VOLKSWAGEN vs CITROEN vs MERCEDES

How does VW's camper van heritage stand up to newer rivals?

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THERE'S no place like home, as the old saying goes. But sometimes it’s nice to have a change of scenery. You could get a hotel or sleep in a tent, but why do that when you can drive part of your home to a much nicer place and get a new outlook on the world?

That's the answer that a humble (or not-so-humble) camper van offers: the ability to take a big part of your own life – even the family pets – on the adventure with you.

As a result, for seasoned campers, the vehicle became part of the family, with Volkswagen cornering this market for decades. Now, it's the turn of an all-new California to attract the latest generation of home-from-home adventurers.

But is it the best option out there? Citroen might have an answer to that with the all-new Holidays. On paper, it looks like a bit of a bargain beside the VW, so we're keen to find out what, if anything, it’s missing for the cash.

Finally, we have Mercedes. The firm might be best known for desirable limousines such as the S-Class, but it has sprinkled some of that luxury magic into the camper segment, too. Here, the latest, recently revised Marco Polo takes the fight to VW and Citroen.

VW CALIFORNIA

Welcome to the hotel California, VW's latest in a long line of camper vans

NOW in its seventh generation, this Volkswagen camper is smarter than ever. Unlike most other alternatives of this size, the California is based on a car-derived platform rather than van-based architecture; it’s adapted from the Multivan people-mover, which itself is based on the same MQB Evo underpinning that is used by everything from a Volkswagen Golf to a Skoda Kodiaq.

That has let it adopt not only advanced in-car tech and driver-assistance systems, but also a more refined chassis set-up and the option of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain.