Globe-Traveller Voyager Z high-top campervan

Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Price from: £90,595 Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Length: 6.36m Width: 2.05m Height: 3.00m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 400kg

Words and photos: Peter Vaughan

The Globe-Traveller Voyager Z

Has any other brand ever had a debut like this in the UK? Polish campervan company, Globe-Traveller, showed its vehicles to the UK public for the very first time at the Motorhome and Caravan Show in October and, on day two of that exhibition, it not only took the honours as Best Fixed Bed Campervan but also the overall Campervan of the Year 2023 title. This might be one of many, many imported van conversions with a bedroom at the rear, but it is so much more than that. In a number of ways, this top-quality campervan has more than a hint of full-sized motorhome about it.

That starts with the exterior. Globe-Traveller’s lower-priced Explorer models (from £73,995) keep the exterior styling of a standard Peugeot or Fiat panel van (in their tallest H3 form), but the Voyager loses the barn doors at the back and also gains a taller, more attractive roofline with a small peak over the windscreen and roof rails to the stern. Complete with framed windows, alloy wheels and simple, modern graphics, it’s a winner aesthetically from the off.

But this isn’t just about looking pretty. The redesigned roof is there to accommodate an upper bed, while the changes to the rear create 12cm more internal length without adding anything to the overall dimensions.

The Globe-Traveller’s derrière is a lot less utilitarian than the original Sevel design, thanks to its new lightweight composite tailgate, which is linked to the remote central locking and provides easy access to the generous garage. On the left here you’ll discover the gas locker and, on the right, a cupboard containing the standard 200Ah lithium battery, a feature that is another indication of the Voyager’s position in the market.

In between, is a load space 1.10m wide, up to 1.32m long and 860mm high. If that’s not enough, then Globe-Traveller offers a ‘bike version’ with higher beds, so that cycles can slot in below with wheels still attached. As standard, there are also 12V and 230V points in the garage, along with a full-width LED striplight, while bike rack mountings are pre-fitted on the exterior.

Also included in the Voyager’s spec are four 50W solar panels and a Thule roll-out awning with a full-length dimmable LED light that’s operated by remote control, while an external shower point (on the nearside) is an optional extra.

The engine

Globe-Traveller offers a choice of Peugeot Boxer or Fiat Ducato base vehicles across its range, the former offering a saving of £2,600 on this model. They may look almost identical but the Peugeots come with 165bhp, while the rival Fiats trump that with 180 horsepower – Globe-Traveller only uses the top motors from each brand.

And, of course, only the Ducato has an automatic option. Our test campervan (the NEC show model and the first in the country) was a left-hooker, but UK prices include right-hand drive, as well as enhanced spec. This was an automatic, too (£2,400 extra), with the smooth nine-speeder being an increasingly sought-after addition.

That was far from being the only bit of extra chassis spec here, but the rest is included in the price.

The cab

The instrumentation is fully digital, while a central 10in touchscreen includes DAB radio, phone, sat-nav and a rear view camera display that comes on as soon as you select reverse. What looks, at first, like a conventional centre mirror above is actually another camera image astern, this one showing all the time you’re driving as there’s no through vision.

Even starting this Ducato is different as it’s keyless, the ignition being a button where the key slot would usually reside. There’s no handbrake lever, either, as that’s electronic and it releases automatically as you  drive off. Completing this impressive spec is digital air-conditioning.

With just a handful of miles recorded as we pulled off the forecourt at E S Hartley in Ellesmere Port, this Fiat was yet to live up to the ‘Power’ badge that indicates the Ducato’s most potent motor but, on the run up to Southport’s Caravan and Motorhome Club site, it still recorded over 27mpg and the extra height (compared with other campervans) seemed to make no difference at all to the handling.

I was comfortable, too, in the Voyager’s high-backed half-leather seat, which has height and lumbar adjustment, but just a solo armrest.

Best of all, I could count the rattles on the fingers of my left foot – that is to say there were none!

The interior

A ’10 Years’ logo on the side of the campervan declares that, although this marque is a newcomer here, it came into being over a decade ago. From the quality of finish throughout, you wouldn’t be surprised if the firm had been trading much longer.

Inside, it’s a fairly conventional rear twin bed floorplan, with the sliding door still on the offside when RHD models arrive, but there’s plenty to mark out the Voyager as something special. And, if you prefer, a French bed layout is also available (as the 5.99m-long XS or 6.36m Voyager X).

Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice is the flat floor right through the living area and into the cab. That’s because all Globe-Travellers have a double floor that enhances their winterisation and incorporates the fresh and waste water tanks inboard. The 85-litre grey tank has its drain valve conveniently located just inside the sliding door.

There are plenty of pleasing details, like the leather straps above the window on the sliding door that make closing the big panel so much easier, and the cup holders, armrest and USBs (complete with phone recess) alongside the rear passengers (all part of the optional Design Package).

The lounge

The next feature to catch your eye will be the back seats themselves. These Comfort seats (which have Isofix for child seats) are a £1,190 option; worth every penny if you’re planning to use the Voyager’s four-berth capacity. Shaped as individual, high-backed chairs, these seats slide forward and recline, while the pew furthest from the wall slides out to create 140mm of extra elbow-room between the two positions. You’ll struggle to find a better campervan in which to be a back seat occupant.

Even safety is improved by the fact that the table doesn’t have to stay put. You can unclip it from the wall, slot it into a storage bag and pop it into its own underfloor compartment beneath your feet. Then, when it’s dinner time, the table has a swing-out extension leaf to reach the offside cab chair – and it’s wobble-free, too.

Headroom of up to 2.11m and a large, push-up rooflight enhance the feeling of space and, after dark, Remis cab blinds and a Roman blind on the nearside window (as well as a full complement of cassette blinds) keep things cosy. At night you can even close off the cab with a curtain to keep the interior warmer. In fact, the only omission is reading lights for the swivelled seats.

The beds

Above the lounge, the Voyager also has an upper double bed, making this campervan unusual in its class in having four berths without recourse to a pop-top (which isn’t ideal in winter).

Unfold a panel on the offside wall, then slide out a slatted frame to rest on a ledge opposite, slot in the final section of the mattress and, in a few seconds, the roof bed is ready. It doesn’t stop you sitting comfortably in the lounge below (the amount of lighting is reduced, though) and nor does it impede access through the sliding door.

That said, despite its generous mattress dimensions, it is better suited to kids (or maybe one small adult) than fully grown humans.

That’s partly because headroom is a maximum of 530mm and also due to reducing space where the roof curves down at the front – it’s more comfortable if you climb up and swivel yourself around to sleep with your head towards the rear, which requires you to be fairly small.

The roof bed is a brilliantly simple piece of design and there’s even a heater duct up there (heating comes from a gas/electric 6kW Truma Combi). The only aspect we’d like to see improved is the ladder, which is just too bulky to store easily. Maybe youngsters won’t need it, just clambering up via the kitchen!

I’d also like to see the addition of a cargo net for the overcab area, so that bedding for the little ’uns could be left up there in the day.

Parents will, of course, sleep in the more conventional rear bedroom, where the single beds are not identical, being longer on the offside, wider on the nearside. Or, you can slide out a panel at the foot and slot in an infill cushion that increases the centre section of mattress from 1.30m long to 1.79m.

Now you have a truly vast double bed that’s so much easier to access and simpler to create than equivalent single-to-double conversions in a lot of other motorhomes (including much bigger and more expensive ones). The wardrobe is cleverly hidden under the central area between the beds, too! Whichever bed set-up you prefer, though, you’ll notice the shelves and cupboards around three sides of the bedroom – great for storage, not so great if you want to sit up in bed.

And that’s doubly disappointing as the TV bracket is located back here, on the washroom wall. The addition of those tilting bed heads (as seen on some coachbuilts) would solve the problem.

The washroom

Another welcome surprise greets you when you open the washroom door, as there’s a separate shower cubicle in here. Of course, it’s not the biggest but, for many, it will be big enough and there’s even a pump to automatically suck water out of the shower tray and pipes and into the waste tank.

The rest of the washroom has the usual Thetford swivel cassette toilet and a fixed basin backed by a large mirror, as well as a large toiletries cupboard, a roof vent with fan and a couple of pop-out hooks for towels.

There’s no loo roll holder, though, and we’d like to see the addition of a shelf or basket in the shower to hold your shampoo, etc.

That aside, this is a far better washroom than you’d dare hope for in a panel van conversion.

The kitchen

Opposite the ablutions, the galley is perhaps the most conventional aspect here, as it runs partway across the sliding door and incorporates familiar fittings from Dometic for the two-burner hob and sink, each with a glass lid. The fridge is from the same brand; a 90-litre compressor model, it seemed more audible than some.

There’s no oven (owners on the Continent often use a portable Omnia stove-top cooker instead, we’re told), but the amount of storage exceeds expectations. The large cupboard under the hob is accessible from outside as well as inside, while the rest of the below-counter stowage space is in soft-closing drawers.

There’s no worktop extension but a useful preparation zone is available above the fridge (where the counter is higher and a 230V socket is adjacent). And the table is close by, too – as long as you haven’t relocated it outside, where it can clip to the back of the galley for al fresco dining.

Motorhome supplied by E S Hartley, Ellesmere Port
Tel: 01513 506870
eshartleygroup.co.uk

Insurance: £716
Tel: 0800 975 1307
shieldtotalinsurance.co.uk
For quote details: motorhome.ma/QuoteInfo

The Globe-Traveller Voyager Z is a worthy winner of our Campervan of the Year title. With its double floor, automotive rear seats, clever roof bed, separate shower and rear tailgate and garage, it blurs the divide between campervans and motorhomes and does it all with an impression of premium quality.