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Quote: Originally posted by Dreadnought on 29/12/2009

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 I dont know of any sites that do sited tourers for hire.Have you any friends or relatives who might let you try out theirs?

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Here's the link:

 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOURING-CARAVAN-FOR-HIRE-4-BERTH-LAKE-DISTRICT-CUMBRIA_W0QQitemZ220530210319QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes?hash=item33589ff60f

Hi Baldie

Me and Mr Chile were you and Mrs Baldie in August. Here's what we did. We did this as a step by step procedure with a get out clause "I don't like this, it's not for me, I want to stop" at the end of each step. The whole family was consulted (we have a 12 yo and a 7 yo). We reckoned a small outlay was worth it to find that we hated caravanning. We budgeted £600 (as against £12000 for a caravan)....

1. Have towbar fitted to car (cost about £200)

2. Do Caravan Club manoeuvring course (cost £95 each - we both did it)

3. Hired van from Freedom Caravans in Stafford (local to us, there will be someone near you I'm sure). They were really helpful and so keen to get us started, and made things easy.

4. Had totally fab weekend on a small campsite about 5 miles from home (on the basis that if it all went pear shaped we could go home). There were other people there who, when we said we were new, were willing to help us and sort things out we weren't sure of.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

5. Researched caravan purchase as thoroughly as we could, went and looked at loads of vans (kids were really tolerant of us when we reached this point), and consulted kids as to what to buy.

6. Bought van. Never looked back. We have had lots of weekends away since we bought Bertha in early Sept - best thing we've ever done.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Quote: Originally posted by Baldie on 29/12/2009

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Many thanks for the info.

Just out of interest whats your view on buying from a dealer as against buying secondhand on the open market? I've been reading a lot about stolen vans becoming available and damp problems.

Colin

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Hi

This site HERE has a 4 berth tourer for hire.

Its a bit of a journey from you though, but has some good reviews.

HTH

Paul

For me, buying an cheap old 'smelly' caravan would've put me off. I remember trying to hire a static caravan one cold and wet Easter many years ago - i wouldn't have let my dogs sleep in there let alone us sleep in there! I didn't even want to sit on the seats. Imagine cooking and eating? It was disgusting! When we were looking for our caravan, some we looked at smelt disgusting. So be aware of buying an 'old' caravan - if, like me, this could put you off. Towing is something that not everyone likes either. My hubby doesn't mind at all but some people i know don't like towing  but love the life of caravannig.

Quote: Originally posted by Baldie on 29/12/2009

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We're both in our 60's. We've camped many years ago when the children were young. We've owned a static van but found out that its a bit of a money pit with the option to renew when the site says its times up or to get out - which was are option. We like the idea of a touring caravan but my wife wants to try it out first - one thats sited as we can't tow yet. Anyone got any ideas or suggestions?

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If you are renting in order to trying it out in order to see if you like it, please check out what your car will tow first.its no use falling in love with a 23ft twin axle van with fixed beds & all singing & dancing accesorys if your car will only tow a small 2 berth

the recommendation is that the van fully loaded(MTPLM) is 85% of the kirbweight of your car, this is a rough guide,but a good un for those new to towing

good luck TD