This weekend we visited Caravan, a motorhome fair in Helsinki. The fair was organised in connection with the big travel fair Matka, at Messukeskus in Helsinki. So, what can you find at a Finnish motorhome fair? We found out!
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Motorhome fair in Helsinki
The Matka travel fair is the largest travel fair in the Nordic countries, but the motorhome fair organised in conjunction with the travel fair at Messukeskus is perhaps a little more modest.
We would not go to Finland only for this fair, so to speak, but when you are here, it is of course interesting to visit! Most of the information was in Finnish, but the vendors were very helpful when we had questions, either in English or in Swedish.
Bürstner - one new and one small
At the Bürstner stand, we met a very nice motorhome salesman, who happened to be a member of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. We talked at length about motorhome life - the journeys, the challenges and the future.
The salesperson told us that the rules for driving large motorhomes are different from those in Sweden. In Sweden, motorhomes weighing more than 3.5 tonnes can be driven with a normal B licence if the licence was issued before 1996. The same rule does not apply in Finland, which makes it much more difficult to sell large motorhomes there.
We took a look at Bürstner motorhomes and looked at two models in particular. First, we looked at the Bürstner Lyseo T734 Harmony Line, which is a new model for 2018. Very nice motorhome, if 766 000 SEK is within the budget. We also looked at a much smaller Bürstner, namely the 5.89 metre long Bürstner Nexxo Time T569, for about SEK 600,000.
Ploughshares
As in Sweden, "plåtisar" (camper vans) are becoming more and more popular. Several different variants were shown at the fair, including Hymer, Pössl and the Roadcar brand, which we were not really familiar with before the fair. Roadcar is apparently jointly owned by Pössl and Carado, but is now produced in the Hymer factory (if we understood everything correctly).
The idea is to deliver roughly the same product as Pössl, but at a lower price. How do you do that? Well, by mass-producing relatively quickly. The quality should not be inferior, but the customer has far fewer options. For example, there is only one type of wood and one fabric to choose from.
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Ama de casa says:
So a "small" Hymer is more expensive than a much larger and (seemingly) more comfortable Bürstner? Is it the Mercedes brand you pay for then, or?
Just wondering about those other rules for driving larger cars... If you drive your caravan over to Finland and "only" have a B licence. What happens if you are stopped and checked? And what applies in other countries...
Also good to keep our small car and continue with hotel camping 😀.
23 January 2018 - 8:52
Helena says:
Yep, you probably have to pay a little extra for the Mercedes brand 😉 The question about when you go to other countries with a large motorhome and a B licence is very good! I think you should be allowed to drive your large motorhome within the EU in any case, but I must admit that I do not have full control over this. Should check it out though, because it is a very relevant question!
23 January 2018 - 17:57
Motorhome Helge says:
The small cars, Vans are only becoming more popular, is it because we are getting older and older but still want to go out and drive further into the small villages in Europe without being worried about getting stuck between the house facades? Well, we have to wait for the development
23 January 2018 - 9:19
Helena says:
I can't say exactly why, but I'm quite fond of the small motorhomes myself. I think they can attract both an older and a younger audience.
23 January 2018 - 17:58
Mr Steve says:
There seems to be something for most tastes.
23 January 2018 - 12:12
Helena says:
I think so! 🙂
23 January 2018 - 17:59
BP says:
Had about the same thoughts/questions as Ama. It will be interesting to go around Caravan in Kista and check if the same models are shown there and to compare prices.
23 January 2018 - 15:46
Helena says:
Agreed! I am a bit curious if we will see Roadcar there 🙂 .
23 January 2018 - 17:59
Matts Torebring says:
Everyone knows how hard it is to lose weight, the same goes for our motorhome...
23 January 2018 - 18:28
Helena says:
Haha, yes it's a challenge 😉
23 January 2018 - 19:16
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
There are many nice motorhomes, but the price tags are also quite nice. It will probably be to keep the one we have and spend the money on experiences with it instead!
23 January 2018 - 19:44