10 cool caravans for touring with teens

  Touring caravans ultimate guide

10 caravan models (plus six extra to consider) that are ideal when your resident teenager reaches adult height and wants their space (away from you)

By Val Chapman

This might be doubly true if you plan to spend time with a hormonally challenged young person in a compact white box for a weekend or longer.

Screenagers may only leave their digital device long enough to empty the fridge, moan how life is ‘so unfair’, stare into the mirror and take 27 selfies, but by choosing the right caravan to tour with them, you can still guarantee holiday harmony.

The secret is to give them their own (smelly) space. We’ve lined up 16 brilliant caravans that do just that. Note: WiFi may also help!

Teen rating translator

If you don’t have the foggiest idea what you teens are talking about, read this!

2G – 2G2BT means Too good to be true.
Dime – Dime means 10 out of 10. It’s the best something can be.
Bad – Bad means good. I know.
Basic – Uncool or boring
Big – Great or excellent
Bomb – Something excellent, or something terrible. That's helpful.
Dank – Incredibly good or awesome
GOAT – GOAT stands for the ‘greatest of all time’.
Gucci – Good or cool
Dope – Dope means ‘seriously great’. Or marijuana. Check before you call Social Services.
Tope – Tope is a mix of ‘totally' and ‘dope', which is better than dope. Apparently.
Savage – Badass. In a good way, eg, "That Airstream is savage."
Epic – Mind-blowingly good.
Fail – Poor or disappointing

N.B: Dropping these phrases into your teen conversations will have hilarious and potentially explosive effects.

Our pick of good caravans for teenagers

The Sprite Quattro DD closely followed by the Coachman Vision 570

Coachman Vision 570

Surely one of the two best caravans on the market for teen years.

That's because the single beds are at the rear, secluded from the lounge, with their wardrobe and pull-out table. The shower room, with separate shower, is amidships on the offside, so sleepers at both ends of the caravan can get to it without walking through a bed area.

• Overall length 7.33m
• MTPLM 1507kg
• Rear beds are 1.8m
• £19,240

Teen verdict: Savage

Bailey Pegasus Rimini

All of the twin-bed caravans on the market you can consider teen-suitable because the teenagers can get the single beds and mum and dad can make up a double in the lounge.

• Overall length 7.17m
• MTPLM 1450kg
• Twin beds are 1.9m and 1.8m
• £18,899

Teen verdict: Gucci

Bailey Unicorn Cordoba

Go for the Cordoba, and you have the same bed configuration as the Cadiz and Rimini and a lot more space. Towing's easier and more stable because there are four lumps of rubber on the road.

• Overall length 7.92m
• MTPLM 1750kg
• Twin beds are 1.9m and 1.78m
• £24,749

Teen verdict: Dank

Adria Altea 542 DK Severn

This model has a rear area containing bunks plus a single (and a pull-up bunk above) to make from a dining area alongside, and a central offside shower room with separate shower.

• Overall length 7.49m
• MTPLM 1415kg
• Rear lower beds are 1.96m and 1.87m
• £15,390

Teen verdict: Epic

Sprite Quattro DD

The daddy of them all; arguably Britain's most versatile family layout caravan, the new-for-2017 Sprite Quattro DD gives the two generations their single/double bed areas, each with a chest of drawers and TV point, and with an offside central shower room with a separate shower.

At 1624kg MTPLM, it's within the scope of a broad choice of tow vehicles. It's a unique layout on the new caravan market.

• MTPLM 1624kg
• Overall length 7.92m
• Front single beds 1.9m and 1.8m; rear single beds 1.76m 1.86m
• £18,445

Teen verdict: GOAT

Xplore 574

Another great twin-bed option, light in weight and light on price.

• Overall length 7.1m
• 1254kg MTPLM
• Twin beds 1.9m and 1.88m
• £15,099

Teen verdict: Tope

Another lightweight option with twin beds and a rear shower room. The same layout is also in the Lexon range (570) and Clubman range (SB), with more spec, a little more weight and more cost.

• Overall length 7.2m
• MTPLM 1350kg
• Rear twin beds are both 1.86m in all of these ranges
• £18,249

Teen verdict: Bomb (the good version)

Bailey Pursuit 560-5

A single to make from nearside dining area, two bunks; if both teens are too big/ heavy for the top bunk (weight restriction) then use it for putting your clothes on at night – it makes a superb shelf.

A brilliant lightweight, affordable option.

• Overall length 7.4m
• MTPLM 1407kg
• Lower bunks/single bed 1.78 and 1.76m
• £16,249

Teen verdict: Dope

Elddis Avanté 574

More options with twin beds and a rear shower room from the Explorer Group; the Elddis Affinity 574 and twin-axle Crusader Supercyclone share the same layout; the Crusader version is longer. Compass Casita 574 is identical to the Avanté 574 except in fabric scheme.

• Overall length 7.2m
• MTPLM 1401kg
• Twin beds are 1.85m
• £17,999

Teen verdict: Big

Sprite Freedom FB

Stunningly practical with a double bed for parents plus two long singles at the front for the teens and an extra bed to make on the offside from a two-person dining area

Twin-axle ease of towing in a lightweight format that most mid-weight cars can handle, at a budget price.

• Overall length 7.92m
• MTPLM 1500kg
• Double bed is 1.92m long; front singles are 1.9m and 1.8m
• Side single bed 1.8m
• £16,655

Teen verdict: 2G

Also, consider these:

Bailey Pegasus Ancona

Same brilliant layout.

• Overall length 7.37m
• MTPLM 1475kg
• Rear beds are 1.7m
• £18,899

Adria Adora 612 DL Seine

Twin beds and a rear shower room.

• Overall length 8.24m
• MTPLM 1600kg
• Twin bed lengths are 2m and 1.89m
• £18,790

Bailey Unicorn Cadiz

Same layout, more spec.

• Overall length 7.37m
• MTPLM 1491kg
• Twin beds are 1.9m and 1.78m
• £22,499

Bailey Unicorn Cordoba

Go for the Cordoba, and you have the same bed configuration as the Cadiz and Rimini and a lot more space. Towing’s easier and more stable because there are four lumps of rubber on the road.

• Overall length 7.92m
• MTPLM 1750kg
• Twin beds are 1.9m and 1.78m
• £24,749

Coachman Vision 565

Comparable with the Rimini and Cadiz in layout, this twin-bed caravan with the shower room at the rear is a great option.

• Overall length 7.38m
• MTPLM 1488kg
• Rear beds are 1.8m
• £19,140

Swift Challenger 565

Twin beds and a rear shower room; also in Conqueror, Elegance, Sterling Eccles, Elite and Continental ranges.

Overall length 7.31m

• MTPLM 1477kg
• Rear single beds are 1.83m and 1.92m
• £19,655

Venus 550/4

The same layout as the Lunars picked here; Lunar builds the Venus caravans. Overall length 7.2m.

• MTPLM 1330kg
• Both twin beds are 1.86m
• £15,499

For more ideas on what to do with teenagers on your caravan holidays, click here.