Best layout/berth for family with 3 kids!

crabbypaddy

Benbecul97 wrote: »

In a MH, when driving, one of them will have to be rear-facing. Will they be happy with that? Will all of them be happy together opposite each other when on the move? They wont be as close by for the non-driving adult to tend to their needs!

Regarding Aires many, if not most, are not suitable for young kids (<6 years) as they have few amenities and can be located in busyish areas. While you do get ones that are conveniently located near nice amenities alot of them are carparks in supermarkets, industrial estate areas, 2-3kms from the nearest town etc. At least the ones I've seen / seen in the Vicarious - All the Aires guide book. Will ye feel like ye are on "holidays" if ye overnight in a few of these over your 2-4 week holiday? Of course you can research and pinpoint suitable aires, but as they cannot be reserved what when you get there and its full? Again, just something to consider.

In laws hymer had 3 forward facing seats, although the third was in the back corner behind the axle which for reasons of physics isn't ideal. Parent can always sit in the back with the smallest.

We had no trouble finding picturesque aires all along the coast indeed some of them were right on the beach so you could go up and down to the van and keep an eye on the kids whereas in the campsite the beach was usually screened off by fences and trees and everyone had to hike up and down together. If you are prepared to pay a few euro there were private ones that even had wifi for the teenager.

We were there in July last and while some prime aires would fill up we never had to travel more than a few km to find one that had vacancies.

Juggler101 wrote: »

On my very limited trips to France, I've actually seen aires with much better access to towns than the campsites have, and some in quite scenic areas! Of course there are lots that are out of the way, not near anything of interest.

+1 we were constanty surprised at the quality and location of some aires especially in smaller towns where the mayor is working hard to attract visitors.

On the subject of caravan vs camper. People always seem to buy based on the 2 week holiday they might take in France, what about the other 50 weeks of the year.

Our van goes to festivals, day trips, fishing trips, long weekends, weddings, stag parties, new years parties, christmas and easter at the inlaws, hiking trips, kayaking trips. We often decide at noon to head away to the beach for the night. If we had a caravan it would sit outside the door, in the way, depreciating and gathering algae and leaves for 49 weeks of the year or worse we'd be paying the price of a holiday to store it somewhere while we didn't use it..

Juggler101

If I could thank you twice i would crabbypaddy ;-) The aim of the motor home is for family friendly festivals, odd nights away when the Irish weather plays ball and longer trips around Ireland.

shaunr68

Just a couple of points from me. A 7 berth motorhome will inevitably be a big beast, 7-7.5 metres perhaps. Are you confident driving a large vehicle? For all I know you might be a trucker in your day job so please don't take it the wrong way, but just something to consider. Nothing too intimidating, but it takes a bit of getting used to and general awareness of your size, rear overhang, avoiding tight spots, height barriers and so on. A reversing camera will be worth its weight in gold.

A fixed double bed and garage space eats up the daytime living space massively. Even in a large MH you could end up sat around a poky little dinette. We like to stretch out and relax in the evenings so preferred a large U-shaped lounge which converts into a double bed, takes literally seconds though of course you then have to faff about with your bedding.

Each to their own of course, just a couple of things to consider.

I'd echo what others have said and advise going to a show to get a feel of different layouts and an idea what might suit you. Best of luck, once you find something that suits you, you won't regret it!

Benbecul97

Sound, you've considered those points then and everyone is happy. Good luck with your search.

Juggler101

The other half has experience driving minibuses, so we're nearly there.

What's the trade off with a u-lounge? Is there less storage space? They look extremely spacious alright.

Another thing that you or someone else might know Shaun, are there any local shows or are they all UK/Europe?

shaunr68 wrote: »

Just a couple of points from me. A 7 berth motorhome will inevitably be a big beast, 7-7.5 metres perhaps. Are you confident driving a large vehicle? For all I know you might be a trucker in your day job so please don't take it the wrong way, but just something to consider. Nothing too intimidating, but it takes a bit of getting used to and general awareness of your size, rear overhang, avoiding tight spots, height barriers and so on. A reversing camera will be worth its weight in gold.

A fixed double bed and garage space eats up the daytime living space massively. Even in a large MH you could end up sat around a poky little dinette. We like to stretch out and relax in the evenings so preferred a large U-shaped lounge which converts into a double bed, takes literally seconds though of course you then have to faff about with your bedding.

Each to their own of course, just a couple of things to consider.

I'd echo what others have said and advise going to a show to get a feel of different layouts and an idea what might suit you. Best of luck, once you find something that suits you, you won't regret it!

Macy0161

Juggler101 wrote: »

What's the trade off with a u-lounge? Is there less storage space? They look extremely spacious alright.

Nothing has the storage of a fixed rear bed with garage. For rear lounge - ours has storage under the seats, and a full width locker underneath that (accessed from the outside both sides). Others I've seen just have under the seats (either accessed outside or in only).

nailer8

We have 3 small kids (2/4/5) and use a 6 Berth motorhome with fixed rear bed and garage.
It certainly can be tough going. The 3 kids sleep together over the cab but its hard to get them to sleep and the 1st to wake wakes the whole van. The storage is great under the bed and a must if you ask me. (we carry bikes, gas BBQ, surfing gear, extra cooler box, etc. etc.).
The kids dont mind the travelling setup, two forward and one back. You will usually get 3/4h out of them without too much hassle.

Id defo recommend trying a few days in a rental before parting with the €€€. Its great but it is Very hard work, and you really need to love it!

We have had a MH's for 9 years or so and originally always wild camped. However with 3 tots wild camping is pretty much out now and i would advise good quality sites with lots to entertain kids.

Having camped with other families in caravans in camp sites i would say they have it a bit easier. A lot more inside space and the availability of the car to pop into town. With a MH it is some hassle to pack up half your stuff, fix 3 car seats, wind in awning and head off.

All that said i dont think i will be selling the MH any time soon. As the kids have got older it has got easier. You cant beat the flexibility of the MH. Pull up just about anywhere, have a cup of tea or use the toilet (especially with kids). If you get caught falling asleep on a long journey or arrive after closing time at a campsite just pull in and go to sleep. You cant really do that in a caravan.
We also use it for day trips to the beach etc. And we have gone away during the winter and stayed in a B&B but used the camper to drive there, carry all our stuff and have a day van when out and about.

Best of luck.

Juggler101

Great perspective there Nailer, cheers

oinkely

Hey Juggler,

We would love to get a MH but the cost is a major factor. You can get a much nicer caravan for a hell of a lot less money than a camper. As such we went with a caravan as it suits our needs perfectly. We have a 6 berth triple bunk caravelair which is 1250 kg max so can be towed by a lot of family cars. 3 kids, 7,5 and 2 use the bunks, leaving the side dinette free for cold morning brekkys while the large dinette is still made up as our double bed.

Just back from 3 weeks tipping around Brittany and delighted with the caravan and car set up. The freedom of having the car and and not having to up root everything after arriving at a campsite to go to the shops was great. We did only stay at campsites, didn't consider aires. My sister has a 7 berth MH, which we have borrowed for trips in Irleand before, and it was great fun. On the whole, for a trip to france, I prefer the caravan at the moment with the ages of our kids.

As others have said, there is more freedom with a MH, especially around Ireland, but for us, our budget and our young kids it's a caravan for the time being, and absolutely loving it.

Juggler101

That sounds like a really great holiday oinkely :-) Our car only seems to tow around 1100-ish, so pulls the smaller vans mostly!!! Not sure which way we'll go now, there's very few motor homes in the nearby dealers at the moment, so we can't even go browsing!

record

Hi Juggler,

We were in the same boat as you a few years back.

After much deliberation, we went for a campervan with the following layout:

• U-shaped lounge down the back, which converts to large double bed.
• Mid-section two-opposite-two dinette, which converts to small double-bed.
• Over-cab bed, which can sleep three small kids, or else two adults.
• External bike rack for up to 3 bikes.
• Good storage compartments all round the camper at the back.

Our reasoning was:

• Fixed double-bed was too limiting in terms of layout options. The benefit of a fixed double is that you don't need to make up a bed every night. But, if you have a convertible bed, you can just leave it made up anyway.
• The kids were small when we bought the camper, so we could get them up top no problem. However, we needed an option for when they grew a bit, so the mid-section bed now gives us that.
• The u-shaped lounge down the back, plus dining area in the middle, gives you two seating sections when out on day trips, which we find to be very good. (You wouldn't have that with a fixed bed.)
• We had considerd a layout with bunk beds. Again though, this limits your options regarding flexibility.

The awning gives you good usable space when overnighting with the camper. Having said that, it is not enclosed so does not keep things dry when it rains. As such, we are getting a 'day room' (kind of like a gazebo) for our main holiday this year. This will allow us to set up tables and chairs, and give us somewhere to put stuff if we are going off for the day.

Regarding being on holiday and having to pack up everything if you need to go into town, etc. - bikes mitigate against this for groceries, etc. When you do need to take the camper, it probably takes about 20 minutes to get moving, but we have found this isn't a major inconvenience. The trade-off is that we love taking the camper on day trips from home when we are in Ireland, which you wouldn't really do with a caravan.

Regarding the risk of splashing out on a camper and possibly not liking it - this is certainly a risk, but in my view worth taking if you can afford to buy a camper in the first place. We debated it for years, eventually went for it and of course regretted not getting it years ago. I agree that it is too expensive to rent out to see if you like it. Plus, it's only when it's your own that you can really enjoy it - putting your own stuff in, etc. We rationalised that, if we didn't like it, we could sell it after a year and it would only have cost us the price of a family holiday at most.

Aires - we used these the first year we were in France. They are great in one way, being very cheap. However, while adequate, they aren't great to be honest, especially with kids. A nice compromise that we found was good was going to a municipal campsite, which cost about €20 per night. We thought it was worth the extra few quid for the comfort and space it gave you (for example, you're supposed to only use the 'footprint' of your camper in the aires - meaning no awning, no setting up a table outside, no barbeque, etc.).

Best of luck with your decision.

Juggler101

Thanks a million for sharing your experiences Record, it really is very helpful :-)

now online

Hi juggler

We've recently bought our 1st camper and totally love it! !! Heading away again this weekend.

We've worked our way up tent/caravan/ camper and honestly in my opinion you'd be better off investing some of your money into upgrading your car and going to the UK to buy a decent caravan.

We've done france in both the caravan in previous years and the camper this year but this year our kids are that bit older so it's getting easier!

A caravan doubles your options when the kids are young, we had a hobby with a fixed bed and bunks and the center dinnete converted to a decent double .

We did plenty of long stay holidays in it in Ireland, we had a decent awning which doubled our space. We could put the kids to bed and sit outside.

The weather is against us in Ireland for campervans, it can be cramped on rainy days .

I realise that doesn't sound very positive for our camper but we totally love it now that the kids are older Im not sure it would have worked for us when they were ankle grazers!

Best of luck with your decision

Juggler101

Thanks for your input now online, how old are your lot now?

now online

Juggler101 wrote: »

Thanks for your input now online, how old are your lot now?

8 and 9 juggler, we've been doing this since they're babies.

Juggler101

Ah they're big kids now! Yeah we've been tent camping with them all along, just need something more mobile and less time consuming now :-)

Alkers

Would getting a transporter or bongo or something of that size be an option? You could use that for the Irish trips and then get a caravan for the trips longer afield. It's smaller than a proper camper sure but perfect for day trips or overnights and then you don't need as big a caravan to get the same living space. You also can get awnings for both!