April 2011

HELLO AND WELCOME to Practical Caravan. As the days get longer and warmer – allegedly! – it's time to start thinking about this year's holidays with your family in your caravan.

And what better way to plan your itinerary than having the ultimate reference source listing the best sites in the UK? That's right – the Practical Caravan Top 100 Sites guide makes its return, and it's bigger and better for 2011.

New Top 100 sites winner

This year, we had more votes than ever before, from you, our discerning readers, and we're proud to reveal that there's a new overall winner. With 12 regional winners and five special category winners, the Top 100 Sites guide is a must for when you're booking your caravan holidays.

Turning to the April issue, we've got some great travel content to whet your touring appetite. Claudia Dowell reports from the Burgundy reader rally, where 40 readers, 20 vans and one dog enjoyed the finest French food and wine. Closer to home, Doug 'Fix-It' King visits some old family haunts in Ireland, and we suggest the best campsites for lambing farms. Peter Frost and his wife Ann give living museums a visit and see history brought to life right in front of their eyes.

If you're looking for a new caravan or towcar for the new season, then we can help. The Elddis Avanté 554 won best caravan for small families in last year's Tourer of the Year awards, but how will it fare when tested by our readers? The Towcar twin test sees the Mercedes-Benz ML350 CDI Sport take on the VW Touareg 3.0 V6 TDI Escape in a clash of weighty 4x4s.

Best for advice

In this issue's Caravan Genius, we've got over 40 pages of advice, insights, hints, tips and reviews. It’s essential reading for anyone interested in the practical side of caravanning, and includes step-by-step guides to popular DIY jobs, Doug King’s advice pages, and guides to the latest caravan tech. You’ll also find favourites like Used van buyer, which examines the Avondale Argente, and Used towcar buyer, which focuses on the BMW X5. Second-hand Shoot-out finds out which five-berth van is the best in a clash between a Compass Corona 505 and the Swift Charisma 545, both from 2002.

Don’t miss our new data section, which comprises three great Buyer’s Guides: new caravans, new and used towcars and dealer specials. There’s also accessory reviews, Andy Jenkinson’s Scrapbook and Caravan Bore – a new page that runs an irreverent rule over some of the biggest caravanning issues of the day.

Contents in full

Here's a full list of contents from the April issue:

Noticeboard
Stop over here first for trip tips, deals, news and views, plus our crossword puzzle
Planner
Mark your diary and hitch up your van for these outstanding events

GREAT ESCAPES
Burgundy
Claudia Dowell joins a Reader Rally to one of the best-known wine-producing regions of France
Grand day out
A tour of a musuem in Beaujolais reveals a light-hearted look at 1000 years of viticulture
Seven things to see
The historic city of Beaune pays tribute to the art of winemaking 26
Culture vulture
The ralliers explore Hospices de Beaune, an architectural gem with a history of helping the poor
Where we stayed
The grounds of a 16th-century château make the ideal base from which to explore the vineyards of Burgundy
Cut out and keep
Save our pocket-friendly guide to the great, the fun and the essential
Reader holiday
Doug and Brenda King follow a trail of film and TV locations in County Wicklow and re-establish their connection with the ill-fated Titanic
Spotter’s guide
Peter and Ann Frost visit the past – courtesy of 11 great living museums around the UK
Readers’ postcards
Greetings from caravanners on breaks in Lyme Regis and the East Midlands
Best sites for…
Try one of these five great caravan sites this spring to witness the lambing season

SHOWROOM
Live-in test
The Elddis Avanté 554 is a prize-winner. Can it win over our testers?
First look
Bailey’s Pegasus gets a welcome dollop of showroom appeal
Towcar test
It’s the Battle of the Teutons between hefty 4x4s from Mercedes and VW

CARAVAN GENIUS
Genius ideas
Hitch your bicycles to the van, plus tips and the latest from the forecourts
Doug’ll fix it
Have caravan queries or quandaries? Ask Doug King, Practical Caravan’s own Mr Fix-it
Step by step
How is Al-Ko’s new Mammut mover fitted? We watch a pro do it
Project van
Doug King fits a water heater to our 1983 Elddis GT Whirlwind
Second-hand shoot-out
Five-berths from Compass and Swift offer the same popular layout. Which is more practical?
Subscription offer
Save 16% of the cover price and get an Autoglym valet kit, worth £41, FREE
Talking towcars
From matches to motors, send your tough tug questions to David Motton
First drives
We test new diesel versions of the Mazda 5 and Citroën C4
Caravan basics
Just starting out or want to brush up on the basics? Here’s the essential touring knowledge you need

DATA
Buyer’s guide
Updated with the latest prices, this is the best listing of new domestic and imported caravans in the UK
NEW! Our fleet: update
The latest about the Practical Caravan team’s fleet of tourers and towcars
Dealer specials
Looking for more kit in a new van? Check our complete guide to dealership upgrades of the most popular caravans
Awning buyer’s guide
Confused by the variety of awnings on offer? Our guide is here to help
Top 50 towcars
Nothing beats our guide to the best new and used towcars
NEW! Used caravan buyer
Avondale’s mid-market Argente makes a great used deal
Used car buyer
BMW designed its X5 to rival the Range Rover. Get a deal on a used one
50 top accessories
Need a noseweight gauge or TV for your tourer? Here are the best
New kit
New products to freshen your van and the latest stone-chip skirt
Buying and selling
Save cash with our listings of used vans, awnings and kit
Caravan scrapbook
More vans from yesteryear, courtesy of Andrew Jenkinson
Letters
Your news and views from the sites, plus posts from our Forum