The vehicles we see are always surprising us with their latest features, but what exactly is the best motorhome for innovation? Well, we have judged them for the Practical Motorhome Awards 2024, and are revealing our pick of the bunch, as well as our shortlisted choices and other top recommendations.

It seems the confines of space and the need to keep things lightweight have really concentrated their minds on creating the most innovative motorhomes. This includes solving issues you face when you are living on the road, such as how to cook effectively, or how to create a comfortable bed without making everything too cramped for daytime living.

In this guide, you’ll see models from some of the best motorhome brands in the industry, including Rapido, Adria and more. Sometimes we think the solutions they come up with could be taken into the world of conventional home and vehicle design without much adaptation at all.

You can also get more ‘van inspiration by taking a look at our best motorhome round-up.

The best motorhome for innovation is:

Campaway Casa

Campaway Casa
The Campaway Casa
  • Price: £64,995
  • Berths: 3
  • MTPLM: 2800kg
  • MiRO: 2420kg
  • Payload: 380kg
  • Length: 5.3m
  • Width: 2.3m

Reasons to buy:

  • Three long beds, a proper toilet and a shower all in less than 6m. Why not?

Reasons to avoid:

  • That shower is partially outside. And the toilet isn’t entirely private.

Getting two separate beds that are both over 2m long into a vehicle that is only just over 5m long is quite a feat, but that is what Broad Lane Leisure has managed to achieve with its latest Campaway model, the Casa.

Specially produced for the dealership by an unnamed supplier but to its own design, the campervan includes both a roof bed in the pop-up roof and also a single bed made up from the two nearside seats that measures over 7 ft.

That roof rises up at the front, like the majority of raising roof vans, but they have still managed to find room for a spacious toilet area at the back. There is a shower here too, which packs up inside a dedicated pouch in the tailgate.

Kitchen sink
The kitchen sink

And while the kitchen microwave and storage area are also towards the back, the one-burner hob and sink are right up at the front between the driver’s seat and a side settee, so the cook need not feel left out.

All in all, the Casa is a great example of going back to basics and coming up with something refreshingly new, providing the type of innovation we love to see in the best campervans.

Full review: Campaway Casa

On our shortlist for the best motorhome for innovation are:

Rapido C03

Rapido C03
The Rapido C03
  • Price: £71,300
  • Berths: 3
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • MiRO: 2860kg
  • Payload: 640kg
  • Length: 6.19m
  • Width: 2.17m

Reasons to buy:

  • A proper approach to a bed is always a plus, particularly with a transverse bed

Reasons to avoid:

  • If you absolutely need to have a vehicle shorter than 6m (say for a reserved parking space), this isn’t for you

What difference can 20cm make? When it comes to the C03, the latest model in Rapido’s compact range, the answer is quite a lot.

Starting with the idea that not every transverse bed model has to be squeezed down to be 5.99 long, the French company has opted for a van that is still on the short side, coming to only 6.19m – althoughif you’d like a ‘van under 6m, our best small motorhome guide is sure to help. But that extra length has enabled it to include an almost full-height wardrobe and proper steps up to the bed.

Inside Rapido C03

Suddenly the rear end of this transverse bed motorhome has gone from being just somewhere you only use because you have to, either hurling yourself in or squeezing your toes on those ladder rungs, to somewhere you would actually want to retire to for the night. Underneath this bed you also get a spacious garage with enough room for two bikes.

Full review: Rapido C03

Chausson X650

Chausson X650
  • Price: £76,990
  • Berths: 4
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • MiRO: TBC
  • Payload: TBC
  • Length: 6.36m
  • Width: 2.1m

Reasons to buy:

  • Chausson’s regularly innovative designs often make perfect sense, and this does

Reasons to avoid:

  • Compact does mean exactly what it says

Chausson launched its X range a couple of seasons ago, designed as that elusive thing – a crossover between a van conversion and a low profile.

In Chausson’s vision that meant a relatively narrow width but with flat walls and above all a spacious lounge. Much of that was apparent in the first model, the 6m long 550, graced with drop-down bed over the lounge. But that vehicle has now been joined by its bigger brother, the 6.36m-long X650. Along with a side kitchen and a washroom with a swinging partition, it has a garage at the back.

It’s a rather ingenious garage too, because once you have arrived on site (do check out our best motorhome site guide if you’re in need of ideas for your next destination) and taken everything out (and this garage has room for two bikes), you can lower the garage roof to become the floor of the rear dressing room. No one need to feel a lack of privacy any more.

Adria Twin Max 680 SGX

Inside Adria Twin Max 680SGX
  • Price: From £87,990
  • Berths: 2
  • MTPLM: 4000kg (with MAN Lux Pack)
  • MiRO: 3100kg
  • Payload: 900kg
  • Length: 6.84m
  • Width: 2.04m

Reasons to buy:

  • If you like everything out of the way once you are up and on the move, this is for you

Reasons to avoid:

  • If you really only want to use your van for touring, you probably don’t need this arrangement

There’s a trend among many manufacturers these days to bring out van conversions that are designed for people who use their vehicle to pursue their hobby, whether that is mountain biking, surfing or even dog grooming.

The idea is that with ingenious raising beds, you can create a fairly cavernous space where you can indulge your passion whatever the weather. The only trouble is, quite often the beds that are part of this scheme are so compromised that they are poky and uncomfortable. And as they are usually the only beds in the whole show, that can be quite an issue.

Adria has solved this problem by producing a longitudinal bed in its 680SGX model that is 1.96×1.65m and is lowered and raised electronically. It folds out as it comes down, to give you all the sleeping space you need. By the time morning comes around, it goes up again and fits so snugly into the van’s ceiling you wouldn’t know it was there.

The MAN TGE-based vehicle also includes a front dinette, a side kitchen and a side washroom.

Full review: Adria Twin Max 680 SGX

The innovative motorhomes we shortlisted last year are:

Hymer Venture S

The Hymer Venture S
  • Price: £197,540
  • Berths: 4
  • MTPLM: 4100kg
  • Payload: 375kg
  • MIRO: 3725kg
  • Length: 6.45m

Reason to buy:

  • All those novelties in a self-sufficient package

Reason to avoid:

  • The price

Well, at the Practical Motorhome Awards 2023 it could hardly be anything other than the Hymer Venture S that was the winner in our Innovations category. Taking just four years to turn from a prototype to a commercially viable vehicle that looks surprisingly like the original vehicle is an achievement indeed.

It may currently be only a limited edition, it may cost £197,450, and there may currently be no clear indication about when a right hand drive version might become available. But if any of the innovations in this motorhome take off to the point where they will have become more commonplace, motorcaravanning will have evolved.

Inside the Hymer Venture S

We are not just talking about the inflatable roof, although you will notice the ease with which it can be raised, and the excellent soundproofing qualities it has. There is also the clever staircase that doubles up as a compartmentalised storage area, and of course that fold-down sun deck at the back.

Most of us can still only dream about such novelties. But the fact that they are already in a commercial vehicle just four years after even being mentioned is a big step forward.

Full review: Hymer Venture S

Knaus Tourer Van 500 MQ Vansation

The Knaus Tourer Van 500 MQ Vansation
  • Price: £72,230
  • Berths: 4
  • MTPLM: 2800kg
  • Payload: 140kg
  • MIRO: TBC
  • Length: 5.88m
  • Width: 2.16m

Reason to buy:

  • Flexible accommodation in a compact van

Reason to avoid:

  • It’s quite pricey

The Tourer Van (along with the X-Cursion range in Knaus’s budget Weinsberg range, which we are also including in this category) is the first product of Knaus’s tie-up with Volkswagen. So, still unusually for a coachbuilt motorhome, it is based on a VW Transporter 6.1.

But that isn’t the only unusual thing about this vehicle. The 500 MQ model is only 5.89m long, so you wouldn’t have thought it would have enough room for a washroom with a separate shower cubicle. But Knaus has got around that problem by designing a shower that can collapse to half height when not needed, leaving you enough room to spread the transverse double bed out fully. Then in the morning when you need a proper wash, you can just fold the bed back and reassemble the shower again.

Inside the Knaus Tourer Van 500 MQ Vansation

You can still access the loo whatever mode the shower is in.

Like the 500 LT, the other model in the Van Tourer range (and also available as a Weinsberg X-Cursion van), this model also comes with a slide-out bed over the cab in the front, providing four beds in a van that’s considerably less than 6m long. And in the UK it comes in Vansation spec, which means you get all sorts of extras including DSG auto transmission and a rear-view camera.

Weinsberg X-Cursion Van 500 LT

The Weinsberg X-Cursion Van 500 LT
  • Price: TBC
  • Berths: 4
  • MTPLM: 2800kg
  • Payload: 140kg
  • MIRO: TBC
  • Length: 5.88m
  • Width: 2.16m

Reason to buy:

  • Cosy front lounge, exterior access wardrobe

Reason to avoid:

  • Payload could be an issue

Motorhomes with doors towards the rear are becoming increasingly rare. So it is good to see Weinsberg (and Knaus, in its Tourer Van range) use this set-up to provide a van with comfortable front lounge with friendly facing settees.

Yet there is still have enough room to include a washroom with a sliding partition and, behind it, a sizeable wardrobe that has exterior access. There’s also a slide out bed over the cab too, providing you with two extra berths.

Chausson S514 Sport Line

The Chausson S514 Sport Line
  • Price: £56,990
  • Berths: 3
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • MIRO: 2600kg
  • Payload: 900kg
  • Length: 5.99m
  • Width: 2.10m

Reason to buy:

  • Great exterior colour, clever garaged and bed

Reason to avoid:

  • Limited kitchen

The S514 wowed many of our judges last year when it was launched, with its “butterfly bed” that folds up when you are not using it to allow you more dressing space on the inside and more room to store a bicycle in the garage space under the bed.

But we’re including the S514 again this year because of the striking exterior Chausson has now chosen to kit it out with, a tone known as grey matter which you won’t find on any other motorhome on the market. Unusually the whole motorhome is decked out in this colour, not just the side walls. Along with the black alloy wheels, it gives the vehicle just the kind of sporty look you probably want to pull off if you are a serious cyclist.

Full review: Chausson S514 Sport Line

Pilote V633M

The Pilote V633M
  • Price: £66,440
  • Berths: 4
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Payload: 530kg
  • MiRO: 2970kg
  • Length: 6.36m
  • Width: 2.05m

Reason to buy:

  • Good headroom, practical layout

Reason to avoid:

  • Height

Yes, this model’s unusual height (2.80m) will probably rule it out for many van conversion lovers, as you are unlikely to get under any car park barriers as a result of it. However, if that isn’t such an issue for you, this van makes the most of that extra space with loads of clever storage ideas, and extra windows which makes a huge difference to the bedroom at the back with a drop-down bed.

Then when you raise that bed up, the other USP of this van comes really into force, with plenty of space for you to mend bikes in the rain, or to groom your show dog, and once again plenty of storage spaces to put away the kinds of tools you need for those kinds of jobs. And yet all of that can be just as easily be stowed away again afterwards, so that it could even be used as a day-to-day vehicle.

Full review: Pilote V633M

Volkswagen Caddy California

The Volkswagen Caddy California
  • Price: £32,209
  • MTPLM: 2300kg
  • Payload: 595kg
  • MIRO: 1705kg
  • Length: 4.50m
  • Width: 1.85m

Reason to buy:

  • Great spec for the size, easy use as a day-to-day vehicle

Reason to avoid:

  • Probably only good for that.

You might wonder what can be fitted in a campervan that’s just four and half metres long and not even 2m wide. Well, prepared to be surprised by this, the third model Volkswagen has released as a California after the Transporter-based standard California and Crafter-based Grand California.

You get a double bed that, at 1.98m long, is longer than some you get in A-classes. It folds away very neatly when not in use, so any passengers you have travelling in the back might not ever realise that this is a campervan. There is a kitchen of sorts (with one hob and a small fridge) that slides out under the tailgate. But we were also really impressed with the little storage satchels that you can fit onto the rear windows to act as blinds.

Given the size and spec level, this vehicle will probably be only really good for day trips and overnighters, but you will be comfortably provided for still, in the ‘van that we included in our best campervan round-up.

The best of the rest – we also recommend the following innovative motorhomes…

WildAx Elara

  • Price: £69,675
  • Berths: 2
  • Belts: 2
  • Length: 5.93m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter

The advantages of a van conversion seem obvious on the outside – they are usually nimbler to drive, easier to park, don’t look so conspicuous, and are almost always cheaper to run than large coachbuilt vans with their extra wind resistance.

But those charms often fade away when people come to look inside. Why? Because a comfortable fixed bed in these van conversions is something of a rarity. A comfortable fixed double bed which both of you can walk around is even more unusual.

So step forward the WildAx Elara, which does indeed have just such a bed in its rear. And at 2m long, said bed is actually longer than a good many you would find in an A-class motorhome.

If you think that means this van will be incredibly cramped elsewhere, you are wrong. There is still space for a washroom, a small kitchen and a front lounge complete with an L-shaped settee and a pedestal table.

And because the back opens as barn doors, there is easy access to the huge amount of space under the bed you can still use for storage.

The icing on the cake is the  base vehicle – a Mercedes Sprinter.

BUY IF… You’ve always wanted to go for a van conversion – but didn’t think you could sacrifice comfort

PROs
The bed, obviously, but also being based on a Mercedes

CONs
That base vehicle does make the price a little high

Read our 2019 WildAx Elara review

Dreamer Living Van

  • Price: £53,390
  • Berths: 4
  • Belts: 5
  • Length: 6.36m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle Fiat Ducato

The Living Van, a new model in Rapido’s 2020 linep-up, was created with input from the French company’s UK dealers, and it shows. It’s really a masterclass in how to include a lot of comfort into a relatively small space – in this case an internal length of just 6.36m.

Based on Fiat’s heavy chassis, which makes getting in a lot easier, the Living Van includes a large rear lounge with a back-board cushion that can be placed across the barn doors at the back to create more sociable U-shaped seating. But that isn’t the only lounge in here: there’s a front dinette too. Nor does it make up the only bed – there’s a slightly bigger bed that drops down over the front dinette.

The washroom is a clever design too. It includes a separate shower cubicle, but, to save space, this houses the wardrobe when you are not needing to use the shower. At the press of a button, this wardrobe rotates out to allow all the showering space you need.

No wonder the Living Van won the best rear lounge category in this year’s Motorhome of the Year awards.

BUY IF… You want a van conversion which you can invite guests into

PROS
Good size beds, roomy lounge

CONS
Only a double burner in the kitchen

Read our Dream Living Van review

Rapido M96

  • Price: £87,800
  • Berths: 4
  • Belts: 4
  • Length: 7.54m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter

If you had spent close to £90,000 on a well-insulated A-class motorhome with an Al-Ko chassis (and therefore a level floor) like this one, you would probably want to use it as much as possible, all year-round, wouldn’t you? Well, yes you would, but hardened motorcaravanners will tell you that one of the problems with doing that is keeping the motorhome warm on those chilly winter evenings. And one of the most problematic areas to keep warm is the area immediately below the table. Because it is cut off from much of the rest of the air circulating in the vehicle, this area can become a cold spot where icy knees are not unknown.

The M96, one of two new Mercedes-based models from Rapido for 2020, gets around this problem by having warm air actually ducted under up through the pedestal table leg. This makes the front lounge, with its parallel seating, a really enjoyable place to spend any evening.

Other inventive touches include having concave overhead lockers to enhance the sense of space, and having wardrobes around the rear island bed that curve outwards to leave more room for the bed itself.

BUY IF… You want to make sure your winter tour is cosy

PROS
Comfy lounge, large bed

CONS
Only a single drainage hole in the shower

Read our Rapido M96 review

Chausson 778

  • Price: £53,950 (Ford) £54,580 (Fiat)
  • Berths: 4
  • Belts: 4
  • Length: 7.49m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Ford Transit/Fiat Ducato

French manufacturer Chausson has a well-earned reputation for coming up with innovative designs for motorhomes, and this season has proved no exception.

Step into the 778 and turn to the back, and you will come across the largest washroom and dressing room you have probably ever seen in a motorhome – complete with his and hers basins and a huge mirror that wouldn’t look out of place backstage in the West End.

If you are then wondering where the bed is in this arrangement is, that is simple. Once you have finished your ablutions it drops down over the basin from above. It’s big too.

Or course, innovative doesn’t always mean popular. Not all of Chausson’s most innovative models have stood the test of time – the Suite with an island kitchen being a case in point. And while we have loved this motorhome from the moment it was launched, observing how others have reacted to it has made us think this might end up being a Marmite van. Because not everyone likes the idea of sleeping in the washroom. Still, the only way to find out if you yourself do is to check this motorhome out yourself.

BUY IF… You want your motorhome to have a washroom that is possibly better than the one you have at home.

PROS
Huge washroom, comfy bed

CONS
That bed is in the washroom

Read our Chausson 778 review

Chausson 711 Travel Line

  • Price: £56,750
  • Berths: 4
  • Belts: 4
  • Length: 7.46m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato

Take your family on long motorhome journeys on the continent and you may well find that two issues keep coming to the fore with rather monotonous regularity: the habitation door doesn’t open on the right side for the UK, so you have to dodge the traffic when you step out; and the bench seats are incredibly uncomfortable when you have been sitting on them all the way from Calais.

The 711 Travel Line gets around this issue in two very clever ways. It has a habitation door on both sides, so you are always safe getting out of the vehicle whatever country you are in. And instead of being bench seats, the two travel seats in the rear are proper car seats just like you get in the cab: you can sit in them for hours.

There’s a comfortable lounge with a large round table right at the back for when you arrive on site. And neither this lounge nor the travel seats further front play any part in making up the beds. They just drop down from the ceiling.

BUY IF… You want to keep the kids happy and comfy on a long journey

PROS
Doors on both sides – everyone is comfortable

CONS
Inside storage isn’t hugely generous

Rear our 2018 Chausson 711 Travel Line review

Elddis Autoquest CV60

  • Price: £42,099
  • Berths: 2
  • Belts: 2
  • Length: 5.99m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Peugeot Boxer

If you have a fixed bed in the rear of a van conversion, almost all the time it is either two single beds or a transverse double. Very occasionally it is a French bed. But what you find in Elddis’ Autoquest CV60, new for 2020, is entirely new. There is a French bed of sorts, but you can roll it back to make a day bed, from which you are in a perfect position to watch the world outside through the large window or watch TV.

Nor is this area the only lounge. A pedestal table fits up front next to the swivelled cabh seats and is close to the kitchen, so it makes the perfect spot for the two of you to have dinner.

With a good size central washroom too, we were happy to make this van our Motorhome of the Year for 2020.

BUY IF… You want a little bit more indulgence in your van conversion.

PROS
Clever bed that also becomes daybed

CONS
Not really any garage space

Read our Elddis Autoquest CV60 review

Hembil Drift

  • Price: £47,950
  • Berths: 4
  • Belts: 4
  • Length: 4.89m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: VW T6

Innovation and flexibility should go hand in hand. They certainly do in the Hembil Drift, the first in a new brand launched by Kent-based CMC Reimo.

It includes a sliding door on either side of the van, for convenience, and for that extra bit of summer style the side kitchen can rotate out 90 degrees so that it almost becomes an outdoor kitchen. As the van also comes with two awning rails, you could potentially put a cover up here as well as on the other side and have a really grand space.

The optional roof bed is roomy and comes with handy USB sockets, so whoever sleeps up here should not feel disconnected.

BUY IF… Camper vans for you are all about getting outside

PROS
Adaptable kitchen

CONS
In outdoors mode it may be a little high for some.

Read our Hembil Drift review

Auto-Sleepers Symbol Plus

  • Price: £57,700
  • Berths: 2
  • Belts: 3
  • Length: 5.99m
  • MTPLM: 3300kg
  • Base vehicle: Peugeot Boxer

Auto-Sleepers’ Symbol Plus takes the best parts of two other Auto-Sleepers vans – the Symbol and the now discontinued Stanway – and makes them into a really compelling proposition. You have the spacious L-shaped kitchen of the Stanway at the rear, and the Symbol’s front section with its oh so pleasant sideways facing sette that really lets you look out and admire the view.

There is even a partition of sorts between the two areas which means you can extend the corner washroom out to be a little dressing area as well.

And for a can conversion, there is plenty of storage.

BUY IF… you want a bit of everything in a van conversion

PROS
Useful kitchen

CONS
Corner washroom is narrow

Read our 2019 Auto-Sleeper Symbol Plus review

VW Grand California 600

  • Price: £68,899
  • Berths: 2-4
  • Belts: 4
  • Length: 6.0m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: VW Crafter

Of the two new California models based on the VW Crafter rather than the Transporter, the shorter one – the 600 – is possibly the more innovative. The 680, while including a very sleek interior not unlike an aircraft cabin, just has a standard pair of fixed single beds in the rear. But the 600 includes a bulbous roof – admittedly not the most attractive of features. As a cost option, this can include a roof bed that slides out over the front dinette and should be large enough for teenagers and smaller adults. As this is encased within a hard GRP shell it should mean you can take the camper van touring with the kids all year round. The large window at the front is a bit of a watering down of VW’s original concept van, which had a much larger glass roof. But it is still large enough to mean your kids can go to bed and stargaze.

Downstairs, meanwhile, the standard bed is a transverse double in the back.

You still get VW’s sophisticated interior design, with highly engineered (some might say over-engineered) overhead lockers and a very sleek side kitchen.Finally, iif you go for the 600 model, MTPLM is still 3500kg, so anyone can drive it. The 3850kg 680 is only for those with a C1 licence.

BUY IF… You like to rely on trusted design and engineering, and want to use your camper van all year around.

PROS
Sleek design, and hard shell roof bed

CONS
Pricey

Read our 2019 VW Grand California 600 review

Sun Living S70 SP

  • Price: £52,865
  • Berths: 5
  • Belts: 5
  • Length: 6.99m
  • MTPLM: 3500kg
  • Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato

The whole Sun Living range, effectively Adria’s budget brand, is only a couple of seasons old. But it immediately gained attention when it was launched, thanks to its innovative interior design that really emphasises a sense of space.

This is mainly partly achieved by having loads of headroom, a level floor, and by removing a lot of clutter, such as overhead locker door handles. But the main bonus is having a washroom with a tambour door that can be rolled right back when the washroom is not in use, leaving a vast and open area that the cook, for example, can move about in.

This is apparent even in a model like the S70SP, which has a large transverse bed at the back. And there is  an extra bit of cleverness with this transverse bed because it has a hatch beneath it that gives you easy access to the garage under the bed. No more having to dash outside and open the garage door last thing at that night because you forgot you packed the duvets in there.

BUY IF… You can live with modern design it if means more space

PROS
Loads of space and headroom

CONS
Holes that are used instead of locker handles can be tricky

Read our 2018 Sun Living S70 SP review


For more motorhome reviews check out our Buying guides or take a look at our guide to the best motorhomes on the market.

Alternatively, why not consider a caravan? Check out the options at our sister site Caravan buying guide