Heydon newbies

All caravans are a compromise, so you need to prioritise the features that are most important to you. For example, if you intend using sites with full facilities then the shower in the caravan becomes less important. We tend to use ours for drying coats and storing the washing.

Most Island beds pull out for night use, and slide back for day use, but why not just leave it pulled out. Caravans and Motorhomes are limited in space and are designed to be flexible, so expect to have to move things about at bedtime. I think its part of the fun. If I wanted everything to be in its rightful place, I'd stay in a hotel

Same with the fridge. I can't think of any that have a large freezer, so you may need to look into getting a small portable one that plugs into the car when travelling and into the exterior socket when pitched.

The NEC in Feb, or any other show, is your best starting point as you can leap from caravan to caravan and manufacturer to manufacturer. Get there early, and use the whole day.

In the meantime, visit as many dealers as you can, and prioritse your needs.

Part of the attraction and fun of vanning is that it’s different from home. Don’t get hung up on trying to replicate your house on wheels but pick something you can comfortably adapt to.

All the extras add weight and/or length to a caravan which can then bring downsides by way of difficulty manoeuvring and the need for a big grunty tow car.

Check out the available pay loads on the caravans you look at as some are puny. A big fridge/freezer will hold a weighty amount of food, for instance, before you add things like clothes and bedding.

Echo the above two comments, if you haven't go to a local dealer and have a good look round various layouts from various manufacturers and actually sit and lie down in them. And there will be many new caravans in your price bracket.

Look carefully as TW says at payloads and perhaps ask about plate upgrade. 

And also buy local, there may be a better deal further away but any advice, servicing and/or snags are easier to deal with when your dealer is a few miles away. 

And again if you haven't start looking into accessories, ie how to get water in and out, storage, motor movers (essential in my view though most new caravans come with them now) and insurance.  

Based purely on what I have read and discussed with caravan and motorhome owners over the last decade or more, plus what I have seen and my own experience with a British built motorhome I strongly advise you to avoid buying "British". 

Continentals whilst installing much the same equipment (fridge freezer, cooker, heating and hot water systems, etc.) seems to be better constructed, robust and problem free, although their layouts don't always appeal to the British dream.  

Just a personal opinion and good luck with your search.  

Weight of your van will be critical, as will your tow car. A few years ago a colleague bought a new caravan, his first. He had noted that his car had a maximum towing weight and thought that would be ok. The outfit was very unstable, not helped by him being new to towing. I recommended him to assess whether it fitted within the recommended 85% weight window and found he needed to change his tow car, then all was well. The Club I believe still operates it’s matching service.

Just a few observations based on our experiences.  A central washroom is a definite 'no' for us, because once that door is closed between the two areas, you might as well be sitting in a 12' caravan.  Far too claustrophobic for us.

Secondly, don't discount two single beds - plus 'nose strips' and earplugs (we have the same issues as you!).  Our last van had a fixed double and we hated the inconvenience when one had to get out of bed in the middle of the night for the loo. One of our better decisions.

I agree re Alde heating - but only from the point of view of reliability.  The Truma alternative, whilst an excellent heating system is prone to expensive failure of the electrical heating elements and it's a workshop job to get it repaired.

Powerful shower isn't an issue.  If your van doesn't already have have it, change existing pump(s) to Whale High Flows and fit an Ecocamel shower head.  I did this to our Knaus just after we got it and now the shower is about as good as the ones at home.

I agree with your choice of manufacturer and if I were looking for a new van, Adria would be at the top of my list.  I don't like the new offerings from Knaus after they discontinued production of the Starclass.

Hope this doesn't throw another load of spanners in the works

We’ve had Swift caravans, not perfect but our current Elegance 565 has two wide single beds and a big rear washroom. Even if we are on a big site with facilities we prefer our own shower and loo, particularly with Covid still about. It has a lifetime water ingress guarantee so no major problems with fear of damp.

Let’s face it all caravans will have to go back to the workshop (even our neighbour’s Adria has had irritating problems) so a good dealership is vital, do your research.

Don’t forget, if you buy a new caravan, then you will need to budget quite a lot extra for all the kit that goes with it, such cutlery, crockery, pans, bedding, gas bottles, waste tank, fresh water tank, awning etc., depending on what you want but don’t buy it all at once. A tow bar doesn’t come cheap either. 

if you haven’t towed before consider a towing course as well. I never had one but when I started towing, vans were much lighter, traffic easier and more tolerant. Make sure your tow vehicle is up to it, it’s more than just the 85% rule, you need enough power (torque) otherwise towing is a misery. Take advice. 

Hope you have a great caravan journey, we’ve been all over the UK and Europe as a family and now as a couple. it’s been great. 

Peter. 

It is not an 85% RULE, but purely a recommendation. Previous discussions on this forum, and others, has challenged the 85% recommendation as being out dated given modern cars and caravans with towing aids such as ATC.

However I agree with the comment about a towing course.

I'm going to side with TW here but also go a stage further...if you've been inspired to 'motorhome' and this might be your ultimate goal, TW's comment about replicating your home would also apply if, down the line you were looking at moving to a MH you'd need a mighty large MH to replicate an island bedded, centre washroom caravan layout...probably towards 8mtr.

now, I'm certainly not suggesting you don't buy a nice Adria and have a ball in it, and you may become (and remain) staunch caravanners, but there is the feeling that you get less for a lot more in a motorhome and a change down the line will certainly open your eyes....not only to cost but to a probable layout change.

TW himself has downsized substantially over time to find the best blend for him and if what you saw (and aspire to) on TV was folk zipping about in a MH calling in from place to place 'on a whim' then it works best either in a country geared up for MH (France, Spain etc) or with mega room (USA, NZ etc) or with a smaller van that's easy to set up and move on.

however, if it was the bling of a large comfy van with feet up sofas, spending much time in and around it then, as you suggest, this will cost you, with a caravan offering lots of room and comfort for a much lower outlay.

however, it won't be as easy to zip about in the style you see and read about on TV...with a largish caravan there will be more planning involved and short stays might become a chore with the setting up and packing away....

not trying to put you off either MHing or caravanning, but, in this country, with the current popularity, organising is more necessary....

perhaps the caravan is seen as a 'stop gap' till you feel more like moving to a MH...but MH is a different 'style' of touring, not right or wrong...

enjoy the search, many caravanners with loads of advice but it might just be worth taking a few mins to consider the end game and then how you might get there...

good luck.

I've never bought into this 'Continental good, British bad' mantra either. Two of the worst cars Ive had have been German.