For hundreds of thousands of people across the UK, towing a caravan or motorhome behind your car is a common occurrence.

Likewise, those living near the sea may find themselves hitching up a boat more frequently during the summer months to make the most of the good weather.

However, which is the best car for towing? We’ve taken a look at the current crop of load-luggers and come up with five of the best.

Land Rover Discovery

Although getting a little long in the tooth now, the Discovery is still one of the towing kings. First and foremost, it can tow an impressive 3,500kg. Also, with optional Trailer Stability Assist, it’s the perfect car for reliable and steady towing.

Though soon to be replaced, the Discovery is still a good-looking car.

Some interior touches are a little old hat, and its economy isn’t up to the standard of rivals.

However, the Discovery can seat seven in comfort, while also offering impressive off-road capabilities. If you’re looking for a car that can do anything and go anywhere, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than the Discovery. Reaching the end of its lifetime, you’ll probably get a good deal on one, too.

Volvo XC90

The Volvo XC90 one of the latest cars in the Swedish carmaker’s line-up, and as such features all manner of cutting-edge technology. Not only this, but it’s a capable towing car, able to trailer 2,700kg behind it.

It’s also got an impressive 1,868-litre cargo capacity, meaning that there’s plenty of room inside for the odds and ends that often come with longer trips.

Similar to the Discovery, the XC90 can seat seven people while keeping them all supremely safe. It was awarded five stars in the 2015 Euro NCAP safety tests, and was the first car to ever score full points in the Euro NCAP Autonomous Emergency Braking Car to Car rear-end tests. The XC90 keys into Volvo’s commitment to make sure that no one is seriously injured or killed in one of its cars by the year 2020.

Skoda Superb

Going up against two premium seven-seaters was never going to be easy, but thankfully the Skoda Superb is just the car to take on the challenge. Despite being a standard saloon car, the Superb is able to tow 1,800kg - more than enough for a normal-size caravan.

The 168bhp diesel version is the best choice to go for, as it offers enough power to keep up with regular traffic, as well as making joining motorways safer.

The benefit of using the Superb as a towing car is that when uncoupled, it’s a comfortable and efficient car. It’ll return around 60mpg combined, though this is likely to fall by at least half when towing, but this is still quite an acceptable figure.

Ford Mondeo

In a similar vein to the Superb, the Mondeo is excellent as both a towing car and as a standard day-to-day vehicle.

It also has the same towing weight of the Superb, sitting at a comfortable 1,800kg. However, the Mondeo offers a slightly more sporting drive than the Superb, owing to its more dynamic suspension set-up.

The Ford is also well-known to be one of the best handling cars in its class, offering an involving drive at a competitive price. It’s got a solid and robust interior too, meaning it’ll take just about everything you can throw at it.

Volkswagen Amarok

It’s the first pickup truck on this list, and it’s one of the best out there. The Amarok offers a car-like driving experience, but with all the benefits that come with a pickup.

With a new 3.0-litre turbocharged diesel under the bonnet, the Amarok isn’t wanting for power. Because of the large engine, it has an impressive towing capability of 3,000kg. If you pick the 4Motion automatic car, it’ll happily pull along an incredible 3.5 tonnes.

The Amarok is also a car with a good amount of safety technology on board. As standard ESP is fitted, as is an electronic differential lock.

Also included is Post Collision System, which is there to limit the amount of damage that could be caused by secondary impacts following the first crash.

Although you won’t find the Amarok’s economy to be as good as the others on the list, it’s still a viable option given its large load bay and surprisingly roomy double-cab layout.