What size?

[Munnik]

We are new to trailer camping. We are considering either the 28' or 30' international serenity. We want to stay primarily at NPs and State Parks as well as boondocking. Some have told us the 30' is too big. What do you think? We have 4 dogs ( long story) so we need all the room we can get.

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by Munnik

We are new to trailer camping. We are considering either the 28' or 30' international serenity. We want to stay primarily at NPs and State Parks as well as boondocking. Some have told us the 30' is too big. What do you think? We have 4 dogs ( long story) so we need all the room we can get.

Have you spent any time in them? If not, you should go to a dealer and check them out. Try to spend as much time as you can, and pretend you're using it in the way you plan to. That should help you know which size would be right for your needs.

[AnnArborBob]

Get the size trailer you need to be comfortable (in general, bigger is better.) You will be able to stay in many national, state parks, other public campgrounds and boon dock with either size trailer. Obviously, the longer the trailer the more limited you will be. We have a 27 footer and have seen places where only a 16 footer would fit. But there are plenty of choices available to you with that size of Airtream. As far as the choice between the 27 (which is really 28 feet long) and the 30, you will find that the 30 footer limits you very little compared to the 27.

[mandolindave]

If the inside of the trailer is big…..so is the outside of the trailer.

Do you have room to store it? Do you care about gas mileage?

A trailer is usually always too small while you are camping. and too big while you are on the road

[n2916s]

Been all over the lower 48 and stayed in dozens and dozens of state and federal parks (both NPS and NFS) and I have only been unable to get in two. Of course, my 31' Sovereign has mysteriously shrunk to 30' on occasion to make the Recreation.Gov website happy but no one has ever measured...

Get what you want -- you'll always find a site to suit

Mike

[dkottum]

Maneuverability has more to do with tow vehicle wheelbase than trailer length. But trailer length matters if the site is 25' long and the trailer is 28-30' long.

Getting into and out of gas stations can be a greater problem than campsites, and if you decide to visit Old Town on your way through things get really dicey. So there are travel or space compromises either way, which is why most modern RV's have slide outs.

None of this really matters between a 28 and 30, most people tow either with hefty trucks these days so may as well get the 30 for its good extra features.

[BAB]

Wise words I listened to when I bought my first Airstream: "find the one you like, then get the next size larger." I was in the market for a 25' and bought a 28'. Now I have a 30 Classic. Go figure!

[Wingeezer]

I was unhappy to move from a 27' SOB to a 31' AS, because I felt that it would limit us in the parks we could enter.

But in the end we did so, because we wanted an AS, and we had to go to 31' to get the AS layout that we wanted. But we bought it with some trepidation.

We have had it now for about 6 years and no regrets! We have not found it as limiting as we thought it might be, and we certainly do enjoy the extra space it offers. We don't feel any need to move to any larger unit as this suits us fine - it would be tough now to move to anything smaller though!

But I do think that it very much depends on your personal preferences.

We are equally happy in full service, 55+ all amenities parks as well as in
state/provincial/national parks, in fact truth be told, we probably have a slight preference for the full service commercial parks with pull through sites, full hookups, wifi, pool, etc. should I be embarrassed to 'fess up to that?!

But we do also enjoy state parks as well, even with no hookups. A nice contrast with large sites, peace and quiet , nature , and all that good stuff!

As long as I check ahead to ensure there is no issue with our size trailer, we have never experienced a problem.

Don't know if that helps in your decision or not, but it has been our experience - I don't really recall any state parks we wanted to visit where we have not been able to get into due to our trailer length, but I am sure there could be some.

We don't venture to far off the beaten track though, as others might!

Good luck with your choice!

Brian