Elddis Avanté 556

Elddis Avanté 556 is a family caravan under 1500kg and under £15,000 with space for six and bags of style... and the kids get their own, separate room

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here’s a lot to like about the Avanté range. Start with important things like prices and reasonably light weights and you begin to get the idea. Now take in the look: pale upholstery with enough swirl-pattern interest to be memorable but not too much so that you’d get tired of it. Darkest chocolate brown carpet that’s practical – and looks great, too.
And the layout? The Avanté 556 has the star triple-bunk layout that has swept into the caravan market and has fast become the number one for families. It gives you beds for six on one axle, in just 5.4 metres of body, and weighs only 1332kg (MRO).
There are compromises, of course, in order to get so much accommodation into a short length. The kitchen is small on storage and small on surface. And the shower is fine for slim or small people but imperfect for six-footers with big shoulders.
The 556’s great positive point, though, is at the back where there is dining/playing/television-watching space for four kids. Their own room, divisible from the rest of the caravan (if only by a thin pleated partition). Four head lockers, two deep corner shelves, two under-bed caverns, one of which is accessible from the side as well as the top.. This configuration of day and night-time family splendour is a masterpiece of design, and that’s why every manufacturer has one if not more in their ranges.
You don’t have to have four children to benefit from the flexibility of this layout. Look at it this way: two can sleep on the bunks, leaving either top or base bunk for storage; one can sleep on a bunk and one on the single bed that makes from the dining area alongside.
The base bunk folds up to create a huge storage area – great for transporting the water containers. But the 556 goes one better than some of its rivals: The central bunk also folds up and secures with a press-studded strap. So you have an area tall enough to house at least two cycles.
At the opposite end of the caravan are settees long enough to make single beds (or a double, of course). You have dining or lounge seating for up to six and storage space, everywhere, matches the six-berth brief in terms of clothing, bedding and other essentials. Everywhere, that is, except the kitchen. Storage space here is confined to three slim drawers in a central cabinet. They’re perfect for cutlery and cooking utensils. But little else. Pans can go in the cupboard under the oven and fridgeables are amply accommodated in the Thetford 115-litre fridge. But anything else will have to go into head lockers or under beds. So visits to a supermarket have to be frequent.
Kitchen surface is confined to a hinged extension which comes out over the nearside settee. So your organisational skills will have to be used to juggle food prep with the need to keep the hob and sink covers down when you need the surface space. But remember you get a lot of accommodation in a short length and kitchen organisation is a compromise worth making.
Showering space is tight, too – but would only be a problem if you’re tall or wide-shouldered. The shower is separated from the toilet and tip-up basin by a substantial plastic partition which folds into two sections against the offside wall and clicks easily into place.  The plus-point here is that, although the shower shares its room with the loo, it can be separated, so you only have to dry out the tray, not the entire compartment, after each shower. And there’s a really important touch at roof level – a rail running the width of the washroom; use it for towels (there’s a loop but that’s good for only one towel, not six!) or hang garments here to dry. It’s a small feature but a really important one.
 
 

Great and flexible family accommodation, high quality of build and fittings everywhere, delightful soft furnishings, enough specification to satisfy family needs but not enough to inflate the price or the weight beyond mid-range budget reach... The Avanté 556 ticks a lot of family-needs boxes. Add in little features like the washroom-length towel rail and you have an excellent package. Is this the triple-bunk model for you? It’s certainly worth a place on your shortlist.