The best caravan awning is an important piece of touring gear. After all, no matter how luxurious and spacious your caravan may be, you are still almost certainly going to want to expand the space with an awning, particularly with a caravan, as it is likely to stay in one place longer than a motorhome.
Whether you’re in the throes of buying your first caravan, upgrading to something bigger or even downsizing to a more bijou model, there’s always an important part of the purchase you should never overlook, and that is whether or not you will need to buy a new awning to replace your existing one.
A well-made option from one of the best caravan awning manufacturers brings you that much closer to the great outdoors, often thanks to a panoramic view through the front panel. With a seasonal pitch it can even start to make your towing outfit feel like a home from home, with separate rooms. At the other end of the scale, even a porch awning should provide somewhere for you to store your bikes to keep them out of the wet, or, just possibly, an extra sleeping space for an unexpected visitor.
And if you are worried about how to put a caravan awning up, you’ll find it’s simple, once you get used to it.
There is a huge variety of awnings out there. Here, we’re sharing our favourite options on the market – whether you’re looking for the best air awning for a caravan or are interested in a more traditional type, there’s bound to be an option for you.
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The best caravan awnings
Vango Balletto Air Elements Proshield
Camptech Savanna DL
Telta Sky Link
Isabella Nordic
Outdoor Revolution Sportlite Air
Telta Scenic
Sunn Camp Deluxe
Isabella Penta
Dometic Tour
Quest Falcon Pro
The best caravan awning
Vango Balletto Air Elements Proshield
Reason to buy:
- A very competent standard awning at a good price
Reason to avoid:
- Not a traditional awning shape
Vango’s Proshield fabric, made with Colourlok technology that is designed to reduce fading from UV light, is now well-established in the market.
This awning features single point inflation, which makes putting it up so much easier, something that the best caravan awning will always provide, but also multiple point deflation. That’s something worth having with an air awning, especially a large one like this, because otherwise air can get trapped within the system and can take a while to press out. (Believe me, deflating an air awning can sometimes take as long as putting up a poled awning if you don’t have this.)
The Balletto also includes larger beams for better support, Vango’s Diamond Clear windows that are meant to provide a clearer view, and a flat entrance way to make it easier to bring a pram or wheelchair inside.
Find out more at Vango.
Camptech Savanna DL
Reason to buy:
- A great entry level awning
Reason to avoid:
- With steel frames, it is a bit on the heavy side
Camp-tech’s Savanna DL range is a traditionally shaped poled awning (with a pitched roof) made with the company’s all season Climatech SR18 fabric. What this means is it’s a great choice if you plan to go caravanning in winter.
You also get Unilok pads to try to create a seamless join between the awning and the caravan. In warmer weather, you can remove all four panels to turn the awning effectively into a canopy. Or you can fold one of them down over an optional verandah pole.
Optional Techline secure straps are also available for when the weather gets really stormy. Something else we like about this is that the awning is also blissfully lightweight.
Find out more at Camptech.
Telta Sky Link
Reason to buy:
- You may not need to pack it away
Reason to avoid:
- It’s essentially a canopy with extras
A new model from Telta for 2025, the Sky Link is unusual in that you can store it in a dedicated bag that you can keep attached to the awning rail, even when you are on the move. When you arrive on site you just unzip the bag and then roll it out onto its poles, and when you come to move on you just roll it back up again.
The best awning for a caravan should offer convenience, and that’s certainly something that we reckon the Sky Link offers. A pole included within the bag even makes it possible for someone to do this on their own.
Optional front and side panels mean you can also turn this canopy into a full awning if you want to. The awning is currently available in just one 400 size.
Price: £555.55 at Telta
Isabella Nordic
Reason to buy:
- A solid structure for winter touring
Reason to avoid:
- Possibly too costly if you are unlikely to go away in the cold months
New last year, Isabella’s Nordic awning is designed very much as an awning for a seasonal or possibly even year-round pitch. You can tell that from its strong PVC roof, which is thicker than most awning roofs and so keeps more heat in, and from the external blinds, which stop anyone having a sneaky look in when you are away from the site.
While the roof has great insulation, the sides are still made of the Danish company’s very own Isacryl acrylic fabric, which is breathable. Extra ventilation panels on the sides at the front, as well as in a triangular shape in the middle, make sure the interior is as comfortable as possible in an awning that our judging panel picked as the best caravan awning on the market at the Practical Caravan Awards 2024. Isacryl is also fibre-dyed at source, so it should not fade in the sunlight.
All side and front panels are interchangeable, so if you move to a new site you can easily position the doors if the new pitch makes the original position less convenient.
The poled awning has galvanised steel poles, which should never rust, with double wing nuts to keep them fully secure right through the long period the awning is likely to be up.
It’s available in two different depths – 3m and 2.4m. And you also get interior curtains, a verandah bar, draft skirts and a wheel arch cover all included as standard.
Price: from £2476.99 at Isabella
Outdoor Revolution Sportlite Air
Reason to buy:
- As its name implies, it’s lightweight
Reason to avoid:
- Only middling for water resistance
Outdoor Revolution likes to boast that its awnings are designed by caravanners for caravanners. Well, those caravanners clearly have got at least one thing right, in making this range ultra lightweight – with this model weighing less than 19kg, so it could easily be carried by one person.
The awning has single point inflation and two-point deflation, to make life easy. Both front panels can be fully rolled back or completely removed, while an optional side annexe can be fitted in place of either of the side panels to create an extra bedroom. Extras included as standard include mesh windows you can zip into the side panels and zip-up curtains.
Find out more at Outdoor Revolution.
Telta Scenic
Reason to buy:
- It gives you an unobstructed view
Reason to avoid:
- Telta is still a relatively new name in the market
An awning is meant to give you a glorious uninterrupted view of the surrounding countryside, possibly much better than you would get from inside your caravan on its own. The only trouble is, all too often this is obscured by the structure of the awning requiring a large central pillar at the front.
We like how the new Scenic awning from Telta solves this problem by having a clear window extending the full length of its front panel, while the awning is still supported by strengthened air tubes in the ceiling and sides. Such a large window also lets in loads of light, banishing any sense of gloominess inside the awning.
The Scenic, which is designed for both caravans and motorhomes, is available in two different widths – 3.9m (390) and £4.9m (490)
Price: £2488.88 (390); £2622.23 (490) at Telta
Dometic Tour
Reason to buy:
- A good general awning with plenty of light and ventilation
Reason to avoid:
- Quite a traditional look, if that’s not your thing
The Tour range of awnings is new for 2025 from Dometic. Available in Rally (lean-to), Club (pitched roof) designs, as well as Residence and Grande designs for more seasonal pitches, they come in a variety of size and are all made with dope-dyed ripstop polyester fabric for enhanced UV resistance.
They have larger, more simplified windows that are designed to let in more light. They have adjustable heights too, so you could transfer them from one caravan to another. Apex ventilation helps to keep condensation down. And finally all air poles, valves and connectors come in matching colours, for that completist look.
Look out in particular for the Grande Air Tour, which includes an extra window on each side but is still only 3m deep.
Price: from £535 at Dometic
Sunn Camp Deluxe
Reason to buy:
- Very lightweight
Reason to avoid:
- Probably not for all year round
Made with a steel and fibreglass frame and coming in at just 11.5kg, this porch awning from Sunn Camp has impressive water resistance qualities and now comes with an optional roof lining to keep condensation down, as well as an optional side sun canopy, which can be fitted on either side.
As standard you also get an external peggable mud wall for extra weather protection. Other optional extras include a canopy for the front door, a luxury awning carpet or a breathable groundsheet, and a two-berth inner tent.
Find out more at Sunn Camp.
Check the latest price on Amazon now.
Isabella Penta
Reason to buy:
- It will really create a home from home
Reason to avoid:
- A depth of 3.5m might be too big for some pitches, especially if you already have a 8ft-wide caravan
This five-sided awning (hence the name), some 3.5m deep, is mainly designed for a permanent pitch, so Isabella has given it extra features such as canopies all the way around and an acrylic fabric that, at 290g/sq m, is the thickest acrylic the company produces. It comes with galvanised steel poles, but you can opt for mega-steel poles instead, for extra strength.
Light panels in the roof let extra daylight in, and there are clever innovations in the design too: one of the corner panels features a door (complete with an optional door canopy), while the other has a window, and these can be swapped around if your pitch is better suited with the door on the other side. The same is true of the side panels, one of which includes a mesh window and a door.
Price: from £2563 at Isabella
Quest Falcon Pro
Reason to buy:
- A good beginner’s awning
Reason to avoid:
- Probably not for all-year-round touring
Miriad Quest Leisure (formerly Quest Leisure, before it was taken over) imports the German Westfield brand of awnings, and also makes its own. The Falcon range is an example of the latter. This awning is light enough to be erected by one person on their own (something the company tests out itself before awarding any product the “single person pitch” badge), uses a minimal amount of poles, and, because it is poled can be packed away into a much smaller bag than you would find with conventional awnings.
The Quest Tec 75 fabric is not the most robust when it comes to water resistance. (You need to look for the hydrostatic head reading when checking this. That is officially the depth of water the fabric can hold: here it is only 3000mm, when you can get awnings with a reading of 5000m or more.) But it does UPF rating of 50+, giving you great protection from the sun. The price shouldn’t put you off if you are still undecided about awnings either.
Check the latest price on Amazon now.
How to choose the best awning for a caravan
To choose the best caravan awning, you’ll want to make sure it’s the right size for your requirements. It’s not automatically a case of the bigger it is, the better it is. The largest awnings have a weight of 40kg+, and this is something you’re going to need to store, transport, unpack and put up.
John Sootheran, for instance, recommends buying “the smallest awning you can comfortably get away with to do the job”. Air awnings are a great idea for those who are less mobile.
When it comes to a porch awning, you’ll want to choose a size that suits your caravan’s dimensions, as well as taking the placement of the doors and windows into account. If it obstructs a window, it will prevent it from opening. Similarly, you will not want the ancillaries, like the heating and fridge, venting into an awning either.
If you want to get a full awning, it will come with the A-measurement. Essentially, this is the distance from the ground up to the awning rail, all the way around the rail, then down to the ground at the other end (in centimetres). This measurement may be included in your tourer’s technical spec, but if you can’t find it, carefully measure it yourself, and ensure you know it before choosing your awning.
In some instances, the A-measurement then gets converted into a size number – this is something your dealer should be able to offer guidance on, while if you’re buying one privately, we explain more in the section below.
Are caravan awnings worth it?
A caravan awning is a worthwhile investment if you’re looking to enhance your touring experience without having to buy a new tourer.
Choose the right one and you’ll be able to enjoy extra room that can be used for storage, a place for daytime activities or even somewhere for people to sleep.
There are two types of caravan awning available – full awnings, which will typically double your living space, and porch awnings, which will only cover a side of the tourer.
How do I know what awning will fit my caravan?
Knowing how to measure a caravan awning will be an important part of ensuring you get the right size. The diagram below explains how to measure your caravan. Cross-reference the measurements from ground to ground (A-B-C) with the numbers from the chart below to work out the awning size you require.
- 4: 725-750
- 5: 750-775
- 6: 775-800
- 7: 800-825
- 8: 825-850
- 9: 850-875
- 10: 875-900
- 11: 900-925
- 12: 925-950
- 13: 950-975
- 14: 975- 1000
- 15: 1000-1025
- 16: 1025-1050
- 17: 1050-1075
- 18: 1075-1100
- 19: 1100-1125
- 20: 1125-1150
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