Caravan or Folding Camper: Potential Buyer’s Guide

Choosing between a caravan and a folding camper is a dilemma that many face. When you look into the differences between the two, you will note that they both have brilliant benefits and notable downsides.

This blog post is designed to be a useful resource that will help you choose between a folding camper and caravan. I’ve compared the two on some important factors, such as ease of storage and maintenance expenses. This post will help you to decide on the best one for you.

Caravan Or Folding Camper: Our Comparison

If you are in the fortunate position of being able to purchase either a caravan or a folding camper, you must know the benefits and downsides of both before purchasing one.

I’m comparing the two on some key points here, which will help you to decide which is best.

Storage

Before purchasing a folding camper or caravan, you must think about where and how you are going to store it.

By all accounts, folding campers are very easy to store. Even the larger folding campers can be stored easily on a drive or in a garage. Can the same be said for caravans? Certainly not in most cases.

The pictured Countryman folding camper, an averaged sized folding camper, is 400cm long and 184cm when packed away as shown. On the other hand, caravans can be over 700cm long. This is a big difference and may influence whether or not you can store your unit at home.

A packed away Countryman folding camper by Pennine. © Pennine Outdoor Leisure Ltd

If you intend to store your purchase at home, it would be prudent to consider how much space you’ll need to store a folding camper or caravan. If space is limited, you probably want to go for the compact option: a folding camper.

It’s notable that there are some smaller caravans available that are much easier to store, but the type of caravan you need obviously differs greatly based on the number of people that will be using it. If there are just one or two people travelling, a smaller, easier to store caravan is a good option.

Winner: Folding Camper. It’s undeniable that storing a folding camper is much easier than storing a caravan. Caravans are much larger and take up more room, so you’ll struggle to store one if space is already limited. On the other hand, even the biggest folding campers are relatively compact and can be stored on a drive or in a garage without too much trouble. If you plan to pay for alternate storage, it’s a draw here. Storage costs likely won’t differ too much.

Spontaneous Trips

So, you decide on a Thursday night that you want to go away for the weekend. How easy is it to spontaneously have a weekend away with a folding camper and caravan?

Well, spontaneous trips are very easy with a folding camper. You have everything that you need in your folding camper; you simply need to pack your clothes. Your trailer has plenty of space, so you can easily store everything that you need, including sleeping bags and clothes, in the trailer rather than cramming them into the car with you.

Setting up the folding camper base unit takes around 15 to 20 minutes. While erecting the awning makes the setup time much longer, you probably aren’t going to use the awning for a short, unplanned trip.

Likewise, caravans are ideal for spontaneous trips. You can leave everything you need in your caravan, so you just need to connect it to your car and set off. Again, all you need are your clothes and you’re ready to go.

Once you reach your destination, a caravan doesn’t require a whole lot of setting up internally. You’ll have to make the beds and organise all your belongings, but that isn’t too time-consuming. You’ll need to set up your caravan’s electric, gas and water systems, but you’d have to do the same with a folding camper.

Winner: Draw. Folding campers and caravans are equally suitable for unplanned holidays. You can leave everything that you need in your folding camper or caravan, so you simply need to get your essentials such as clothing and food together. After that, you’re ready to go! And when you reach your destination, setting up a folding camper is just as easy as setting up a caravan; neither takes longer than 20 to 30 minutes.

Towing

You’re going to have to tow your unit an awful lot, so it’s important to look at how easy both options are to tow and which is most cost-effective.

Even for inexperienced towers, towing a folding camper is fairly easy. Folding campers are light and compact, so you’ll barely notice a difference when you’re towing a unit. While you have to take the standard towing precautions, such as slowing down sooner and paying attention to trailer stability, you won’t struggle even without prior towing experience.

On the other hand, towing a caravan can be more difficult. Towing experience does differ based on the size and the weight of the unit. However, caravans are typically large and heavy, impacting not only visibility but the way that you have to control your vehicle. If you are an inexperienced tower, you’re more likely to encounter struggles when towing a caravan than when towing a folding camper.

It is typically believed that you get more miles per gallon when towing a folding camper compared to towing a caravan, although this is hard to prove. With the vast number of cars out there, it’s hard to say for sure. However, folding campers do tend to be much lighter than caravans, which will impact the amount of fuel used when towing. The average weight of a folding camper is around 600kg, whereas the average caravan weight is around 1200kg. The extra weight inevitably means more fuel consumption.

Winner: Folding Camper. Folding campers are lighter and smaller than caravans, which makes them much easier to tow. Particularly for inexperienced towers, a folding camper is a better option. Also, if you’re keeping a keen eye of fuel consumption, you won’t use as much fuel when towing a camper.

Facilities

Other than a place to sleep, you might wonder what else is in a folding camper. Most people will already be familiar with everything that you’ll find in caravans: a toilet, shower, hobs, grill, oven, sink, and fridge. But what facilities are in a folding camper?

The facilities that you find in a folding camper will differ from camper to camper. Most folding campers will have the same cooking facilities as a caravan, including hobs, a grill and an oven. You’ll also find a sink and fridge in most folding campers. Most folding campers will also have a cassette toilet. Essentially, folding campers have the same facilities as caravans.

The inside of a Pennine Pathfinder folding camper. © Pennine Outdoor Leisure Ltd.

Folding campers have gas, electric and water systems. They work in a similar way to the systems that you’d find in a caravan. So for the most part, you’ll have the same things in a folding camper that you would find in a caravan. The main difference is most caravans have a shower, whereas folding campers don’t. I wrote a post here about the best portable showers available, but folding campers don’t come with showers built-in.

Winner: Caravan. The caravan just scrapes the win here due to the fact that you’ll get a shower in most caravans. Having a shower makes a big difference depending on the type of campsite you’re stopping on, as some campsites aimed at caravans may not have communal showers available. And that’s why the caravan wins this facility comparison.

Campsite Options

If you want the widest variety of campsites to choose from, you might wonder which unit is most widely accepted at campsites.

It is fair to say that folding camper owners can choose from the widest variety of sites. While there are sites that accept tents, folding campers, and caravans, some sites only accept tents and trailer tents. Likewise, some sites only accept caravans. However, a folding camper isn’t a tent, trailer tent, or caravan. So which category does it fall into?

Most tent and trailer tent-only sites will accept a folding camper. Likewise, most caravan-only campsites will accept a folding camper. However, a caravan will only be accepted at sites that accept caravans. So, this means you will have a greater number of sites available to you if you are a folding camper owner.

Winner: Folding Camper. Tent and trailer tent-only sites usually accept folding campers, as do many caravan-only sites. This ultimately means there are more locations available to folding camper owners, so folding campers win this site variety comparison!

Overall Winner: Folding Camper

The folding camper wins this comparison overall. It’s easier to store, contains virtually all the facilities anyone could need, and is much easier and cost-effective to tow.

A caravan has more storage space and will usually have a shower. These could be deciding factors for you that make a caravan the best option. However, for most, a folding camper is a better option.

What are your thoughts? Are there any other factors that would be a deciding factor on which is best? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll reply to comments personally!

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