Touring Caravans & Sites
 

A few years since I towed a tourer, but thoroughly enjoyed the life, if not the towing.

What caravan do you tow, and what tow car do you use? How do you find it?

Any tips on good caravan sites throughout the UK?

Regards

I tow a 2014 Swift Challenger 570 SE (slightly modified!) with a 2015 XC 60 D5 Se Auto ... or I will when it is run in!

Sites ... we mostly used Caravan Club sites, good quality, less chance of meeting the rowdy element and for us at least good value for money. We also use Camping and Caravanning Club sites, though not quite so keen on them as the standards in our opinion is not quite so good.

Always willing to give advice on sites on the Scottish sites network.

We do 80+ nights a year, I have been caravanning since I was 10 days old so born to the breed so to speak.

I tow a 2014 Coachman Vision 570/6 behind my 2012 V70 D3 (163bhp)

I don't tow it all that much as we have a seasonal pitch so just at the beginning / end of the season and to the dealers for service etc. Saying that, we are taking it down to London for a few weeks as well this year.

We have found it to be a fairly good match although it is 91% if fully loaded. We tend to put all the weight in the car though and keep the weight in the caravan to the minimum.

Sorry haven't got time to reply on hols:thumbs_up:
Mike

Fairly new to caravanning compared to many but tow an Adria Altea, although haven't yet with the XC60 as don;t get out much usually until around Easter.
From then onwards we do a mixture of commercial sites, CL's via the Caravan Club network, some rallies via the CC and always at least once over to Europe each year where we normally do a couple to three weeks in summer.

We all love it and its a great holiday with your own gear, space and chilled lifestyle (once set up!).

Lots of forum out there to assist but UK Campsite is a useful one with Uk and Europe site reviews as well as forum. Caravantalk is another.
Obviously the two main clubs have their own sites and affiliated sites also and finally Google maps is a great way to look at an area and find "camping"

I tow a 1989/90 Lunar Clubman 500/4 which is about 16' 3" internal length ( ~ 21' shipping ) and a 4 berth that has a maximum all up weight of 1100Kg.

It's the biggest I can store on the part of my drive that is in front of the building line.

During the past ~15 months or so ( and since I had the auto box fail on my V70 TDI towcar ) I have been towing it with a 1998 Vauxhall Vectra GSI 2.5 Litre V6 which tows it very well indeed - though a little thirsty and petrol.

It has 194 Bhp available, but unfortunately, not at the best rpm to take full advantage of the maximum torque speed for towing at 60 ish mph.

The Vectra is also limited to 100Kg less towing capacity ( 1500 Kg ) than my V70 TDI ( 1600 Kg ).

And, there is nowhere near as much space or comfort.

During these past 2 months or so I have ( hopefully ) finalized the repair of my V70 auto and anticipate using that as my main towcar again soon ( from February ).
Will be updating that thread on the repair of that autobox mid February hopefully.

We have only been back into caravanning again since 2011 after a break of over 20 years.

Being semi retired, we usually do between 60 and 70 nights per year away in the caravan and in all weathers ( except January ).

Since spring 2013, and for our main breaks outside of winter, we tend to use Camping & Caravanning Club THS sites in various distant parts of the country.

We now appear to have a regular ( according to SWMBO ) summer 2 week break in Brixham each year at about £9 per night on a THS there.
Yea - I like it too though.

I equipped my van with 80 W solar charging in spring 2013 and a 4 week summer break 2013 without EHU was no problem.

That was a priority for the solar installation, to enable extended THS use.

We have everything else in the caravan that we would need.

Other times and in colder weather we use whichever site suits for the area we wish to visit.
We had 5 nights in York early December with EHU and full comfort.

I ask myself - why have we excluded this caravanning option for over 20 years - don't know, OH well.

We are back now, and will use all the spare time we have now, and even more when full retirement is realized before too long.

If you are new to a touring caravan - check out C&CC THS's.

Love it - Colin

We have a 2012MY (2011 registered) S80 D3 manual, soon to be towing a 2015 Elddis Affinity 540. I used to caravan with my parents and siblings from age 4 until I was 18 or 19 and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now that our dog has been diagnosed diabetic and needs twice daily injections, SWMBO and myself have decided that caravanning will be perfect for both annual holidays and weekends away - roll on February 13th when we pick the 'van up!

Good luck St Evelyn - enjoy your new holiday home!

We tow a 6 Berth Twin Axle 2005 Abbey Freestyle 640SE with a 2005 XC90 D5 (163).

We tend to use Caravan Club sites in this country as the standards are pretty much guaranteed. We also go to France / Spain once a year for two to three weeks. Its great for the kids and nice and relaxing once all set up.

Cheers Sam

Redneck
 

Cars as per signature.

Started only about 6 years ago with a tiny 700kg approx 1984 caravan the make of which I forget, bought from a Hell's Angel near Dover for £270. Promptly drove it under an overhanging branch. Partly straightened the roof and sealed it sort of, ripped out the internal overhead cupboards and put in a shelf for my guitars and went to folk festivals and fields with campfires. Eventually got fed up with the fact I could not keep the fridge cool on hot days (despite a new fridge) and gave it away (sold the fridge).

Bought what was supposed to be a 1997 ABI ACE Airstream from a bloke in Eltham whose senile father took it fishing and put it too close to a campfire resulting in a face like a stroke victim. When he died the son parked it in an alley with gates each end behind his house in Eltham where the local urban yoof broke in and used it to shoot up. Paid £500, and cleaned it up and installed guitar shelf, radio, and subwoofer and Bulldog. Eventually got fed up with the damp bathroom although the rest was bone dry, floor was fine, everything worked and it was amazingly roomy inside (L-shaped lounge) - bought new one I was hoping to be identical (see below) and the differences alerted me to the fact that the "1997" one was probably 1992 or 3 so I hope I was not guilty of receiving stolen property!

I now have a 1996 ABI ACE Airstream - much prettier on the outside and lovely bathroom but infuriatingly although bigger on the outside it's smaller on the inside, too many wardrobes, smaller L-shaped lounge, smaller space for guitar shelf, fridge in a silly place, stupid inaccessible cupboards, no cutlery drawers (can you believe that?), subwoofer won't fit, and WINE BOTTLES WILL NOT FIT UPRIGHT UNDER THE SEATS. Installed oven (previously had only rings and grill), relaminated floor, put pads in the Al-Ko (!) reversing lights, new lavatory flush, new Cascade igniter. Working on radio, radio aerial, subwoofer, guitar shelf, steam cleaning upholstery and curtains and carpet, and bondage loops to tie up girlfriend (only joking).

Anybody want to buy the other Ace as a project to sort the bathroom?

A subwoofer in a caravan.....

I take it you still stick to festivals and camping fields with no one else around ;)

It's a sonic water ingress repeller!! It shakes itself dry!!

@Rogerthechorister

Interesting write up. :thumbs_up:

Regards

Little subwoofer
 

It's only a little subwoofer - about 800 watts. I run a separate power supply for the sub amp through a TP2 pack so the sub does not drain my main van battery. Ex-G/F (37 to my 67, daughter of a Congolese general) failed to understand amps and volts and nearly caused a disaster before I did that!

I have a Lunar Quasar 525 and tow with a C30 2.0DSE. Its about 93% match and tows very well. Down side is small boot and 3 doors, but we had the car before getting back into caravaning again.
Use both CC & C&CC club sites with the odd CL now and again. Yorkshire is our main area, but may venture into Scotland this year.

I tow a 1998 Compass Rallye 490 GTE with my 03 V70 2.4 (why have GTE on a caravan!?)
I know petrol isn't the usual choice for tow car, but the 170BHP gives me oodles more power than my previous car and the mpg towing doesn't seem much worse than not towing.

Stability wise, it tows a treat.

As in the signature we tow a Unicorn Cadiz 2 (1500kg) with a tweaked Volvo V60 D5 auto. Great set up with loads of power to spare and very stable.

I have had the odd comment about the physical size of the car vs the van but it is much heavier than it looks which is the important bit.

We spend around 15 weeks a year away including about 8 weeks on the continent. We just love it and feel that we would not be able to afford to see all the sights and places that we do by any other method.

Planning to do northern Spain and south of France later this year.

We are sure that the V60 will excel again.

In the UK we tend to use Caravan Club sites for a consistent good standard.

Good luck & enjoy.

Mike

Hello

My set up: 1991 Elddis Typhoon GTX + 2008 Volvo s80 2.0D. Great set up for me( never drove with a van) Caravan bit on the old side but great inside and outside. Needed a bit of cleaning when I picked it up as previous owner kept in as a static for seasonal pitch. Now fully operational.Not pulling to side no juddering when breaking...



Picture from Pitlochry when pitched on a b@$t@rd ski slope...

[IMG]http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...ps21f0c3bc.jpg[/IMG]



Second when we picked it from the campsite in Musselburgh:


[IMG]http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psyfjptnrh.jpg[/IMG]

Thinking about fitting a car stereo as it never had one. (need to find 12V supply somewhere when hooked up on site) Otherwise great van for Us... My first one so looking forward to get to caravan sites...Maybe wales this year

Enjoy

I have a 2010 xc70 d5 and tow a 2010 coachman amara 5 berth, the car is a dream to drive and tow with and has comfort and plenty of power as its the 205 bhp model, we mainly stick to the caravan club sites as your guaranteed good standards, get around 29 ish when towing which I'm happy with as I had a shogun before the volvo and that only returned about 18 when towing.

caravan club sites as your guaranteed good standards


But not Guaranteed a Pitch :thumbs_up:

...and a bit 'snobby'

Regards

Now i'm confused.

Have a think......!!

Regards

Some Volvo owners are snobby are you. ?


Just like any other marque!!

2003 Elddis Firestorm 524 towed by 2006 V50 2.0 d. Very stable towing and enough grunt to get the job done with ease.
As for sites, anywhere that allows dogs so usually Caravan club certified locations.
Haven't been away since new year so really looking forward to getting out.

We are non-snobby Caravan Club members and have been so since 1988. We have a 2014 Coachman Vision 565/4 and our MY14 VolvoXC60 which we haven't used for towing yet.
The image is at Salisbury Hillside and shows our previous towcar a 2010 Kia Sorento KX-2 Auto.

We enjoy the caravan club sites and the good standards and always manage to get a pitch,
I can confirm that we ain't snobby and I am not a keyboard warrior either.

Can't agree with this.

Well, we are not and enjoy chatting with new people and making new friends.

Found the camping and caravanning club more down to earth. Caravan Club seemed too 'elite'. Every site I went on was like a caravan and motor show, whereas with the camping club there was a wide spectrum of old and new, and members seemed more down to earth.

Regards

Its funny you should say that considering that a lot of C.C members also belong to the C.C.C.

As a member of both Clubs we spend most of our time with the CC ... it is not snobbish. This is an oft quoted myth. IMHO absolute nonsense.

Why is it nonsense when one has experienced it?

What did you experience?
You will always get people that think they are better than you in all walks of life..
It's maybe just as well I don't own a large Volvo 4x4 incase people think im a snob.lol

No disrespect meant but spent 90%+ of my holidays since birth ... 44 and a bit years .... on CC sites and never experienced this. During that time we have new 'vans, old vans and middle aged 'vans.

We appreciate high standards ... so the CC suits us fine ... if that is snobbish then I guess I must be a snob. I care not a jot for what van/car/motorhome my neighbours are in and suspect most other CC members are the same.

Not so keen on the C&CC sites as (again IMHO) are not as professionally run, have stupidly narrow hardstandings and unmade roads. That said we love Dunbar and Lauder so maintain our membership for these sites. A very poor experience at Scone in 2007 showed the C&CC in a very poor light .... dirty facilities, a snappish warden team who found it acceptable to shout at two elderly ladies who had misunderstood an 'order' left a sour taste. We are having a weekend at Scone this year and are hopeful of a better experience!

I just found people 'stand offish''. More so obsessed with their vans than getting involved in caravan life. Generally older people who looked seriously shocked and put off when they saw you had kids.

I have been involved for a similar time, and as I say, what I experienced was not nonsense,but just what I saw and felt. Just a difference of opinion/ perception. Yes?

Anyway my touring days stopped around 10 years ago, so things may be different nowadays in the touring set.

Regards

As a CC member and caravanner for over 30 years in my 50s, I have pretty well always used CC sites when in the UK mainly for their shower blocks and level of standards. However, it has been noticed by myself and many CC members who write into the CC monthly magazine how insular fellow caravanners are becoming with the classic "Annexing of a state" appearing with masses of windbreaks being erected to partition off areas. I feel that since you last caravanned some 10 years ago there has been a big change and not for the better. I cannot say I am particularly gregarious but don't mind a chat when on site but the opportunity seems to have lessened over the past 10 years. Probably also affected by laptops/ipads and other insular devices. I think people treat caravanning more of a home away with the same level of privacy rather than getting a chance to meet people. Sign of the times perhaps?

@ StevepVolvo

'Insular'.

Yes that is quite a good word to describe it.:thumbs_up:

Regards

Annexing of a state" appearing with masses of windbreaks

perhaps people use windbreaks for a reason.
lets see.
Wind
barbaque shelter.
keeping dogs in
just to name a few.
But Hey if you want to bash the windbreak followers your choice:thumbs_up:

I have to agree with the above as thought people were on holiday to enjoy them selves.
There has always been windbreaks erected ,you just need to look at old films to see that. Oh heck I don't need to look at them I was there at the time.
I must be a pain as well because I use solar lights outside the awning as well.
Maybe volvorocks was referring to the C.C rallies when he was speaking about snobs?

Hm I have a windbreak (in fact two) but I use it in such a way that my set up still welcomes others should they want to stop and chat. My observation was that over the last few years that there seemed to be more caravans appearing to isolate themselves with windbreaks when no wind or bbq. However, I take the point that each to their own and maybe there is no intention to be insular. I was purely responding to the original statement and making an observation about how I observed (and other caravanners as per the CC ,magazine letters )caravanning appears to have changed over the past few years, it was not a criticism but perhaps my wording was inflammatory and I apologise.