We British might have a love/hate relationship with caravans, but here’s a top ten to melt the heart of even their harshest critic.
The Inka
Looking like a pear drop caravan of the 1960s on steroids, the Inka (see above) can be towed by off-road vehicles to reach almost anywhere off the beaten track.
The Gidget
The Gidget is an Australian-built caravan that brings the concept of a two-berth trailer up to date. More genteel than its cousin, the inca, the tiny caravan boasts a Queen-sized bed and a well-equipped galley.
The Pocket House
When Ray Mears described caravans as ‘mobile bread bins’ it’s unlikely he had seen the creation of designer builder Aaron Maret, who describes his tiny house built from reclaimed materials as a ‘playful experiment in alternative construction and living’.
Taku Tanku caravans
Tanku Tanku is an eco-friendly design built with off-the-shelf and upcycled materials. The superstructure comprises two 3,000-litre plastic water tanks connected by a ring of wood that frames the entrance. The TAKU-TANKU home joins an ever-growing group of bicycle caravans that are lightweight enough to be towed by a bicycle. Visit the TAKU-TANKU website
The QTvan
The QTvan is our own attempt at redefining the caravan; lightweight enough to be towed by bicycle or mobility scooter.
N-camp caravans
The tiny car doing the towing is a tiny Honda N-Truck and the diminutive caravan is the N-Camp.
The N-Truck is a ‘Kei car’; a vehicle restricted in size, engine displacement and power in order to bypass tax and insurance regulations and, in certain areas, a requirement that parking is available for a vehicle before it is bought.
Mogo caravans
The Mogo is an ultra-light caravan that sleeps two and yet is small enough to squeeze into a single garage. Its really clever trick, however, is the way it doubles up as a cargo trailer for bikes, surfboards or kayaks. Aimed at ‘active glamping’, the tiny caravan promises a good night’s sleep after a day of sporting activities using your own gear. The £7,000 Mogo weighs only 350 kg, boasts a payload of 400 kg and is available in any colour.
The world’s smallest DIY bicycle caravan is the Foldavan – a lightweight design that collapses for easy storage and towing.
Wooden Widget produces a range of collapsible boats and sailing dinghies that can be towed behind a bicycle and the Foldavan shares many of the same design principles.
Built from wood, carbon fibre and reinforced PVC cloth, the teardrop-shaped Foldavan has three modes. When being stored, or transported on a car roof rack, it collapses flat. While being towed by a bicycle, it opens to 60 cm – about the same as the width as most handlebars. Once at its destination, it takes less than five minutes to transform the Foldavan into camping mode. Fully-extended, the caravan measures 1.2 m wide and offers over one metre of headroom.
Foldavan
The Foldavan weighs only 30 kg and has a low centre of gravity, which means it can negotiate even quite rough terrain – in high winds, the sides can be unzipped to let the wind pass through.
The Foldavan trailer is available as a set of plans for £30. The tiny caravan takes about 50 hours to build with materials easy to find in varying qualities to suit any budget – a Foldavan can be built for next to nothing using reclaimed timber and secondhand parts.
The carbon footprint of the build is small because all the materials can be found locally or salvaged. Furthermore, the company plants five trees every time it sells a set of plans.
The Beermoth
The beermoth is not a caravan, but sneaks onto this list because it no longer has a working engine and would need to be towed were it ever to be moved. It’s one of a number of enchanting dwellings for rent at Canopy & Stars, a website specialising in unusual alternatives to conventional camping such as tree houses, yurts and caravans.
However you travel, tread lightly
The ETA has been rated ethically in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide.
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Twenty six years on, it continues to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all it does.
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