30+ Best Gifts for Campervan Owners: Practical Campervan Gift Ideas

Buying gifts for campervan owners isn't always easy. Space is limited, most vanlifers already have a fair amount of camping gear, and anything that comes along for the ride really needs to earn its place in the van. That is why we have put together this guide to some of the best gifts for campervan owners, with practical campervan accessories, personalised presents, gifts for families, travel inspiration and experience ideas for every budget.

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with a Vanlife Family Christmas? Whether you are hitting the road in your motorhome or campervan for a festive getaway or planning to decorate your campervan to bring that Christmas cheer wherever you are, this season is all about embracing the vanlife spirit. If you are spending Christmas on the road this year and want some inspiration for making a small space feel suitably festive, have a read of our Campervan Christmas: Ideas for Making Your Home-on-Wheels Merry and Bright. It's full of ideas for bringing a little Christmas magic to your home on wheels.

After years of travelling around the UK and Europe as a family in our campervan, we have learnt that the best campervan gifts aren't necessarily the biggest or most expensive. Often, it is the practical things that make life on the road a little easier, the cosy things that make chilly evenings more comfortable, or something that inspires the next adventure.

So, whether you are looking for a Christmas present for a campervan owner, a gift for someone who has just bought their first van, or something for a seasoned camper who seems to have everything, I've brought together some of my favourite campervan gift ideas below.

Hopefully, you'll find something they'll genuinely want to take on their next adventure – rather than another campervan-themed present destined for the back of a cupboard!

Our Best Campervan Gift Ideas at a Glance

Short on time? These are some of the campervan gifts I'd put at the top of the list.

Best practical campervan gift: NOCO Boost portable jump starter

Best gift for campervan cooks: Cadac 2 Cook or even the NEW Cadac Portable Stove 3 Cook

Best gift for adventurous campers: Wild Guide books.

Best gift for planning the next adventure: a VanLifeFamily Ultimate Road Trip Guide

Best cosy campervan gift: a warm camping blanket or recycled wool throw

Best gift for campervan families: a Den Kit or children's travel journal

Best personalised campervan gift: a personalised mug, blanket or piece of vanlife memorabilia

Best gift for someone who has everything: an experience for their next campervan adventure

Keep reading for lots more ideas and why I think they make great gifts for campervan owners.

Best Practical Gifts for Campervan Owners

Practical might not sound particularly exciting when you are buying a present, but ask anyone who regularly travels in a campervan and they'll probably tell you otherwise! Storage space is precious, so useful campervan accessories tend to make much better gifts than novelty items that end up sitting at home. If you are buying for somebody who is relatively new to campervanning, our Campervan Essentials guide is also packed with ideas based on the things we've found useful when travelling as a family.

NOCO Boost Portable Jump Starter

A portable jump starter is one of those campervan accessories you hope you'll never need, but will be extremely grateful for if you do. The NOCO Boost is a compact portable lithium jump starter designed to get a vehicle going again when the starter battery has let you down. It's small enough to keep in the van without taking up lots of valuable storage space, which makes it a particularly useful gift for campervan owners who travel regularly. It might not have quite the same instant excitement as unwrapping something glamorous, but being able to sort out a flat battery without waiting for assistance could potentially save a trip.

A Good Camping Hammock

In my opinion, a hammock is more of a campervan essential than a luxury! There is something lovely about arriving at a campsite, spotting two perfectly positioned trees and realising you can get the hammock out. Look for a lightweight camping hammock that packs down small and comes with suitable tree straps. The fact that it takes up so little space makes this an easy gift for someone travelling in a campervan, motorhome or caravan. It is also one of those gifts that adults and children inevitably end up fighting over!

Compact Picnic Blanket

A good picnic blanket gets used for far more than picnics when you travel by campervan. We love products that are lightweight, easy to store and useful in several different situations, which is why a compact waterproof picnic blanket makes such a good campervan gift. A PACMAT is designed to be lightweight, waterproof, washable and durable, making it handy for campsites, beaches, festivals, outdoor lunches and days out from the van.

Best Campervan Cooking Gifts

Cooking is such a big part of campervan life for us. Whether it is breakfast outside the van, an easy campsite dinner or cooking outdoors on a warm evening, good cooking equipment can completely change the camping experience.

That makes campervan cooking equipment a particularly good place to look for gifts.

Cadac – A Great Big-Ticket Campervan Gift

If you are looking for a more substantial gift for a campervan owner, a Cadac 2 Cook or even the NEW Cadac Portable Stove 3 Cook would be high on my list. It’s two (or three depening on which model you choose) independent burners make it incredibly versatile for campsite cooking, while its relatively compact size makes it much more suitable for campervan travel than a full-sized barbecue. Depending on the model and accessories, you can use different cooking surfaces for pots, frying and grilling, which means you can prepare a surprising range of meals from one piece of kit.

We have also written a detailed Cadac review, so if you're considering buying one as a gift, have a read before spending your money.

Cadac Citi Chef 40

Another option for anyone who enjoys cooking outside their campervan is the Cadac Citi Chef 40. It is designed as a compact tabletop gas barbecue, so it is ideal for a campsite table or picnic bench when space is at a premium. Different cooking surfaces and accessories make it possible to grill, barbecue, roast and cook a variety of campsite meals without carrying several completely separate pieces of equipment. A storage bag also makes it much easier to pack away when it's time to move on.

Campfire Popcorn Maker

Not every campervan cooking gift needs to be sensible! A campfire popcorn maker is the sort of thing that can turn an ordinary evening at the campsite into one the children remember. Add some popcorn kernels, find a campsite where fires are permitted and settle down for a proper camping movie-night snack. This is a lovely gift for campervan families and could also be paired with a camping mug, hot chocolate or marshmallows to make a little camping-night gift hamper.

A Campervan Kettle

There aren't many things more important on a camping trip than the ability to make tea or coffee. A good stovetop kettle therefore makes a surprisingly lovely campervan gift, particularly for somebody who's recently bought their first van. Just remember to check the size before buying. In campervans, every centimetre of storage matters!

If you are buying for somebody who's just starting out, our Vanlife for Beginners: What You Need to Know Before Hitting the Road guide covers the kitchen equipment and other essentials that we've found useful.

Campervan Gifts Under £25

You definitely don't need to spend a fortune to find a useful gift for someone who loves their campervan. In fact, smaller presents are often perfect for vanlife because they don't create another storage problem!

Personalised Campervan Mug

Enamel Camping Mug

Personalised Snack Pot

Personalised Campervan Tea Towel

Give Them Their Next Adventure: VanLifeFamily Travel Guides

If you are buying for somebody who would rather collect adventures than things, one of our VanLifeFamily Ultimate Road Trip Guides could make a brilliant campervan gift. These are especially useful for the campervan owner who seems to have all the equipment they could possibly need. Rather than giving them something else to squeeze into a cupboard, you are giving them the inspiration and much of the planning for their next road trip. Our digital travel guides are designed specifically with campervan and motorhome adventures in mind. Depending on the guide, you’ll find suggested itineraries, driving routes, campsite recommendations, family-friendly places to visit, practical travel advice and interactive Google Maps to help with planning. And because they are digital, there is no extra campervan storage required!

Isle of Skye Ultimate Road Trip Guide

Know someone who dreams about taking their campervan to Scotland? Our Isle of Skye Ultimate Road Trip Guide includes a family-friendly itinerary, driving maps, practical travel information and an interactive map packed with places to visit, hikes and campsites. You could even combine the guide with a booked experience on Skye to create a complete campervan adventure gift.

Northern Spain Ultimate Road Trip Guide

For someone dreaming about taking their campervan further afield, our Northern Spain Ultimate Road Trip Guide takes much of the stress out of planning. It includes a suggested 7-day itinerary, driving routes and times, campsites, beaches, hikes, places to visit, food recommendations and an interactive Google Map. This could make a particularly good Christmas present – something to unwrap now and start planning for the following year's adventures.

Italian Dolomites Ultimate Road Trip Guide

If mountains are more their thing, give them some inspiration for an Italian adventure. Our Dolomites Ultimate Road Trip Guide includes a 7-day itinerary, family-friendly locations, campsite recommendations, hiking ideas and a detailed Google Map.

Gifts for New Campervan Owners

Know someone who's just bought their first campervan? It is very tempting to buy them decorative campervan accessories, but I'd lean towards something genuinely useful. New campervan owners quickly discover that there are lots of little pieces of equipment they didn't realise they'd need. Good gift ideas include a portable jump starter, camping mugs, compact picnic blanket, good torch or lantern, campsite or travel guide, travel journal or logbook, warm camping blanket and useful cooking equipment. You could also put together a small new campervan owner hamper with several inexpensive essentials. And if they're completely new to campervan travel, send them these three guides too:

Vanlife for Beginners: What You Need to Know Before Hitting the Road

Vanlife for Beginners: Planning your First Trip

Campervan Essentials

Gifts for Campervan Owners Who Have Everything

This is perhaps the hardest campervan owner to buy for. They have got the barbecue. They've got the chairs. They've got the mugs. There are boxes full of camping equipment in the garage, and you are fairly certain there isn't room for another gadget in the van.

So what on earth do you buy them?

I'd stop looking for more camping equipment and think about experiences, adventures and memories instead.

A Wild Guide for somewhere they've never explored could inspire their next road trip. One of our Ultimate Road Trip Guides could give them a whole new destination to plan. A travel journal or logbook gives them somewhere to record their adventures. Or an experience such as a boat trip, food tour or outdoor activity could become the highlight of their next campervan holiday. You could even put together a campervan adventure gift hamper containing a travel guide, some local food and details of an experience you have booked for their trip.

Sometimes the best gift for a campervan owner who has everything isn't another thing at all. It's giving them another reason to go somewhere.

How to Choose a Gift for a Campervan Owner

If you're still struggling to choose, there's one important rule: Remember that campervans are small!

Before buying a large piece of equipment, think about where the recipient is going to store it. The campervan gifts we appreciate most tend to do at least one of these things: make travelling easier, replace something we already carry, pack down very small, serve more than one purpose, or help us enjoy the places we are visiting.

It's also worth thinking about the way the person actually uses their van.

Someone who spends weekends on campsites will have different priorities from somebody who enjoys longer road trips. Families have different needs from couples. A keen outdoor cook might love new cooking equipment, while someone who spends every trip walking and exploring might get much more from a travel guide or an experience.

And if storage is already becoming a problem, our 7 Clever Ways to Maximize Campervan Storage Space might be more useful than buying them another enormous camping gadget! The more closely the present fits the way they travel, the more likely it is to earn that precious space in the campervan.

Planning a Campervan Christmas?

If you are reading this because you are preparing for Christmas in your own campervan, we have plenty more festive inspiration on VanLifeFamily.

Find out how to decorate your campervan for Christmas without filling an already-small space with decorations.

If you'd rather disappear in the van for the festive period, take a look at our Magical Campervan Getaways for Christmas and New Year.

Or combine a winter campervan break with a festive city trip using our guide to the Best Campsites for Christmas Markets in the UK.

And because finding somewhere open in winter isn't always as straightforward as it sounds, check out our recommendations and free Google Map of campsites open all year.

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