An eye-catching exterior and a well-planned interior make this a very appealing choice for two on tour
Words and photos Peter Baber
Price £25,495 Berths 3 MiRO 1020kg MTPLM 1146kg
SWIFT’S BASECAMP was launched in 2016, the year of the Brexit vote. And just as new variations on that theme keep popping up, so new versions of the Basecamp emerge, with different numbers of berths, but the same package of rugged good looks and units that fold to leave room for bikes.
The latest incarnation, the Basecamp 3, sports a more or less fixed bed for the first time. We visited Stewart Longton Caravans, in Chorley, Lancashire, to take a look.
Pitch and set-up
The Basecamp is designed to look striking on the road, and with its blue decals, alloys and GRP mouldings, it certainly does.
Unusually, you enter through a door at the back, but that makes it easier to load bicycles inside. Basecamp customers can also buy a Vango airbeam porch awning that is designed to fit over the back.
The Basecamp comes with conventional corner steadies, and an outside barbecue point, mains socket and cold-water shower point. There is a gas bottle locker up front. But there are no external locker doors, mainly because there are no underseat areas providing those lockers inside.
Lounge
Basecamp 3 is so called because it can sleep three people, but it’s likely only two would want to spend much time inside during the day. In that case, the dinette to the left of the door would be perfectly comfortable.
The large window helps to compensate for the dinette not being up at the front, by the even bigger central window. The area is well lit at night, with an LED.
The pedestal table, stored in the kitchen, fits between the seats to accommodate two at mealtimes. A third person might have to eat sitting on the bed at the front.
That might be why Swift has included a much larger foldaway table, with its own storage slot in the wardrobe. This can be used outside or in an awning.
There are TV sockets above the fridge, in front of the side dinette, although from this position, the TV would be difficult to view. The assumption might be that active types don’t want to watch that much TV.
Kitchen
With its flush-fitting hob and black work surface, the kitchen is very stylish. It has a three-burner hob, too, and the sink is big. Folding out the extension requires a little manoeuvring with the mattress, but it’s worth doing, because with this and the space above the fridge, the worktop is as good as in any conventionally sized caravan.
You don’t get a microwave, however, and only a combined oven and grill, while yo
