Sat navs are an essential accessory if you own a motorhome, caravan, or camper. We all like to travel but knowing your way around is important, especially if you are planning on heading off the beaten track. Sat navs make this easy by allowing you to easily navigate your way around town and to unknown places.
They are also great for helping you avoid traffic jams, and if you are planning on spending your holiday in the countryside then they are an essential addition to your motorhome. They come in all shapes and sizes with different features. So how do you choose the best one for you?
This article is a complete guide to choosing the best sat navigation device for your motorhome, caravan, camper, travel trailer, etc. We give you a list of 5 of the best devices on the market and a detailed review of each one. We also take price into account.
What is sat nav?
Sat nav stands for satellite navigation. Sat nav is used to navigate. When you are driving, it will tell you exactly where you are on the road, which streets you should turn at, and also the distance to your destination. It is very useful to navigate, but it is expensive.
Choosing The Best Sat Nav Motorhome In 2021
The sat nav motorhome is the future of holiday accommodation. If you’re looking to get away from it all and explore Europe or Asia without having to worry about any road rules, this is the vehicle for you.
The sat nav motorhome is fully equipped with a fully functioning office and bathroom and can comfortably accommodate up to five adults, four if you want some privacy!
Traveling in the sat nav motorhome is a dream and you’ll be able to visit an array of different countries and cities at ease, with no need to worry about airport queues and you’ll get to experience the road trip of a lifetime!
How to pick the best sat nav for your motorhome?
As the name suggests, sat navs are used to navigate vehicles. You can usually find them in cars, but they also work in other vehicles such as a motorhome.
There are several things to consider when choosing one. The size of the motorhome you have is an important factor and it will determine the size and type of sat nav you look for.
You can get sat navs that are specifically designed for motorhomes, but also ones that can be used in them. Sat navs that come with a mount will work in any vehicle, including motorhomes.
Top 12 Best Sat Navs for Motorhomes
So we’ve done the hard work for you – we’ve searched far and wide and come up with a list of the top 5 best Sat Navs for Motorhomes worldwide, based on our extensive real-world testing! Check out the list and use the links or images to find out more and order or buy!
Garmin RV 701 Navigator and Remote
Are you looking for a sat nav that has turn-by-turn guidance, lane guidance, speed limit information, voice recognition, voice control, and Bluetooth, so you could use it on your spouse’s phone?
The FUSION-Link audio system and EmpirBus digital switching platform make this sat-nav so easy to use. It’s also affordable!
- With its customized RV navigation, drivers can enjoy the added convenience of interchange and junction view guidance and the Garmin Real Directions feature, which uses nearby landmarks, buildings, and traffic lights to help identify turns.
- There are also map tools for traffic, cities ahead, and more.
- This navigator also provides driver alerts for dangerous curves, speed changes, railroad crossings, school zones, and more.
- Drivers enjoy the added convenience of interchange and junction view guidance and the Garmin Real Directions feature, which uses nearby landmarks, buildings, and signal lights to help identify turns.
- There are also map tools for traffic, cities ahead, and more.
TomTom Go Expert
You get this for your motorhome with the wiring pack for the GPS. You need to buy the power pack, not expensive at all.
Great to use on the motorhome, the lorry version is great for the truck, very clear instructions, easy to use, and planning routes is easy with the planning tool.
The updated maps are clear and easy to read, and they even give you updated restrictions.
- Never miss a turn with truck-specific routing
- Trucks and trailers are not the same sizes as cars, so don’t use car routing
- Get clear alerts in real-time for restrictions that might impact you
- Easily adapt your route to avoid restrictions that affect you
- Find your place in the world with built-in offline maps
Garmin RV 1090 With 10″ RV GPS Navigator
This is a great RV GPS for caravans and motorhomes. It helps you get to where you need to go and the turn-by-turn instructions are clear and easy to follow.
You’ll like the big screen, and it works well in all kinds of weather. It saves you time and money on fuel and it has a built-in dash cam that automatically records the route and surroundings.
- It also works with your smartphone and you can easily upload and share routes and GPX files with others.
- The large navigator screen allows you to see the screen clearly and see your surroundings.
- Custom routing takes into account the size and weight of your RV and finds a recommended route for you.
- Road warnings: Know of upcoming steep grades, sharp curves, weight limits, and more before you get to them.
- RV parks and services: Simplify your trip with a preloaded directory of RV parks and services, plus content from Ultimate Public Campgrounds, KOA®, iOverlander, a directory of U.S. national parks, and PlanRV.
- Easy trip planning: Pair with the Garmin Drive app to easily import and share routes and share GPX files.
TomTom Trucker 520/620
The device is very reliable, the battery lasts for about 30 hours on a full charge. It has numerous features that are useful especially when traveling long distances.
It has an intuitive interface, displays the most important information, and provides voice output so you can keep your hands on the wheel at all times.
It’s free from distractions with no ads, no in-app purchases, and no subscription fees. It’s easy to use and makes driving your motorhome safer than ever, thanks to its innovative design and clear, straightforward display.
- You get a full year of TomTom’s Map & Traffic updates for free for the first year
- In the second year, you get a 50% discount on updates
- In the third year, you get a 25% discount on updates
- In the fourth year, you get a 10% discount on updates
- All updates in the following years are free
- TomTom GO PROFESSIONAL is the only truck GPS navigation that shows you where accidents are on your route
- You can connect your smartphone to your TomTom GO PROFESSIONAL via Bluetooth
- You can make hands-free calls via the TomTom GO PROFESSIONAL
- You can use the TomTom GO PROFESSIONAL for truckers in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Belize, Costa
Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa
The Amazon Alexa integration with the Garmin DriveSmart 65 windshield-mounted navigator is the best feature.
When you’re driving and say, “Alexa, ask Garmin to navigate to …” the result is a spoken turn-by-turn navigate command to your destination.
While Amazon Alexa is an amazing voice assistant, its commands to navigate are limited to Amazon destinations.
However, the DriveSmart 65 Amazon Alexa integration is more flexible and capable of providing a spoken turn-by-turn navigation command to any destination.
- Alexa on your Garmin: Your Garmin Speakis are compatible with Alexa on select Garmin devices. Just press and ask to hear music, listen to the news, check your calendar, and more.
- It’s easy to do.
- It’s simple: Just press and ask for a music track, artist, or genre from Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and more.
- It’s quicker: Just press and ask for an upcoming exit, nearby restaurants, fuel prices, or coffee shops and you’re on your way.
- It’s more convenient: Just press and ask for directions to a place in your contacts.
- It’s more natural: Garmin Speak uses natural language to understand questions and give you the right directions, wherever you are.
- It’s a smarter way to drive.
- It’s personalized: Garmin Speak learns your voice and names it as you go, so it gets better at recognizing you.
- It’s hands-free:
Avtex-Tourer-Two
The Avtex Tourer-Two is a great sat nav for your caravan or motorhome. It has all the info you need to find the best campsites and includes the info you need to find the sites with the amenities you want. It’s easy to use and works really well on the road, on the water and on the campsite.
- Built-in swivel bracket fits a wide range of handlebars
- Designed to fit a range of smartphones with or without a case
- Inbuilt phone mount rotates 360° for portrait or landscape viewing
- Built-in phone cradle expands to fit phones up to 3.5” wide
- 360° rotation for portrait or landscape viewing
- High-strength composite construction
- Includes universal mounting bracket, two side clamps, two handles, two mounting nuts, and two screws
- Sold as a single item for use with a single smartphone
- Not compatible with a charging case
- Works with most smartphones with or without a case up to 3.5” wide
- Compatible with iPhone 5/5s/5c/6/6s/6 Plus/6s Plus/7/7 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8
- Compatible with Samsung Note 3, Note 4, Note 5
S6900 Ventura with Active Magnetic Mount
The Ventura S6900 with Active Magnetic Mount is a great sat nav for caravans and motor homes.
It’s easy to use and is designed to avoid height, width, and weight restrictions which is very helpful for vehicles that need to avoid such restrictions.
The device has a magnetic-powered mount for easy installation and clutter-free cabling. It also features vehicle profiles, route timer, premium traffic management content, and a speed limit monitor.
What I like most is the free system software updates*, so you can be safe in the knowledge that you will have the most up-to-date software at all times.
- Easy installation with the magnetic-powered mount for ultimate convenience
- Clear, easy-to-use menus
- 3 interactive color screen display
- Advanced Lane Guidance
- Lane Assistant Pro
- 3D Landmarks
- Intelligent Speed Limiter
Avtex-Tourer-One-Plus
You’ll love this sat nav. It is so much easier than a phone sat nav and with the magnetic mount, it is easy to just pop it on and off.
There are many who have on several occasions navigated to places that they have never been to before, and it has never failed them.
You’ll love the fact that it is a dashcam.
People have had a couple of near misses because of people reversing out of driveways and the sat nav has recorded the time, date, speed, and everything.
It is also handy for driving abroad, as it has all the European maps on it. The only one he wishes it had was a speedometer. But other than that, he loves it!
Garmin’s most advanced Caravan and Motorhome Club sat nav with a built-in dashcam for recording collisions.
- Detailed maps of Europe with free lifetime map and digital traffic updates.
- Live lane guidance.
- Forward collision warning
- Lane departure warning
- Dashcam with a 6” glass screen
- The Caravan and Motorhome Club sat nav on a 6” touch screen
- You can record and save footage on impact or manually with the touch of a button
- The magnetic mount lets you easily secure or remove from your vehicle
- An optional GPS overlay provides location, speed, date, and time to precisely record when and where an incident occurred
- The Avtex Tourer One Plus unit provides more than just help with directions
Snooper Ventura SC5900 DVR G2 Caravan & Motorhome HD Dash Cam And Navigation with GPS
The Ventura from Snooper is a great device to have in a caravan or motorhome! It does a lot of things that my old satnav never did!
The Ventura has an inbuilt dash cam and a huge selection of places to camp and motorhome stopovers. The device is easy to operate and the features are great.
It comes with a carry case, power cable, USB cable, dash disk, sat nav, windscreen mount, and 8GB micro SD cards for the sat nav and the dash cam. I can’t wait to use this device on my next big adventure!
- Sat nav designed specifically for caravans and motorhomes
- Calculates safe routes based on your vehicle’s width, length, height, and weight
- Includes the largest database of any caravan or motorhome specific sat nav with information on over 24,000 campsites and motorhome stopovers in 31 countries
- Free lifetime map updates
- Supports both static and dynamic camp site codes
- Free lifetime traffic alerts for inbuilt TMC antenna
- Supports up to 4 cameras
Aguri Motorhome & Caravan RV740 DVR Deluxe
He bought the Aguri RV740 Deluxe satnav for his motorhome and he’s been blown away by its functionality.
The preloaded software made it really easy for him to choose the right settings for the journey and the routing is spot-on.
He’s been able to travel in places that he wouldn’t have been able to go with his motorhome, thanks to the RV740!
- Simply enter the dimensions and weight of your vehicle and the RV740 will create a route avoiding narrow roads, low bridges plus many other hazards for a safer journey.
- The RV740 Deluxe unit also includes an inbuilt dashcam, super-bright 7” LCD with superb off-axis viewing, enhanced loudspeaker, Wi-Fi, and over 30,000 campsites and motorhome stopovers pre-installed.
- Plus, get FREE wireless map and speed trap updates for life, Live Digital Traffic information, and the exclusive Deluxe Edition pack including shock-resistant protective case, magnetic mounting system, and deluxe travel bag.
Aguri Motorhome & Caravan RV520 DVR
Use this sat nav for about six months, and you’ll see it’s easy to install and operate. The recording of the dashcam footage is really good quality too.
You can also use it for navigation, and it’s really easy to use. The instructions and manuals are easy to follow and it’s quite straightforward to use. The sat nav is really easy to use and quick to set up.
- Lifetime map updates – Never need to buy map discs again.
- Wi-Fi enabled – Send & receive emails, browse the Internet, download apps, etc
- DVR dash cam – Record incidents on the road in Full HD 1080p
- Free sat nav app – No need for expensive smartphone apps
- 5-inch touchscreen – Easy to use, clear map display
- Reliable – Built to the highest standards by the UK’s largest caravan manufacturer
Mio MiVue Drive 65 LM
He was looking for a reliable navigation device for his car and came across the Mio MiVue Drive 65 LM.
This device was so much more than just an ordinary sat nav, it also came with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to help him reach his destination safely.
The LDWS and FCWS would keep him alert during his drive to keep accidents at bay. And with the G-Sensor, he could ensure that his data was never overwritten, giving him complete peace of mind.
- The most advanced dash cam on the market.
- Commercial quality camera with a sleek and elegant design.
- The best dash cam for car accidents, car chases, and car surveillance.
- Captures your journey in extremely high definition with extremely low distortion.
- Comes with a built-in G sensor
- Features an inbuilt GPS module
- Comes with an inbuilt Wi-Fi module
- Features an inbuilt Bluetooth module
- Comes with an inbuilt speaker and microphone
- The easiest dashcam to operate
- It supports a large variety of memory cards
- Comes with a 2-year warranty
How to set up your sat nav motorhome?
Having a sat nav in your motorhome is an incredibly useful tool to use when traveling.
Setting it up isn’t too difficult, but it can be daunting to someone who hasn’t done it before. The steps are easy to follow, however.
- First, you’ll need to have the sat nav plugged in, with the power cord connected to an electrical power supply.
- Next, you’ll need to change the language to English, this can be changed when you first initially set the sat nav. Using the navigation information in the instruction manual, you can place your desired route.
- Then, you’ll need to input in the postcode of the destination you’d like to arrive at. You can then set in your estimated time of arrival in the clock.
Now you’re ready to start driving!
Can I use my phone as a sat nav?
No, your phone will not work as a sat nav. Sat navs (also known as GPS systems) work by sending and receiving signals from satellites in space.
The signals tell your device where it is and in which direction it is facing. Your phone does not have the equipment to receive the signals, and even if it did, it would not be able to transmit them.
Can you set Google Maps for a motorhome?
It is still possible to set up Google Maps on a motorhome. As long as you have an Android or Apple product, it will be possible to use Google Maps on the road. You can even do it without a WiFi connection. Here’s how.
First, you will need to download the Travel & Transit app. If your phone doesn’t have it already, you can find it on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Next, log into your Google account. When you’re connected to a WiFi or cellular network, it will ask you if you’d like to switch to the Google Maps app.
Say yes and you’re all set!
What is the future of sat nav technology?
Have you heard of the new “smart cars”? They are vehicles that are equipped with extensive sat nav systems.
These systems are not only more accurate than ever, but they also warn you of potential dangers on the road.
You can also use the sat nav to pinpoint the location of someone you’re trying to meet with, act as your personal language translator, and even act as your personal assistant.
And that’s just the beginning. Soon, these systems will be indistinguishable from your smartphone, making your vehicle seem like your home on wheels!
