Our Five-Step Guide to Organising Your First Family Campervan Trip

Something about a campervan gets children excited before you’ve even left the driveway. In essence, it’s a den on wheels. Pull-out beds, a tiny kitchen, board games spilling out of cupboards… and the promise of waking up somewhere new with home comforts intact feels like magic. Before the fun starts, there are a few boring tasks us grownups need to arrange. The good news is that the legal and practical side is simple to organise if you have a checklist and place.  Here’s a five-step guide for making sure your campervan is ready to hit the road.

1. Check your licence covers the van

If you’re doing the driving, you’ll need the right licence for your campervan. A standard category B licence issued after 1 January 1997 lets you drive a van with a maximum authorised mass (MAM) of up to 3,500kg. MAM means the heaviest your van can legally weigh once loaded. Most campervans fall within this limit, and electric or alternative fuel models get a little extra allowance.

Larger A-Class or C-Class motorhomes are a different story. Many, like those in the Carthago range, have heavier fixtures and a double axle, which can tip them over 3,500kg and into C1 territory (up to 7,500kg). If you passed your test before 1997, your licence already includes C1. If you passed later, you’ll need to add it by passing a separate C1 test before you get behind the wheel.

2. Sort the right campervan insurance

Standard car or van insurance won’t cover a mobile living space, so you’ll need third-party specialist cover to insure your camper. When you compare specialist campervan insurance for family trips, check whether contents and breakdown cover come as standard or cost extra. You’ll need to declare every modification you’ve made to the vehicle, as an undeclared change gives an insurer ground to turn down a claim.

3. Make sure the van is road safe

Campervans often sit on driveways for months between trips, and a van packed with bikes, bedding and a week’s worth of food handles very differently from an empty one. Before you set off, check the van’s MOT history as past advisories flag anything that deserves a second look. A habitation check also helps identify hazards like damp build-up and ensure the gas and electrics are in good nick. Once that’s done, a quick run through the checklist below should let you know whether the van is ready to carry the whole family safely.

• Tyres: Pressures should match the figures in the van’s handbook, and the law requires at least 1.6mm of tread across the central three-quarters of each tyre.
• Fluids: Fill engine oil, coolant, screen wash, and brake fluid before a long drive.
• Brakes: Pads should show at least 3mm of material, and the pedal should feel firm rather than spongy.
• Lights: Every light needs to work, including the indicators and brake lights, and a helper standing behind the van makes this a two-minute job.
• Batteries: Both the engine battery and the leisure battery (the one that powers the living area) should be fully charged and securely fixed.
• Weight distribution: Heavy items travel best low down and between the axles, not high up in cupboards or right at the back.
• Water tanks: Driving with empty or low tanks stops water sloshing about and reduces sagging at the rear.
• Gross weight: Going over the van’s MAM is illegal. The extra load lengthens braking distances and makes the van less stable on bends.
• Carbon monoxide and fire: The living area needs a working carbon monoxide alarm and smoke alarm, with a fire extinguisher within easy reach.
• Emergency kit: A first aid kit and warning triangle take up very little room, and hi-vis vests for everyone help keep the family visible if you break down.
• Gas safety: Most owners turn the gas off at the bottle before driving, unless the system has a crash sensor designed for use on the move.

4. Plan safe seating for the children

Government guidelines on passenger travel confirm that it isn’t illegal to sit in a campervan’s living area on the move, but it does carry real risk, particularly for younger children. Ideally, everyone should travel in a forward-facing or rear-facing seat with a proper seatbelt. By law, children also need a suitable child restraint until they turn 12 or reach 135cm tall, whichever comes first, and you can’t fit one to a side-facing seat. That means you’ll need the right seating in place before you set off.

5. Choose where you’ll park up each night

This is where plenty of first timers get caught out. Wild camping in a vehicle isn’t legal in England and Wales without the landowner’s permission, and Scotland’s well-known access rights cover people on foot rather than motorised vehicles. Even the Supreme Court’s 2025 Dartmoor ruling, which confirmed the public’s right to wild camp on the Dartmoor Commons, applies to walkers with tents, not vans parked up by the road.

For a first family trip, a campsite with electric hook-up (a cable that plugs your van into mains power) makes life much easier, as you can charge devices and keep the fridge cold without draining the leisure battery. Smaller certificated sites, often a farmer’s field with space for five vans, offer a quieter and usually cheaper alternative. Book your first couple of nights in advance, particularly during school holidays, so you’re not hunting for a pitch at 9 pm with tired children in the back.