Camping - what do I need to know?

tigerlily

If you do actually want to go camping you will, if you dont you wont, its as simple as that. My OH and I went camping last summer as we needed to get away but really had no money. We went to Devon for a few days with a borrowes tent, a borrowed stove and the duvet of our bed. It cost £12 a night, the place had a swimming pool, lovely new shower/washing up block, a laundry room and freezers for ice blocks. There was plenty to do and as others have said, when the evenings came we talked to each other!! We had a fab time. Mind you if we were on the £400 spare scale of broke I doubt we'd have ended up there either....its all relative.

apples1

Believe me the £400 isn't spare. My debt is worse that yours!! We may not be doing either!! I'm not ruling out the camping and take your points about keeping the stuff for future use. Would be great if we could borrow tent and all the bits and bobs - then I'd be really happy to try it. I'll ask around see if I can find anyone who has the stuff that would be willing to lend it.

violetb_2

Camping is a great cheap holiday and kids absolutely love it. The up side is that it takes longer to do everything eg wash, shower, loo etc so you don't have to entertain them for as long. You generally stay out later so evening entertainment isn't so much of an issue. Tents for three would probably set you back around 80 pounds new but could easily be found second hand or borrowed or eventime shared with friends. We buy food out(fish and chips etc) rather than cook as we are saving money on accomodation, but if money was really tight I would probably invest in tins of goods easily heated for a week.
I thought I would hate it, but after two summers camping (started when youngest was two) and numerous weekends away, I can defintiely recommend it. You do need to get in touch with your laid back side tho. You will be surrounded by people and their noise and if that's not for you it can get a bit stressy.

ioscorpio

We first went camping when my son was 5 months old, I hated it cos we were in Borth, North Wales and it was cold and raining, but we stuck at it and had some great holidays in Cornwall and Devon.

If you are worried about things to do at night, stay on larger sites where they have kids clubs, or stay on a smaller site and go up to the larger sites in the evening for the entertainment, we did both.

barbie_babe

i just booked a caravan to go on the 13th of may for a week with keycamp .we are going to paris so ferry from dover is included.are caravan is 190 pounds for a seven birth six birth was 160 and camping tent allready set up for you with fridge and beds in and cooker 130 pounds .have you thought about trying going abroad camping as there is lots of places to go .https://www.keycamp.co.uk
p.s that price is for two adults and all kids are free

flea72

as long as you have a living space that is big enough to sit in it that is all you really need.

we tend to find that of an evening, when camping you feel tired alot earlier (all that fresh air), so staying up late, with nothing to do shouldnt be a problem. theres nothing better to do of an evening than sit with a glass of wine/beer and watch the coming and goings of all the other campers, maybe have the radio on in the background, and read a good book.

with camping, you tend to find you slow down alot, so dont need much exciting entertainment of an evening!! (remember tents have thin walls lol)

Howver if you were wanting a site that had things to do of an evening, pontins and places like that, also have camping on their sites

as already said by alot of other people, yes you have the expense this year to get you started, but every other holiday after that the cost is minimal. I honestly think you should be able to get a tent, cooker, sleeping mats and water carrier, for under £100. i know in my local QD today, they had a single gas burner for £7.99 (buy two if you think you may need two rings?), the mats were £2.50 each, and they had a four person tent for £38.

It really depends on what you want from the holiday. if you are just looking for a base to sleep at, and you go out for the day, then camping is a good, cheap option. if however, you want to be able to stay indoors all day and maybe watch some tv, then camping isnt really for you.

hth Flea

Baileys_Babe

You could try freecycle for camping equipment.

If you are able to get hold of some equipment try camping in the garden for a night, it is always worth practicing putting up the tent.

Rachie_B

instead of going in august what about going in june or early july before schools break up for the summer?

will be less than £400 per week then

Cumbrian_Male

You can get cheap starter packs, have a look at THIS

Also if you join the Camping and Caravanning Club, you can get 10% off at Millets and there will be loads of district association holiday sites which start from about £3.50 per night to around £8.00 per night. Thats per pitch not per person.

apples1

Thanks again for so many replies. All taken on board. your experiences have really helped.

Just to add - we have to go in School holidays. I work a couple of hours each morning at local Primary School as a teaching assistant.

Thanks again