It’s that time of the year again – we’re gearing up for our annual Motorhome of the Year Awards. So if you’re wondering what have been the best motorhomes for sale in 2014, as well as the best accessories and kit, keep an eye out for the results – they’re coming soon.

Practical Motorhome’s Motorhome of the Year Awards 2014, in association with Whale, caters for motorhomes of all shapes, sizes, designs and budgets. From cute and cosy campervans to top of the range, luxury A-classes, they are all included.

Each new or substantially revised ’van that was sold in the UK for the 2014 season was eligible for our Motorhome of the Year Awards and we’ve been travelling across the UK and Europe, putting them through their paces since late last year. Feedback from members of Practical Motorhome’s expert test team who have stepped inside every vehicle that’s made this year’s shortlist have helped us whittle the contenders down to the ones listed below – we think this is perhaps the most exciting shortlist we have ever produced.

The variety of motorhomes for sale in the UK is so wide that it’s easy to differentiate, thus we have split the market into 11 parts, plus one for accessories. Once we had all our data, we prepared a longlist and reduced it to shortlists of three in each class.

In the best for innovation category we have the Auto-Trail V-Line 600, the Hillside Buxton and the Moto-Trek Euro-Treka I QB , while fighting for supremacy in the best rising-roof camper category are Bilbo’s Space, the Wellhouse Terrier and the WildAx Cutie 2. Adria’s Twin 640 SPX, the Shire Phoenix 2XL Studio and the Vantage Ora go head-to-head for the best high-top camper conversion prize. 

Our shortlist for the best budget buy under £40,000 category features the Tribute T-720, the Elddis Autoquest 155  and the Chausson Best of 10. Over in the best compact motorhome class, we have the Adria Compact SPX, the Bailey Approach Compact 540 and the Marquis Majestic 125; another Adria, the Coral Plus 690 SC, as well as the Bessacarr 562 and the Hymer Exsis-t 588 are the three ‘vans in the running for the best coachbuilt for two award.

Vying for the best coachbuilt for four accolade in Practical Motorhome’s 2014 awards we have the Chausson Welcome 717 (read our full review in the October 2014 issue, in shops now), the Carado T138 and the Swift Esprit 484. If you’re touring with the kids, you’ll be interested to see who’s in the running to be crowned our best family motorhome – we can now reveal it is between the Bailey Approach Autograph 765, the Roller Team Zefiro 690 G and Swift’s Escape 686.

Now we move onto the luxury motorhomes. The Auto-Sleeper Kingham will compete against the Lunar Landstar RL and the Murvi Morocco XL in a new category: best luxury panel van conversion. The three shortlisted ‘vans for the best luxury motorhome up to 3500kg prize are the Hymer Exsis-i 578, the IH N-Class 630 SL and the Niesmann + Bischoff Arto 66 F, and doing battle in the best luxury motorhome over 3500kg category are the Hymer B SL-798, the RS Motorhomes Endeavour C230G and the Winnebago View.

But that’s not all. The 2014 Motorhome of the Year Awards also features the hotly contested accessory of the year prize. In our shortlist this year are the super handy Leatherman Wingman multi-tool, the Sealey CPV144 vacuum cleaner, Outwell’s Spring Hills camping chair, the SwissRoomBox RoomBox freeTech camping module and two products from Waeco, the Perfect Kitchen 12V kettle and the Cool-Ice passive coolbox.

You can read our full, 12-page feature about our 2014 Motorhome of the Year Awards, as well as comprehensive details of all the contenders, in the October 2014 edition of Practical Motorhome magazine. And then all we have to do is find a winner…

We will choose a winner in each category, plus one unbeatable accessory and, of course, we will announce the best of the best: the ultimate, overall Motorhome of the Year. You can read all about this in our November 2014 magazine, which goes on sale on 26 September.

So, what do you think of the contenders? If it was your choice, which ‘vans would be the winners and which accessory would be your number one? Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ using the hashtag #MOTY2014 – or get chatting on our forum! We want to know what you think and look forward to hearing from you.