enjoy from owning a motorhome! Obviously, being a roadworthy and legal vehicle you can park a motorhome, just like you can a car, in any suitably sized bays at such spots and by doing so you are not breaking any laws or doing anything untoward and we have never come across any problems re parking when visiting such places! So to anyone reading this post who may be thinking of going down the motorhome route, please do not allow such ludicrous claims to put you off at all, as I promise you, it's all total poppycock!

I think you will find that most responsible motorhomers do not wildcamp in popular tourist spots anyway and very, very few rarely attempt to wildcamp where they are likely to cause a probem for themselves or for anyone else and generally, most popular tourist and beauty spots will have overnight camping bans in place anyway, so wildcamping in such places is not normally an issue! We like most motorhomers who enjoy wildcamping, tend to enjoy a stress free life and would not wish to attract attention to ourselveanny wildcamping somewhere that attracts a lot of visitors and generally, if we are not stopping on a campsite, we search for a secluded spot that offers us a tranquil, safe and secure spot to pull in for the night and one where we feel confident thst we will not upset or interfere with anybody else! Providing you stick to these basic rules of safety, consideration and etiquette then you will never encounter any problems or obstacles! We never have and neither has anyone we know!

We also tow a smart car for when the fancy takes us and having this option means we can enjoy the best of both worlds and if we want to travel to an area, park up and then use a car to get about in, thcourt course with this set up we can but if we decide our trip is one where we wish to tour around, stopping off one night here and there, then we then leave the car at home and go off on our travels in just our motorhome. You cannot do this with a caravan as you ALWAYS need a car to tow it!

One of the best things about owning a motorhome is having all your home comforts with you wherever you go, so days out and picnics take on a completely new meaning and there is nothing nicer than going out for the day to say the seaside or maybe some kind of outdooor event, knowing you can make a snack, keep drinks ice cool in the fridge, make a hot drink, have a wash or shower, use the loo, change your clothes if the weather takes a turn for the better or worse or even take a nap!

At the end of the day Yvonne it's your choice but think long and hard about what you really want from your set up before you make your final decision.

Good luck with whatever you decide and most of all ...... have fun!

Sooh

Post last edited on 15/05/2010 07:43:07

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The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

Thanks Sooh :)

We like the idea of deciding to go away last minute without having to hook up and mess around for an hour before going anywhere ...

We also don't tend to stay in one place for a week and like to zip around to different places.

The only thing that concerns us is if we want to go out for the day to a local town and park (I do like my shopping) or if all of your belongings are in the van when you park it when out for the day- is there a high incidence of vehicles being stolen or broken into?

Apologies for all the questions - hope you can help

I dont think breaking into a motorhome is a common occurance - if I were a robber I would imagine that the owners have taken money etc with them and not a lot else much good to most burglars (in my opinion) would be left apart from tv.  I tend not to think about such things and just enjoy - if I were unlucky, I have insurance.

Hi Sooh, that definately helps me a lot

Me and hubby are going to start having a proper look round to see what layout we like the look of.

It probably won't happen just yet, but will definately keep you posted.

Thanks again for your advice and enjoy your summer

We've had a motorhome for 4 years now (went from a tent) we hired one for a week round the west coast of scotland and were hooked. Yes it can be a pain to have to pack everything away but you can tour much greater distances - last year we did 3000 miles round trip to Sweden, it was an amazing holiday and with the exception of Gothenburg, we didn't have any problems parking. I love the fact that you can just unplug and go where the whim takes you. Unfortunately ours is poorly at the moment so we aren't going anywhere in it just yet but that's another story! I'm sure whatever you choose will give you lots of pleasure.