Tabla de contenidos para November 2024 en Campervan

The landscape of southeast Scotland is very different to the rest of the country and more closely resembles neighbouring Northumberland. Successive ridges of rounded hills recede to the horizon, divided by a network of picturesque river valleys. Well-heeled towns and villages line these natural arteries, each with its own distinct and fiercely independent character. A commission for a walks guidebook to the Scottish Borders led me to explore this vast region in more detail. Each settlement has its own path network and several long distance paths thread through the area, so the choice of routes was immense. During autumn and winter trips, when I explored a selection of the best, I felt I was walking through a living history lesson, with reminders of the past at every turn. After driving…

Widdicombe Farm is exclusively for adults, set in the heart of the English Riviera on the south Devon coast. The site has all-weather pitches with electric hook-ups and many have their own water, drainage and chemical waste. Gordon’s Bar offers entertainment and Poppies Restaurant presents daily home-made specials. The site also has a small shop selling all the essentials, plus local gifts. Because Widdicombe Farm is a family business and the owners, Gordon and Thelma, live on the site, they can offer genuine Devon hospitality. Many customers come back time after time, and some say it’s like coming home. We spoke to Gordon and Thelma to find out more. How did Widdicombe Farm first begin? We purchased Widdicombe Farm in 1972 and began with just camping in the summer of…

Campervans are usually associated with idyllic sunny summer days. But your ’van can also be a cosy haven, even in the chill of autumn and winter. However, campervanning in winter requires some preparation and a few extra creature comforts. From insulation to water management, here’s your guide to preparing your campervan for the colder months, whether you will be using it or putting it into storage for winter. Winterisation simply means getting your campervan prepared for cold weather – and that is for both active winter camping and extended storage. From water system maintenance to keeping warm with proper insulation and heating, carrying out these important tasks will give you a worry-free winter experience. Remember, preparation is key; with the right precautions, you can turn cold months into cosy adventures,…

Camping equipment manufacturer Outwell has launched a new Van Life range of accessories for campervans. The collection, revealed at the NEC show, includes awnings and accessories specially designed for campervan use, as well as other camping products that fit the ’van lifestyle. The Van Life categories include: • Awnings – Choose between a wide selection of poled, air, fixed and driveaways for campervans, off-roaders, people carriers and SUVs. The range includes five collections and, of the 18 models, eight are brand new. Awning highlights include the Santa Monica, Wolfburg 450 and the San Diego. • Van Life Cooling – The collection includes 12V and passive coolers through to large compressor freezers. New for 2025 is the Arctic Chill 8, a 12V cooler designed to fit between the driver and passenger…

Knights Custom Conversions has impressed us many times with its myriad permutations of a VW Transporter T6.1 conversion – side kitchen, rear kitchen, slide-out kitchen, etc – all carried out with fastidious attention to detail. Now, like many of the other VW specialists, it has turned its attention to Volkswagen’s bigger van, the Crafter. That makes sense on a number of levels, not least because there are more options in terms of design and layout with the larger LCV, but also reflecting the fact that some customers move on from a T6 to something more spacious while still wanting that famous badge on the grille. Often, those same Transporter owners want a vehicle with proper on-board toilet facilities, and probably a shower, too. But the buyer of this bespoke Crafter…

With cliffs, woodland and sparkling beaches, you can easily see why Gower was the first place to be named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956. For beach lovers, this area is paradise. The star of the show is Rhossili Bay, which regularly tops the list of the world’s best beaches. Three miles of golden sands feature towering cliffs and the rocky Worm’s Head (only accessible at low tide) at one end, dunes at the other, and a 137-year-old shipwreck in between. Gower is also ideal for surfing and walking, while history buffs should head for the Gower Heritage Centre or to one of the many castles that dot the landscape around here. TRY THE WALES COAST PATH The Wales Coast Path has eight sections, with Gower and Swansea…

As far as I’m concerned our long weekend away starts the moment we drive onto the overnight ferry headed for Saint-Malo, a historic French port on Brittany’s north coast. Although we’d be asleep for most of the crossing, we’d wake up in France just in time for a continental breakfast. My husband once visited Saint-Malo as a young boy. His family didn’t have money to burn, but Paul’s dad promised him a lovely, flaky sausage roll on the last day of their trip. He couldn’t wait! Unfortunately, the enticing pastry in the window display turned out to be a pain au chocolat. Delicious, of course, but less so if you’re anticipating a savoury supper… Saint-Malo undoubtedly offers a convenient entry point to France, and a handy overnight stop near the…

The Caravan and Motorhome Club has expanded the number of its ‘keep on touring’ campsites, with an additional 12 campsites that are open throughout November, December and January. This means there is now a choice of 50 Club and affiliated campsites that are open all year. Among the Club sites that are now open all year are Cirencester Park (Gloucestershire), Commons Wood (Hertfordshire), Tredegar House Country Park (Newport), Hunter’s Moon (Dorset), Steamer Quay (Devon), Henley Four Oaks (Oxfordshire), Bridlington (East Riding), York Beechwood Grange (North Yorkshire), Clumber Park (Nottinghamshire), Black Horse Farm (Kent) and Winchester Morn Hill (Hampshire). Harvey Alexander, the Club’s Director of Marketing and Membership Services, said, “Wherever you are looking for a break around the UK, we have the perfect Club campsite waiting for you so that…

It’s much rarer these days for us to discover a major new campervan brand arriving on our shores – most are already here! However, Marquis Leisure has just launched two new pop-top campervans from Panama for the new 2025 season. Panama is another Trigano Group marque that was established in 2020 following the conversion of a 15,000 square metre, former static caravan factory to campervan production. Being Trigano, this isn’t a small enterprise building a few dozen ’vans – 4,000 vehicles a year roll out of this site in, no, not Latin America, but Peñíscola, Spain. Panama’s debut in Britain coincides with the arrival of Ford’s all-new mid-sized van, so both models available from Marquis are based on the Ford Tourneo Custom (which is the people-carrier version of the Transit…

Go to Lyme Regis. But don’t stay there. That was the plan… explore Dorset but based around Lyme. A simple task, really. That’s Dorset as in south of Somerset and Wiltshire and including the Jurassic Coast. It also shudders at the proximity of Devon – where all the tourists go. But, Dorset is beautiful, as Somerset’s Adge Cutler wrote, and his band, the Wurzels, sang. Over half of the county (54%) is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB); 7% is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); and it has one of the largest areas of protected lowland heath in Europe as well as one in 20 of all of England’s protected ancient monuments. Plus, it boasts some 10,000 listed buildings. Lyme itself takes just a small…

HI As I mentioned in my previous column, I’ve been making the most of the time I’ve been gifted in Cornwall after my husband Jon’s leukaemia diagnosis and treatment. I say gifted because I want to change the perspective of being ‘stuck’ in Cornwall! Especially as Jon is recovering well and Cornwall is beyond stunning. It definitely feels like a gift getting to explore the beautiful West Country. It’s not just the landscapes, it’s the culture, the food and, of course, the cream teas! We’d been predominantly based in and around Truro but while we awaited a follow up, we moved up to the north coast area for a couple of weeks. To say it was stunning would be something of an understatement. We stayed on a campsite near St…

REDLINE CAMPERS REINTRODUCES LOWER-PRICE ’VAN After listening to the feedback of customers and acknowledging a gap in the market, Redline Campers has relaunched its Classic model at a starting price of just £34,995. By utilising advancements in its production techniques and selecting the correct base vehicles, the NCC-approved manufacturer said it aims to reach a new section of the market with this VW T6.1 campervan conversion. Redline will manufacture the new Classic following its ISO 9001:2015 certified Quality Management System and to the standards it upholds as a VCA Type Approved manufacturer. The four-berth campervan will be built on pre-owned base vehicles at Redline’s in-house production facility and, just like the rest of the range, the Classic will be produced using CNC manufacturing technology and will feature appliances and components…

Ryan Hutchinson developed a love of VW Transporters while travelling all over Europe as a professional cyclist, racing for the British team. Already a trained carpenter, he then built himself a camper during the Covid lockdown but, when its pop-top failed on a trip to Cornwall, he decided he could do better. Now, Incline Campers not only builds bespoke VW conversions, it has designed and developed its own pop-top roof. Here’s a converter that likes to do things in-house. Ryan made a mould for the top, bought a VW and had the roof and frame M1-tested at Millbrook Proving Ground – no small feat for a fledgling firm. Incline makes its own stainless-steel hinges, too, and says the whole pop-top has been designed to be “bombproof”. But this small company…