Adria Adora 642UP

The Adria Adora 642UP, imported from Slovenian, has, we think, the best bed arrangement you can buy for a couple

This caravan was launched for the 2011 model year, before there was a Caravan Buyer, so it’s our first chance to make a fuss about something we think is significant. It has two single beds, and you can push them together to make a double to the left, or the right side of the caravan. More about how this works later; it’s the only caravan that does this.
Adria is one of only a few continental manufacturers that stuck to exporting directly to the UK, when the exchange rate made it a difficult thing to justify financially. We applaud this because Continental layouts bring something unique to the mix. The exchange rate makes it interesting – so we set out to discover whether this Slovenian caravan can present good value to the right buyer.
 

Showering

The shower has a separate cubicle in the corner of the bedroom, so you’d step out onto the bedroom floor to dry yourself rather than remaining in a separate shower room. It has the feel of an ensuite, with frosted doors. It’s a corner style shower, and would be amply sized for most adults, except that the folding doors fold inwards. Check that this works for you if you have broad shoulders. Most UK shower cubicles have full plastic lining these days; this Adora has seals around the tray and ceiling joints. Everything about this caravan is solidly constructed.
The loo and washbasin are next door, which means you leave the bedroom and walk through the kitchen part of the caravan to brush your teeth. You might like the fact that two people could theoretically be washing at the same time, and that you can get to the loo while someone is showering.. The loo compartment is quite small but the toilet is angled to allow plenty of knee room

 
Sleeping

This is the best bit. You have two single beds, each 1.86m x 80cm each, with a wide aisle between them, and both pull out sideways so you can push them together. Push them against either side of the caravan; it makes sense to push them against the shower side because there’s room there for one person to climb out of the bottom of the bed, while the other uses the side. We found the mattresses comfortable (they’re on sprung slats), and enjoyed the fact that both bed heads can be angled upwards to form recliners. There’s a handy powerpoint and ledge between both beds – ideal for charging Kindles and phone. And two deep corner cabinets with frosted doors are ideal for books and magazines. Our one criticism is the lighting, which ought by rights to be cool, power-saving LED. There are two spotlights for reading, and they’re tungsten and get rather hot.
On the subject of sleeping, the L-shaped lounge converts to a double bed too. In true continental style, the dining table cantilevers down into coffee table height and serves as the bed base. It’s a neat solution and beautifully designed; much quicker to make up than a conventional bed with pull-out slats.
 

Storage

You always get masses of storage where there are single beds. Here, the bed design compromises that storage space a bit – there are no exterior hatches into it, and it makes sense to leave one bed cavity empty if that bed is going to be moved around. The under-bed space is boxed in and is smaller than the bed itself. You access this space by standing at the end of the bed and lifting up the metal base to the mattress. It’s hinged, rather than on gas-filled struts, but the mechanism is sturdy and works well.
You can store things under the L-shaped sofa in the lounge, too. In most UK-built caravans you’d expect to find front hatches or doors into that space, but here there’s just a hole in the plywood cover under the cushions.
When it comes to cupboards though, you’re really spoilt in the Adora. There’s a sideboard and shelf in the lounge, and plenty of overhead lockers throughout. The ones in the kitchen have positive locking. These kitchen cupboards also have raised bases, but the ones elsewhere in the caravan make full use of the deep curved base of each cupboard – it creates a lip which should keep things like socks and towels under control.
We love the look of the overhead lockers in the Adora – the wood is a dark finish with a lot of grain, and the chrome handles are smart.
The best bit of storage in this Adora, though, is in the kitchen. Under the L-shaped worktop there’s a beautifully fitted-out corner cupboard, which could teach domestic kitchens a thing or two. We submitted the kitchen to our usual cornflakes packet test, and frankly, it would have stored enough cornflakes for six months.
 

Lounging

There are a lot of great things about lounging in this Adora. It’s a terrific design with an L-shaped lounge next to an L-shaped kitchen. It feels like a truly sociable area. Four people can sit very comfortably here. The little sideboard is really delightful. One of its powerpoints is perfect for the TV – it’s next to the aerial socket. The other power point here is clearly designed for charging things – it’s under a shelf where a little cubby hole would hide away wires, phones and cameras. We tried a small laptop on this shelf and it protruded but felt safe.
Buy one of these Adoras and you’re inevitably going to be lounging on the single beds quite a lot of the time. These beds benefit from large windows to each side, making it a bright place to sit during the daytime. The Adora gives two separate areas for relaxing, so there’s potential for personal space and peace and quiet – valuable commodities in a caravan.
When it comes to heating and electrical equipment, heating is blown air Truma, and wiring is preinstalled to take air conditioning.
 

Dining

There is a problem in the dining room and it’s this: the table! When you’re sitting up to dinner it’s great – it’s large, square, and much sturdier than many. It can be a coffee table too, on a lower setting. But it is always in the way. There’s nowhere to store the thin.
 

Kitchen 

I said the bedroom was the best bit, but I’m beginning to change my mind because the kitchen is a stunner. It’s light and airy, and that’s largely thanks to an enormous rooflight here rather than over the lounge. That corner cupboard has two very deep shelves to one side, and three shelves to the other. Instead of one cutlery drawer, you have two little drawers.
The tower fridge is huge, with a separate freezer and a large cupboard underneath. There’s also a conventional oven and separate grill under the three burner hob – continental caravans don’t always have ovens.
Work surface is not huge. There’s no microwave, and no space to accommodate one.
 
 

Towing

Adrias have their spare wheels mounted in the front, contributing to noseweight. When we checked the 642UP’s nose weight before our test tow, we found it to be 90kg with the caravan completely unladen. Gas cylinders on board would bring the nose weight to above 110kg (depending on the type of cylinders you have). That’s more than the manufacturer’s limit for the majority of towcars.
In order to reduce the nose weight to a more practical 75kg we placed heavy items in the caravan to the rear of the axle for the test tow. Even with a 75kg nose weight, the Adora produced a perceptible outward thrust on corners and roundabouts; and it produced more pitching movement than we are accustomed to. We put this down partly to its length for a single-axle caravan. The 642UP is more than 8m long. By comparison, all caravans of comparable length manufactured in Britain ride on two axles.
 
 

We love the unique Adria Adora 642UP, especially the sleeping options which enable you to have twin beds or a double bed