Beza, our campervan - a 9-seat Iveco Daily with a bed

On 2 July 2023 we drove from Poznań towards Bydgoszcz on the S5 expressway and came back in a big white van. The Iveco Daily has nine seats and a bed behind the last row. It got its name straight away: Beza, which means "meringue" in Polish.

Why a van with a bed

For years we slept in a tent at campsites. Since our youngest daughter was born in 2021, there are seven of us, and Lamia, our golden retriever, travels with us too.

We wanted a car that fits the whole family and that we can sleep in. The idea was simple: a 9-seat passenger van with space to sleep behind the seats.

Ads that disappeared within a week

There are very few cars like this on the used market. When an ad for a 9-seat van in good condition appeared, it was usually gone a week later.

We bought Beza second-hand, and she had one big advantage: the conversion had already started. There was a bed behind the last row of seats, so the van matched what we were looking for.

What Beza has

When we picked her up, she had:

• nine seats, including the driver's seat,
• a bed behind the last row, with a mattress and cushions,
• a wooden table between the seats,
• a TV under the roof,
• space for a water canister under the bed,
• a touch screen with a reversing camera, very useful in such a big car.

We could not wait for our first trip with a night in the van.

Our first holiday in Beza

Six weeks later we took Beza on our first trip abroad: through Germany to Bavaria, then to Lake Garda and Lake Ledro, with a SUP board in the back. You can read about it in Our first campervan holiday: Bavaria, Garda and Ledro.

The rebuild after the first winter

After our first winter there was damp and mould in Beza, so we stripped it to bare metal and built a new interior. You can read how we did it in Rebuilding our campervan from bare metal.

Practical info

Checked in November 2026.

• Driving licence: in the EU a category B licence covers vehicles up to 3.5 t with up to 8 passenger seats, so you can drive a 9-seat van up to 3.5 t with a normal car licence. Beza's maximum permitted weight is exactly 3.5 t, and it can tow another 3.5 t.
• Trailer: with category B you can tow only a light trailer, up to 750 kg, behind a van like this. For a trailer up to 3.5 t you need a BE licence.
• Searching: used 9-seat vans sell fast, so set up alerts for new ads and be ready to go and see a car quickly.
• Height: a high-roof van does not fit into many underground car parks, and on Italian motorways it pays a higher toll (class B, when the vehicle is more than 1.3 m high at the front axle).