Full review

Swift’s designers have given a lot of thought to small details that add up to a caravan loaded with convenient features.
The Explorer has two binnacles for keys above the door, for example. Two more, complete with power points for charging phones, are recessed into a moulding in front of the central chest of drawers.
But the flagship-bracket, high-spec Explorer also exhibits two cheap-looking plastic features which we find surprising in a caravan of this price level. The most obvious is the brown plastic moulding which forms the bed base. It looks more bath-tub than bed base. It flexes when you touch it – and there’s a U-shaped bit missing; that’s to accommodate part of the raising and lowering mechanism. All of this is visible from the lounge – and it’s prominent.
The second bit of plastic we disliked is also in the bedroom. The wheel arch intrudes into the base of the triangular dressing table. The designers have interrupted the cabinetry and allowed a large section of wheel arch to protrude. They’ve covered it with the same plastic as the bed base.

The retracting transverse bed concept is utterly brilliant. In day-mode the bed is about 15cm shorter than by night. That creates extra corridor space along the bottom of the bed so that it’s easier to walk along to the shower room. A section of mattress fits in at the pillow end of the bed to complete the length. Retracting it is just as effortless.

The spec list is long. Alde central heating and a 40-litre water tank make the Explorer ideal for year-round caravanning. Next in importance terms has to be the tower fridge with its separate freezer. This is true home-from-home convenience, as is the quantity of kitchen cupboard space.

See our video iof the Sterling Elite Explorer below.