In previous blogs, we’ve asked whether you should go for a campervan or a caravan, and we’ve looked at buying a campervan versus a converted campervan. The third traditional option is the motorhome, and it’s worth discussing the pros and cons of both of those too.
We may be (alright, we are) biased but what we want most of all is for anyone who camps in their vehicle to be using the right fit for them. At the end of the day, we know any of these options are an investment, and you should feel happy with your investment.
Comparing Campervans to Motorhomes
The traditional mental image for motorhomes is a huge construction that can be cumbersome to navigate. Of course, the traditional mental image for campervans is the classic 1970s VW, and if you’re on this website you already know that isn’t true!
Motorhomes do come in a wide variety of different sizes, though always larger than a campervan.
This creates one obvious tradeoff – internal space versus ease of use on certain roads, especially if you enjoy wild camping and exploring single-lane rural routes where you might find the route you committed to won’t admit your vehicle only after you’ve been driving down it for quite some time.
There is also a less obvious decision factor. The weight of a motorhome means you’ll need a driving licence with B+E class entitlements. If your driving licence is old enough (1996 or earlier), you have that entitlement grandfathered in; if not, it requires an extra test with extra costs.
Of course, we know some of our readership will already have taken and passed those tests!
Motorhomes allow more space for living, and more storage space too. We try to offset this in our professionally converted campervans by using all the tricks we’ve picked up over the years to get the most from the space in there.
Campervans, on the other hand, are often easier to park up at anything other than a campsite. This is especially important if you’re stopping off in a town or city to pick up supplies, or for that matter if you use your camping vehicle as your main mode of transport. In our experience, motorhomes tend to be second vehicles for most for exactly that reason, while a family can absolutely use a campervan for the daily grind as well as their holidays.
You’ll also find many fewer problems with low bridges and, while we’ve heard of determined campervan drivers making it up Hard Knott Pass, we’ve definitely never heard of a motorhome owner making it up that incline.
Everyone’s situation is different and there are plenty of van lifers out there who need the additional space of a motorhome and are willing to jump through the extra hoops both in terms of getting their licences and route planning. We believe that a campervan is superior for most, all the same – and if you’re not sure, why not use our campervan hire service and put it to the test?
