This weekend, the motorhome and caravan fair Caravan Stockholm is taking place at Kistamässan. We've been there, of course, and are probably going there today as well. We present a first report on the fair today, and tomorrow we will announce our personal favourites in three classes - small, medium and large motorhomes.
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SharePlenty of "plodders"
One can't help but reflect on the fact that there are plenty of so-called "plåtisar" at the fair, i.e. camper vans. Many different brands are represented, such as Hymer, Pössl, La Strada, Westfalia and new brands on the Swedish market, such as the Polish Globe-Traveller and the German VanTourer.
We like them because they are small and agile and easy to park. Another advantage is that they are actually built with a sheet metal body instead of fibreglass, which means they can withstand a lot more in case of an accident. But of course, compact living is the name of the game! Another type of small and flexible motorhome is the American campers from S-Karosser, i.e. detachable accommodation units that are attached to a pickup truck.
Luxurious furnishings and long beds
When you get into the fancier cars, there is a strong focus on luxury. You can see the salespeople trying to impress with fancy wine racks, fancy light mouldings and exclusive bathrooms. It's definitely inviting, but we still miss a little more focus on aspects like safety, load weight and luggage space. In addition, many motorhomes are shown without an oven - an accessory that we could never imagine being without in a motorhome!
We also reflected on the fact that the solution with long beds and a bathroom at the back seems to be very popular. It's not a solution that suits us, even though it can look quite cosy. The key is to find what you like and there are many different interior design solutions and brands to choose from. What is most important to you when choosing a motorhome?
Meetings with blogger friends
One of the most fun things about fairs is of course all the people you meet! Among other things, we met several blog friends that we have not met "for real" before - very fun! First we met Yvonne and Jakob, who have the great blog JoY together.
We also met Johan, who writes passionately and knowledgeably about caravans and motorhomes on the blog Caravanum. Both these bloggers have already published reports on the fair, so feel free to check them out!
You might also like:
Motorhomes in 2021 - 7 motorhomes from KABE, Adria and Sun Living
Trailers 2021 - 6 trailers from KABE, Adria and Affinity
Motorhomes and camping news at "Holidays for all" 2022
Motorhomes and accessories at the "Husbil Sthlm 2022" fair
10 interesting motorhomes at Elmia Husvagn Husbil 2023
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Aila & Niklas says:
We look a lot at storage and smart solutions. Love when things can be used in multiple ways. As we plan to live in the motorhome in the future. Tin buckets are exciting.
21 February 2016 - 10:00
Aila & Niklas says:
Ploughmen, it would say...
21 February 2016 - 10:03
Ama de casa says:
Haha! Can't help but giggle a bit at Aila and Niklas' comment - that self-spelling is just too entertaining sometimes. But it's annoying when you have to deal with it yourself. Fy what they can come up with, the phones and tablets 🙂 .
Sheet metal buckets ARE really exciting 😀.
For me, wanting a motorhome at all is pretty far away. Surprising? Yes, I know. Haven't admitted my fear of narrow alleys before... 😉.
21 February 2016 - 10:20
admin says:
Aila & Niklas, small space requires smart solutions, so it's interesting. Haha, so fun when the computer "correctly" spells what you write on your own... does not always turn out sooo good. Were you at the fair yesterday? We were only there for a short time, because my stomach hurt so much that we had to leave...
Ama de casa, crowded alleys...? Haha, you've never revealed that concern before 😉.
21 February 2016 - 10:58
Åsa says:
It's a small "flatbed" we will borrow and spin around for a few days, and write about. Thinking about what headline to put there to get the most hits on it, for people who want to rent a motorhome in Portugal to find it, I mean. Would you write "Rent a motorhome in Portugal"? What do you think? And one of those slightly decorated people's buses if we were to borrow one too...is that a motorhome too? (PS. We were at that fair -96 or so, with motorhome dreams:)
21 February 2016 - 12:31
BP says:
I knew you would write a serious report, and a very interesting one at that. We never actually thought about sheet metal vs. fibreglass. Oooops!
But I did photograph the VanTourer, albeit the 5.90 metre long one.
When it comes to interior design, I agree with you. Oh the thing about long beds (had to google because I thought it was extra long beds) I also wrote about. But you and we seem to be far too young for this solution, because the manufacturer where I found the word had pointed out that it is for old people;-)
Many thanks for the link again! I knew that I would not "collide" with your specialised post;-)
21 February 2016 - 13:34
Across the board says:
We're thinking about replacing the car with a 5.99-metre-long flatbed.
21 February 2016 - 14:47
Mr Steve says:
What a range! There is something for every taste and need. I look forward to seeing your favourites.
21 February 2016 - 14:07
Lennart says:
Trade fairs are always nice.
Unfortunately, we have been missing Caravan Stockholm for a few years now.
Elmia, on the other hand, which takes place at a different time of the year, we are loyal guests there!
21 February 2016 - 16:11
Deciree says:
Always nice with fairs:) of course I also reacted to the fact that there were a lot of ploughmen. we missed you on Saturday. Thought you would be there:) but we'll probably see you at another time:).
21 February 2016 - 17:09
admin says:
Åsa, I think "motorhome" is a good search term regardless of which model it is. A folkabus is a bit special iofs. Maybe there are people who search for just that so you want it as a keyword too?
BP, I probably wouldn't have thought about sheet metal vs fibreglass if we weren't doing motorhomes... Fibreglass is a great material most of the time, but not if the car is spinning around at high speed... And no, our posts probably don't clash, but they might complement each other! 😉
Steve, there are all sorts of varieties and models, and few, this is still a fairly small fair...
Across and across, you can do that! But are you going to keep a large motorhome as well?
Lennart, we'll try to get to Elmia too, so hopefully we'll see you there!
Deciree, we were hoping to see you too! We were there for a while on Saturday but I got such a terrible stomachache (we have both had stomachaches for almost two weeks) so we had to go there unfortunately... It will be another time!
21 February 2016 - 17:37
Solan says:
The first motorhome for us was 4.85 long. Modern motorhomes are cleverly decorated...but the sliding door. In comes 4.900 mosquitoes. Maybe sold with a mosquito net 🙂
21 February 2016 - 18:25
AuntieGlad says:
It's probably fun with these fairs if you like motorhomes. Then it is fun to meet a lot of people too.
Have a great new week.
Kramiz.
21 February 2016 - 18:40
Matts Torebring says:
Thank you for giving us your view of the fair. I smile a bit when I read about your impressions. about interior design. For my part, when I see an interesting motorhome, I walk around and check the load spaces, how are they designed in terms of size, loadability and space for bicycles? If it suits me and my mindset, I go in and look at the car. If there isn't a wardrobe inside the door, I get out again. Likewise, if there is a bed on each long wall, I don't want to live in a motorhome. You often hear at a trade fair: "Wow, what a nice display cabinet, I want this car". Don't call me conservative, because I'm definitely not.
21 February 2016 - 18:51
Role o Carina says:
We think a large garage and a good load weight is important!
We have that now in our nice "Adria" 🙂 .
Take care.....
21 February 2016 - 18:53
Motorhome internship says:
Thanks for a nice and informative post! I agree with Mats, load weight and practical spaces are No. 1. Then comes a good and comfortable driver environment and as No. 3 interior design. Most important for us is a good double bed and the fridge at standing height. And a good gut feeling of course!
21 February 2016 - 19:44
admin says:
Solan, it was a small car, I must say! And now I feel stupid, but why do more mosquitoes come in through a sliding door...?
Tantglad, yes even if you are not going to buy, it is a bit fun to walk around and look at all the news! 🙂
Matts, I understand exactly what you mean! You know exactly what you want. I also think it's important to have good storage space and I want an oven, although I have realised that an oven is usually optional.
Rolle and Carina, a good load weight is important and it seems to be rarely the case with mid-range cars, but we understand that they can sometimes be increased.
The motorhome internship, yes, there is a lot to get right! Not least the gut feeling 😉
21 February 2016 - 20:24
nils-åke hansson says:
Ploughshares are coming more and more. And it works perfectly well to stay/live for 6 months in it and actually it will be a few months more.
21 February 2016 - 23:57
JoY says:
It was nice to see each other in person after all these years of reading each other's blogs.
Of course, there are many different motorhomes with different solutions. We don't think it's a good idea to have the bathroom at the back, considering that there are more people in the car and you need to go through the bedroom at night. We have long beds and always the bed made up into a "very wide" bed, it suits us best after having had different bed solutions.
When it comes to weight and load, the most important thing is that you know what you are going to load and what the car's capacity is when you buy a motorhome.
Hope to see you again.
JoY
22 February 2016 - 0:04
Ditte says:
I have no idea, but I do know that the campervan we rented in New Zealand was practical and had plenty of cargo space and was easy to drive on the narrow roads up in the mountains.
There was an oven, fridge and freezer too and it was easy to cook. But on the other hand, we had it for 10 days.
And we won't buy husbki, but it's nice to read your report and your thoughts. You have a lot of experience.
Looking forward to tomorrow's post.
22 February 2016 - 0:55
admin says:
Nils-Åke, I also think that tin boxes are coming more and more and many of them are very nice.
JoY, you have a good point about the toilets at the back. But it seems like a very popular solution when you look around the fair! Hope to see you again soon! 🙂
Ditte, what is difficult to know when you don't have a motorhome yourself is how much you can pack in terms of weight. Some motorhomes have large packing spaces, but weight restrictions may mean that you can hardly put anything in there... 😉.
22 February 2016 - 8:25
Lots of other stuff and some concrete says:
We went to the fair mostly to look at accessories but were disappointed that there wasn't much. We had hoped to find some clever things that we didn't realise we needed.
Looked a bit at the motorhomes too and found that we are very happy with the older one we have....Our feels airier than many of the big, new and nice ones. We have not understood why you should take up space in the car with ready-made beds. But then we have only been travelling for one season, maybe we will understand later ...
Greetings Agneta
03 March 2016 - 15:59
admin says:
A lot of other things and some concrete, there are always very few accessories at the Kista fair, I agree that it is boring. Elmia is better! The only slightly interesting accessory we saw was a diesel heater, seems a bit smooth actually 😉 And how nice it is when you discover that you are happy with the car you have! I like to have a ready-made bed because it is "my corner" where I like to sit and write, read or lie down if I have a headache... But ours is crosswise at the back and does not take up much space...
03 March 2016 - 20:29