Best Small Van for a Camper Conversion: The Micro Camper Guide

The Two Numbers That Decide It

Almost every micro camper question comes down to two measurements, and neither is the one people ask about first.

Load length decides whether you can lie down. A 6ft adult is about 1,830mm. A standard-wheelbase small van gives you somewhere around 1,790–1,820mm of load length — the VW Caddy is about 1,797mm, the current Ford Transit Connect L1 1,797mm, the Citroën Berlingo M about 1,817mm. All of those are shorter than a tall adult, before you allow a single millimetre for insulation or a bed frame.

Step up to the long-wheelbase versions and the picture changes completely: the Caddy Maxi offers around 2,150mm, the current Transit Connect L2 2,150mm, the Berlingo XL about 2,167mm. That extra 350mm is the difference between a van you can sleep in properly and one where you sleep diagonally with your feet in the tailgate.

If you plan to sleep in it, buy the long one. This is the single most consequential decision in a micro camper build, and it is made at the point you buy the van — not later.

Load height decides whether you can sit up. Small vans run around 1,270mm of internal height. Nobody stands up in a micro camper; the question is whether you can sit upright on the bed without stooping, and with a bed platform and mattress taking 300–400mm of that, the answer is usually "just about". This is the constraint that no clever design can engineer away, and it is the main reason people trade up to a mid-size van.

The Realistic Shortlist

VW Caddy / Caddy Maxi. The default UK micro camper base and the one most converters have proven designs for. Car-like to drive, plentiful on the used market, and the Maxi's 2,150mm load length works properly. You pay a VW premium over the Stellantis alternatives for what is, in load terms, a very similar van. Our VW Caddy camper guide covers it in detail.

Citroën Berlingo / Peugeot Partner / Vauxhall Combo / Toyota Proace City. Mechanically the same van under four badges, which makes it the value play: an XL gives one of the longest load bays in the class at around 2,167mm and roughly 1.2m between the wheel arches. If the badge does not matter to you, shopping all four widens the used market considerably and usually saves money for the same vehicle.

Ford Transit Connect. The current Transit Connect (2024 on) is built by Volkswagen alongside the Caddy, and its load dimensions match the Caddy's. Older Transit Connects are a different design and often keenly priced used. A sound choice that gets overlooked because the Caddy dominates the conversation.

Renault Kangoo and Fiat Doblò. Cheaper again and perfectly capable. Fewer converters have off-the-shelf designs for them, so expect a more bespoke — and therefore more expensive — conversion quote, which can cancel out the saving on the van.

What You Actually Get

A micro camper is a two-berth weekender, and the honest version of the specification is:

• A bed, usually a fixed platform with storage underneath, or a slide-out that extends into the boot space
• A slide-out or pull-out kitchen pod — typically a single-burner stove, a small sink and a cool box or compressor fridge
• A modest 12V system: leisure battery, LED lighting, USB charging, maybe a small solar panel
• Storage in the underbed void and door pockets
• No fixed toilet, no shower, no standing room

What people underestimate is how much of the living happens outside the van. A drive-away awning or a tailgate tent is close to essential for anything beyond an overnight stop, and most owners end up buying one within the first season. Budget for it up front.

What It Costs

Micro camper conversions are the cheapest professional builds on the market, typically running £6,000 to £15,000 for the fit-out depending on the specification and how much cabinetry is involved. A basic bed-and-storage build sits at the bottom of that; a full pod kitchen, compressor fridge, solar and a proper electrical system pushes towards the top.

Add a used small van and an all-in micro camper is achievable for well under the cost of a bare mid-size panel van, which is exactly the appeal.

DIY is genuinely viable here in a way it is not with a large van. The volumes are small, the furniture runs are short, and plenty of owners build a competent micro camper from a flat-pack kit over a few weekends.

Who a Micro Camper Actually Suits

It works well if you camp in ones and twos, take short trips, want a van that doubles as everyday transport, need to fit on a normal driveway or in a standard parking bay, and are happy that cooking and living happen largely outdoors.

It works badly if you want to stand up, cook properly in bad weather, travel for more than a few days at a time, need a toilet on board, or are tall. Height is the constraint people most often underestimate — spend an evening sitting in one before you commit.

The most common regret pattern is buying a standard-wheelbase van to save money, then discovering it is too short to sleep in comfortably. The second is buying a micro camper when what was actually wanted was a compact camper with a pop-top, which costs more but solves the standing-height problem.

If either of those describes you, our guide to choosing a base vehicle maps the whole size ladder from micro vans up to large panel vans, and the pop-top versus fixed roof guide covers the standing-height question in detail.

Finding a Converter

Fewer UK workshops specialise in small vans than in Transporters or large panel vans, and the design quality varies more as a result — a converter with a proven Caddy or Berlingo layout will produce a noticeably better-resolved van than one improvising. Ask to see photos of a completed build in your exact model and wheelbase, and check the bed length against your own height before you pay a deposit.