Full review

There’s a big choice of five-berth caravans on the market. The Palermo, though, is Britain’s only twin-axle five-berth. Named after the capital of the enchanting island of Sicily, this is Bailey’s longest family caravan, at 7.92m.

It has a unique layout, introduced when Bailey launched the new Pegasus range for 2016, and with unique upholstery construction called DreamSleep. The settee bases are in two sections, one above the other. To make a bed, these fold out so that the under-sections lie one on top of the other, in the centre of the bed. The result is a perfectly flat mattress made up in just a minute or so.

The DreamSleep system is in all Pegasus models but its significance is amplified in the family layouts, the Palermo and the single-axle Brindisi, (and also in the two-berth Genoa) because the lounge double bed will be made up every night, rather than being for occasional use as in the fixed-bed models.

The Palermo has lots of refinements including a stunning lighting style involving 17 bright LEDs mounted into wooden panels running above all of the lockers, and even a magazine rack, on the nearside wall of the lounge.

There is one important feature that you can’t see unless you search for it, though. The Palermo is fitted with pre-wiring for the installation of a motormover switch. Bailey has equipped all its new Pegasus caravans with this feature. That’s because the battery compartment in Pegasus models is under the floor, and its position varies according to the layout. So, by installing the motormover switch wiring, Bailey makes fitting a motormover easier. With the exponential rise in the number of motormovers being sold, we can see this feature being a clear advantage. And on the basis that the larger the caravan the greater the need for a motormover, the Palermo is the Pegasus model that is most likely to leave a retailer having had a mover fitted.

The Palermo’s unique layout provides an amazingly open-plan look while at the same time giving children their own dedicated bed-and-dining area, just forward of the full-width shower room.
 

Showering

The shower room is also a dressing room, containing the wardrobe, which has good hanging width, a shelf above, and a hidden shoe compartment beneath, accessed by removing the central portion of the wardrobe floor.

The toilet is mounted against the back wall, with the washbasin alongside it, and the shower on the nearside. It’s a neat layout. Floor space isn’t generous but there is enough.

Sleeping

The settees are long enough to make into single beds, which is useful for versatility, but with a double bed as quick and easy to create as the DreamSleep system, the bed is likely to be made up even for overnight enroute halts.

The side dining area creates a bed that’s 1.83m long and 67cm wide. The seating upholstery here is in two halves; you fold it out to make up the mattress. The bunks are 1.9m long.

The brilliance of the Palermo’s layout is that the three beds for the younger caravanners are in a cosy area well away from the lounge.

Storage

Where there are seats and beds there is storage beneath them, and with two long settees, two dining seats and a set of bunk beds, the Palermo’s storage capability is immense. Then when you add in 10 top lockers (excluding those above the kitchen) plus three drawers in the dresser (those can be used for kitchen stuff or clothing), the total hideaway capacity of the Palermo must be regarded as among the most generous in any caravan.

Dining

The main table is stored in the wardrobe. Not the most convenient of places, because you’d have to remove some of the clothing to extract and replace it. But the bunks are close, so you can put the clothes while you do the table task.

The Palermo’s major mealtime advantage is its two-seater dining “room”, or playroom, of course. And it’s complete with a power socket close to floor level plus a second one, conveniently close, on the dresser, with TV connections alongside.

Lounging

The dresser is the hub of leisure-lounging in the Palermo. That’s because it’s here, in the centre of the caravan, that you can place your TV, to face the dining area, the bunks or the lounge.

The Palermo’s settees are long enough for three to sit on either side, and the contoured high-back seating design supports you extremely well; sitting upright in a caravan doesn’t come much more comfortable than this.

Kitchen

As well as being the hub of television watching options the enormous dresser is also central to the Palermo’s vast kitchen. Together the dresser and the main kitchen area provide a total of 2.15m of surface. Not many caravans can come close in terms of kitchen space.

It’s not just length of surface that is awesome. Depth, too, surpasses almost all caravans. The main kitchen area is 87cm deep and the dresser’s depth is 61cm. Both are contoured, so that measurement isn’t along the whole surface, but you get the idea that the Palermo’s kitchen size is something really special.

Storage capability is also amazing. The dresser contains two drawers, 56m wide, plus space in a cabinet beneath, alongside the power distribution unit, together with a corner cabinet on the forward end, with three good-sized shelf spaces.

In the main kitchen area there’s a two-shelf cabinet (26cm wide), three shelves plus a cutlery drawer in a second cabinet, and a slim cabinet on the aft end of the kitchen. This contains two spring-metal bottle clips and a small shelf area. And there’s more. Three top cabinets, plus a fourth, above the microwave, will hide away all tableware items and more besides.

Towing

Twin-axle caravans are always impressive in terms of precise and predictable cornering as well as enhanced natural stability. When those characteristics are combined with a relative light weight (considering the Palermo is almost eight metres long), it’s even better, because it brings the twin-axle advantage within range of a greater number of cars.

Hitched to our SsangYong Rexton, although a beefier vehicle than we needed for this test tow, the Palermo was a joy to handle on the road. This is a test tow that goes down on our records as being the easiest and most enjoyable we’ve done.

Even though twin-axle geometry engenders enhanced stability, we’d go for the £399 AL-KO ATC electronic sway control option if we bought a Palermo, just for extra peace of mind and extra-relaxed towing.