Caravan virgin with family

[Noel_5119824]

Good afternoon all,

I love the forum and have enjoyed brwosing for tips. I'm wanting to buy our first caravan for our family (wife, and two babies

 

[RichardS1]

Noel, when you buy a caravan you have to compromise on most things because it is a relatively confined space to fit the required kit into. Layouts are undoutably down to personal choice but in your situation I would advise you to look at a five berth twin dinette. With this layout you could leave the double bed at the back set up as fixed bed or have a seperate seating area there where the kids can play away from you during bad weather. The two front settees could double as fixed single beds for the kids and in modern vans the centre kitchens and washrooms are very useable with plenty of space. We used this layout when our children were young and it worked extremely well for us.

 

[Noel_5119824]

Noel, when you buy a caravan you have to compromise on most things because it is a relatively confined space to fit the required kit into. Layouts are undoutably down to personal choice but in your situation I would advise you to look at a five berth twin dinette. With this layout you could leave the double bed at the back set up as fixed bed or have a seperate seating area there where the kids can play away from you during bad weather. The two front settees could double as fixed single beds for the kids and in modern vans the centre kitchens and washrooms are very useable with plenty of space. We used this layout when our children were young and it worked extremely well for us.

Thank you Richard. Just the sort of practical advice I need. If you had

 

[RichardS1]

Noel, friends of ours recently bought a 2002 model Ace Jubilee Viceroy five berth and paid just short of

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

i have an avondale 556/6 they are verynose heavy so we had to have a 4 x 4.i wish now we would have had a fixed bed then the boys could have slept on the front either as singles or made up. we have a 12 year old and a 4 year old thats the size of a 1 year old cos her was a premmie.i would have also considered a twin dinette so they could eat down there play down there and sleep down there.hope this helps

 

[allie1]

Hi Noel

If I were you I would first of all work out what your car will tow ( maximum 80 -85% of car weight ) and then thatw ill show you what weight to look for. I think that is very important.

There is a brilliant site with private and trade adda on to find caravans. Dont know if I am allowed to list it.

layout is personal choice. Go to a large dealer that has the vans open and spend a few hours going around them all.

Take your time.

We started about 30 years ago and would never holiday any other way, even if we won the lottery !

 

[Noel_5119824]

Noel, friends of ours recently bought a 2002 model Ace Jubilee Viceroy five berth and paid just short of

 

[Noel_5119824]

i have an avondale 556/6 they are verynose heavy so we had to have a 4 x 4.i wish now we would have had a fixed bed then the boys could have slept on the front either as singles or made up. we have a 12 year old and a 4 year old thats the size of a 1 year old cos her was a premmie.i would have also considered a twin dinette so they could eat down there play down there and sleep down there.hope this helps

Thank you Jo-anne. Twin dinette is looking likely possibility.