Affordable caravan increasingly luxurious

Waking up with a stiff back, making coffee with a whistling kettle, or laboriously converting your bed into a seating area: that's history, as a tour of camping stores reveals. Even the affordable caravan has matured.

After years of malaise, the caravan is making a comeback, and how. Even the most basic models now have beds with slatted bases and comfort mattresses, a kitchen with three automatic gas burners, a boiler, a refrigerator, and heating. The toilet, introduced in the 1980s, is also an indispensable part of the mobile holiday home – there is no caravan for sale anymore without its own sanitary facilities. Some models even have a shower: camping is no longer about roughing it.

Entry-level models

While the average caravan easily costs around 20 grand, established brands are introducing more and more models with a starting price of just over 11 thousand euros. Still a lot of money, but in terms of luxury, they are hardly inferior to their more expensive, blinged-out siblings. So, for the price of a used caravan, you can also buy a new, affordable caravan.

Some brands, including Knaus, even introduced a separate brand with budget-friendly caravans: Weinsberg. This brand offers the CaraOne caravan, which is rolled out of the showroom with a bow for just 11 grand. But brands like Adria, Dethleffs, Bürstner, and the French brands Sterckeman and Caravelair are also in the same price range.

Family with two children

For that money, you get a caravan equipped with heating, a kitchen, a refrigerator, and a fixed double bed with comfortable mattresses. The seating area can also be converted into a second double bed, creating a total of four sleeping places: perfect for a family with two growing children. There are also versions with a separate bunk bed for the little ones, such as the compact Adria Aviva 360DK.

Last winter, the German brands Bürstner and Dethleffs introduced two newly developed entry-level caravans for families: the Premio Life and the C’joy, which have been given a luxurious appearance due to the chosen wood colors for the furniture and mocha-colored upholstery variants.

Luxury packages

When purchasing an affordable caravan, you should pay attention to the standard equipment of the 'entry-level' caravans: for example, a spare wheel is often not included – order it separately because you don't want to be stranded with a flat tire on the French Péage. Something else to pay attention to is the length of the bed, especially if you are a bit taller. Some caravan beds stop at 189 cm, while other beds reach two meters; sufficient for the average basketball player. Ready-to-drive costs are now included in the price; additional costs are gas bottles and an awning or canopy.

And if you want to upgradeyour affordable caravan, all manufacturers offer luxury packages that include, for example, an anti-snaking coupling, a screen door, a panoramic roof hatch, and a larger refrigerator for an attractive package price. Not necessary, but nice. Perhaps when holiday pay is transferred in May!

Just with your B driving license

Due to relaxed legislation, since 2013 you can also tow a caravan with a normal B driving license. As long as the maximum weight of the car plus the maximum weight of the caravan (empty weight plus payload) remains below 3,500 kg. The only limitation is what your car is allowed to tow: that so-called maximum trailer weight can be found on the car's registration certificate, or you can enter your license plate number on www.rdw.nl.

Large selection of caravans

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