Caravan Sat Nav Navigation
“What Caravan Sat Nav do you use?”
Do you know, the number one question no one has asked me this month? You guessed it “What caravan sat nav do you use?”
Honestly, it’s 100% true, no one has asked me what Caravan Sat Nav I use, why would they? In the same way no one has asked me what tooth paste, or deodorant I use. I mean anyone can Google “Caravan Sat Nav” can’t they? Having said that, I’m going to tell you anyway. Is a Sat Nav really included in my category of caravan accessories? Well, it’s not really for the caravan I guess, but I think it can still be considered an accessory for the caravan... 🙂
Getting Lost
No one likes getting lost. Why not start the article with stating the obvious! But it’s true, no one likes to get lost. If you’re with someone else it can cause arguments, if you’re on your own you’ll beat yourself up for getting lost. But we all know getting lost is easy, it’s as easy as, well, getting lost.
Losing your way in a car is one thing, you can always do a U turn or turn around. Whilst towing a Caravan, or even in a Motorhome, this is normally something you try to avoid where ever possible. Every caravanner, at some point, has the nightmare where they are driving down a really narrow road and come to a dead end – don’t they? Maybe it’s just me. In any case, you don’t want to get into a situation where the road is too narrow. Maps might not always help in these instances.
How To Prevent Getting Lost?
You can get a map, if you can read one and hold it up the right way that’s fine, although a little tricky if alone. You can get a co pilot, someone sitting besides you who can read a map and say directions, which is handy if you need someone to blame. You can even use road signs if you have an idea where you’re going in the first place. Lastly, you can get a Sat Nav, either on your phone, built into your car or a separate Sat Nav unit.
I have a Sat Nav in the car, I use it every so often, mainly I personally use my mobile phone. One in particular I use is Waze and it’s great, it’s community run so you inform other drivers of accidents, slow traffic, police sitings and other road based hazards. It works really well, I like it so much I bought the company. That’s a joke, and people of a certain age will get it. Actually I like it so much I’m a beta tester, which means I get new versions early to test and report any bugs to Waze
However good Waze, it will get you to your destination via the quickest route, even if it means going through people’s gardens. OK, I exaggerate, BUT it will take you down any road that a car can legally travel. Which is great, I’ve lost count the amount of housing estates I’ve been through in order to miss traffic, you learn to just have faith and follow the directions. I don’t, however, want to do this with my caravan on the back!
What Do I Use When Towing?
I use a mix of two apps on my phone.
ViaMichelin
We plan our routes around France via the ViaMichelin website this gives us a good idea of where we need to go. We like to avoid altitude driving, we had a bad experience driving over the Central Massif driving at over 1000m caused us nausea, you might be ok, but we avoid it.
ViaMichelin app and website are very useful and we have used the app once on the motorways, but, as with Waze it doesn’t allow for the fact that you’re towing a caravan, at least not whilst driving. It will estimate times and will alter these if you say you’re towing a caravan, at least on the website anyway.
CoPilot Caravan Navigation
So, the name tells you everything you need to know right? I have a caravan and I want to navigate – result! So, what makes this different from an ordinary Sat Nav systems? Well, the app lets you enter the details of your caravan (or motorhome) such as length, width and height. The idea being that the software will take this into account when planning the route on your behalf.
It’s very easy to use, although as always there’s room for improvement. The graphics could be better, but that’s really a person thing with me, it just looks a bit dated.
Entering Caravan / MotorHome Details
Having just said it’s easy to use, entering caravan / motorhome dimensions isn’t all that obvious. So here’s how to do it.
This is the first screen you get when starting the app. Select New Destination (I know, strange, you select this to set it up)
Next you select the “routing” icon at the bottom (second from left)
Then select Vehicle Routing Profiles
Then top right select “New”
After this select Car, Caravan, (Motorhome) etc from the screen above.
Then from the screen below select “Caravan Dimensions” this is also used for Motorhomes
Then enter your details :
Hit the back button and save, you can give it a name, ours is Cartagena, as rather unoriginally this is the model of our caravan!
If You Don’t Use A Mobile Phone?
There are plenty of options for Caravan Sat Navs on Amazon, if you want a dedicated unit, or don’t use a mobile phone.
- Specific routing for camper, caravan and car, steer clear of low bridges and narrow streets on your route with TomTom GO Camper Max sat nav, now possible to save different vehicle profiles for each vehicle you drive
- POIs tailored to campers and caravans, find your ideal campsite along your route with detailed POIs from our partners ACSI, ADAC, ANWB and more preloaded on your TomTom GO Camper Max sat nav
- Trusted TomTom Traffic and speed camera alerts, stay relaxed and in control with live traffic alerts, reliable arrival times and 1-year speed cam alerts subscription
- Large 7”screen and powerful speaker, enjoy a clear route guidance and vivid voice instructions for a safer drive
- Avoid low-emission zones, select the new ‘avoid LEZ’ feature and low-emission zones will automatically be excluded from your route, LEZs are also visible on the map
- 【9 inch Big Screen for Truck】9 inch capacitive touch HD screen, more clearer and sensitive, touch it with your finger directly, no need stylus. The screen color feels natural and comfortable for your eyes. 16 GB ROM 256 MB RAM provides plenty of room to start and operate quickly,which also ensures high speed and perform smoothly, say goodbye to the freezing and buffering.
- 【Practical GPS Navigation for Car 】①Professional truck customization,customize better routes for you and avoid roads such as width/height/weight restrictions. And Providing Intelligent current speed camera alerts, sound warning and route planning, telling estimated arrival time.②Provide 2D / 3D map view mode.③Support Postcode, Address and POI Search (Please refer to User Manual for details of using postcode search).
- 【Real Volice Truck GPS 】Choose from a selection of voices that will provide you turn by turn voice navigation. Real man or woman voice broadcast you don’t have to look on the GPS screen all the time. It makes your driving safer, reduce fatigue driving, away from the ticket. Other Security Alert Types: Average Speed Camera, Red Light Camera ,Railway Crossing, High Accident Zone,City Entry Piont, Dangerous Area etc.
- 【Lifetime Map Updated for Free】Pre-installed with the most up-to-date 52 countries 2024 UK & EU map, which has 2D / 3D map display. Provide with lifetime free map updates on our website. If you need to update North America Map, please contact us to download. (Downloadable but not pre-installed maps: North America, Australia, South America, etc.)
- 【Portable Navigation System 】Accurate satellite navigation,lifetime map updates and a very well designed,bright and easy to read the screen. Package List:1 x 9″ Touch Screen GPS Navigation,1 x Car Charger,1 x MINI USB cable,1 x User Manual,1 x Car Bracket,1x Color-box.
- Latest 2024 Truck Maps for UK & Europe (48 countries in total)
- DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR CARAVANS AND MOTORHOMES: Ventura Sat Nav systems calculate safe routes based on your vehicle’s width, length, height and weight helping drivers get to their destination quickly, safely and economically; Simply switch to ‘Car Mode’ when you are not towing.
- JUNCTION VIEW & LANE GUIDANCE: Provides full-screen images of main motorway junctions that are displayed on approach. Specially formulated software lets you know which lane you should be taking to navigate a junction safely, making navigating roads with a caravan safer and easier.
- CLEAR 5 INCH LCD TOUCHSCREEN: Provides clear directions and routes to drivers of Motorhomes and towing Caravans. Text size can be adjusted and pre-loaded My-Speed software displays the correct speed limit based on the type of vehicle you are driving.
- MULTI-ROUTE TECHNOLOGY: The Ventura S5100 is by no means a simple A-to-B sat nav – it allows you to input multiple stops (up to 16 different destinations) with bespoke routes and points of interest to allow for breaks and mini adventures along the way.
- FREE LIFETIME UK & EUROPEAN MAP UPDATES: As all map data is provided on the included 8GB Micro SD card, any future UK and European map updates can be downloaded hassle free, ensuring your Snooper Sat Nav is always up to date.
- Specific routing for campervan, caravan and car, avoid low bridges and narrow streets on your route with TomTom GO Camper Max sat nav
- POIs tailored to campervans and caravans: Find your ideal campsite effortlessly as you drive with detailed POIs from our partners preloaded on your TomTom GO Camper Max sat nav
- Trusted TomTom Traffic and speed camera alerts: Stay relaxed and in control with time- and fuel-saving traffic congestion avoidance, reliable arrival times, and 1 year speed cam alerts.
- Largest HD 7”screen and powerful speaker: Safer driving with crystal clear route guidance via your TomTom sat nav’s screen and speaker – smooth motion, exceptional picture clarity, and vivid voice.
- Scenic routing is the way to go if you prefer fun over fast: this routing feature helps you avoid the boring straights and enjoy the most beautiful roads and surroundings.
- Large 7” touchscreen camper sat nav with map updates of Europe
- Get custom routing for the size and weight of your vehicle or trailer — with road warnings for bridge heights, weight limits, steep grades, sharp curves and more
- Access a preloaded directory of camper parks and services, Tripadvisor traveller ratings and content from ACSI, Campercontact, Trailer’s PARK
- Enjoy BirdsEye Satellite Imagery, which shows vivid aerial views to help you have a smooth arrival at your camper park or campground.
- Discover the best spots along your route with Trendy Place suggestions and enrich your travels with recommendations for local places to visit and exciting activities to try near your current location
Summary
In an ideal world I’d like to be able to enter my caravan size into Waze, but it doesn’t support it. So, for now I’m using a mix of ViaMichelin and CoPilot. ViaMichelin is great for planning routes and CoPilot helps avoid small roads. Of course, CoPilot has tried to take me down a road that I consider to small, however, the caravan would have fitted down the road, but I wouldn’t have been able to turn around, or rather any on coming traffic would have been a problem, so you still need your wits about you.
What I did last year, going to the South Of France was to plan the overall route on ViMichelin website, make sure CoPilot took us a similar route. I use CoPilot if I think there’s likely to be some narrow roads, but ViaMichelin is good enough for motorway driving.
At the end of the day you can just use CoPilot as most of the time it does a good enough job.
*Last update on 2024-12-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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