The thing that would put me off motorhomes is the noise. We went out for the day in our friend's new to them motorhome. Whilst it was lovely with everything close to hand the noise of pots and pans rattling as you drove along was horrid. I'm sure everything rattles around in the Eriba but I can't hear it so I don't care.

I can see the attraction of a small motor home like a VW T series which can be used as an every day mode of transport, however I struggle when I see a massive motorhome with a small car behind it. I remember when we were at Hawes CC site, we decided to walk up to the chippy for a sit in meal. As we were leaving the site it looked like the large motorhome next to us with two couples were packing to leave. We were sat in the restaurant side of the chippy in the window when the daylight disappeared.
The large motorhome next to us on the site had parked outside to buy some chips which meant all the occupants had to come as well, they were sat watching us eat whilst the driver was queueing...

I was all set to buy a motorhome up to a couple of years ago, until I did a 10 day cycle ride to Lake Como... Our support vehicle was a motorhome and the journey in it back from Italy was just as Julie Grafo describes....noisy!!
That did it for me so I bought an Eriba instead.

In the Tarn region a couple of years back, amid wonderful mountainous scenery, accessible only via narrow, twisting steep gradient roads. Our neighbours on-site had come in their motor-home - they did try to do a tour up there but gave up as they found that driving on these roads in a big motor-home was too much like hard work. We took them around instead and they saw places and sights they would otherwise have missed. For that reason,I think if I had a biggish motor-home I would want to take a small car with me as well, but the economics of doing all this act as a big deterrent.

I find that towing the Eriba gives us the best of all possible worlds in terms of expense, practicability and flexibility and the freedom to drive around anywhere we happen to find ourselves without having to pack up everything on site just for a day out.

However - a chacun son gout and all that. This IS the age of the motor-home - seems to me that these are more and more common - but not my taste!

We're probably not the only ones on this forum who have had motorhomes in the past. The reasons for choice are varied and personal and although I agree with most of the comments about towing cars behind large motorhomes there are good reasons for motorhome ownership and it is a shame that a 'them and us' mentality is evident on both sides!

Mind you I would ban sliding doors!!!

Obviously going to be he odd one out here - again - but we would choose a small Motorhome over a Caravan any day of the week. The reasons are many and varied but what has held us off is the cost (initial purchase, annual servicing and MOT etc) when compared to the times it would actually get used.

I wasn't suggesting that you were in the 'them' camp Brian!
I am with you in finding it all very interesting. If I wanted to do a serious tour of Europe then a motorhome is the way I would do it. The system of Aires, Stellplatz, Sostas is just so convenient but the operative word is 'tour'.

I also found the sliding door on our T5 embarrassingly noisy. I wonder if the electric versions are quieter?
TonyP

There was a ever so slightly younger than our old T2 on the next door pitch when we were in Devon not long ago. The sliding door made us chuckle until we got tired of hearing them at all sorts of awkward times.

Before we purchased our Eriba we hired a medium to large sized Motorhome to see what it would be like to own and use. Initially we found the size of the vehicle daunting but after a few days we gained sufficient confidence to start enjoying the experience. The driving position and the sense of being in control of a large vehicle added to a real sense of adventure. Parking up on site is easy-peezy and the living accommodation was comfortable. However, the obvious limitation was the impracticality of travelling around the area in which we had pitched. We had taken bicycles but this does limit how far you can go and no doubt this is why some MH owners take a car or motorcycle with them. It is not easy to park MH's in Supermarket or Pub car parks so this is another obvious limitation. We learned from other motor homers that they often have a different approach to touring - they visit more places for shorter periods, they are careful to choose sites that are near to shops and pubs and places of interest etc etc. So on balance although we enjoyed our experience we were in no doubt that a van and in particular an Eriba was the solution for us but we can understand the attractions of motor homing in particular not having to deal with the physical activity involved in hitching, un-hitching, setting up etc etc. When we're older and less able a motor home might be a more attractive option.
Tony

Quote: Aaron Calder wrote in post #12

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..........I'd nevertheless be interested to read why you would choose a motorhome over a caravan given different personal circumstances.

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