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What is the difference between a motorhome and a caravan?

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For those of us who have a mobile home, it is quite obvious that there is a difference between a motorhome and a caravan. But the fact is that people who don't have a motorhome or caravan often say the wrong thing, as if it's more or less the same thing. And it's not uncommon for me to be asked "But what's the difference between a motorhome and a caravan?". So I thought we should clear this up once and for all ...

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A motorhome is a car

Yes, you can hear it in the word itself. A motorhome is a car. It has an engine and a steering wheel and you can drive it. Not so complicated really, is it? Of course, there are many different types of motorhomes. Here are the most common ones:

  1. Fully integrated motorhome - Front part and living area are built in one piece
  2. Semi-integrated motorhome - Front part and living area are built separately.
  3. alcove car - An alcove with bed space protrudes above the driver's cabin
  4. "Ploughboy" - A camper van/van fitted with a camper van.
1 Helintegrerad husbil, 2 halvintegrerad husbil, 3 alkovbil och 4 "plåtis"
1 Fully-integrated motorhome, 2 semi-integrated motorhome, 3 alcove car and 4 "flatbed".

There are also a lot of other types of motorhomes: American motorhomes, camper vans, campers (removable attachment to a pickup truck), off-road motorhomes and different types of home-built motorhomes. So motorhomes can look like many different things. What they have in common is that they are a vehicle that you can live in. Not so difficult, right?

Två terränggående husbilar
Two off-road mobile homes

A caravan is a wagon

Yes, you can almost hear it in the word ... A caravan is a trailer that you can live in. There is no engine and no steering wheel, and when you need to move around, you simply have to hitch the caravan to a car.

There are of course lots of different types of caravans as well, but I won't go into that as I don't know much about caravans. I can say that modern caravans are incredibly comfortable and of a high standard. There are of course both large and small caravans, there are retro caravans and there are American trailers.

1 Husvagn från Kabe, 2 Fritidsvagnen - som kan skifta mellan hjul och skidor, 3 husvagn från Adria och 4 en amerikansk trailer
1 Kabe caravan, 2 Leisure caravan - which can switch between wheels and skis, 3 Adria caravan and 4 an American trailer.

What to choose - motorhome or caravan?

Whether to choose a motorhome or a caravan is of course a matter of taste! There are many similarities, but also some significant differences. You can drive much faster with a motorhome than a caravan, and it is also easier to stop in city car parks etc. with a motorhome. On the other hand, once you have parked your caravan, it is very easy to set off on errands and excursions in your car.

For our personal part, a motorhome is best and all of you who call it a caravan from time to time - you are forgiven! (I'm probably wrong about a lot of other things that I don't understand.) But you may have to put up with me correcting you sometimes ... 😉 .

En charmig gammal husvagn som vi såg i Tjeckien för några år sedan
A charming old caravan we saw in the Czech Republic a few years ago

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