fentonsteve on VW Danbury Highline
Mrs F and I spent the week before last dashing round the North Coast 500 route in a hired VW Danbury Highline camper van. This was our first time in a mobile van (we’re more familiar with static caravans), so I thought, as there was an ATM thread recently, I’d jot down my observations.
We chose to hire this one in particular because it has a toilet, and I have Crohn’s disease (thankfully my guts behaved themselves and I didn’t have to use it). We collected it from Aberdeen, which meant the NC500 route (starting and ending in Inverness) became over 700 miles for us.
THE VAN
I drive a 1.6 litre diesel VW Golf Estate, and the Danbury Highline is only about 25cm wider and 75cm longer than my car, but twice as heavy when fitted out. Engine capacity was a little bigger (1.9 litre), with a six-speed gearbox, but with plenty enough poke for going up the steep mountain passes of the Cairngorms or to barrel long the motorway at 70mph. I didn’t work out the MPG figure but it was not far short of my car. I’m 5′ 11″ and I could comfortably stand up in the back.
Driving was no problem at all, aided by the dinnerplate-sized wing mirrors and the high-up view. There were glazed side windows and back doors, but I couldn’t really see much out of them when driving.
THE INTERIOR
Ref. the above floorplan, clockwise from bottom right: driver’s seat; 2-seater bench seat; 2-ring gas hob (with grill and oven below); wardrobe; shower; toilet (with pop-out sink above); sink (with fridge/freezer below); 1-seater bench seat; gap (for access via the side sliding door); passenger seat.
The bench seats folded down to make a double bed but, at only 2m wide, the van isn’t wide enough to sleep across. So the front seats rotated (which was a bit of a faff, tbh, especially as the driver’s seat only just cleared the steering wheel) for heads or feet to rest on. Quality of sleep was surprisingly good, even in the wind of the John O’Groats cliff-top site.
There was a small dining table with a leg (stored behind a bench seat) which screwed into the floor, but there wasn’t enough legroom to sit facing each other.
Plenty of cupboard space pretty much everywhere.
WHAT WE LEARNED
We both enjoyed the experience, which was a pre-retirement trial before possibly investing in a van of our own.
Driving the van is no harder than driving my car.
The side and back windows are nice for daylight when stationary, but make no difference when driving.
All but one night we stayed on campsites with a 10A 240V electric hookup, but the weather was warm enough not to need the heating, although we could run an electric kettle and heat hot water to wash up with. We used the site showers and toilets. Our final night was a car park at a visitor centre with a toilet block, but no shower. It did rain overnight, but we only had a couple of light drizzly evenings so we didn’t get wet, and so had no “drying out wet clothes” to deal with.
It was nice to stop for a cuppa without searching for an open café (twice we pulled up outside one, found it was shut, and brewed up in the van instead).
38 litres of fresh water soon goes when you’re cooking and eating all your meals and drinks, and washing up 3+ times a day.
It was nice to have a private loo to spend a penny, without having to find a tree or bush. I didn’t need a number two, which was good as I’d have had to empty the ‘cartridge’ (about the size of a carry-on flight case).
You can’t chuck dirty plates and mugs in the sink and drive on, so washing up after every meal or snack becomes routine.
Rotating the front seats made bedtime and morning time a faff. Folding-down bench seats, or even folding-down beds, would be better for us.
The table arrangement was a faff, too. A fold-down breakfast bar would be better.
The wardrobe and shower were of no use to us, and a waste of space.
We won’t buy a van fitted out quite like this one. We’re planning on hiring a different van for a long weekend closer to home, to get more ideas of what options we like.
Much of the NC500 route is very narrow and twisty, and averaged at about 25mph. Next time I’ll take two weeks to allow for more stops, and fewer all-day drives.
That sounds fun , my wife has been on at me for a while to do a camper van around parts of Scotland but I must admit I wouldn’t fancy driving down those narrow roads. Well done Sir
Many of the roads are narrow but the views are spectacular (I am told by my passenger).
Honestly, the narrow roads are no problem as they have plentiful passing places (a little layby) every couple of hundred yards or so. The narrowest & twistiest was the coast road to Applecross. 27 miles, took an hour, met probably ten vehicles coming the other way, had to reverse the van into a passing place a few yards only once or twice.
Interesting and well done on your bowel movements! How much did it cost for the hire if you don’t mind divulging?
Van hire was in the region of £150 per day. Site fees varied from 15 to 25 quid, electric hookup was 6 to 8 quid on top. I doubt we used that much leccy, but didn’t have to use much gas to heat water, which I suppose is more expensive.
Thanks
@fentonsteve
Like others here, Ms Steady and I anre approaching the end of our working lives (well, 3 years or so.) and are considering the joys of the open road with a camper van. We’ve got vague ideas of a 6 month European tour. Would the VW be acceptable for that or just a little too compact. I ask you as an experienced camper of a good two weeks!
There’s a distinct difference between a camper van and a mobile home.
One’s based on a delivery van, is suitable for two people for a week or two, and drives like a car. The other is based on a horse box, can take a whole family, and drives like a lorry.
If it doesn’t drive easily, we’re never going to drive it.
I strongly recommend hiring a couple of different vehicle types/layouts to try them out.
Something else we saw a lot of was the Tent Box. This is a roof box on a car, containing a pop-up dome tent, which is accessed by a ladder. Yes, you sleep in a tent on top of the car. Folding it down back into the box looked like a palaver. I can’t see the appeal.
Think of a camper van a bit like a frame tent on wheels – you can stand up but everything is reduced in size and a bit cramped.
Whether you could tour for months in a camper van is up to you. You can probably store enough clean clothes for a month if the weather is nice. Many of the sites we stayed on had washing machines & tumble dryers.
In Scotland you can ‘wild camp’ pretty much anywhere, but you need an onboard toilet and ideally a shower. Many council-run car parks have facilities for disposal of “grey water” (from sink & shower) and “black water” (toilet), as do most paid sites.
In England & Wales you can only stay on privately-owned sites (including pub car parks, etc), and the majority of them have a shower block with flushing toilets. I don’t know about Ireland or Europe (yet – Mrs F’s brother lives in northern France, so could be a good trial run).
@fentonsteve, I have no interest at all in owning or using a caravan or motor home but loved reading your post. Please keep us updated on your investigations into this – or any other – subject. This is not a snarky comment, I mean it.
Your cheque is in the post, Steve.
Half-way round, I started a diary of sites, showers and public toilets. I really should have started it on day one. Next time!
Excellent, very informative article, @fentonsteve.
With the added benefit that we can ask questions.
Mrs KFD’s sister and her husband have one of these vehicles and they get a lot of pleasure out of it.
Personally, the Camper Van which interests me most is Beethoven.
The Take the Skinheads Bowling Hitmakers are worth a listen.
I have the CVB album with ‘Skinheads’ on it, but I’ve never investigated further.
That second track is them inventing grunge, isn’t it…? I never heard their later stuff until now.
We have just got back from Cropredy, where we camp every year. I always look rather yearningly at the campervans and envy the ease with which they set up and pack up while we struggle with the tent and all the gear. I am also jealous of those that can drive them – I have never driven anything bigger than a car and it would scare the bejesus out of me getting behind the wheel of one of those things.
Honestly, a camper van is hardly any harder to drive than a large-ish car. They’re much taller than a car, though, so have to slow down for corners. You know the vans A*az*n use for deliveries? Our camper van was like that.
The big white boxes on wheels are termed Mobile Homes. I’ve never driven one but I imagine they take a bit more getting used to (they’re wider and longer with reduced visibility. I have towed a caravan once, and never again – too much like hard work.
We’ve used a campervan twice at Cropredy and must admit it’s great to pull up and not have to put up a tent, having your own loo and cooking facilities.
I’d driven a minibus in a previous job so the driving was fine, though the thought of being bogged down in a sodden field having to try to get it out wouldn’t appeal.
How was Cropredy? Just listening to it on Radio Oxford.
From what I’ve heard of that broadcast it doesn’t sound like we missed much, but raw live music (with local radio presenters) is never going to sound great.
The advantage is you can forward through parts.
Cropredy was its usual self – being only one stage you are bound to get some stuff you don’t care for as they deliberately vary the type of acts and it is down to personal taste as to what is ‘good’. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the Zac Schulze Gang, Silverblues, Ben Savage and Hannah Sanders, Richard Digance, Eddie Reader, Richard Thompson, The Spooky Mens Chorale (the hit of the festival) and Fairport. I actively disliked Big Big Train (tune free nonsense), Focus (except for the hits they were tedious) and Elles Bailley. The big controversy was the appearance of a ‘special guest’ – there had been speculation online for months…and it turned out to be Jasper bloody Carrot. He was pretty dreadful – made ‘jokes’ about blind people bungy jumping, migrants not wanting to stay France…oh my, it was embarrassing. A real mistake I felt.
Anyway, the weather was mostly great and the people were lovely as always!
Thanks @NigelT
I’d been reading the mithering and whingeing on the Cropredy page. Lots of complaints about talking during sets, carrot etc. I’d have liked to see Thompson with his ‘back up band’ but even that couldn’t drag me down. In fact I’d like to see the four piece as a tour.
I forwarded through the Chris Leslie songs, I’d heard the last hour and a half live but I’d get the occasional cut out so I listened again. I enjoyed the Plumhall song and Fairport’s take on Farewell Farewell.
Maybe next year.
Oh, and Rick Wakeman was fun! He did the whole of Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Starship Trooper, neither of which I know, and was also very funny and self deprecating. I thought he was great.
I think there were a lot of marmite acts, people either loved or hated in equal amounts.
I believe Ms Bailey has a new album out.
Ms Bailey I think quite good, in an old style rock-blues wailer sort of way. She has a good band.
Cropredy seems to have a deliberately wilful booking policy, mixing random local acts with as much what’s-the-least-Cropredy-act-you-can-think-of, Dave performers thrown in to catch the eye. Given the current “state” of Fairport, it would take something pretty special to court me back again.
She did mention the new album…ad nauseam!
So I heard.
Luckily I was far enough away not to hear.
Had I not been at a wedding in Norfolk, and cheering on friends at a triathlon, I’d have done the sound for The Spooky Mens Chorale in Lincolnshire a few weekends ago.
An observation: wedding receptions are really hard work when you no longer drink.
We noticed that the sound at Croppers was possibly louder and definitely brilliantly clear this year. They apparently had a new ‘sound system’ – presumably this means more than just upgrading your home stereo with a new amp @fentonsteve – any idea what this may have involved? The Spookys definitely benefited as you could hear every word right up the field, which is really vital for their humour.
The video company was Creative Technology who do a lot of the bigger stages at Glastonbury so they must have a decent budget now. I haven’t been since about 1990 when there was no video at all.
Someone I used to work with was video PM and posted some pictures which show 16 boxes of line array each side of the stage, probably d&b or similar. CT have a sound department too so it’s possible sound and video came from the same place
I assume they don’t need the massive piston-like subs under the front of the stage at Cropredy. When did shaking your ribcage become the norm at gigs?
Im sure there were subs concealed as none were hung from the array.
An awning is a bit of a PITA to put up and take down, but makes living in a VW sized van so much nicer.
@redlemon
I do think a motorhome might be too big for me and Ms Steady to cope with, driving wise so a a camper van with an awning sounds good, possibly for warmer climates only?
Anyone else here had awning experiences?
Due to abnormally good weather for Scotland (mostly 16-19C and dry) we didn’t encounter heavy rain when out and about in the van. We did get thoroughly drenched the following week but we were staying in a bricks and mortar flat by then.
I have previously stayed in a frame tent with an awning in Wales and the awning was great for hanging up wet clothes. There’s not a lot of space for that in a camper van (unless you go mad and have one with a shower tray).
What are considered warmer climates? Camper van and awning going to Wales this weekend for Green Man which I’d classify as a wetter climate.
What was the turntable – rega or a linn ?
FILO on Bluetooth Shirley?
Folds down from an overhead locker:
The gas cooker in the diagram at the top looks like a sad robot face.
The cooker and sink had swapped places in the real thing.
Did you actually get a decent night’s sleep Steve? Are there adequate curtains so you don’t get woken up at sunrise?
There were proper dark-grey curtains on all of the windows except for the cab (windsreen and doors), which had fitted reflective blinds held onto the glass by those sucker thingies. I did sleep very well, but slept even better in a proper bed the following week.
I’m also an early riser anyway, which meant I was first in the shower every morning.
I reckon you slept well because you have a clear conscience, having never tortured a domestic animal nor killed anyone because of their shoe size.
Those size 14 people though. They take up SO MUCH Space!
Back in 2014 I had 3/52 in a small campervan, just me and 2 small dogs. It was a sort of NC500 trip before that was a thing, island hopping included to the Western Isles, Skye, Mull and Arran. It had a swivel seat bed, as you describe, initially a pain but get used-able. Didn’t actually use the other amenities, preferring to eat out, for hot food, or in, for cold. Likewise, especially around the sea, if there’s a harbour, excellent shower blocks exist for fishermen and the like. Similarly, “camped” wild or in allowable places or, with permission, pub car parks. Out of high season, in October, nowhere, Skye included, was too busy, and I’d do it again, in a shot.
I liked the dawn to rise scenario, often on the road by 6 am, and usually, anyway, ready for lights out by 9 pm.
I rarely eat out anyway as (e.g. onions) can trigger 48 hours in bed/bog, so the onboard cooking facility was priority number one, and the onboard loo number, er, two.
I did buy local, rather than supermarkets, because the fridge was only big enough to store two or three days of food.
I used to have one and whilst there are advantages over a tourer caravan there are also some big disadvantages, not least rocking up at a campsite, getting your pitch then realising the camp shop is closed and having to pack everything safe again while you drive the monster to the nearest supermarket hoping there won’t be a height restriction for the car park and they’ll be enough room to park. Once that’s done and you then return to the campsite you find some sod has nicked your pitch (it happened a couple of times to us). To avoid this there are certain things you can do, you can get one of those vans that tow a small car behind them (but if you’re going to do this why not just buy a touring caravan and save on car tax) or you can be super organised and plan every little outing with military precision (not my style).
Little motorbike hanging on the back is the cool option.
That’s a mobile home, not a camper van. In modern parlance, anyhow.
Folding bikes would be the campervan equivalent. Or electric scooters if you don’t mind looking a prize plum.
There’s no need in a camper van, though, as they’re the same footprint as an estate car and fit into any normal parking space. And if you can’t open the driver’s door, you can always slide the side door open. I did that in Ullapool.
They can be a bit tight on height though. My mate bought a new VW Transporter van with all the toys, the same as many smallish campers are based on. Drove into a venue car park ok but, having unloaded, scraped the roof on the way out. He paid £51k and only had it 3 weeks.
I had a Transporter Kombi for a while and Fear of Car Parks was one of the reasons I got rid. I’ve got a Crafter for bigger jobs and a Caddy for running around. Much better.
Worth noting that the VWs come in two lengths 0.4m difference.
Along with wet weather, height restrictions was something we didn’t encounter in our week in the van. Not even a bridge to go under, let alone a multi-storey car park.
The Renault Trafic that I used to drive for my pre-retirement job used to get in and out of most multi-storey car parks OK.
Some of my work colleagues with ladder racks on top of their vans were of course unable to use multi-storeys.
I think this is part of the problem I have with motor homes..too big! And Camper vans…too small! There must be a compromise…
Interesting but I remain unconvinced. My wife is nagging me about this but I don’t think she really understands the limitations of a smaller vehicle (space) or larger vehicles (parking, access to towns etc).
Me, I like hotels.
I will holiday in almost anything with solid walls and a roof. And mains drainage. Tent, motorhome, caravan; no, no, no, no.