Table of contents for February 2023 in Caravan

BUYING YOUR FIRST CARAVAN It’s packed with essential information to help you choose and buy a caravan, as well as essential information on owning and enjoying your ‘van. It includes all of this and much more: • Choosing the right layout • Advice on finance and insurance • Caravan towing tips • How to set up on site • Top UK campsites • Plus, there’s a complete 2022 buyers’ guide and dealer directory and much more! Buy digitally now for just £7.99 - caravan.ma/byfcdigi22 Get your printed issue for £9.99 (FREE UK p&p) – caravan.ma/byfcprint22 Abbeyford Leisure’s Elie Holiday Park, Shell Bay, Fife Keep up to date with the latest caravan news, special offers, competitions and much more, sign up to our e-newsletter, visit caravan.ma/freenews. Or join us via @Caravanmagazine…

Our main site for our 2022 European holiday was Fornella Camping & Wellness Resort, which is on Lake Garda in northern Italy. This is our third visit since we’ve been caravanning and it’s a wonderful family-friendly site. It’s popular, so, if you are interested, book early! Overlooking Lake Garda and in the area of San Felice del Benaco, it’s actually a resort with a supermarket, play areas, a restaurant overlooking the lake (which always needs to be booked), two swimming pools and live entertainment. It offers lodges, luxury tents, touring caravan pitches, motorhome pitches and room for tents. For this visit we were on a super pitch due to the size of our unit. We literally were a few metres from one of the shower blocks, the main pool and…

Choosing your ideal caravan begins with finding the layout that best suits your needs. Fixed double bed? Twin beds? Bunks? Rear shower room? Central shower room? Central dining area? All these options and more besides are available. This guide will set you on the right track to making the decision as to which caravan suits you best. THE BASICS FIRST Before you do anything, you need to know the basics about what weight of caravan your car can tow and, for this, you'll need to know what MTPLM means. You'll see and hear the term 'MTPLM' referred to a lot when you're on the hunt for a caravan. It stands for Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass and it is the figure you need for matching your car and caravan. Your…

Camping makes you happier Camping in the great outdoors makes people happier and improves their wellbeing and mental health, according to a major new survey. The Outjoyment Report asked nearly 11,000 people what they think about the benefits of all types of camping – whether it’s in a caravan, tent, motorhome or glamping. And it found campers are happier, less stressed, more connected to nature and more likely to be active outdoors. The report, commissioned by the Camping and Caravanning Club and carried out by academics at Liverpool John Moores University and Sheffield Hallam University, revealed: • Happiness is the top motivator for going camping for 97% of campers, while 48% of campers reported feeling happy almost every day, compared with 35% of non-campers • Campers are more connected to…

sudoku Grab your pencil and get to work – this month’s sudoku challenge might take you a while! just for fun Find 24 currencies, past and present crossword ACROSS 7 North African cooking pot and the stew it produces (6) 8 Hindu god’s incarnation; James Cameron blockbuster (2009) (6) 9 Fibrous mineral used as an insulator, now classed as harmful (8) 10 Christiania, today (4) 11 Old world small falcon (7) 13 Landed estate of a lord (5) 15 Language and people of Cambodia (5) 17 Protective wall (7) 20 ----Rabbit, protagonist of many of the Uncle Remus stories (4) 21 Soak; drench (8) 23 Eyetooth (6) 24 Flying high; euphoric (6) DOWN 1 Oration platform (4) 2 Nonstop; express (6) 3 Ling; erica (7) 4 Stop; take a break…

All the talk of the North Coast 500 overflowing with campervans, caravans and motorhomes and queues of tourists waiting to get onto the Isle of Skye gives the impression that Scotland’s full up each summer. But that’s far from the truth. There’s bags of space up here, if you avoid the hotspots. Lots of lesser-known places share the spectacular scenery, wonderful wildlife and fantastic folklore that visitors associate with iconic Scottish destinations. One such hidden gem is the county of Angus (don’t tell everyone, we don’t want it spoiled). It ticks all the boxes, having both mountainous Highland and rolling Lowland landscapes, as well as lovely coastal scenery, picturesque historic sites and several nature reserves. What’s more, because it lies in the east, it has lower rainfall, more sunshine and…

1 LADRAM BAY HOLIDAY PARK Otterton, Budleigh Salterton, Devon EX9 7BX T 01395 568398 W ladrambay.co.uk OPEN 12 March – 31 October Set beside its own private beach on the Jurassic Coast, Ladram Bay is ideal for families wanting lots of leisure facilities on site. Just a 10-minute walk from the touring area will bring you to the site’s private beach where there are kayaks and boats for hire. No matter the weather, Ladram Bay has plenty of fun to offer. There’s an indoor pool complex, a sauna and steam room, a games arcade, indoor soft play area and climbing wall. Outdoors there is a splash zone, adventure golf and a play area. All of Ladram Bay’s touring pitches are hardstanding and arranged on terraces. Facilities include toilets, showers, family…

The Acadia range offers two five-berth options, both at the same price and both with almost identical MTPLM figures. One is the superbly practical 630, with bunks and a large, central dining area. The other is equally superb and equally practical – in a very different way. Whereas the 630’s chief attraction is its bunk beds – making it a great option for young families – the 660 has a double bed, so giving it more appeal to couples, although both are splendid family caravans. But if you want a permanent double bed, the 660 is the one to go for. While the Acadia is Coachman’s range with a lower spec, where Coachman differs from all other manufacturers is that it doesn’t offer a range that could be described as…

The iconic Eriba brand has been making caravans for more than 60 years and continues to grow in popularity in the UK, offering three distinctive ranges – Touring, Feeling and Nova Light, plus a standalone model, the Touring 820. Touring is likely its best-known line-up. With retro styling and compact dimensions, these caravans draw many admiring glances when pitched up on campsites. They simply don’t look like anything else you'll find on the market today. All models in the Touring range sleep between three and four people and are light in weight, making them suitable for those with smaller tow vehicles. There’s seven models to choose from: 310, 430, 530, 540, 542, 550 and 560. Plus, the newest addition, the Touring 820, a luxurious model with sleek styling and high-tech…

Caravan heating systems keep you warm regardless of when and where you tour, but what should you consider if you’re planning a winter trip or looking to buy a new caravan? We’ll focus on the leading caravan heating systems from Alde, Truma, and Whale. In broad terms, Truma and Whale produce blown-air heating systems, while Alde caravan heating is a hydronic system that uses antifreeze fluid to warm a series of radiators. All of the above systems can be powered by gas or mains electricity – or a combination of both – which makes it easy to enjoy pitches with or without an electric hook-up, whatever the weather is doing. Modern caravans shrug off sub-zero temperatures with ease thanks to a combination of efficient heating and insulation, with an increasing…

Our desire to head for the mountains has always been with us and so my wife, Janet, and I aimed for north Wales. Our visit coincided with the hottest sustained period in north Wales for many years, making it a particularly good choice. Our loose plan was to work our way northwards from Cader Idris (aka Cadair Idris), doing as much walking as we could on the way. We headed to Dol Einion campsite, next to the Cadair Idris Visitor Centre. This basic site is wonderfully situated right on the Minffordd Path, which is a great route up Cader Idris. Situated above the picturesque Llyn Mwyngil (lake) and village of Talyllyn, it’s a delightful cycle ride from the site to the end of the lake on a gated road, which…

Escape to the country to relax and unwind Smytham, nestled in a north Devon valley, is perfect for people looking to unwind away from the demands of everyday life. Whether your idea of relaxation is taking a dip in the site’s outdoor pool, heading to a nearby beach, or going for a walk along the Tarka Trail, you can do it all at Smytham. On site there is a games room, putting green and lots of open space to keep children entertained. In the evening the whole family can go to the on-site bar or enjoy sitting outside the caravan gazing at the stars. Adjoining the park is the wonderful Tarka Trail footpath and cycleway, which links to the South West Coast Path, and Dartmoor National Park is only a…

Choices, choices! Where to start with what beautiful North Yorkshire has to offer caravanners? If you like the outdoor lifestyle, you’ve the North York Moors National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park to explore, as well as several lovely Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, like Nidderdale and the Howardian Hills. All of these places offer miles of walking and cycling routes, as well as a wide range of activities, and there are tonnes of campsites around, too. To see the sea, you can’t go far wrong with a trip to the town of Whitby, the infamous setting for much of the story of Dracula, or indulge in fish and chips at Scarborough or Robin Hood’s Bay, perhaps. For culture vultures, historic places like the city of York and the…