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We got our 1st caravan this yr in march as we like to go abroad but i am a terrible flyer but thought we would enjoy our country a bit this yr  . The caravan has been a disaster its cost us a small fortune to repair (damp )  but anyway its all done now and we have had it reupholstered and new carpet and curtains it looks great . We have had a few little breaks in it we have a few more planned for this yr.

Dont know what to do nxt yr , to use the caravan for short breaks and then book a hol to spain ( my fav place ) and go on the ferry and stay in villa or to take the van ?

It will prob cost the same to get a villa as the caravan on ferry and site fees wont be cheap so is it really worth towing all that way .

Are friends want to come they would join in with the villa price or get a static on site but cant make up my mind what to do

ferry trip to spain is not cheap i know and takes ages compared to flying but i really hate it . What shall we do ? villa/hotel or caravan

i also herd that the hot weather is not good for caravans as it can cause expanding and shrinking and then DAMP lol i know we could get hot weather here to cause this but more likely in spain

I'd take the van any day - but then we love caravanning in France and Spain.  Campsites are very different to British ones, and you can find some of a very high standard, sometimes with the facilities of a four or five star hotel!  Campers and caravanners are very friendly people, and you can do a lot of socialising too. 

Cost is important for us, so we go outside the school holidays, book the shortest ferry crossing (Cost £58.00 return this year), and take as many non-toll roads as we can to get us to our destination.  We also use Camping Cheques, or an ACSI card, or Touring Cheques to pay for our campsite nights (between 11 and 15 euros depending on which you use).  It's perfectly possible to have a fantastic three week holiday on a budget.  Whether this compares with the cost of your villa, I've no idea - we've never booked a villa.  We've also had some cheap flights to Gerona, so if you fly you can go for next to nothing, but if you're taking your car then it will cost very little more to take the van!

We've been several times with our van, just for a couple of weeks, to Spain - usually the Costa Brava or Costa Dorada, and we make our journey part of the holiday, so taking two overnight stops on the way down and back, and then ten/eleven days on site.  We've found some lovely campsites, en-route, and some of these are now firm favourites that we go back to for much longer stays.

As far as damp is concerned, our van is ten years old and recently we bought a waterproof cover for it which should stop any major water ingress and damp whilst it is stored.  Obviously the hot sun will eventually have an effect on the seals, but if you are competent at DIY then you should be able to keep on top of this.  Where damp becomes a problem is if it is unsuspected and no-one does anything to prevent it.

You're asking your question on a caravanning forum - so any replies are likely to be positive in terms of taking the caravan, I would have thought.

We're taking our van to France for the first time this year. We've been caravanning for the past 7 years but have only ever camped abroad.

Like you  we were put off by the addittional time it takes to tow and how expensive the ferry seemed to be. But then I looked at many of the suggestions VAl A has made and the total cost is only slightly more than the same number of nights in this country staying on sites with pools, bars etc., but hopefully with better weather. We've planned to go to the South of France and will be driving and spending a total of 18 nights in France.

We laso thought of flying and hiring somewhere down there but I dont like flying and then you've got to hire a car if you want to visit anywhere, So taking the van ( cos I'm too used to my creature comforts to camp for more than a few nights now, lol!)seemed the logical option.

We have had our (ropey old) van for a year now, previous to that we were tenters.  We're taking the van to France for the first time in a few days (hurrah) and are leaving it there to return to year on year thereby not paying the exorbitant costs of uk storage or costly repeat towing ferry/tunnel tariffs. 

We are completely tied to the school hols so we have never been able to use the van much for uk breaks and will keep the tents for those spontaneous 'my god we have sunshine lets go' trips.

One saving to bear in mind is that we are using our clubcard vouchers to pay for the cost of our outward towing journey on the eurotunnel, well worth it have saved £80.

Guess it totally depends on your own circs, whether school hols are a factor etc. 

Totall agree re flying though - will never do it - the idea sends shivers