We've gone from fc to caravan but since we bought it at the beginning of May due to abroad holidays and work commitments we've not been able to get out yet in the caravan but booked a site for this weekend so wish us luck!!!!
We went from folding camper to caravan and would never consider going back. If you like weekends away it is just so much quicker to set up. But thats just my personal opinion.
As far as your car is concerned, I have no technical knowledge at all but someone on here will offer advice.
I had a TT for a short period, and while I loved the room and the under canvas feeling it just wasn't practical for an easy weekend away. It took too much time and effort to setup, whereas the van it's legs down fridge open!
We went from a brand new pennine sterling fc to a 6 year old caravan and have no complaints!.We got the fc so that it fitted down the drive past the house overhang (gutters etc),so now the caravan has to be in storage on a nearby farm. We pulled the fc & the 1200kg caravan with a 1800 petrol mondeo, before we got a diesel.Mondeo was ok but struggled on some hills,but if you use your gears you should be ok! All depends on what your car and caravan weights are!
regards,Mark.
We started out with folding campers and had some wonderful times with them. We didn't in fact find the set-up time very much longer than getting the caravan sorted. Our main reason for the change was that it gave us a much longer season for getting away. We have used the caravan year-round, but only felt comfortable using the folding campers from about April to October at the maximum. Whether or not your car will cope depends very much upon the weight of the caravan you have been offered.
We went from tent to Dandy FC to folding caravan and then full size caravan, not looked back at all! We just made sure what weight we could tow at 85% and found vans (2 now) that were safe weights, we love our car and won't swap it. Only drawback with the folding caravan and caravan is that they have to be stored at the front of our house rather than the back as the Dandy was but to be honest it's not much of a niggle with the motor mover.
I have to admit that I was feeling a bit scared but after your replies, I am feeling a little bit excited!
We've introduced my 77 year old Dad to camping and I am sure that he would appreciate a little more luxury and less setting up. An extended holiday period would be good as we are very much fair weather campers, even in the fc. I've already got my eye on York for the Railway Museum at October half term which is something I wouldn't have considered in the fc.
Ooooh!
I'm sure I will be back on the forum with lots of questions (if) we say yes to the van.... let's hope it's not a wreck!
We changed last September to a caravan after many years of a tent, 2 trailer tents and 2 folding campers! The only reason we changed was so we could go away all year round. And it's been worth it so far. Happy caravanning.
We too moved steadyly from frame tent, trailer tent, folding camper and now caravan and wouldn't go back either. That extra bit of comfort and luxury on cold wet days is worth the little extra effort towing.
As for whether your car will be suitable there is a link here to What towcar.com, you just insert your car and van details and it works out whether its a good match or not. It's usually a good idea to have a caravan that is no more than an 85% weight match for your car, but its all explained on this very useful site.
we started off with a tent progressed to a peninne aztec which we spent our honeymoon in at warren farm with the 4 kids and a dog sold that and got a 2005 pennine sterling,my wife was against a caravan as she loved the fc but i got my way in the end after i explained how much i loved her how wonderful she was and how stress free i would be just being able to pull onto a site and as benski put it just being able to wind down legs attach hook up lead connect bbq and relax
being a regular visitor to jacksons of old arley i took her with me and i said while were here lets go look around the caravans,the first van we went in had a fixed bed which she liked and she showed her first signs of just maybe starting to like the idea of owning our first caravan,so quick as a flash i grabbed a salesman and done a deal and the rest they say is history.
now 2 years on my wife loves the van and the way of life,were both early 40s and go away 5-6 times a year,im a long distance hgv driver so the time i spend with my family is priceless and caravanning really brings back the family tradition and values.i have a 9 yr old son and a 16yr old wheelchair bound son and they both love the excitement of going away as often as possible.
We went from tiny frame tent (too small) to synthetic tunnel tent (too cold) to Folding camper (great but we grew into it then found it too small) to caravan. We could have got a bigger camper but we would have had to find storage so we thought if we had to find storage we might as well go for a caravan. After a year of looking we found one just the right weight for our car, just the right layout and with everything that we wanted included - awning, stabiliser and motor mover.
We had 7 trips in total last year with our folding camper. Since picking up the caravan on the 8th April we have already had 3 weekends and been on 2 x 4 day meets. With another weekend planned for the end of this month, a week in August and any other meets or weekend getaways that we fancy our family are starting to jokingly ask when are we ever at home!!
We absolutely love it and although I was slightly sad to see our folding camper being towed away by its new owner on Saturday I really don't regret changing over.
we also went from tent to tt to fc and we pick up our 1st van next weekend and cant wait!!we've had some fab times in our fc but want to go away more through winter and although we've done minus 4 in the camper it'll be luxury to have onboard heating!!!!
yep us too, we have gone through the ranks of different material tents, to a trailer tent to a fc then onto a caravan---loved canvas--we wanted to progress to winter camping and couldn't do that in a fc.....so we indulged BUT we have never looked back. Yep the fc gave us great space and the beds were already made up if one of the boys wanted to go to sleep. All we have done is look for the right size awning and a great bbq and we live that way. van for wiinter and sleeping, inside for the cooler evenings but we also have the tv in the awning sometimes. good luck but you will not need it. you can always go back. cheers gary
Thanks so much for all your encouragement. It's a bit old and the rear seats have been turned into a permanent bed so we need to do a bit of DIY and seat searching to get it back to its original layout - I think the seat bases are still under there so hopefully it won't be too difficult. But everything is in working order and it's really cute! Can't wait to get tinkering!
Oooooh, where shall we go on our first outing????????
We did much of the same. Cheap tt first, but it was a sweat inducing marathon to errect. FC came next (lovely brand new conway cruiser). Easier to put up, but draughty in windy conditions and a problem to dry it out if it needed packing away wet (too big to open on driveway, too wide to get down alleyway at back of house, too expensive to not worry about). Replaced that with a 6 berth caravan. More difficult to tow (bad). But - easier to set up, useable all year round, loads more fitted equipment, better more comfy beds, heating and hot water works on gas or electric, more secure (good). We think extra cost and useability outweighs downfalls of fc or tt. So for now, for us, caravan rules. But who knows what will be best in the future..... Buy what is best for you and enjoy the freedom of camping :-)
------------- Why am i doing this instead of camping??!!
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Topic: Anyone gone from fc to caravan?
sold that and got a 2005 pennine sterling,my wife was against a caravan as she loved the fc but i got my way in the end after i explained how much i loved her how wonderful she was and how stress free i would be just being able to pull onto a site and as benski put it just being able to wind down legs attach hook up lead connect bbq and relax
