Towing is not the scary part
Short, honest guides for people renting a caravan for the first time. What the law says, what to check before you drive, how to reverse the thing, and how to pack up without leaving anything behind.
Renter guides, in trip order
Start at the top if you have never towed. Skip to what you need if you have.
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What can I tow? Licence codes, weights and the numbers that matter
Your licence code comes down to one number, the caravan's GVM, not the two vehicles added together. After that, four numbers on two licence discs and one towbar plate decide whether the combination is legal. Here is where to find them and what they mean, before you book.
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Collecting your caravan: the handover, hitching up and the first 20 km
A good trip starts on the owner's driveway. Give the handover an hour, photograph everything, hitch up with a checklist in your hand, and stop after 20 km to touch the wheel nuts and hubs. This is the whole afternoon, in the order it happens.
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Towing a caravan for the first time
The first ten minutes behind a caravan feel strange. After that, towing comes down to one habit and one skill. The habit is leaving far more room than you think you need. The skill is knowing what to do when the caravan starts to sway. Here is what changes on the road, and how to handle it.
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How to reverse a caravan (without an audience)
Put one hand at the bottom of the steering wheel and move it the way you want the back of the caravan to go. Creep, correct early with small inputs, and pull forward the moment it stops making sense. That is the whole method. The rest of this page is practice.
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Arriving at the campsite and setting up
You got it here. Now it has to turn into a home for the week. There is an order to this, stand, chocks, level, steadies, then power, gas and water. Stick to it and the fridge gets cold and nothing trips at midnight.
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Living in a caravan for a weekend: power, gas, water and weather
Most of a caravan weekend looks after itself. What catches first-timers is the power point, the battery, the gas and the weather. This is how each one works in a rented caravan, and the small habits that keep you out of trouble.
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Packing up and returning the caravan
Packing up is setting up in reverse, with one rule on top: nothing goes home wet. Work through the caravan in the same order every time, do the hitch check exactly the way you did it on collection day, and hand it back clean, with photos. Do that and the deposit sorts itself out.
For owners
Caravan maintenance checklist for owners who rent out
A rental caravan works harder than the family one, and the renter who collects it on Friday cannot tell a tired bearing from a good one. This is the checklist for the gap between bookings. The walk-around before every handover, the hour you give it every few rentals, the once-a-year workshop visit, and the papers that stay on board.
Why we wrote these
By 16 September 2026, 6 388 trips had been completed through Kampi. Behind them stand 4 797 renters, and 3 775 of those have rented exactly once. So most of the people collecting a caravan on a Friday afternoon are doing it for the first time, and the questions they ask us are the same ones every week. What may I tow on my licence? How do I know the hitch is locked? What do I do if it sways? How do I get the thing onto the stand?
These guides are our answers, written down once, properly. Where the law says something, we quote the regulation so you can read it yourself. Where it is only advice, we say so. Every number has a source at the foot of the page.
Ready to try it for real?
Rent a caravan from a real owner near you. Handover, insurance and the deposit are all handled on Kampi.
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