Help and Tips on Touring Caravans

shopping_queen_2

Hi there,

We're very interested in buying a touring caravan but know nothing at all about it apart from bits and pieces of info gathered on various sites and we still have lots of queries which we're hoping some MSE's will be able to advise us on.

We'd initially thought about buying a smallish caravan and parking in our drive and then using for weekend or weekly/fortnightly breaks. Not sure how feasible that is - whether sites hire spaces for nightly/weekend stays and whether it's practical to park the van outside the house (especially over the winter).

I also have little idea about how much it costs to park your van on sites for nightly/fortnightly stays. We've small children, so regular, cheap breaks is the idea behind the caravan but if the ongoing costs end up being high, it pretty much defeats the purpose - can anyone advise on costs. Also, for touring caravans, do sites have an 'age restriction' as we wouldn't be buying new?.

Do touring sites provide electricity/water and is this included in nightly fees or is this an extra? Not sure also if during summer, we'd need to hire a pitch for a 'season' (I saw this mentioned somewhere), or whether we can pay per night/week.

Any help very gratefully received . . . . .

Treadway1

shopping_queen wrote: »

Hi there,

We're very interested in buying a touring caravan but know nothing at all about it apart from bits and pieces of info gathered on various sites and we still have lots of queries which we're hoping some MSE's will be able to advise us on.

We'd initially thought about buying a smallish caravan and parking in our drive and then using for weekend or weekly/fortnightly breaks. Not sure how feasible that is - whether sites hire spaces for nightly/weekend stays and whether it's practical to park the van outside the house (especially over the winter). My parents had an Eccles six berth which was parked on our drive whenever we werent away in it, so I cant see any problem with this. Also, Im pretty sure that you can book weekend stays at a lot of campsites. I would imagine most would want someone to book the week, but cant see everyone being like that.

I also have little idea about how much it costs to park your van on sites for nightly/fortnightly stays. We've small children, so regular, cheap breaks is the idea behind the caravan but if the ongoing costs end up being high, it pretty much defeats the purpose - can anyone advise on costs. Also, for touring caravans, do sites have an 'age restriction' as we wouldn't be buying new?. Cant give you any exact figures im afraid, as I only have my experiences as a child going on holiday with my parents, but to be honest, my parents were skint when we were kids, so I cant imagine it is that expensive as it was a cheap way for us to get away, although Im sure that its alot cheaper to jet off somewhere hot these days than it was 20 years ago. As for age restrictions, Im pretty sure this doesnt apply, as long as the van is neat looking on the outside, I cant see a problem.

Do touring sites provide electricity/water and is this included in nightly fees or is this an extra? Not sure also if during summer, we'd need to hire a pitch for a 'season' (I saw this mentioned somewhere), or whether we can pay per night/week. Most (if not all) sites have electric/water hook up and this should be included in the price you pay for the pitch, although do make sure you check this as there may be a few sites that bill this seperately. As for paying for a season, I dont think this is correct. im sure you probably could do this if you wanted to, but the sites would be excluding a huge percentage of the caravanning market if they insistes on this. After all, caravanning is supposed to be a cheap form of family holiday, so having to pay for a whole season goes against this ethos.

Any help very gratefully received . . . . .

Other than that, I should say that I have nothing but happy memories being away in the caravan. We went to some fantastic places across the UK, and I always had a great time mixing with other kids from across the country.

I hope this helps and isnt too vague, and hope you have some great holidays.

busiscoming2

Hi there I assume you can park on the drive as long as there are no restrictions on your deeds. We have ours in storage when we aren't using it - this is because to me, it is obvious to would be intruders when we are away!
You can book pitches for as few or as many nights as you want, sometimes on Bank holiday weekends, some sites ask you to book 3 nights or more.
I have never come across 'age restrictions' - sometimes sites have size (length) or won't allow a particular make eg: Hobby, some won't allow caravans towed by vans.

Most sites give you the choice of elecric hook up and for this you usually pay about £3 per night extra. There are taps for water and you take a roll along barrel to fill and then attach it to your van. Some sites hae superpitches where you get Water, elec, and ariel connection on your pitch this is about £25 per night.

Clubs like the caravan club and the camping and caravan club do rallies which are usually in a farmers field at weekends and are a few quid a night.

hartcjhart

to get an idea of prices for a pitch do a search on this site

http://www.ukcampsites.co.uk/sites/index.asp

and here

http://www.ukparks.com/

lynnexxxo

Hi there
We used to have a tourer - not a new fancy one, ours was a sprite muskateer from probably the early eighties (cost £1000). We never had any problem with not getting onto a site because it wasn't new and shiny.
Site fees vary, probably about 10-30 per night in most areas (but up to 50 in peak season in say cornwall or something) wouldn't be too usual. You can buy a seasonal pitch, i know our neighbour has one in a small park in Oban - the pitch costs them about 600 per year. They go up there most weekends and their family use it too, to for them its worth it. I never really fancied having to go to the same place every time though.

We parked ours in our driveway, I have to say it was a bit of a hassle, the driveway was on a bit of a hill and we were rubbish at reversing it up so ended up chapping our neighbour to help us get it up the driveway. I will admit it made our house look a bit chavvy! Did consider putting it in storage over winter extra but it was a couple of hundred quid so being MSE never bothered.

Previous to buying the van we went camping a lot and had fallen in love with the idea that you wouldn't have all the assosiated packing the car extra that you have with camping, however its not quite as easy as hooking up and going... you want to keep all the weight on the caravan as low as possible and keep it even . Also it seemed to take ages to get anywhere, on one of our first outings my OH didn't really believe there was any problem driving at normal speed - it was only when the caravan started swaying on the M6 at 70 mph we realised the importance of keeping your speed down.

We had a strict rule in our van that the portaloo was for pees only. Touring sites have toilet blocks (well most do and if they don't they will tell you before you pitch) and showers so the hassle of emptying it never seemed worthwhile

You'll probably tempted to buy an awning for more space as you have a young family. Our awning was a nightmare to put up, certainly not worth the effort for the weekend (generally by the time it was up me and my OH were not speaking!)

We got rid of the van as we decided we prefered camping, however now we have kids too my OH keeps dropping hints about getting another tourer (actually he'd prefer a motorhome but the price of them is out of our league).

pukkamum

Hi we recently purchased a tourer which we keep on our drive i find this more conveniant as it means we can go away at the drop of a hat.
Since we bought the van we have used it loads, sometimes just for the odd night if the weather is nice on a saturday morning and also for a full weeks holiday.
We have 2 lo's (7&2) and they love it as it means a weekend of freedom to play outside the caravan til late with the countless firneds they always make and eating bbq food.
It really is the best thing we have done although a peice of advice is maybe to do as we did and just buy an older cheaper one (ours was £600) to see if you enjoy it then consider upscaling.
I have yet to come across a site to ask the age of the van for most sites that is only an issue if you leave them there all year.
also we haven't bothered with an awning as someone mentioned before they can be a nightmare to put up etc, we simply bought a cheap gazebo and put windbreaks around it to give us a little privacy and extra space.

busiscoming2

Another good site/forum http://www.touringandtenting.com/

sheilanick

My parents have always owned a caravan, and when we had young children we had a caravan until the eldest was about 13. We used to drive to Spain, south of France, all over Uk. It is a great holiday for children and there are some fantastic sites. The cost varies depending on location and facilities. If you join the caravan club, you will get details on CL sites. These are small sites for just a few vans and with basic facilities, but they are relatively inexpensive. The Caravan club also have their own sites, some of which are only available to their members, so worth checking out. We never had problems touring with an older van, so no worries there, just be careful what you are buying and pay particular attention to damp, older vans can have problems with water ingress, along the seams, or at the from from the spray from towing, but you will usually smell it, or see water stains.

You should be okay putting caravan on your drive, although if you are in a newer property or on an estate, there can be covenants in your deeds prohibiting this. Check to see if any of your neighbours keep a van at home.

If you but wisely, you will be able to sell your van on and depreciation is nothing like on a car. try to ensure that you have double glazing, electric heater, mains elec hook up hot water is nice as well !!

Anything else you need to know just ask

shopping_queen_2

Thanks to everyone for all the great info/advice - it very much appreciated. We're keen to go ahead and buy our first caravan!

Does anyone have any tips on where to buy from ? I've had a look on ebay and autotrader but wondered if I'd be better to buy from a dealer. We're looking for a used caravan upto a max of about £5k.

busiscoming2

Look around, damp is I believe the worst problem to look out for, and think I am right in saying unless it is really bad, you can't see it. I would also check th windows open and close and that they seal properly. pull up and down the window blinds to make sure they work. I think if you buy from a dealer you will get a short warranty anyway. Having said that we bought our first caravan 12 years ago for £600! from a private seller and it was fine. Subseuent ones we have brought from dealers.
Which part of the country are you in?

lynnexxxo

As a first time buyer it may be worth buying a few caravan mags or even looking on the caravan club website for classifieds. JMO but I'd say you'd be more likely to find genuine owners wo have looked after there vans, rather than ebayers lookingto make a quick buck. I could recommend a dealer of cheaper older caravans in north lanarkshire if thats near you.

Read up as much as you can before you buy, and be aware as there are no registration douments or anything so if you can ask to see previous bills of sales to ensure the person wo is selling it actually owns it.