Hello, I tent camped for 10years before I bought a vw campervan with an awning.
We still did tent camping for weekends from time to time, but main hols in the camper.
I had the vw for 8years but sadly had to give her up last year, am now a tent camper once more and very happy with my fab tent.
I think campings camping which ever way you do it, just a slightly different experence. I did love the comfort of a real bed, and the freedom of chucking a few clothes in and off you go, but i can honestly say that i enjoy the tent camping just as much.
How ever you do it . . . . im sure your kids will have fun.
Comes down to what you can afford. For the price of a 15yr old campervan you can buy a medium size hatchback/estate car, only a couple of yrs old & big enough for all your camping gear. If the camper is your only car you have a vehicle, heavy on fuel, difficult to park & high maintanence if its old.
As I am at the moment I prefer a modern car/tent that I can drive down to France without reliabilty issues, but if I could afford £30k+ for a modern campervan I'd buy one.
Hi, had them all - tent, carvavan, motorhome, caravan (over the years) and now campervan and awning/quechua pop up tent. We now have our ideal set-up and enjoy camping more than we have ever done before. Can't put my finger on it but maybe the flexibility of using just the van, or van and tent, or van and tarp, or just tent (occasionally) but we have a lot of fun and have retained (or regained if thinking about the caravan) the camping feel. I would agree with voltaire though - the choice of campervan (not so much age but condition) is very important. We have a very well loved, well serviced Bongo, hasnt let us down during constant camping over the last 16 months including one 3 week (over 3 and a half thousand mile) trip to France. Our previous motorhome needed money thrown at it and we couldn't wait to get rid of it.
Quote: Originally posted by Sanguine on 31/12/2009
Hi
Thanks for the responses it's always good to hear what the reality has been for others, particularly when you've tried the lot!.
Just starting to research camper van's & while the tent will be sold, I'll hold on to the rest of the camping gear for now!
Thanks!
Moved from tent to caravan - an Eriba 320GT - last year and have not regretted it.
thought about a VW capervan but decided that they were too restrictive if you want to travel around while on holiday. the Eriba is small and leightweigh so can be towed by just about anything.
We went from a Eurohike tent to a VW campervan+ awning. Back to a tent and then to a caravan. All have their advantages and disadvantages. I guess it's circumstances and your own preferences. Extra children, dogs, age and health were all factors that we have took into consideration. Whatever you camp in - enjoy it!!
------------- Smoke me a kipper ............ I'll be back for breakfast!!!!!
I built my own campervan as a step between tents and motorhome to see if we liked it, which we did.
Sometimes there are 2 of us, sometimes 3 if my g/fs daughter is with us as well.
When we went to France for 10 days we took the 6man tent with us and all slept in that. If we went for a weekend to Scarborough we took the driveaway awning and all slept in the adventure wagon. Step-daughter is 3 so she could have an airbed on the floor of the van and we had the fixed double.
This is an example of our setup when we went to Scarborough
Be careful if thinking of buying a home made campervan conversion. Many campsites treat them as commercial vehicles and won't allow them on site.
A few years back I spent many months searching for a decent motorhome/campervan. The most I could afford was £7000-£8000 and for that I was looking at 15-20 year old rust buckets and oil leakers. I gave up in the end and bought a bigger car instead to carry my camping gear. I did have a caravan for awhile after that but found the maintenance and storage costs, plus the worry of towing and damp and lots of other possible problems a bit of a headache so went back to a tent again.
As somebody said, unless you can afford a camper as well as a car you will have to use the camper as your main vehicle and depending on it's size that could be a problem, for example with car park barriers, cost of fuel etc.
A camper or motorhome would always be my first choice...unfortunately my income always says 'NO!'
I wonder if many people do make a choice between a tent or campervan without cost being a consideration at all? I would guess many tent campers would love to go the motorhome/caravan route but their disposable income, or lack of it keeps them with a tent.
I wonder how many people take their main holidays in a tent when they could easily afford a £17k caravan or £40k motorhome?
I think the fact that when you see a decent size MotorHome, it often has a trailer with a Smart car or similiar, attached, makes sense as I imagine you have to virtualy de-camp to go out for the day, if the MotorHome is your only vehicle, although that kind of kit does cost serious wonga, well done dave-t, I do like the Eriba's and hopefully will have a closer look at the Feb NEC show, so will be sticking with my tent for the next few years, having just bought a small trailer, even that was a serious investment for me!, like others have said, a lot depends on what you can afford.
I like the idea of a campervan.. for camping but various issues..not least the lack of money have put me off...
A van(camper or otherwise) would be my main mode of transport..and as I understand it could be quite hefty on day to day running costs..as opposed to weekends away etc..
But one thing Ive never seen or heard as an argument against owning a campervan(as your only means of transport)Is the fact that a c/van(only means of transport) could in some situations be a totally inappropriate mode of transport..Say in the case of a funeral or wedding or some other event you have to travel to/attend...
Not meaning to belittle c/van owners..nor indeed the vans themselves..and realising that If needed alternates could be put in place for these situations..just one more consideration to take into account when thinking of buying one...Again as your only means of transport...
Jelboy.
------------- Campers of the storm,Into this world are born
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Topic: Tent to campervan?
