You have decided to hit the road with your kids - you may be a weekend warrior, a vacation traveler, or thinking about taking the plunge and go full-time. But which RV should you get?
You've started doing some research and learned new words: Class A, Class B, Class C, Toy Hauler, Fifth Wheel, Van, Travel Trailer, and more. While this may be a confusing time, I promise you will find the right RV for your family! If there is a La Mesa RV show is near you, I highly recommend going to see and feel the different types of RVs existing.
Large families have specific needs. After making sure everyone has a safe seat to ride in, your first requirement is bedding. How many people will be traveling with you and how do they all lay flat in a relatively small space? Next comes eating space. Once the basics are covered, specific needs come into play: do you need space to homeschool or work from home? Can you family handle one bathroom? Do you have to drive two vehicles? And so on. Below we've outlined each type of RV that works best for large families. Keep reading for all the. details.
Guest Post by Laura Georgieff
When we see large families (four+ kids) in campgrounds, they often come out of toy haulers if they full-time. Families love toy haulers because they provide separate living areas (adding a little distance between kid and parent quarters can be welcome when this becomes your home) and a very large area for the kids in the back! Toy haulers are designed with a garage that will typically hold an ATV, bikes, or a small car. However, that garage can be totally redesigned into a fun and cozy space for the kids. It typically comes out of the store with two lifting queen beds, to sleep at least four (+ two parents in the main bedroom). One of those beds becomes a pretty large table set up as a booth, for families to dine. Families using toy haulers long term, usually turn the garage into a cozy children space. It becomes a homeschooling room by day, turning into a cute bedroom sleeping four to six kids at night. Once you lower the garage door, you have a back deck. We love the option to add a soft wall enclosure to the deck to extend the garage into a very large all-season room! The covered deck often becomes a large playroom. While toy haulers probably provide the most space, their design is typically a little rougher if you don't add personal touches. We also find that they lack eating space in the main room, which can be easily solved by eating in the garage space. You however, often get two bathrooms! Check on your truck's towing capacity, as toy haulers can be on the heavy side.
Large families traveling on weekends, or for up to a couple of weeks at a time, tend to come out of travel trailers.Travel trailers can end up being really long and spacious, with amazing bunkhouses. It is fairly typical for a 30-foot travel trailer to have a 4-sleeper bunk bed in the back. Add to that converting dinettes and the main bedroom, you can easily sleep a family with six kids in a fairly small trailer. For families, we love that travel trailers usually come with a fairly large dinette, allowing five or six people to sit down to share meals. Most travel trailers have just one bathroom. If you ask me, that is no big deal and if the need arises, there is always the campground's bathroom! This is part of the fun of roughing it up while camping! Travel trailers tend to be lighter in weight, often requiring a smaller truck, but keep in mind that they have fairly small cargo storage.
Many families up to three (sometimes four) children, choose to travel in a fifth wheel. Fifth wheels are fun and very smartly designed. They are the RV that resembles a home the most! You can choose from many different floorpans to make your fifth wheel fit your needs. Our fifth wheel was a Keystone Montana and because we are a dual-income family with kids, we chose a model with an office, and a bunk looking into the hallway. That way we had a separate space to work, with a closing door, which turned into a bedroom (with a door) at night for the oldest kid. The other children slept in the bunk and were not bothered by the living room light. Once you add dinettes and/or couches turning into beds, you can sleep up to 10 or 12 people in a fifth wheel! Fifth wheels almost always come with a dining table, however it rarely sits more than five. But always keep in mind that the fun of camping is spending time outdoors and most campsites come with a large outdoor table! Fifth wheels are super fun because you can choose from very smart and efficient floorpans. They often come with lots of cargo space (probably the most of toy hauler / travel trailer / fifth wheel), and they work really well for families looking for a home on wheels. While they usually have just one bathroom, you can find some models with two.
Here again, check on your truck's towing capacity, as some fifth wheels can be on a heavy side once loaded.
Once you have tried a Class A, it is hard to go back, I will be honest... Class A may not seem designed for large families as much, because their floorpan is a lot more conservative. However, they provide a level of comfort, unmatched by other RVs. If you are a large family (4 or more children), the fifth wheel and toy haulers would require you to drive: a truck + the RV + another vehicle to fit more than three children. That means twice the gas and two adults having to drive. In a Class A, you can drive as many people as you have seatbelts for - usually around nine! If you need a smaller vehicle at destination, simply tow your smaller vehicle behind the Class A.
Outside of more driving capacity, a Class A (aka. motorhome) is simply convenient for large families. As you are driving down the highway, the kids can use the bathroom without having to stop the vehicle, your fridge is accessible to grab a quick snack, and you can pop some corn in your microwave as the driver crosses a state line.
If you have little ones who need to rest, they are able to use the beds or couches to sleep during the drive, and parents can take turns driving and resting on long days. You also have full use of your TVs during the drive, or can even homeschool while driving. Class A's tend to have large cargo space and we found our Class A to have more storage inside than the fifth wheel did. If you are purchasing a gas engine, you can easily find a floorplan with a bunkhouse and a drop-down bed over the cabin, sleeping four kids, on top of the parents' bedroom. Additionally, your dinette and/or couch will convert into more sleeping spots. If you are purchasing a diesel engine, you may need to look a little harder but should be able to find bunkhouses. The over-the-cabin bunk is much harder to come by in a diesel engine, but your couches / dinette will convert into another two to six sleeping spots. You will easily find models with two bathrooms if that is important to you, especially if you are looking into the 40- to 45-foot motorhomes. The only "downside" to a Class A is the feeling of not having as many separated spaces as you do in a fifth wheel or a toy hauler. As long as you like your kids though, you should be good to go!
While the Class C will provide much of the benefits of a Class A, it is typically cheaper to purchase. You will still be able to sit more people, move inside as you drive, and use your kitchen, bedrooms, and TVs. I would probably recommend a Class A to the large full-timing family, and a Class C to the large weekend / vacation family. We love Class C's and they are a fabulous option for large families. They typically come with an over-the-cabin bunk, and are easy to find with a bunkhouse! If you go with a long model, you will have plenty of space, just a lot less cargo space than in a Class A. But they are super fun to drive around, a little easier to drive down the road, and great to make memories with.
What Is The Best RV For Large Families?
I hope this helps you debunk RV styles and understand what might work for your large family. Some families will use other RV types (vans, pop-up tents) or add a tent. I would leave those to very adventurous families... Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to give you a better understanding of what might work easier for most large families. Once you have enough sleeping space and dining space, and understand the logistics of buckling everyone up safely in one or two vehicles, it will be up to you to decide on which floorpan will work best for your needs and family-specific requirements!
