Full review

Words: Val Chapman Photos: Richard Chapman

The Seine is one of the longest caravans you can buy, at just over eight metres. Yet, at 1,600kg MTPLM, it’s by no means among the heaviest, and so doesn’t demand a leviathan of a tow vehicle. At £23,995, the Seine represents remarkable value for money for its size. So, it has a lot going for it.

Figures apart, what else makes the Seine stand out from the crowd? We had a 2020 model and a day at Adria retailer, Barnsdale Leisure, at East Hardwick, near to Pontefract, to find out…

Adrias are made in Slovenia, in a massive factory which makes caravans and motorhomes sold all over Europe and beyond. The Seine is one of four layouts in the Adora range, all named after major rivers of Europe. It has twin beds, plus a large double bed to create in the lounge.

There are twin-bed layouts in most manufacturers’ ranges, of course – but only the Seine has an enormous ‘sky roof’ (Adria’s words) window arching over the lounge. Adria also describes this as ‘atrium-style living’ – which, while acknowledging the power of exaggeration, conveys the impression perfectly.

The lounge seating wraps around the entire area, with a coffee table to hinge down at the centre-front for snack times. There’s ample space for five or six people to sit here, so straight away the Seine earns lots of points for buyers who like to entertain.

The Seine’s twin beds are of a generous length; one is 2m long and the other 1.89m. These beds hold a secret – until you look under the mattress, that is. The pillow ends of the bases can be raised, rather like sun loungers, so that you can use the beds as daytime recliners. The bed you can make in the lounge is 2.12m by 1.5m.

In a caravan that’s just over eight metres from hitch to tail lights, you’d expect storage capacity to be plentiful. And it is. The wardrobe provides 60cm of hanging width. There’s a two-shelf cabinet beside the wardrobe. The twin beds have loads of space beneath them. Importantly, the tops are super easy to raise, and they stay up, even when bedding is on them, supported by hefty spring hinges.

Under-lounge storage space, though, is much less easy to access. That’s because the centre section of the base for the double bed that you can make in the lounge is in two halves, each under a settee, to draw towards the centre of the caravan when you make the bed.

So, there are two layers of slats under each settee (the bed slats and the locker top slats), which makes lifting the tops of the lockers heavy, and there are no spring hinges to support them. There is so much space elsewhere, though, that, if we bought a Seine, we’d decide from day one to ignore the space under the settees.

Kitchen storage space is excellent, with three 64cm-wide deep drawers – and they’re soft close, which is a nice touch. There’s a slim, three-shelf cabinet to the left of the oven and grill, plus two more lockers, above and below the Thetford tall, elegant slimline fridge, which has a 140-litre capacity.

The microwave is housed in one of the two top lockers; the other has fitments for plates and mugs. The hob is of a design unique to Adria, with three in-line burners, all of different sizes. This is a really super kitchen, except for one thing: the sink is only 30cm by 28cm, which means that any major washing up session has to be carefully planned and done in batches. Or have a takeaway!

Verdict on the Adria Adora Seine caravan

At just under £24,000, and equipped with Alde heating, the eight-metre Seine is outstanding value. It has lots of storage space (even when you ignore the under-settee spaces that are rather difficult to access), a great kitchen (you’d get used to the small sink) and spacious lounge seating area.

We love the convenient hinge-up coffee table, the big kitchen drawers (with refined soft-close mechanisms) and the atrium-style rooflight that measures 97cm by 110cm and gives the lounge an exceptionally bright aspect. We also love the sun lounger-style construction of the twin beds; great for daytime reclining with a book.