If you prefer something compact over a coachbuilt, you’ll probably be more excited by campervans. They offer flexibility and ease of travel, and there’s a huge variety of them on offer. If you’re looking for value, there are some great options that are equipped with everything you need for an enjoyable tour, as our best budget campervan in the UK guide proves.
In our 2024 Practical Motorhome Awards 2024, our judges have used their decades of industry experience to select the ‘van that they consider to be their pick of the bunch for the upcoming season.
This year, it was a VW that we picked out as best budget campervan in the UK on the market – the new Holywell from campervan converter Bodans, to be exact. The swish ‘van is packed with enticing features, including a storm-proof elevating roof and classic interior. In this guide, you can see what we made of it, as well as our other shortlisted contenders.
What are the best budget campervans in the UK?
Bodans Holywell
Dethleffs Globetrail 540DR Classic
Vantage Fuze
The best budget campervan is:
Bodans Holywell
- Price: £52,995
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: 3200kg
- MIRO: TBC
- Length: 4.91m
- Width: TBC
Reason to buy:
- The price is still very keen for a campervan that no one else has ever used
Reason to avoid:
- It is possibly a bit more basic than you could be used to
Our winner of the best budget campervan category VW T6.1-based campervan was deliberately designed with limited wallets in mind. When it made its first appearance at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show at the NEC this February, it actually had an OTR price just under £50,000 at £49,995 – something we hadn’t seen for many seasons.
This had been achieved by, among other things, having a rising roof that is built in the UK and dispensing with the oven. (If you have ever actually tried using an oven in a campervan, you might not think that is wholly a bad thing.)
It is still a perfectly serviceable van, too, with a classic “VW style” campervan layout with a side kitchen including a 50-litre fridge and a two seater RIB bench that turns into a bed. (A third seat is an option.)
As standard you also get blackout curtains on the rear window, and a mains and USB sockets – something that can’t always be guaranteed in other conversions and the type of thing we look for in the best campervans.
Unfortunately price increases from both VW and other suppliers has meant that since then the OTR price has had to be raised to where it starts at £52,995. But we are told a special show deal might still be on the cards: Shrewsbury-based Bodans has made regular appearances at NEC shows for some time now.
On our shortlist for the best budget campervan are:
If you’re shopping for a budget campervan in the UK, there are still other options available – these are our top picks for the 2024 season.
Dethleffs Globetrail 540DR Classic
- Price: from £53,800
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: 3500kg
- MIRO: TBC
- Payload: TBC
- Length: 5.41m
- Width: TBC
Reason to buy:
- German thoroughness make this a safe bet
Reason to avoid:
- Go easy on the extras or this may no longer be budget
If you go for this new 5.41m van conversion from Dethleffs in Classic spec, as opposed to Advantage, you might have to accept a compromise on things like not having flush-fitting windows or alloy wheels, but you could still get a perfectly serviceable quality build German motorhome for significantly less than £60,000. (You might need to watch how much you add as optional extras however: Dethleffs, like many German manufacturers, tends to have a long list of cost options and if you tick too many that price could start rocketing up.)
The Globetrail is actually Dethleffs’ first ever van conversion range to be sold in the UK, and it includes some fairly innovative designs. This model, for example, manages to stick to a 5.41m length yet still have a shower cubicle made up from tambour doors.
Vantage Fuze
- Price: £59,950
- Berths: 4
- MTPLM: 3190kg
- MIRO: 2602kg
- Payload: 588kg
- Length: 4.97m
- Width: 2.08m
Reason to buy:
- A very comfy conversion that won’t break you
Reason to avoid:
- Cold water only
The Fuze is the cheaper of two new Ford Transit Custom-based brought out by Leeds-based Vantage Motorhomes, a company that hitherto specialised in mainly two-berth Fiat Ducato-based high tops. It is cheaper than its cousin the Luna, which we shortlisted for our best small campervan category, primarily through lower space.
There is no oven, for example – although that means you get more dry food and kitchenware storage space – and only cold water. But you still get a well designed conversion with three belted seats in the back. There is also a 100W solar panel on the roof, a two-burner hob, and enough USB ports to satisfy most digital requirements.
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