Is Bigger Always A Better Choice With Campervan Conversions?

A unique aspect of campervans compared to caravans or other types of camping is that there are such huge regional differences between different models and the types of van used for campervan conversions in the UK and Europe are very different to those used in the United States.

There is a stereotype that motorhomes in the USA are much bigger than ones used in the UK, and this is a convention that has existed since the very beginning.

Campervans inherently come with tradeoffs between the vehicle and living space; the bigger the latter, the more cumbersome the former. 

This means that whilst a bigger campervan does give you more room to customise and add the features you want and need on an adventure, it does mean that the journey itself might not be quite as comfortable as it could be.

In the USA, this hardly matters; the roads are often extremely wide and extremely straight, meaning that people driving larger recreational vehicles (RVs) can drive almost anything irrespective of manoeuvrability and rack up the miles in the process.

In the UK, and to varying degrees across continental Europe, this is far from the case, and for both legal and practical reasons, many converted campervans are made from much smaller vans.

Part of this is weight and size restrictions; unlike in the USA, motorhomes cannot be longer than 12 metres nor more than 2.55 metres wide, and if you want to drive a motorhome that is heavier than 3.5 tonnes, you need a category C driving licence typically required for driving a lorry or bus.

If you already have that qualification, are happy to get the provision added to your driving licence and do not mind the changes in handling and acceleration characteristics that come with driving a larger and heavier motorhome, it might be worth the additional space.

At the same time, most typical campervans are designed to make the best use of a smaller space and quality will always win out over quantity.