Camping - what do I need to know?

apples1

In order to try and get a holiday by the beach on a very limited budget I am wondering whether camping would be an idea?

We don't have a tent and know nothing about camping at all!. Can you go to a site where they provide the tent (already up!) or do you take your own? I certainly wouldn't buy one so is there an alternative - can you rent them? I looked into caravan holiday but they are still around £500 for a week in Aug in Dorset even if you go for a "basic" one.

I would want to be comfortable, and facilities must be to a good standard (could not bear chilly showers or grubby toilets!)

Would campers out there please educate a complete novice in what I should be looking for?!

harrie_2

me and my lot camped for years started off small then built up

it the cheapeast hol you can get most camp sites have good showers
toilets but you may have to Q for the showers

by your post you are not that dedicated you can get tents already
assembled at haven but it will cost a lot to rent a tent you can buy one
second hand just the same price how many going plus kids
i done this for years go abroad now kids are up

you got to have a open mind for camping but had some good years

apples1

I guess we could buy one on e bay and then sell it back on there if we don't take to it?!

Don't want to have to go out to eat - how do you keep food cool without a fridge and what do you need/use for cooking facilities? What sort of tent would we need? What else do I need to consider??!!

flea72

it costs just as much to rent a ready erected tent as it does to rent a caravan!

also campsites arent as cheap as most people expect them to be. for a newby camper i would suggest going to one of the bigger sites with more facilities. but expect to pay about £25+ a night for one of those. even a basic field with toilet will set you back around £14 a night

as for a tent, go for the biggest you are prepared to pay. You can get a fairly decent 4 person tent from places like Blacks for about £100, which will last you years. As for all the other equipment you need, that can be built up over time. you tend to know after one night in tent, what is gonna be the must have thing. i would say the only requirements are a water holder, a washing-up bowl and a stove, be that a one ring burner (£15) or a camp kitchen, with 3 burners and a grill (£70), some people even get by just using a small gas bbq (£40), or even the disposable ones, it just depends on whether you are going to cook for yourself to keep prices down, or go for meals out

you dont 'need' tables and chairs, a sheet of plastic with a blanket on will suffice in the meantime. again, sleeping bags arent essential, just use your duvets/pillows from home. airbeds, do help with hard ground, but again, the thin, cheap yoga mats work just as well short term

another essential ive found is wellies and pool shoes. wellies as they are easy to slip on and off for trips to the loos in the night, and the pool shoes, because no matter how clean the toilets/showers are, you still dont want to stand on the floor, especially if they have cut the grass on the camp recently (it gets everywhere!)

if you have kids, then go for a tent which has a large living area, and if possible, put a ground sheet down on it, as that way on rainy days, you at least have somewhere to sit/play and watch the rain outside

really the only expense that is a must is the tent, everything else, can be got around somehow, altough if you at least have a one ring burner stove and a saucepan, you can at least make a cuppa, potnoodle, mashed potated, curry, spag bol, variations on an egg, etc.

hth Flea

harrie_2

two ring burner is anough its amazing what meals u can come up with

if you go second hand you will find they will sell the bits and bobs with it
just to get u started all sites have a cool block facility take a cool bag extra cool blocks they will freeze them for you tin food is ideal
2 tins soup pint water stock cube salt and pepper and as many potatoes
u can fit in drop dumplings in loaf bread 1 full family

this can be done with c beef tin steak we used to have hol box
go shopping drop something in the box

my lot still ask now can we have camping soup

go andbuy throw away barbicues for a pound find a shop chuck the burgers

on i buy paper plates washing up can be a chore

wasnt that easy at first you will find some things are a must
bucket for the kids to wee in:eek: saves getting up going to the shower room

raffe

Hi there, Try https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk brilliant site with a really good forum with all the information you should need on equipment and sites, also check out https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk this is the website of the camping club who have a network of sites throughout UK have a look through their site and you will get ideas for prices per night and also and idea of what there campsites sites are like.

jaymac_2

Take a look in the Argos catalogue, my daughter just bought a basic tent with 2 sleeping bags, 2 bedrolls and 2 backpacks for about £35. You'll see the other things available for camping too and be able to decide what you'll need.

Penny_Farthing_2

Hi
It would help if you could tell me how many children you have, if any, and what age/gender they are. Then I could tell you the bare minimum you'd need. How many adults are going? I agree about ukcampsites website - fantastic.

apples1

There would be two adults (myself and my husband) and our daughter who would be almost four.

Having read the helpful posts (cheers to you all!) I am thinking its a lot to buy unless we want to live off sausage and beans for a week! The reason for going self catering is to save money (i.e - no eating out) but it sounds so basic for cooking especially if the weather turned bad that i think we would have to eat out a bit which would really deceive the point! Also once our daughter was asleep we would have nothing to do with our evening and very little space by the sounds of things. I wasn't expecting the Ritz but I think it may be too basic to try and do on the cheap frm scratch.

I have found a two bed flat (cheaper than a caravan!) for £400 in Aug by the sea and looking at the cost of camping (buying tent, paying for pitch, buying equipment needed) I don't think we'd save much!

cheekymole

Yes but apples once you've bought it all you can have extremely cheap holidays by the sea year after year.
Camping is wonderful but, to me, it sounds as though you don't want to do it anyway. In the evning when DD has gone to bed you could actually talk to each other whilst drinking a bottle of wine or cup of cocoa.
We do more when we're camping as a family than we do for the rest of the year.
Ref the meals, it's amazing how many decent meals you can make and to be honest simple is best anyway when camping.
We take balls and a crickt set, boules, travel games like pass the pigs (great fun) snakes and ladders, cards etc.

Anyway, as you've already found your flat, I'll shut up, but, honestly I can't rate camping high enough, esp. for kids, they have so much fun

Enjoy your hols whatever you decide

Penny_Farthing_2

I agree that you'd probably not save money on this trip. Next summer, though, you would get a cheap holiday. Why not see if you can borrow the kit from a friend and try a weekend trip? That way, you won't be out of pocket if you hate camping.