With the holidays approaching, many Italians are wondering whether to invest their savings in an independent vehicle that allows them to be autonomous in moving. Let's find out together which camper, converted van or caravan is best for each of us.

The passion of traveling on the road is certainly something eternal. Generations pass, but the desire for independence and to feel free never fades. Over the last few decades, the automotive world has created three types of vehicles that allow total independence and autonomy. We are talking about the camper, the caravan and the converted van.

Conceptually they might look like three identical products, but they have important differences that definitely need to be considered. In fact, we cannot say that having a camper is like having a caravan or a converted van.

Let's start with the roulotte. To clear up any doubts, remember that the caravan is the vehicle that is hooked to the rear of our car and which is independent from our car. So if we are driving our car and we wish, during a short stop, to take a product that is contained inside the caravan, we must get out of the car and enter the caravan. If there was a major storm, then we could get wet.

If, on the other hand, we had a camper, the problem of getting wet would not exist. In fact, if during a trip we need to take some object contained inside the camper, we will have absolutely no problems of any kind.

As for the camperized van, the speech is a cross between the previous two. The camper van is technically a van that is designed to work. We can think, for example, of an Iveco Ducato. Depending on how we have campered the van, we may not get out of the Van or we may have to get out of the Van.

As far as driveability is concerned, having a camper and having a converted van is certainly something more practical. In fact, there are situations where having a tow is something problematic. I am referring, for example, to a situation with severe wind or ice on the road or reversing maneuvers.

The positive aspect of the caravan is certainly that it can be detached from the car. In fact, if we want to visit, for example, a beautiful place in Southern Italy, with our caravan, as soon as we arrive inside an equipped campsite, we could unhook the caravan and make short-range tourist trips without having to tow. In this way it would be like having our car without any problem. If, on the other hand, we make the holidays with the camper and the converted van, it would certainly be more problematic to make some local mini trips. On the other hand, however, if we wanted to stop in any pitch equipped for camping, we could easily have lunch in any situation at any time.

The camper is certainly a very expensive vehicle, but it gives a huge benefit. The camper van, on the other hand, is a hybrid that allows you to stop in lay-bys as if it were a normal car even if in the vast majority it is not equipped with a complete bathroom, like the one inside the camper. In fact, the camperized van is something that sacrifices movement and freedom. It is also not very large and this however affects the total well-being of the holiday.

Technically, the choice between these three means is fundamentally based on two parameters.

The price and the type of vacation we are used to. Large motorhomes certainly have a high cost, but they have indisputable terms of benefits. We are talking about both internal habitability and the freedom to travel without any fixed point of support.

On the other hand, if we want to keep costs down, surely a caravan and a camperized van are the best aspects. It also depends, as we said before, on how we intend to develop the holiday. A camper is a so-called all in one, but if we want to benefit from the freedom of traveling with our car and in some moments having attached a caravan in which to sleep, it is clear which is the optimal solution for us.

credit photo Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV from Pexels