[fatneck]

Planning a UK road trip in early Autumn and thinking of hiring a camper van. After any knowledge / tips / things to avoid.

Anyone ever done this?

[SA Chris]

I know friends have looked at it, and price for day hire (£40-50) plus paying for campsites, and all other costs make it surprisingly steep. You know someone who you could borrow one from for an agreed fee? Make it more reasonable.

[James Malloch]

I know friends have looked at it, and price for day hire (£40-50) plus paying for campsites, and all other costs make it surprisingly steep. You know someone who you could borrow one from for an agreed fee? Make it more reasonable.

Depending on the size, when i looked recently it was more like £100+ per day for a week of hire.

That was on Quirky campers though so it might be different to a “normal” rental place.

[fatneck]

Thanks - initial research shows we'd be looking at c. £900 for the week but between 3 people but when compared with a week abroad, it's not feeling too bad.

Keen on the flexibility of being able to travel North or South and hit wherever is driest but also be flexible if the weather craps out and we're committed to somewhere e.g., NW Scotland...

[remus]

Me and my partner looked at it for a week but decided against it on cost. Fortunately a very generous friend was willing to do a swap with us, so we borrowed their van for a week and they borrowed our car. We ended up needing some short term insurance which we paid, I think for both vehicles it came to £200. Obviously reliant on having a very understanding friend with a van.

[steveri]

I know Sharon at Addhire if that's any use, looks like they are £110 per night. She's lovely but I don't think knowing me would get you a discount

[tommytwotone]

Think there are some AirBnB type places where people with campers / vans can rent them out to punters...might be cheaper than a normal van rental company?

[SamT]

https://www.leisurerentalsdirect.com/motorhome-hire-widnes/16261

Thank me later.

[SA Chris]

Prices look similar to the other hire places?

edit - OK, a bit cheaper, but not as much as I expected.

[tommytwotone]

https://www.leisurerentalsdirect.com/motorhome-hire-widnes/16261

Thank me later.

Awesome. Shed Camper.

[Paul B]

Thanks - initial research shows we'd be looking at c. £900 for the week but between 3 people but when compared with a week abroad, it's not feeling too bad.

Seems expensive to me. It might not fit your needs but I've been rinsing the package holiday deals to Spain.

[James Malloch]

Thanks - initial research shows we'd be looking at c. £900 for the week but between 3 people but when compared with a week abroad, it's not feeling too bad.

Keen on the flexibility of being able to travel North or South and hit wherever is driest but also be flexible if the weather craps out and we're committed to somewhere e.g., NW Scotland...

I think the price is okay, especially compared to airbnb.

With a caveat that I’ve never hired before, i would personally go for one via Quirky Campers. That’s purely because i love the more bespoke van designs, but also as the reviews are like airbnb i feel like i trust them more.

However I’ve no idea how it works if something goes wrong with it. Maybe the bigger companies are better in that regard.

A lot of vans have daily mileage caps so also something to look out for if your planning a faraway trip.

In terms of logistics, have a think about what you’ll be doing. Our van has loads of storage but that quickly goes when you put some pads or camping chairs etc in.

We much prefer being able to keep our bed up and having separate seating. But i hate faff and you might not be worried about that Kind of thing.

A toilet in the van is Great, and doesn't smell with the right chemicals. We dont have a bathroom though so just kick the other person out when we want to  use it. We just swam instead of having a shower (or used a thermal shower or campsites).

For a week maybe this kind of thing isn’t as important, but it does make it nicer when it all fits your needs better.

There’s an app called park4night which is amazing. Worth paying for the premium version too. It lists loads of campsites, free spots, “on the farm”  which is normally somewhere you can stay if you buy something, ranging from pubs to vineyards. Van looks for toilets, showers etc. Read reviews for each spot.

Hope you get one sorted and have a cracking trip!

[fatneck]

https://www.leisurerentalsdirect.com/motorhome-hire-widnes/16261

 

Also, some great info from James - thank you!

[fatneck]

Thought I'd provide an update / some learning  from our recent trip in a hired motorhome in case it was useful!

We hired this bad boy from UGO Motorhome Hire in Warrington. They were super helpful both in choosing the right vehicle and with support throughout, very helpful!

We ended up in Scotland, which was Plan A but spent most of our time around Inverness (Andy E says Hi!) and not the West Coast as we had hoped. Stunning variety of venues, rock and places to stay!

PROS

• Flexibility - to follow the weather! This meant we could go literally wherever was best and managed to climb every day but also staying in different spots was really nice.
• Space - once we got used to it, it was fine for three of us and a large dog. Deffo wouldn't want to go away in something of that size with any more people or dogs.
• Other - I now know that I never want to own a motorhome.

CONS

• Size - this was limiting in terms of venue choice when we either couldn't access the parking or couldn't park.
• Flexibility - in some senses, there was too much choice and it was difficult to plan for a trip in the normal way i.e., we ended up in Northumberland but no one had brought a guidebook.
• Haters - received some fairly negative comments whilst in Scotland and felt a bit of a problem in some places though I totally get where they're coming from. (This was slightly offset by every other motorhome driver we met waving in a jolly fashion - we got quite into this by the end of the trip!).

Overall, I would say it was a game changer. It was the best UK trip I've ever been on, and I've been a few! We would definitely do it again though probably in a smaller van, though this would make it more expensive.

In total, the trip cost each of us around £500 all in which I think is probably around what we would have expected to spend going abroad for a week but maybe a bit more than we would have spent staying in the UK in the normal way (Air BNB or equivalent) but totally worth it for the flexibility.

Hope that was useful!

[spidermonkey09]

Good report, cheers; having got rid of my van a few months back and now owning a large dog this is useful.

Out of interest what were the comments you received in Scotland? I've stayed in a van in Diabaig a few years back and had no issues but that was pre covid.

[fatneck]

One of the spots we stayed in had a lot of dog walkers turning up in the morning and loudly moaning about "all the campers taking up space" and often, even if we were giving way, oncoming drivers would glare at us. So nothing too overt but more of a general feeling of being in the way (though I am perhaps over sensitive to this kind of thing)...

I suspect it's become more prevalent since the surge in van ownership and the staycation pandemic?

[SA Chris]

We would definitely do it again though probably in a smaller van, though this would make it more expensive.

Why more expensive?

Next time come for some of the East Coast Flava Vibe.

[fatneck]

Why more expensive?

Because we'd likely only fit two people in and cost is not much less for a camper than a motorhome...

And yes - we were keen! If only I'd messaged you a day earlier!

[SA Chris]

we've got a pop top short base T5, and you could fit 4 in reasonably comfortably for a week if the weather was good. Might be snug with a dog, LWB one no prob though. We also have a freshly tarred drive that would have accommodated the motor home. Sport, bouldering, tons of trad, DWS (and even some dry tooling!) in walking distance from our house. Next time....