Flagship caravans with top specification … We’re in £20,000-territory. A place in which to relax and enjoy caravanning at its most luxurious and most spacious. After months talking value of this, worthiness of that, searching for justification why some manufacturer hadn’t dropped the latest gizmo into its newest factory-fresh tourer, I’m going to take a look at some top tottie tourers for a change.

Swift Conqueror caravan, 2010

Price new: £19,735

This caravan is a four berth with an end washroom

The Swift’s lounge is the shorter of the three but this pays dividends in the rear washroom which is noticeably more generous because of it. Remarkably, 90 per cent of the offside kitchen sits ahead of the first axle, giving some indication why that offside fixed bed and washroom manage such fine dimensions. 

On the nearside (still ahead of that first axle) sits Thetford’s tower fridge with what therefore must be a sky-scraper microwave perched above. With narrow flat screen TVs becoming ever more popular the central bulkhead unit between bed and kitchen has been sensibly split allowing TV one side and kitchen storage the other. The smoked door adds more refinement over sliding tambour units which, to my eye at least, now show their age. Of the three it’s this Swift’s layout that’s more commonly seen elsewhere and that’s testament to its ability.

Styling is modern but not overtly contemporary. Contradiction – or is there really a difference? Well, the interior’s cabinetry, soft furnishings and additional decorative addenda is every bit as stylish as the era in which we live dictates. But I’m not sure the colours (brown, bronze etc) combine successfully to create a decorative theme that’s: A, much of a jump up from the Challenger range that sits below the Conquerors and, B, delivers an interior that feels extra special instead of just very, very nice.

Comfort, though, is a given. The lounge settees may be shorter and, while you can forget lying down, you can still put your feet up with ease. 

Don’t laugh, but 1830kg all-up isn’t extraordinarily heavy, given the facts. Those facts include the Conqueror’s full width body, masses of kit and structural rigidity. In realty most caravanners won’t ever load over the 1800kg mark, making this a fully-stocked tourer but not stuffed in terms of weight.

One gripe. Without question AL-KOs ATC should be standard here. It’s not just the safety issue, but list price and competitors’ foresight to rubber-stamp its inclusion make Swift look a little mean here.

Caravan layout

Boasting about a high level of equipment means nothing if pricing merely reflects the additions. There might be loads of toys, but you’ve paid for it. True value for money is when those additions arrive without a price hike. The Swift isn’t cheap, but to me, as you can see in the scoring, this Conqueror 630 is so well-rounded in all disciplines it thoroughly justifies the outlay.