Berlingo DIY camping conversions

The Citroen Berlingo, no matter what size, is an iconic car in the camping community. Many car campers have converted their Berlingo to a camper, there are Berlingo-specific groups and forums.

It may not be the biggest, the most comfortable or it doesn’t have the biggest boot of all everyday cars, but it has found its place as the number one car converted into a camper.

The main reason is probably its affordability and ease of maintenance. Especially if you want to gut the boot and turn it into your own camping/sleeping space, an affordable car like the Berlingo is the easiest option.

You’ll find a collection of the best Berlingo camping conversions on this page.

Small / city cars Medium cars, SUVs Big cars, MPVs, Minivans

VW Caddy VW Sharan Dacia US Cars Skoda Berlingo SUV Toyota Roomster

The Berlingo is one of the most often converted cars for camping. Despite not being the biggest – very likely because of its affordability and availability (and availability bias – when you Google small campers, you’ll see a lot of Berlingos, so people naturally assume those are the best, but they are not, read on…).

The Berlingo (and its similar cousins – Vauxhall Combo, Peugeot Partner) is a good car for car camping, but not as good for general driving & comfort during long journeys. It’s not the longest MPV out there (although it’s one of the widest) but offers very good mileage and low maintenance costs. It’s also very well priced – there are plenty of used van or MPV versions to be found. It’s best suited to fill the role of your second car that you can rebuild for camping. If you want it as your main car, it’s good if your budget is low, but otherwise, you’re better off with one of the more comfy and reliable or bigger MPV in our DB.

Key information

Car type: MPV/Minivan
Make: Citroen / Peugeot
Folded seats boot length (cm): long 180 / van 217, standard 176
Boot height (cm): 112 / van 120
Boot width (cm): 144
avg MPG (US): 37.2⁽¹⁾
avg l/100km consumption: 6.3⁽¹⁾
EURO NCAP safety rating (2018 – the 2014 rating was 3/5) – 4/5
ADAC rating (lower = better) – 2.5/5

Berlingo NimbleCamper rating: 3.5/5

Citroen Berlingo

Berlingo PROs

one of the cheapest cars with good camping capabilities on the market
easy to maintain, no expensive or hard to get parts
sliding middle doors
front passenger backrest can be folded down horizontally to form a table
roof window (some models)
roof shelf (some models)
split tailgate opening (some models – open just the window or the entire tailgate – see demonstration here)
front seat folds down to form a table if needed
flat tailgate (boot) loading area

Berlingo CONs

boot length is only 180cm in the long model – meaning you have to push the front seats forward each time you have the bed extended, which reduces storage space.
lower level of interior comfort – lower-quality materials
not a 4×4 – ok for some off-road, but not too much (some 4×4 models are available as used too)

Can you sleep in a Citroen Berlingo / Peugeot Partner?

Yes you can! You’d be surprised how many people already do… It’s mainly used for DIY microcamping conversions – meaning you will take the back seats out and make a bed yourself + turn it into a 2 seater with a bed. But if you want to have a 5-7 seater with a reversible bed (fold the back seats down, have a bed, lift them up and hide the bed), you should look at my Sharan or Caddy reviews.

Read the full Berlingo camper review