So, I'm hoping to collect my Puck very soon. I've never towed anything before, and my first journey home is going to be a long one.

Any tips for a first time tower, please, helpful peeps?

ensure driving license allows towing, may need to take towing course.
insure caravan before leaving supplier
take corners wider,
anticipate the driver in front and react sooner,
plan ahead for hills, increase throttle
slow down before going down hill.
learn how to hitch and unhitch quickly x safely if reversing is not a strong point
do not rely on sat nav take a paper map
don't forget the towing mirrors, t pot, t bags, mugs, milk, matches, kettle and gas for the first lay by cuppa.

enjoy congratulations

My tip would not to fall into the trap of comparing your small Puck to the trailer on the back of a truck. The trailer is much longer than the tractor unit that is pulling it and therefore tends to rotate about the back wheels (trailer) in confined areas e.g. small roundabouts where you may have witnessed the tyre scuff marks.

I've no idea what your towing vehicle is but it's probably going to be around the same size as the Puck give or take a bit. As a consequence the Puck will tend to follow the same line around corners/curves as the towing vehicle itself so there's no need to pull over to the other side of the road when taking a left hand turn for example. Give it a few centimetres more by all means but there's no need to overdo it.

Set your towing mirrors to give a good rearward view and tilt the vehicles mirrors slightly downwards to give you a view of the Puck's wheels. You'll soon see for yourself how well the Puck keeps to the same line as the car except in very acute corners which with a bit forethought you should be able to anticipate.

If the Puck is fitted with the newer ALKO 3004 coupling you can raise this prior to reversing as it will reduce the friction on the towball making reversing easier.

When reversing moving the steering wheel in very small amounts and if you sense that you're losing control of the back end (Puck) don't be afraid to drive forwards a bit to bring everything back into line. After moving the steering wheel to get the Puck to move start getting the lock of early because once the Puck is moving in one direction when reversing it will continue moving in this direction for so long until both the car and van are once again in a straight line. Keeping steering lock on for too long is the biggest single mistake I see people making when reversing. All that said, when on site never be too proud to simply uncouple and ask a couple of neighbours to help you push the van into position. Caravanners will respect you for that but inwardly laugh when they see you making a right hash of things for no good reason.

On the journey home you'll find yourself looking in the mirror quite often to check that the Puck is still there as when they are empty the drag on the car is next to nothing at all.

Good luck and enjoy the first journey - we've all been there.

You can't beat a good video to show you some tips..

was going to add don't ride the clutch too much, when setting off (more for bigger units but worth a mention)
check if a breakdown occurs, that the caravan is covered without having to pay extra fees per mile! check with your breakdown / recovery club supplier..

Good news for you and the fact that it's all said above. Enjoy.

Just a few other pointers which might help with some tow vehicles (4 x 4 mostly) it is possible to "see through" the rear window and through the van, this can be helpful on roads and again when reversing. When reversing use "tick over" it's surprising how little revs you need (unless on a steep incline) small movements of the steering wheel are your friend (as it is small it will react quickly) larger vans are on the whole easier to reverse! As with everything practice, practice and practice again, and from both sides (not just your favourite (easiest) and from directly in front to). Practice the coupling and de-coupling (and don't forget the handbrake!!!!)

I learnt to reverse in something with a 27ltr Merlin Rolls Royce engine without a steering wheel which had a combined weight of 75 ton, it's easy when you know how! Thats why I don't have a mover!

All good advice above my two comments would be

1 try not to worry too much (easier said than done)

2 download Mr Calders list in this post and print it off and take it with you and do all the things that relate to your situation before you set off and if at all worried stop in the first lay-by you come to and recheck everything ( for peace of mind)

click here to find list

Its also very easy to feel intimidated when looking at the amount of cars behind you. Just stick to the speed limit and enjoy the drive. If you feel pressurised just pull in and let them go by.

There are a few things on Brian's list not relevant to us but I would add :

Remove from freezer in home kitchen the icecubes for G&T and transfer to overnight charged Eriba fridge.

Fill the car up with petrol before you hitch it up. If you need to fill up on the way find a petrol station with a big enough forecourt if there is a queue and don't leave it until the last minute. If you need to stop for shopping, then think ahead to make sure you can park somewhere easily (parking meters on a high street are not a good idea). Plan your journey to stick to major roads if possible, leave the narrow bendy country roads for later, especially where you're likely to have ones with small passing places. Then hope there are no diversions along the route which take you down narrow country lanes with passing places and over small hump back bridges (OK it happened to me but we survived it, all part of the adventure!)

Yes that happened to us in Spain Kay, long before we had Satnavand now we have the Ventura car+ caravan system, we don't seem to get into awkward situations. We had to unhitch, turn everything around and retrace our route. Carole in tears.

Yes satnav is very useful, even if you know where you are going. Driving home last night I didn't have it on as I knew where I was going, but things like which motorway exits need you to move over to the next lane are so useful. Whereas just driving a car you move over when you see the signs without hardly thinking, with the caravan it's good to know it's coming up well in advance from the satnav so you can get over in good time without any stress and strain. I ended up turning the satnav on (much to my husband's amusement) on the M25 so I didn't have to keep changing lane in heavy traffic, because typically you pull over and then have to pull out again a few minutes later. And nobody will let you out as they have a mental block about being behind a caravan and have to get past it.