If you thought the interior of a caravan was just a Porta Potti, some kind of primitive stove and then two facing benches you pull together to make a bed for the night, you are in for a surprise when we reveal the winner of the best caravan for innovation at the Practical Caravan Awards 2024.
The design of caravans has moved on by leaps and bounds in recent years. With the advent of things like fixed beds and Alde wet heating, they are much more homely, and they are still evolving today.
To help you pick the model for you, we have used our decades of experience within the industry to select the best caravans for innovation. This year’s winner is the Knaus Yaseo 500DK, a tourer that’s impressed us with the clever space saving that is evident throughout. In this guide, you can see what we made of it and our shortlisted options, as well the standout innovative tourers from recent years, with models from leading caravan brands, including Adria and Swift, making an appearance.
The best caravan for innovation is:
Knaus Yaseo 500DK
- Price: £27,590
- Berths: 3-5
- MTPLM: TBC
- MiRO: TBC
- Payload: TBC
- Shipping length: TBC
- Width: 2.20m
Reason to buy:
- Clever space saving makes this attractive in theory
Reason to avoid:
- Not the prettiest caravan there’s ever been
With its FoldXpand technology, Knaus has really been working on ways to save space inside its motorhomes in recent years. This has now transferred over to caravans too, with the added emphasis on saving weight too, so the caravans can still be towed by the electric cars we will all be driving in the future.
All such work is evidently on show in this caravan, which includes a front profile specially designed to reduce drag. Inside you will find a double wall bed, front seats that can be slid away to create more storage space, a collapsible shower cubicle, and side flaps in the wall that open to reveal a storage area for e-bikes.
As you would expect in a caravan designed to be towed by an electric car, the tourer itself is all electric as standard as well. The manufacturer says this saves between 20kg and 30kg in weight. If that is a step too far for you however, you can go for a conventional gas heater as an option.
The best caravans for innovation – our other recommendations:
Vagabond Rogue
- Price: £19,200
- Berths: 2
- MPTLM: 750kg
- MiRO: 550kg
- Payload: 200kg
- Shipping length: 4.60m
- Width: 2.15m
Reason to buy:
- It takes the teardrop further with a clever awning
Reason to avoid:
- An untested player in the market
Teardrop caravans always look romantic and idyllic. You can probably just see yourself knocking up something in the kitchen out the back of one of these types of caravan while your significant other enjoys basking in the sunshine, perhaps with a favourite tipple.
The trouble is, such a scenario does not fit very easily with the British climate. Step forward, then the Vagabond Rogue, made in not particularly rainy South Africa. The small caravan comes with an L-shaped canopy that means you can pop out of the cosy bedroom to brew a cuppa on the stove without having to get wet at all. There is plenty of space to do so in the kitchen at the rear.
Nor is that all. Extras you can have fitted to this innovative caravan include an outdoor shower, while the lighting inside has even been designed to be less attractive to those creepy crawlies.
Full review: Vagabond Rogue
Eriba Touring Special Editions
- Price: from £23,590
- Berths: 3-5
- MTPLM: from 900kg
- Shipping length: from 5.06m
- Width: from 2.00m
Reason to buy:
- The ultimate retro dream, carried right the way through
Reason to avoid:
- It’s a dream you could quickly tire of
Who says caravan innovation always needs to mean looking forward? If anything these new special editions of Eriba’s famous Touring range with the pop-up roofs look backwards, to the primary colour-clad 1980s. You really need to get your Rubik’s cube and Sony Walkmans out to appreciate them properly.
But they are none the worse for that. Take one of these on the road and they should really jolly up your touring time too.
The exterior colours are matched with interior colour schemes too: go for Nugget Gold on the outside and you get a Memphis furniture finish featuring warm yellow tones on the inside, while Tango Red on the outside gets you a Tulsa finish inside, and Harbour Blue is matched with a fresh Orlando finish. But the commitment to the new look doesn’t stop there. You can get colour-coordinated accessories including awnings, towels, blankets, cushions, and even a toiletry bag.
The innovative caravans we shortlisted at the Practical Caravan Awards 2023:
Knaus Azur 500EU
- Price: £37,760
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: 1800kg
- MiRO: 1630kg
- Payload: 170kg
- Shipping length: 7.34m
- Width: 2.31m
Knaus’s luxury range, the Azur, reintroduces a brand name the German manufacturer last brought out in the 1980s.
But the range – and last year’s winner of the best caravan for innovation – looks forward much more than it might look back. Take its fibre frame construction, for example. The outer shell is made from 22 self-supporting parts and, according to Knaus, it will “self heal” if passing trees scratch it – as long as you leave your caravan out in the sun. More serious scratches can be removed by grinding and polishing.
The Campovolo grey side walls also have LED lighting right around them. This should really make your caravan stand out on the pitch at night, just as the 17-inch alloy wheels should make it stand out on the road.
Inside, along with ambient LED lighting running along all corners, you get a fabric covered smart wall which has integrated storage compartments and shelves. The angled clean lines of the lockers add a further futuristic ambience.
The Azur 500EU comes with plenty of storage, with kitchen drawers in particular that will take even large pots and pans.
This is certainly a caravan that’s been designed with new ideas and features that make it one of the most innovative caravans of 2023.
Swift Basecamp 3
- Price: From: £25,495
- Berths: 3
- MTPLM:1146kg
- MiRO: 1020kg
- Payload: 126kg
- Length: 5.59m
- Width: 2.28m
Swift’s Basecamp range was introduced for the 2017 season with just one model; the Basecamp 2. At the time, the brand held its breath – was this too much in the conservative caravan market? It soon became apparent that the Basecamp was not only innovative, but attracted a new type of caravanner who liked the rugged appeal, and general décor.
Six years on the Basecamp continued to build on its reputation with the 2023 Basecamp 3. Although designed as a tourer for two, it also has a third bed option. The designers have thought long and hard about how the Basecamp can be moved forward to attract new owners.
The Basecamp 3 does just this, with its new front folding double bed, which can be left as a fixed bed if needed, or folded away to create extra daytime living space.
Full review: Swift Basecamp 3
Adria Altea 622 DP Dart
- Price: £27,970
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: TBC
- MiRO: TBC
- Payload: TBC
- Shipping length: 8.26m
- Width: 2.30m
The Dart range, as exemplified in this four-berth model that was the first to come off Adria’s production line, is a good example of why Adria has a reputation for innovation.
The big changes to the caravan itself are on the outside with, for example, the new silver sides and the large central front window.
But perhaps the most interesting innovations are inside. The inside walls are made of Symalite, a material derived from recycled products. But unlike the ceiling, which has been given a polyurethane coating, the side walls have been left in a raw state, which gives a felt-like effect that is very warming. There are also movable shelves you can attach to the walls to provide storage where you need it.
The front lounge also takes on a more domestic look thanks to the settees, where the whole upholstery goes all the way down to the floor rather than stopping at the edge. (You can still make a double bed out of the slats you pull out from under the central chest. They rest on specially designed struts you can put into position on the settee’s edge.)
You might expect this in a luxury caravan, but strictly speaking the Altea is Adria’s entry level product. All very impressive, as you should expect from a tourer that features in our best caravans guide.
Full review: Adria Altea Dart
Coachman Laser Xcel 855
- Price: £47,085
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: 1950kg
- MiRO: 1790kg
- Payload: 160kg
- Length: 7.90m
- Width: 2.44m
Sometimes just a relatively small change makes a big difference. Apart from a waning number of end kitchen models, caravan kitchens, at least in recent years, have tended to be on the offside. But what if the main part was on the nearside instead, by the door, just as they are in an awful lot of motorhomes?
That makes life easier for the cook, as the main waste bin in any caravan is usually in the door. It is also an easier location if you need to hand food and other items out for a table in the awning. But doesn’t such a change also make you feel that the kitchen is an important part of the caravan, not something tucked away to the side and forgotten about?
That’s certainly the impression you get when you step into the Laser Xcel 855 from Coachman. The four-burner dual fuel hob and huge sink are both on the nearside, nicely lit by a large window. And to the right of them, right by the door, is a huge workspace where you can easily prepare food for consumption either in the front lounge, with its table right next to you thanks to the L-shaped lounge, or outside. If you need to spread out more you can do that too, because workspace of a sort continues on the offside next to the two-way opening fridge. For once the cook in a caravan has pride of place.
Full review: Coachman Laser Xcel 855
Isabella floor heating panels
Price: £749 (for 6sq m of flooring with heating cable and tools to install)
OK, so not a caravan, but, with the nights drawing in, even the best caravan awning can begin to be a less hospitable place to spend any time. Does it need some heat? You can add an awning heater of course, but don’t they just tend to heat just one part of the awning, perhaps a little too vigorously?
Isabella’s floor heating aims to get around that problem. It consists of a heating cable laid inside aluminium panels that you can lay out underneath an awning carpet to create wider areas of warmth. You don’t even have to cover the whole of the awning.
We also recommend the following innovative caravans…
Coachman Acadia 860
- Price: £27,360
- Berths: 5
- Shipping length: 7.90m
- Internal length: 6.27m
- MTPLM: 1870kg
The Acadia range, introduced this season, is Coachman’s amalgamation of its entry level Vision and mid-price Pastiche ranges to create one range which comes with Alde heating as standard – making Coachman the first UK manufacturer to build all its caravans with the Swedish wet heating system.
The 860 followed on a little after the rest, because it was the first in the range to be 8 feet wide. It is also graced with an L-shaped front lounge. This makes the front section of of the caravan look much more like a lounge you might be used to at home – one where you can really kick back and spread out – especially as you still have a large dinette by the kitchen to make an eating area and a corner bed and corner washroom at the back.
The jump up to Alde heating means the van isn’t exactly cheap for what is now Coachman’s most keenly priced range. But the space inside here should really tempt you.
Overall Coachman caravans have a slightly slightly sleeker external profile than some of the competition. We have also always liked the way the company makes overhead locker doors. They are weighted and cranked just enough to make sure they stay down without the need for any catch you have to struggle with.
Buy if… You like defined space, but also an area to spread out in.
Pros
Spacious lounge, surprisingly spacious washroom.
Cons
A little pricey perhaps.
Review: Coachman Acadia 860
Coachman Acadia 470
- Price: £22,340 (for 2020 Coachman Acadia 470)
- Berths: 2
- Shipping Length: 6.33m
- Internal length: 4.70m
- MTPLM: 1343kg
This clever three-berth layout was reintroduced into the Pastiche range only for the 2019 season. That was the last season where the Pastiche was a separate range from the Vision range, before the two were merged to form the Alde-heated Acadia range in 2020. But unlike some of the other Pastiche layouts, the 470 has made it into the Acadia range largely unchanged.
It’s a clever layout because it’s so flexible. It has a front lounge with an L-shaped settee for extra sprawling room and which makes into a nice double, plus a side dinette conveniently located next to the kitchen. There’s also a very roomy rear washroom.
That means that, if it’s just the two of you, on a mizzly day you can kick back and relax in the lounge. But if you are going to be spending most of the day outside, you can probably leave the bed in position and just use the side dinette as an eating area. Whatever you choose to do, you still have easy access to a great washroom.
If you have an unexpected guest or small fellow traveller, there is nothing to stop you lowering the table in the side dinette to make a single bed, but there is no privacy curtain available if you do, and there is no possibility of having a bunk here – it’s not even available and an optional extra.
Buy if… You like to have space, but also like to be flexible in your daily arrangements.
Pros
Great flexible living space.
Cons
It’s really only a two-berth for the long-term.
Review: Coachman Acadia 470
Bailey Discovery D4-2
- Price: £16,199
- Berths: 2
- Shipping length: 5.62m
- Internal length: 3.86m
- MTPLM: 995kg
The Discovery range is included here just as much for the awning that comes with it, as for the caravan, possibly more so.
The D4-2 is a perfectly adequate end washroom two-berth. In fact the interior, with its charcoal grey upholstery offset with funky yellow piping, and its huge front window, is probably a notch above what you would expect to find in other manufacturers’ entry level ranges.
But what really sets it out is the awning that has been designed to go with it that comes as an optional extra, currently costing £1,199. It’s L-shaped, going around the front and the rear of the caravan – Bailey’s accessories division Prima claims it is the first inflatable awning in the world to be this shape.
That means that, provided you have enough space on your pitch, you can turn this relatively small caravan into a huge living space, and yet deflate it all back to a reasonable towing size afterwards. Altogether this outfit really can be slim and supple on the road, yet large and spacious when you need it to be.
It’s possibly also worth knowing that this awning is the same price whatever Discovery model you choose. So if, having viewed the D4-2, you really think you still need something bigger, as long as you stay within Bailey’s Discovery range the awning will stay the same price (and so will in fact be proportionally cheaper).
Buy if… You like to tow small, but stretch out on site.
Pros
Huge space, funky interior.
Cons
The awning only fits a Bailey Discovery caravan.
Review: Bailey Discovery D4-2
Adria Adora Sava
- Price: £25,495
- Berths: 5
- Shipping length: 8.29m
- Internal length: 6.19m
- MTPLM: 1900kg
Adria is already known for its very modern interiors – think pared down furnishings with minimalist handles (if there are any handles at all).
The Sava brings this kind of trendy design into the world of mid-market family caravans. It also includes a twin axle, so you get a decent payload of 185kg that can be extended to 285kg – easily enough to account for most things a family needs. You shouldn’t have to worry about overloading the caravan here, although you will need a larger than average towcar.
The Sava has a family friendly layout with a large front lounge that makes into a double, and bunk beds towards the rear with a side dinette for the kids during the day that can be made into a fifth bed. The end washroom is close at hand too for those night-time visits to the loo – but then out of the way during the day.
Buy if: You need a family van with lots of space – but still want style.
Pros: Huge payload, twin axle, roomy interior.
Cons: ATC not fitted as standard.
Review: 2019 Adria Adora 623DT Sava
Wheelhome Dashaway
- Price: £23,865
- Berths: 2
- Shipping length: 4.0m
- Internal length: 2.64m
- MTPLM: 1000kg
A caravan that you don’t need towing mirrors for, and which is light enough to be towed by a Ford Fiesta? Yes indeed, the Dashaway is just that.
Until this was launched last year, Essex-based Wheelhome had carved a niche for itself in building one-berth campervan conversions. But keenly aware of increasing government legislation on emissions, it has now started doing roughly the same thing with a caravan that can be towed by a more fuel-efficient car.
Once on site, you raise the Dashaway’s roof and roll out an extendable section known as a Podrant (a term designer Stephen Wheeler has patented) to make more space.
There is a little kitchen of sorts, and there is a Porta Potti, but there is no heating, and only limited options for night-time lighting.
Buy if… You are eco-conscious, and can travel light.
Pros
No need for towing mirrors or a heavy towcar, expands well on site.
Cons
No heating.
Review: 2019 Wheelhome Dashaway
Xplore 304
- Price: £14,763
- Berths: 4
- Shipping length: 5.54m
- MTPLM: 1043kg
Like the Coachman Acadia 470, the Xplore 304 packs a lot into small space – although its actually marginally shorter than that vehicle and considerably cheaper (although you don’t get Alde heating, there’s only a runner carpet and the kitchen isn’t as sophisticated).
It has an L-shaped front lounge, this time facing towards the offside away from the kitchen, which turns into a double bed. In recent seasons this lounge has been considerably brightened up by a very modern and optical curtain and cushion pattern. Then beyond the wardrobe a single dinette is tucked into the rear corner that converts into a double bunk. There’s also an end washroom.
So if there are just two of you, you can use the side dinette as a dining area, or for daytime sitting if you prefer to keep the bed up. But there is always room for little ones to come away with you if they want!
Buy if … You tend to tow as a twosome, and one of you likes to get up early in the morning.
Pros
Space for extra travellers to come along if they want, even in a van this size.
Cons
Dinette window is a bit small.
Review: 2019 Xplore 304 SE
T@B400
- Price: £19,780
- Berths: 3
- Shipping length: 5.96m
- Internal length: 4.21m
- MTPLM: 1200kg
This teardrop caravan isn’t quite as niche as some you see on the market, as it comes with a little dinette in the rear that makes up into a small third bed. Just the thing for very young families.
Nor is it the work of some tiny fly-by-night outfit operating away in a shed: T@B is actually a subsidiary of the mighty Knaus Tabbert Group, one of the largest manufacturers of caravans and motorhomes in the world. So it’s all the more credit to it that it includes within its stable this immediately distinctive caravan that comes, as a cost option, in a range of seriously zany exteriors.
The fun continues inside too, with curved seats and slanting away tables that are a world away from the uniformity you see in so many mainstream caravans today.
Buy if… You really want to stand out on site.
Pros
Eyecatching design, funky interior
Cons
It’s surprisingly heavy
Review: 2018 T@B400 TD
Buccaneer Barracuda
- Price: £34,699
- Berths: 4
- Shipping length: 8.16m
- Internal length: 6.39m
- MTPLM: 1990kg
This model from Erwin Hymer UK’s most upmarket brand caused quite a stir when it came out a couple of seasons ago, as it includes an L-shaped lounge up front complete with a huge space for a huge TV. The rest of the caravan is nicely sectioned off too, with an L-shaped kitchen, a large washroom spread across the centre of the caravan, and a spacious rear bedroom complete with an in-line island bed. Although it is a four-berth, such an arrangement would make a perfect home from home for a couple, particularly if you are looking for a seasonal pitch.
This season the Barracuda has had a few minor tweaks. In particular, the coat hanging area that was next to the door for the first season has been dispensed with, to give the kitchen a more open aspect.
But you still get the added benefits of the 8ft-wide Buccaneer range. These include a self-levelling system fitted as standard.
Buy if… You really want a home from home (and have the money).
Pros:
High spec level, levelling system included, spacious lounge.
Cons:
Interior can feel a bit dark for some.
Review: 2018 Buccaneer Barracuda
Swift Basecamp
- Price: £17,525
- Berths: 2
- Shipping length: 5.10m
- Internal length: 3.42m
- MTPLM: 1013kg
The Basecamp, first launched in 2016, is so innovative that Swift prefers not to call it a caravan, but rather a caravan crossover vehicle (CCV).
Designed very much for those who like outdoor sports, it includes a metal floor with special holds in the aisle you can strap a bicycle to. As the access door is on the rear panel, getting them on board is really easy. The whole interior is very utilitarian, with a sleek kitchen worktop and an ergonomic washroom. And of course there are loads of USB points where you can recharge your Garmin.
The front window opens out fully, and, as a cost option, you can get a specially designed awning from Vango that fits over the rear.
There are innovative minor details too, such as the overhead locker baskets you can take down to fill up.
More recently a Basecamp SE has been launched, with, among other things, a window in the door. Then this season has seen the launch of the first four-berth Basecamp, with a pair of small bunks in the rear nearside corner.
Buy if: You like to at least look as if the active outdoors is for you.
Pros: Sleek design, handy extras, great awning.
Cons It’s a touch more pricey than you might expect.
Review 2017 Swift Basecamp Plus
Knaus Sport & Fun
- Price: £20,930
- Berths: 4
- Shipping length: 6.25m
- Internal length: 4.80m
- MTPLM: 1300kg
This is a caravan that certainly lives up to its name. The exterior graphics are unlike anything you might see elsewhere.
The “fun” continues inside. The front section, for example, isn’t a lounge, it’s a fixed transverse double bed, set above a large garage (big enough for bikes and kayaks) which you access from the side.
The only seating area is further back, directly opposite the kitchen, and converts into a second double bed which stretches slightly diagonally across the caravan.
All this leaves space for a straight aisle towards the door at the back of the caravan, where you can easily store another bike.
It’s certainly designed for active individuals. The downside is that the washroom is a little small – in standard fitting it doesn’t even include a shower – and the kitchen only seems to have a lot of storage space because there isn’t an oven fitted as standard.
It probably isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but we liked it. And although it still seems highly innovative, the Sport & Fun has actually been around in some shape and form for at least 20 years.
Buy if… You like quirky, sporty design
Pros
Loads of storage
Cons
No shower as standard
Review: 2016 Sport & Fun
If none of these models sound like the caravan you’re looking for, check the rest of our caravan reviews to see if there might be a model more suited to you – we’re uploading more all the time!
You can also take a look at some of our other buying guides where we round up the best caravans on the market, ranging from the best caravan for couples to the best 6 berth caravan.
After a tow car instead? We have that covered, with our guide to the best used caravan tow cars and the best caravan tow cars offering some of the top models on the market.
If you’re looking for the ideal place to head to on your next tour instead, we also have the perfect inspiration! Our guide to the best caravan parks and best caravan sites gives you all the information you could need to know.
Or what about a motorhome? Check out some of these options Best 2 berth motorhomes, Best 4 berth motorhomes, Best 6 berth motorhomes , Best A-class motorhomes and more
