And once you’ve got all that and paid the site for your pitch

Site fees needn’t be expensive. Some are, many aren’t. £15/night is a lot cheaper than a budget hotel, and hanging out on a campsite is far more fun than hanging out in a hotel room, for those times you aren’t out doing stuff. Choose sites carefully – there are many crap ones – the smaller more out of the way ones are a lot better imo.

If going to the loo in the night bothers you, you can get standalone toilets and a toilet tent if you want your own. But it needn’t be a chore. Sleep in pajamas, put your flip flops/Birkies/crocs on. Such items are very useful when camping. As for showering – don’t. Or at least, don’t do it every day. You don’t stink after a day.

For the kids, get loads of outdoor toys. At that age we had toy golf sets, toy kites, foam swords, balls etc etc.

For sleeping get a thick foam self inflater, not an air bed. This Outwell 10cm job is really nice, we have one. The kids can have cheaper thin equivalents cos they aren’t as heavy.

Wee bottle obligatory.
Emergency poo bucket optional .
Colouring in books.
Soft balls ,loads of torches & spare socks & tea towels.
Snacks.snacks& more snacks.

With 2 kids:

Decent sleeping bags + self-inflating mats. We’ve had the odd sub zero night (unplanned), so best go overboard on the season ratings.
Fire pit. A cheap one is ideal.
Hatchet and bowsaw.
2 burners. Gas is easiest, but we still have an old msr, for the noise, faff and to remind me how we used to camp.
Biggest water container you can carry – minimises trips to the tap.
Storm lantern. Much nicer than a harsh gas lantern. Also good with citronella oil.
Gazebo – extra outside covered space.
Chairs, 2 tables.
A big bbq if you can fit it in.
Big stacking boxes for cooking stuff etc and one for food storage. You don’t want an unwelcome furry thing raiding your food stash in the middle of the night.
Smidge or other repellent. Ticks, midges, mosi’s – does the lot.

Boules, frisbee, cards, battleship etc.

Have fun.

Dunno. I always prefer a full-size one.

🙂

Your kids will love you for taking them camping. Personally I’m not a fan and have a van. But my kids love it. Nobody remembers the time the hotel reservation got lost. Everyone remembers the time the tent got blown away in a gale in Anglesey. We do overnighters in the Highlands.

Some French campsites have a toilet : shower block per pitch.

take one zinc bucket, drill four holes at 90 degrees about 10 cm from bottom. Put bolts through holes and use these to support a metal grid (old one from the kitchen oven)

DO NOT DO THIS.

Not with a zinc bucket.

Why not?

Ticks, midges, mosi’s – does the lot.

Which reminds me, as well as the SAK and phone, the only thing that I *always* try and remember to carry when camping is a tick-twister. It lives in the daypack.

We’ve camped a couple of times, but did it with friends and the camps were within an hour of home. Great laugh. As others have said you only need the basics. Fry up is easy, and for evening meal, pub or pre-prepared food ! You want to make a weekend easy !

I have friends who won’t go to basic sites – the shower block must have mirrors and plug points for hair straighteners etc, and electric hookup !

Gunz – Member
Why not?

Zinc fumes is nasty

Why not?

It’s galvanised and will release toxic nasty fumes and residues.

It’s galvanised and will release toxic nasty fumes and residues.

Fair enough. I’ve now done a bit of investigating and it seems that if you’re well ventilated (outside) it’s not too much of a problem.

“Table. Chairs. Cooker. Pans. Plates. Cutlery. Light. Stackable storage boxes. Coolbox.”
Cobblers
Tent is good! Something to keep you warm when sleeping is good. Blankets work perfectly. Job done. Anything else is a luxury. I would take other things but the above kept us happy as a family in days gone by.

A week in a eurocamp tent is going to be cheaper at this rate

We are in our fifth year starting from scratch.
Don’t get swept up in what is available to buy, it’ll just make it a burden to get set up.
Decent mattress is key, self inflating is really comfy.
We use those air sofa bags to sit on.
Simple briefcase style picnic table with child 5 sat on the cool box.
But, more than anything, it’s the site.
Good site, better chance of good times.
Nightmare site, it’ll be a nightmare and as said earlier, while mgmt might say they are strict, if they aren’t then it’s awful.
Case in point, our very first camping trip was ruined by tents crammed in and kids running round, ultimately resulting in one tripping over the guy line at the back and ripping the tent.
No idea who did it so just had to suck it up.
Haven’t been back, Silverdale if you want to know one to avoid.
We have found two or three that are perfect for us, small clean and well run.

We’ve stayed at one campsite where you had your own private toilet and bath in a block. Handy for locking the bike in too 😀
Couple of others we have stayed at have had family bathrooms, where if you time it right you can have a carp whilst the kids are in the bath

You don’t need loads of kit for a few weekends in the summer. The kids will love it, they always do.
A basic family tent, Argos, Halfords.
Sleeping bags & roll mats.
Basic cooker.
Cool box & ice blocks.
Ikea plastic crock set.
2 for £10 Tesco chairs.
Eat on your laps.
If it rains head to the pub.

I must admit I quite like a table, but there are lots of cheap fold flat options at Go Outdoors or similar.

But, more than anything, it’s the site.

This is true. I scope mine out on Google Earth before booking. You can see how they pack the tents in.

We used to use fathers static caravan.
We camped when kids were little.
Mrs_OAB froze, I got fed up of noisy sites and the mass of drying without a garage when we got home, and then I worked out the (increasing) cost of a good/nice site (this for me can include farmers field). Increasingly you pay per head as well as pitch, £2+showers etc.

For the last decade we have self catered, youth hostelled and Travelodge/Premier Inn’d.

I think it is cheaper, and makes a happier family. Hostels can have brilliant family rooms these days.

That said, I am a massive fan of this type of camping.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/4RD74U]100_5276.JPG[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

But detest this.

Here is my list (keep lots of it stored in boxes ready to go)…

Ohh, and Top Tip – *DON’T* buy it all new, just get yourself on Ebay and get it all for a fraction of the new price – we got the whole set-up (including to family tents) for £180 (pretty much everything listed below)

Items ready-packed
Tent
Inflatable mattresses
Kitchen unit
2-ring stove with grill
Large single gas ring
Single gas hob x 2
Calor Gas bottle
Gas heater
Foldaway table with integral chairs
High volume hand pump
Electric pump
Electric hook-up with RCD
Adult foldaway chairs
Cooking utensils
Crockery and cutlery
Water carrier
Piezo lighter

Additional things we need to pack
Bin bags
Tea towels
Girls’ camp chairs
Mini fridge
Can opener
Mallet
Washing-up bowl
Light for tent
Head torches
Maglite torch
Mini torches for girls
Extension cable
Windbreak
Sleepings bags x 2
Washing up utensils

That said, I am a massive fan of this type of camping.

See.. hanging out there for an afternoon would be a joy. Sitting in a Premier in room all afternoon would be awful. And yes I know you go out, but being out all day every day can be tiring, sometimes you want to chill on holiday. And the riverside would be far better chilling.

If you want to be able to sit around in the rain without lying in a tent, you could get a gazebo – my sister has one of those sideless dome Coleman ones – or you can use a large tarp like we do. It’s not as good as the gazebo in wind and rain mind.

Ooo, love the idea of a weekend by that river! How do you find places like that? 🙂

My top two tips would be to go to Decathlon for a popup family tent (cheap 4 berth, put it up inside five minutes, clever design, surprisingly robust for the price, much cheaper and lighter than air frame), and to use two single mattresses to sleep on – you tend to roll together with a double. Two singles with a double bedsheet and duvet FTW. 🙂

this is STW and no-ones mentioned a wood burning stove?
So Wood burning stove and some peat

I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t really like the idea of camping as a family on one of those big sites

The faff of ‘moving house’ is a right turn off – packing car, getting to site, making camp, then decamping and packing car, drying stuff off when you get home etc

I camp/bivi regularly, but it’s always back to basics. I love that aspect of it.

All family (and dog) trips have been self-catering/AirBnB. Less hassle, if ALWAYS rains on one of week long holidays

I’m fine with being wet, and my kit being wet. But everyone else being wet is less fun..

I’ll probably do a bit of family camping next year, just for kicks. And despite the above. But only for a long weekend I’d guess

I’d like to add that with 2 small kids and my wife and I both being 8 hour sleepers our first camping experience with them was tough. They were up at 4:30-5am jumping all over us so we splashed out on a black out roomed tent. Kids now sleep past 8 am (better than they do at home) and everyone’s happy!

I camp/bivi regularly, but it’s always back to basics. I love that aspect of it.

We’ve de-faffed. We have a 4 person dome tent that is only big enough for the four of us to sleep in; then we have a large tarp for outdoor shelter under which we can all sit on four camping chairs. It’s quick to set up.

Re sleeping – we’re just lucky, our kids are always 7am risers. Unless it’s a school day, then it’s about 15 minutes after we need them to get up.

this is STW and no-ones mentioned a wood burning stove?
So Wood burning stove and some peat

I had a friend with one of those canvas teepees and wood stoves, they were both absolute and unmitigated s##te.

Camp at the YHA’s
Toilet/ Shower block.
Self Catering kitchen.
On the doorstep of Grizedale forest
Ace weekend away
Bike shed.
Slap up meal in YHA if you CBA

I’ve got a canvas tent and a wood burning stove (not the one in the pic). And they are both unmitigated brilliance.

I’ve done all kinds of different camping, and what you “need” really varies depending on what you want to get out of it (home from home, or back to nature?).

I don’t want to repeat what people have said, so i’ll chuck in a few random things:-

– sitting around outside in the evening in the UK at any time of year is miserable without a fire – check you can at least have a bbq that you can then cheekily chuck on a few bits of wood later for a mini blaze.

– expect rain in the UK – if camping with kids a laptop pre-loaded with films (and enough charge to get through a few of them, or some way of charging it) is a lifesaver for those rainy bank holiday weekends.

– actually, if you’re in a tent just cancel it if heavy rain is forecast all weekend, or plan a lot of time in the pub 🙂

– decent, thick, self-inflating mattresses for the adults are a life saver if you don’t like waking up with a dead arm

– campervans are much, much better but won’t save you any money in the long run – I think our last one worked out about £250 night over the two years we owned it, taking everything into account.