There are those who think that towing a caravan is easy – and there are those who have a lot of experience and know differently!
Towing myths
Many people assume that towing a caravan is easy. They assume it’s all about being careful when you go around corners and needing to ‘think differently’ when you’re reversing.
However, even experienced caravan owners can sometimes find their skills challenged in particularly demanding circumstances. That might include things such as tight parking, reversing at angles or reversing around corners. Even if you mastered those techniques once upon a time, it’s a fact that you can become rusty if you haven’t practised them for a while.
Add to this the changing conditions that come with towing on different roads and terrains – from navigating narrow country lanes to dealing with windy motorways or steep gradients. Even wind buffeting from passing HGVs can unsettle your caravan if you’re unprepared or poorly loaded. And when weather conditions turn bad – heavy rain, fog or crosswinds – the additional weight and length of a caravan makes everything that bit more challenging.
That’s why, even if you’re an experienced caravan tower, it might be worth considering a brush up on your specialist techniques. Or, if you are moving up to a larger caravan, a course may give you a head start when you first take it out on the road.
It’s not just about physical handling either. Today’s caravanners are dealing with more technology than ever. From electronic stability systems to reversing cameras and smart towing aids, modern towing rigs can be complex – and understanding how to operate or troubleshoot these systems properly can be just as important as learning how to reverse.
Enhanced caravan towing courses
There are a number of courses geared up to meet this need, from outright beginners wanting to learn the basics, to experienced caravan owners who what to hone their skills a bit more.
For example:
- the Caravan Club’s caravan manoeuvring course. This is aimed at drivers who are already experienced in the basics of towing a caravan but who want to brush up on some skills and master advanced techniques too;
- another similar course is offered by the Camping and Caravan Club.
There are plenty of others to choose from and there’s bound to be one being run somewhere near your home. Typically – at the time of writing, August 2025 – the price is likely to be somewhere in the region of £220 or so.
Depending on which course you attend, you may find it involves useful ‘theory’ work as well – such as knowing your towing windspeeds, safer loading and the laws affecting caravanners.
Is it worth it?
It’s certainly true that many experienced and perfectly competent drivers with towed caravans have never attended a formal training course in their life. However, we’ve perhaps all seem examples of some less than inspirational techniques when on the road or watching others in caravan parks etc.
The trouble is that you don’t really know how good (or otherwise) your complicated manoeuvring skills are until you need to deploy them one day. That’s probably not the time you’ll want to discover that they’re rusty or to start wishing you’d taken that advanced or brush-up course!
For those who travel with family or plan long journeys, that extra confidence gained through a course can make a world of difference – reducing stress, improving safety and enhancing the overall enjoyment of the trip. It may even result in lower insurance premiums if your insurer recognises your commitment to safer driving.
Perhaps it’s a case of better safe than sorry where this sort of training is concerned.
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