No special licence
You won’t need a special licence to drive most touring outfits. Your driving licence should allow you to drive motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes and to tow most caravans.
Your current licence
All drivers who passed a car test before the first of January 1997 retain their existing entitlement to tow trailers until their licence expires. This means they are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination of up to 8.25 tonnes.
So, unless you are considering a huge and expensive trailer or motorhome, your current car licence should be sufficient to get you started.
Get a towbar, mirrors, and go
There isn’t a vast amount of equipment required to get touring. If you have chosen a caravan, then you will, of course, need to fit a towbar and extra overtaking mirrors onto the towcar.
What else?
Other than that there’s very little else that is essential. Something to carry water in, preferably wheeled like an Aquaroll. An awning for extra space on a sunny day.
Other things can be added, as time goes by, when you get more into touring. See the What Else Do I Need page for more helpful tips and advice.
All-in-one
With a motorhome it’s even easier. Nearly everything is built in – including the tow vehicle!
If you have further questions about caravanning or motor caravanning why not download The Caravan Club’s helpful leaflets ‘Your top twenty caravan questions answered’ and ‘Your top twenty motor caravan questions answered’.
Equipment - how much?
Some items are not automatically supplied with a caravan - gas bottles, a leisure battery and water carriers, for example. If you buy a used model you might find some of these items 'thrown in'. If you buy new, they make good haggling points. Here are some typical prices for accessories you will or might need.
| Electric caravan mover | £750 upwards |
| Gas cylinder | £25 to £30* |
| Gas refill | £13 to £19** |
| Hitchlock | £20 upwards |
| Leisure battery | £50 to £80 |
| Noseweight gauge | £11 |
| Towing mirrors | £6 to £25 |
| Water carrier | £35 |
| Wheel chocks | £5 upwards |
| Wheelclamp | £55 to £85 |
*One-off initial hire charge
**Depends on cylinder size
