Thinking of buying a caravan

bennyc

Hi guys, I have been tinkering with the idea of a caravan for years and after visiting the holiday world expo at the weekend getting a caravan was the only takeaway I had as there were a few on display. We are now down to 2 adults and one 8 year old and might manage to convince my 17 year old to holiday or trip the odd time so I think a minimum 4 berth, don't really think I need anything bigger. I am driving a Volvo V70 so 1500Kg should be fine according to the specs.
We are living in Sligo so weekends by the beach would be great, I have plenty of space around the house, not covered but could probably manage to build a canopy type cover off the gable to keep sheltered from the elements.

I like driving abroad and usually spend three weeks in Spain each summer and drive between the locations so last year for example I flew into Girona and flew home from Malaga. What I would ideally like to do is visit friends close to Santander and possibly drive as far as the Algarve over the space of a month.

So I suppose where do i start, I am thinking a budget of around 6K, I have been reading up on what to look out for but are my plans realistic, is a caravan trip in southern Spain and Portugal within reach, during the summer I imagine you need a decent air con unit for starters.
What should my starting point be, are there brands I should be looking at over others, any advice welcome.
Cheers.