We look at all the features every great family caravan must have
Harmonious family holidays in a caravan are a possibility, even if you have a hoard of the most rambunctious kids to entertain and crowd-control.
Of course, wearing children out with a day full of outdoor activities is the best way to ensure your kids are fulfilled and ready for bed when you want them to be.
However, when touring in Britain, poor weather may mean that you are ‘confined to quarters’, and that’s when making the right caravan choice is absolutely crucial for parental well-being and nerves!
In this guide, we’ll reveal all the things you should consider when choosing the perfect family tourer for you and your clan.
Top Factors That Make a Great Family Caravan
The dream of hitting the open road and exploring at your own pace has never been more appealing. But which leisure vehicle is right for you?
Let’s explore the key differences between motorhomes and car-towed caravans to help you make the perfect choice for your adventures.
Spacious Layouts for comfortable caravanning
A family caravan should offer enough room for everyone to spread out and relax, with separate sleeping areas and, ideally, separate communal spaces for day and evening activities.
One of the biggest factors is whether you choose fixed beds or make-up beds.
A fixed bed is a permanent fixture in a tourer. They take up a lot of space, so they’re not ideal for caravans that must accommodate a lot of people (4+). On a positive note, they do remove the need to make up a bed (or beds) each night.
For larger families, where six berths are required, arguably the best layout is one where the big front lounge quickly converts into a huge double bed for the adults.
This type of family caravan often comes with fixed bunk beds for the kids. Most vans have two bunks, but Adria and some others have offered three stacked beds at the back of the van in an area that’s devoted to your kids (and keeps them out of your hair!).
Adria’s 2017 Altea 542dk is a two-bunk version of this twin-lounge layout (expect to play around £14,000), while the 2012 Adria Sportline DT offers three-bunks (c.£9000), as does the 2008 Bailey Pageant Bretagne (from £5,000).
These twin-lounge layouts give adults and kids their own spaces to relax, usually separated by the kitchen, loo, and shower room on one side of the caravan. The best have a door or pull-across concertina divider to keep some of the noise in (or is that out?!).
The Bailey Pegasus Grande GT 75 Ancona is a great example of a family caravan with five berths: a make-up front double, two bunks at the back, and a side dinette area that converts into another single bed. This luxury eight-foot-wide tourer costs £30,799.
As our son turned 13, we found he got too wide for his bunk and whenever he turned over there was a loud thud as he hit the sidewall! The next year, he found himself in a pup tent (which he/we loved!).
Some vans have large dining tables with ‘banquette-style seating around them. These not only convert into an extra bed at night, they also offer a great space for kids to play games, do arts and crafts, or watch TV.
Eight-footers
While the new (ish) eight-foot-wide caravans do offer more living space and a surprising sense that you are in a lovely, spacious apartment, not a caravan, the extra cost to purchase one may not always be deemed a wise investment for bustling families. You’ll have to experience it for yourself, at Raymond James’ showroom, to make a call on it for your family.
Cooking on gas!
A decent-sized kitchen is essential for catering for families of four or more. A four-burner hob (though realistically there’s only ever room for three pans) is a good start, but just as important is lots of accessible worktop space, plenty of cupboard and locker storage, and a large fridge.
Under-counter fridges will just about cope with food for four, but a tall, super-sized fridge is a better option for four, five, or six.
Awning options
One brilliant and cost-effective way to increase your living space is by adding an awning to the mix. These come in many shapes and sizes, from a small porch awning around six feet across, to a full awning that spans the entire length of your tourer, literally doubling your living space.
An awning can create loads of extra living, sleeping, or, and storage space, and is a great option for active families who like to take outdoor clothing and kit with them on tour.
As both pole and air awnings are available in all sizes these days, they don’t have to take a lot of time and effort to erect, either. A good air awning can be fully inflated and ready to go in under 20 minutes. Pole awnings typically take a little longer.
Pup tents
If your family outgrows your tourer, and your kids are a bit older, one great solution is to banish them to a pup tent pitched next to the caravan. Good-quality two-man tents are available at relatively low cost these days, especially if you explore the second-hand market.
Ample storage
Storage is crucial to happy family touring, ensuring that everyone can take their favourite clothes and kit along on tour.
Underseat lockers are the most common form of storage in a caravan, and these sometimes have external access, and waterproof trays (for wet beach gear, etc).
Fixed beds generally offer a lot of storage space underneath, but for larger familes who need to carry lots of gear, you can’t beat fitting a good quality roofbox, from Thule or Halfords, to the towcar.
Safety and security first
You want to keep your most valuable ‘possessions’ safe and sound – we’re talking kids, and camera gear!) As such, your tourer should be fitted with good-quality locks, a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector and a fire extinguisher.
These should be checked regularly to ensure they are functioning correctly, and your van should be serviced annually, to check on gas and electricity, safety, etc.
We’d also consider fitting a theft alarm with interior PIR detectors and tilt detectors, plus a satellite tracking device, to your caravan.
New vans will come with many of these additional security devices as standard.
Ease of Towing
Family caravans tend to be longer than average caravans, and this can have an effect on the ease of towing them.
Several things will help: a lightweight construction and a stable chassis make towing safer.
As most UK caravans are now built on brilliant AL-KO chassis, you also have the option of speccing an ATC towing-stability system and an AKS stabiliser coupling head that incorporates friction pads to minimise unwanted caravan movement behind the towcar.
Both of these systems will enhance towing and manoeuvring confidence, and could prevent an expensive accident.
Washrooms and hot water
For families, we’d recommend a separate shower room, basin area, and loo space. That way, all three can be in use at once, speeding up your ‘getting-ready’ time.
The latest water heaters from Truma, Whale, and Alde will also ensure that you have sufficient hot water for a number of showers one after the other. Older systems may require longer ‘reheating periods’ for the water, in between showers.
Tech and tellies
All of the following will make touring with the family a much happier experience for all involved!
- Decent WIFI in the caravan
- A good TV with access to terrestrial TV, satellite TV, or streaming services
- A Bluetooth speaker for music inside and outside the caravan, or even at the beach
- Wanna get fancy? Buy a budget projector and turn the side of your tourer into a cinema!
Many parents may want to limit access to wifi for their kids and encourage interaction and game playing, when on tour. We absolutely agree and always take a bunch of cool games on the road.
These include: Bananagrams, Scrabble, and Uno, while Heads Up! Is a fun game on your smartphone.
Eco-friendly features
Solar panels, energy-efficient lighting, and water-saving systems help reduce environmental impact. A solar panel will also ensure you have plenty of power in the leisure battery for recharging devices, etc.
Four-season insulation and heating
Ensure you can tour all year round, by making sure that your caravan has effective insulation and heating. Annual servicing will keep the heating and water systems in tip-top condition.
An awning can act as a good ‘air-lock’ in cold weather, creating a barrier between the cosy van interior and the howling gale outside!
Pet-friendly
Large families often have pets onboard, so pick a van that has space for your hound (or pet hamster).
Space on the floor for a dog bed is important, especially in winter, though in warmer weather, Rover could be banished to the awning at night, where his food bowls and bed can live without getting under your feet.
We lift the carpets in our tourer when we head off for a beach holiday. This prevents them from getting dirty or damaged and makes cleaning up much easier.
My must-have feature for a family caravan
For my family, the most essential feature to ensure harmonious hols is excellent wifi!
After a busy day at the beach or in the hills, we’re all keen to catch up on the news or social media, upload some pictures, or do Wordle! Then, later in the evening, we might want to watch a movie together.
In the past, after relying on poor and expensive campsite wifi for a few years, we began renting a Mi-Fi device for each big holiday from cellhire.com.
These little devices take the available 4G or 5G phone signal and turn it into wifi for multiple digital devices. They can work in the UK and abroad.
These days we rely on a 4G/5G antenna linked to a booster and router. The best systems, from the likes of Avtex and Falcon technology, will ‘grab’ all the available signal and turn it into usable wifi for between 10 and 50 devices at once.
These antennas can find signal even in many rural locations, and they cost from around £250 to £1,000, depending on specification and fitting costs.