12 common campervan mistakes to avoid

Far more important than aesthetic details, like fabric colours and fancy features, the layout (or floorplan) of a campervan is probably the main reason you'll buy it. Selecting the right campervan layout is vital as it needs to cater to your unique needs and travel aspirations. 

From compact micro-campervans for solo adventurers to versatile medium-sized options for families, and spacious panel van conversions for extended journeys, your choice hinges on practicality and comfort.

Be it for couples or families, the layout directly impacts your daily life on the road. So, when choosing, remember: your campervan layout shapes your travel experience. 

Just like campervans, campsites come in all shapes, sizes and styles and choosing the right one can be the difference between a merely good holiday and a brilliant break. 

If you're just looking for some peace and quiet and you’re happy with basic facilities, you can avoid the big family-friendly sites with water parks, restaurants and entertainment. 

On the other hand, if you’re travelling with kids, make sure the site is child-friendly. It doesn’t need to have a formal playground, but make sure there’s lots of space to play ball games and ride bikes, or natural play areas like woods to hide in or rocks to scramble over. And look out for any no ball games or bikes policies.

Every campsite has its own rules, both written and unwritten but the two main things you have to consider are not disturbing other people and having as little impact as possible on the environment around you.

• Some campsites have a families-only, or families and couples-only, policy and many have a quiet time starting from around 10.30pm.
• Always observe the campsite speed limit rules and when you are arriving or leaving, do not leave your engine idling for more than a minute or two.
• The continual slamming and sliding of campervan doors, especially in the evening, is extremely annoying, so don’t do it!
• Don’t take a shortcut across other people’s pitches. It is simply bad manners.
• Share your knowledge and experience and help other campers out whenever you can – but try not to interfere where you’re not wanted! Likewise, if you’re an inexperienced camper, you should always feel free to ask fellow campers for advice.

To avoid nasty surprises on the campsite, make sure you check your campervan and test everything at the start of the new camping season – well in advance of your first trip. 

Even if you carefully repaired and cleaned everything before winter, it’s worth checking any signs of wear you might have missed. Repair or replace anything that looks worn. 

Check the stove burners are clean and undamaged and ensure all the fittings are tight. Make sure you’ve got enough gas. Give pots and crockery a good scrub and check the batteries in your torches and lanterns are working.

Sat-nav is a great invention, but if you blindly follow a standard car GPS then you could find yourself in deep trouble. Car sat-navs don’t take your campervan’s dimensions into account when setting a route, so you could end up being taken down roads that are totally unsuited to bigger vehicles. 

The solution is to use a sat-nav specifically designed for campervans and motorhomes, and if that’s not possible keep an eye on your surroundings and make sure you’re not being led down a blind (or narrow) alley! Of course, you could just use a good old paper map.

Tempting as it is to throw everything in the campervan on a sunny Saturday morning and head to the coast for an impromptu summer holiday, your plans will quickly come unstuck when you discover that there are no campsite pitches available. Anywhere. 

Because, in the height of summer it’s almost impossible to find a campsite without booking in advance, especially in the popular areas like Cornwall, the Lake District and north Wales. So, unless you fancy wild camping (see below), you’ll need to book a campsite nice and early.

Those awning pegs and guylines are such a faff. You’ve got the tent standing perfectly, and it feels nice and sturdy. There’s no point fiddling around untying the ropes and pegging them out, is there? The sky is clear and there’s barely a breeze in the air. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the British weather for a start. 

The last thing you want is to wake up in the morning and discover that your awning has been whipped out of the ground and is now hanging from a tree a couple of hundred yards away, a tangle of polyester and fibreglass.

For many people, off-grid campervan trips (also known as wild camping) are the essence of vanlife. It is all about the freedom of being able to go wherever you fancy, waking up to a beautiful view, before moving on to the next remote stopover. 

But what many people don’t realise is that, in the UK, wild camping in your campervan is not a right and landowners can ask you to move on at any time. Don’t block driveways or entrances to fields with your campervan, stay away from buildings and keep out of view as much as possible. 

The key is not drawing attention to yourself, so try to avoid residential streets, always keep noise to a minimum and do not set up camping chairs and awnings outside your campervan. If you are discreet and respectful, take all your rubbish away and don’t cause a nuisance, you are likely to be fine.