Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2022 - Our Highlights
Having been two years since the last NEC caravan show, February 2022 saw its long-awaited (and highly anticipated) return!
With the recent boom in staycations and the country’s renewed love for leisure vehicles, it’s no surprise that the 2022 Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show was a sell-out event. Under one roof, across 5 halls, gathered hundreds of exhibitors ready to share their products and latest innovations - Caravans, tents, motorhomes, campervans, and more accessories than you can shake an awning peg at! To say that we were looking forward to attending would be an understatement.
Here are just a few of our highlights…
Coachbuilt
Of course, being the UK’s leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible caravans, motorhomes and campervans, our first port of call was the Coachbuilt stand. They’ve always got something really impressive on display to ogle, but we were thrilled to find out that they had not one, but 2 vehicles this time - a caravan and a motorhome!
The motorhome was a Swift Edge that had been bespoke adapted for a couple, one of whom was a wheelchair user. To gain entry, there was an under-floor hydraulic lift and an optional fold-out step, then inside, the first thing we noticed was the up-front wheelchair passenger position. This is something that Stephen and I have in our VW Transporter, and find invaluable! There’s nothing better than being able to sit next to each other on long journeys, and it makes it much easier to tell him when he takes a wrong turn!
Towards the rear, there was a single profiling bed with a clever platform that folded out to make it into a double, and next to this was the wet room. This had been completely bespoke designed with a fold-out shower table, and a ceiling-track hoist with a turntable meant that the user could easily transfer from the wet room to the bed, wheelchair or dinette at the front of the motorhome.
We loved the motorhome, but it was the caravan that stood out the most because we could see its adaptions and layout really working for us! At the front, what was once a parallel lounge had been converted into a spacious L-shape, and I had another roomy turning circle in the bedroom. This was because they had swapped the factory-fitted transverse island bed with a length-ways single bed that extended out into a double when needed, and created a huge amount of floorspace when stowed. We both got a little too comfortable in it, and it made us even more excited to upgrade - whenever that time may come!
The Caravan and Motorhome Club
Coachbuilt make the vehicles that we adventure in, but it’s organisations like the Caravan and Motorhome Club that help us reach our destination. They have a fantastic network of campsites across the UK, but it’s their foreign travel service that we were particularly keen to find out more about during the show. We’re planning a mini tour of France later this year (which I’m beyond excited about!), and being able to book everything through them - from crossings and campsites to motor and personal travel insurance - makes the whole process a lot easier. We got chatting with James from the insurance department, and it was really reassuring to learn that they adapt their policies to meet the customers needs. For example, if you were unlucky enough to be involved in an accident abroad, they would arrange suitable accommodation and accessible transport for you. Obviously we hope we never need their assistance, but it’s great to know that they’re there if we do!
Alan Rogers
Another great organisation is Alan Rogers. Their expert campsite assessors compile some of the most highly-rated sites throughout Europe into clear and easy to navigate guides. One thing we love about them is that they are paving the way and making a special effort to consider accessibility for guests with disabilities on each of the sites they recommend. Within their guides they include accessibility information relating to each campsite, as well as a general overview of the accessibility of each country, which can be really useful in the initial planning stages of a trip.
I wrote a small piece for their free Accessible Travel In Europe e-guide, and it was lovely of them to mention me in the 54th edition of their Europe Guide book too. On their stand this year they were also selling The Caravan Handbook, which was written by our friend and fellow journalist, Sammy Faircloth. It covers everything you need to know about owning and using a caravan, and we’d highly recommend getting your hands on a copy if you’re new to caravanning!
Caravans
We couldn’t attend a caravan show without ogling some of the latest models, and two that stood out the most to us were the Buccaneer Barracuda and (unsurprisingly) the new Bailey Unicorn. The Buccaneer oozes luxury inside and out, and although the interior wood is a little dark for our taste, the striking exterior really sets it apart from the more common “white box”. We love the rounded side profile, the silver/purple sides, and Stephen is particularly enamoured by its rear. It’s not something I pay much attention to myself, but apparently it’s often overlooked by British caravan designers.
On the other hand, I’m not overly fussed about the exterior of the new Bailey Unicorn, but the interior design is right up our street! The light oak furniture and huge front window draw in the light and bounce it around the caravan, and combined with the upholstery, sleek splashback and cosy curtains, it gives a real feeling of homeliness while keeping it contemporary. If you’ve seen our caravan then you will know that we have the series 1 Bailey Unicorn, so it was really interesting to see the differences now it is in its fifth series.
Campervans
One thing you might not know about us, is that we love campervans! They’re unfortunately a bit too small for us to use as our primary leisure vehicle, but if money was no object we would’ve at least added a pop-top and a kitchenette to our VW Transporter long ago. Our ideal setup would be to have a camper as a day vehicle and tow car (and something we could spend the odd night in when circumstances permitted), and a caravan for longer trips. Of course this is just a dream, but we still can’t help ourselves taking a peek at them during the show - and there were plenty to look at! We found ourselves on the Grantham’s stand, where they had a variety of campervans, all with unique interiors. I loved them all, but I think the one with the light wooden floor and contrasting wine-coloured cupboards was my favourite. It always fascinates us how cleverly they squeeze everything into such a small space!
The Biggest Highlight Of All
It was great to see all of the shiny new vehicles, but the overall highlight for us has to be catching up with old friends and meeting lots of new faces. Having been on Channel 5 during the week, we were blown away by the number of people who recognised us at the show, and we want to say a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to come and say such kind words to us. It was amazing to meet so many lovely people!