So this is what adventure feels like: After three and a half decades of driving, I venture out on a motorhome holiday with my partner Carla for the first time. We leave the route open because of the current “April-Summer” and only roughly define the regions: Jura, Lac de Joux, Lake Geneva, Valais. Good preparation is everything: Carla’s camping experience comes into play when equipping the galley: She has pans with removable handles, multifunctional cutlery and puts the spices in small shakers. I am amazed and learn. We stow laptops, leisure gear and clothes neatly in so-called rako boxes so that nothing slips or rattles later. We also decide to take a pavilion tent as rain protection in addition to the stand-up paddle. We have to do without our bikes due to the lack of a suitable bike rack. But because our nugget offers 220 volts, I insist on my Nespresso machine. So much luxury is allowed.
Carla has tent experience, but she is also a camper newbie. And so, after we have stowed our luggage and groceries and filled the water tank, we decide to spend the first night not far from home at the edge of the forest (wild camping is usually forbidden in Switzerland unless you ask the landowner). Quasi a test night. With a glass of wine, we enjoy the sunset on the Nugget’s folding camping chairs, later fold out the high roof and climb the small ladder into bed – a surprisingly comfortable, 1.38-meter-wide lounger with a slatted frame. Sleeping in the wilderness works surprisingly well. Fascinating how many noises you can hear in the forest at night. But shortly before sunrise the first problem – the bladder is squeezing. Of course, there is no toilet in our nugget. Carla’s old camper wisdom is: “The next tree is your toilet.”
Nugget advantage: the roof rises at the back
In the morning I hang the duvet over the open passenger door to air while Carla prepares breakfast. We discovered a big advantage of the nugget over other campers: Because the nugget roof does not rise at the front, but at the back and the kitchen is also built into the rear of the vehicle, you can always stand comfortably upright there and handle the gas stove or washbasin with running water.
After the dress rehearsal, we start and drive on small country roads into the Jura to St-Ursanne, where we find the small, idyllic Tariche campsite right outside the Doubs. The campsite attendant says we are lucky to have another spot. Please call ahead next time. So although there is no holiday season, the camper boom is having an impact. The friendly groundskeeper helps spontaneously with an additional extension cable when our cable reel turns out to be too short. Finally on the electricity, I start our espresso machine.
Drive: 2.0-liter R4 turbodiesel, 185 PS (136 kW), 415 Nm from 1750 rpm, 6-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Driving performance: Top 180 km / h
Dimensions: Length / width / height 4.97 / 2.08 / 2.06 to 3.10 m with raised roof, empty weight 2463 to 2968 kg
Consumption: Factory / test 6.9 / 7.9 l / 100 km, 182/208 g / km CO2, Energy efficiency G
Price: from CHF 70,950 (test car including options CHF 76,260)
The weather is hot. We’re happy when we sleep, the sleeping compartment in the roof has mosquito screens on the windows. It’s just a shame, our nugget doesn’t have any mosquito repellent for the passenger cabin. “These are available as accessories”, knows an enthusiastic nugget owner from the very beginning, whom we meet by chance and who regularly drives to Greece with the camper she bought at the pension.
The next day we drive over side streets to Lac de Joux, where we – able to learn – have registered and reserved by phone. There the gas stove is put into operation for the first time – spaghetti bolo, a primitivo and an espresso for dessert from the machine. Then it’s off to the European Football Championship public viewing and the next day to a mountain hike on the Haut du Mollendruz with a great view from Lake Neuchâtel to Lake Geneva.
The high roof is completely waterproof
After further stays on Lake Geneva in Vevey VD and on Lake Neuchâtel in Gampelen BE, where a violent thunderstorm recently flooded campsite Fanel, we feel the advantages of our camper. The tent walls of the Nugget high roof are completely waterproof – we can move around, cook and eat at the folding table to a certain extent in the bus. Because it doesn’t have to be, we don’t set foot in the puddles of water.
After a trip to Klöntalersee GL due to the weather (it is not possible to make reservations there), we spend our last week in Valais on the surprisingly little busy TCS campsite on the Iles near Sion. The nugget is still convincing. The 185 hp Ford, which can be driven like a normal car with its automatic gearshift, is predestined for day trips into the narrow side valleys. We quickly come up the narrow serpentines with the front-wheel drive, and when a fearful Dutchman with – cliché, cliché – caravan team comes towards us, the several hundred meters back in the nugget on the narrow, steep mountain road thanks to the reversing camera and two-part exterior mirrors is not a terrible drudgery.
Our conclusion: the longer our tour lasted, the more we grew fond of the nugget. It is perfect for exploring the most remote corners of our country with its many narrow mountain roads. Thanks to its relatively compact dimensions and car-like driving behavior, it is faster, more manageable and more economical than the larger and more luxurious motorhomes, but still offers sufficient comfort. A permanently installed coffee machine is also available as an option.