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Camping holidays

Before you go | Planning a camping trip | Where to go | What you need for camping | Don't leave home without | Cooking | Keeping warm | Keeping dry | Keeping clean | Camping toilets

Camping gets the holiday-family-choice thumbs-up because it's cheap and informal and kind(ish) to the environment. Crucially, it also provides lots of ready-made playmates for your children, so you can sit in your picnic chair and drink beer. Plus, if your children are of an age where they regard 5.30am as normal getting-up time, then at least camping chimes in with their bodyclocks: it's light; you get up (not exactly a joyous prospect, admittedly, but better than having to shush them frantically in some cramped hotel room).

Potential thumbs-down scenarios? Uncomfortable, sleeping-bag-hampered nights. Prolonged bad weather (particularly if you're in the UK). And ill-timed vomiting bugs (more than a little irritating in the confines of a dark tent). So, camping is suck it and see: some people go once and swear never to repeat the torture; others love it and rarely holiday sans tents-and-sleeping-bags again.

Before you go

You don't want to shell out on a tent and associated gear, only to find that you and camping just don't get on. So, if you can, do a test weekend somewhere local with borrowed gear. Or, even simpler, do as several Mumsnetters have before you, and have a "trial camp" in your back garden first:

"My children didn't settle, my husband was shouting 'I'm so angry I'm going to shatter into a thousand pieces' and it rained. I awoke to the sound of my daughter vomiting and it took five minutes of struggling and cursing to free myself from my sleeping bag." Slubberdegullion

"Last year, we put our tent up in the back garden for a week. It rained the whole time but we still lived in it. We treated it as a holiday, despite being only a few feet from the back door. It was really good fun and the kids slept so well... We rediscovered board games, reading books, puzzles and generally having family fun!" whispywhisp

Where to go

This obviously depends on your budget and whether or not you're seasoned campers.

"My best advice for first-time camping is to go somewhere really near home, so that, if all else fails, you can bundle DCs into the car and go home. Start simple, borrow kit if you can, and have fun! You'll love it!" pookamoo

Thankfully, Mumsnetters have done the hard work for you and we've got scores of reviews of campsites in the UK and overseas. So, once you know the area you'd like to visit, just search to see which campsites Mumsnetters recommend.

Another thing to consider is whether you want a site with lots of facilities - and probably lots of other families - or something less organised. Do you want to go back to nature and cook over a campfire or would you rather skip the boy-scout stuff and toddle off to the site's diner?

How gregarious/misanthropic you are will determine your attitude to other campers who are within earshot at all times (remember: nylon is not soundproof).

"Avoid with plague proportions those sites that claim 'leisure' facilities, swimming pools and such. Mad and rowdy." gigglewitch

"What I really want is a well-equipped campsite (showers, loos, the lot) but with no other people on it." SorenLorensen

But keep in mind that the upside of all those other people (rowdy or not) is the potential for holiday playmates.

"You need other campers with children who'll whisk your children away and play with them for hours and hours and hours, giving you time to reorganise the contents of the boxes and have a nice cup of tea (or 15)." Slubberdegullion

Camping clobber

Campers fall into different, well, camps. Hardy souls regard anything beyond a tent, a sleeping bag, a penknife and a box of matches as somehow not 'proper' camping. But, if you're camping with children and don't want to forsake all home comforts, you'll quickly amass a dizzying amount of gear. A roof rack will become an indispensable purchase - or maybe a trailer.

To help you whittle things down to roof-rack-friendly proportions, we've started a camping packing list for you. And, of course, the Mumsnet Talk boards are packed with seasoned campers who can discuss the finer points of the Coleman dual-fuel or the Trangia, and the virtues or otherwise of sigs (that's sewn-in groundsheets to the uninitiated).

Whether you're on an established seaside campsite or a field in the middle of nowhere, your tent is the only protection while you sleep between you, the elements and the insects. So it pays to choose with care.

Thankfully, modern tents come in colours other than sludge and some have separate rooms, and hot and cold running water. OK, slight exaggeration, but there's really no need to rough it any more.

"It's always good to buy a tent that can sleep one extra, so if there are three of you, get a four-berth." sallystrawberry

Before you buy, decide the following:

• What is your budget?
• Do you want to be able to stand up in it?
• Do you want a bit of living space inside it or just somewhere to sleep?
• Do you want to be next to your kids in a bedroom or at opposite ends of the tent/at a diagonal to them?

If you've already got a collapsible garden gazebo, take it with you, so that, if it rains, there's somewhere dry to sit/play outside the tent.

"We also take a small, cheap two-man tent for the kids to play in and to chuck all the toys in at night to stop the rabbits playing with them." Skribble

And then accept that, whatever it says on the label about ease of assembly, tempers will probably fray around the tent pegs. As one mum puts it: "The putting up the tent argument is a given, much like the putting up the Christmas tree argument."

What you lie on can also make the difference between sleeping in paradise or purgatory...

"FORGET the horrible thin bed rolls that we all used as young people - gawd, me old bones cannot take it. Airbeds elevate you off the (cold, damp) ground and they are fantastically comfortable. Get double ones for the kids to share, too - and NOT the 'flock' kind (the ones with the velvety texture) because they puncture after about three minutes. You need the good old-fashioned rubbery ones that last for years. Double sleeping bags are a must if you are a couple: much warmer to snuggle up with your Loved One and also more fun, iykwim." ScarletA

Cooking

Cooking on a camping stove can be a culinary challenge. One mum suggests taking a picnic for the first night so "you don't have to get the cooker out before you can eat". Another recommends food such as tinned curry and tinned sweet and sour chicken, which only needs warming up, to serve with boiled rice.

If you're not too far off the beaten track, you can also get pizza delivered to the site, which could be a good last-night treat.

Barbecues are also popular, particularly the small disposable sort.

"One of the major things I enjoy about camping is that my DP and I almost swap roles. He basically does everything from put the tent up (although it is technically a team effort!) to cooking dinner. What is it about charcoal that makes a man want to cook dinner when the oven scares the life out of him? I'll never get it." JuniorH

Cold dinners of baguettes and cheese or ham can be easier than faffing about with chopped peppers of an evening. And you'll probably eat out a fair bit, particularly if there's a campsite diner.

"You can cook anything you want. Just choose what pots and pans you want to take carefully, as this can make all the difference. I take a proper non-stick frying pan (for cooked breakies - much easier to clean than camping cookware) and a three-tier steamer saucepan set. I cook on the two saucepans and strain stuff or keep stuff warm in the steamer." sallystrawberry

"I usually marinate some beef, peppers, mushrooms and anything else in the bottom of my fridge and take it in a big sandwich box along with some kebab sticks. We have fun threading everything onto the sticks, then cooking on a disposable bbq. I make up a cold pasta or rice salad to go with it." CKelpie

Mumsnetters also recommend taking a windbreak to stop "summer breezes" blowing the cooking gas out: "Or a separate, sheltered gazebo for cooking in - having tried to cook in a howling gale this morning." DrZeus

Keeping perishable foods cool is another issue. There are coolboxes that work off car batteries (but beware of getting so into the idea that you drain the battery and can't actually drive home when the holiday's over) and the mains. And lots of campsite wardens will re-freeze your cool packs if you ask.

"Take more icepacks than you think you'll need, as you can have some freezing and some in use. When we took frozen food with us, this labour-saving plan almost backfired, as the stuff at the bottom of the icebox stayed frozen for almost a week!" PrettyCandles

You can normally buy milk, eggs, bacon and butter from the site shop, or a local farm.

Keeping warm

There's only the tent between you and the great outdoors, and shivering from dusk till dawn does not a pleasant holiday make, so take lots of bedding, fleeces, warm PJs and hot water bottles.

"Once you get cold of a night you, will not get warm again," warns one experienced camper. "Hats, socks and fleeces should go on as soon as the sun goes down - then you can stay up warmly much later."

This thread about how to get a good's night sleep while camping has useful tips. And, for adults, there's always the time-honoured way of keeping warm: "Some of the best sex I've had has been under canvas while trying not to alert the whole field what we were up to!" twinsetandpearls

Keeping dry

Wet and/or windy weather is one of the camper's main enemies. The combination of bored children, particularly young ones, and rain is a whole new type of holiday misery. So good waterproofs are an essential - even if it isn't raining, they're useful for early mornings when the grass around your tent is still wet with dew.

Most seasoned campers impose a no-shoes-in-tent rule to prevent living quarters getting covered in muddy bits of grass. And you need to assume the worst and take plenty of dry clothes and lots of plastic bags for wet and muddy clothing.

Remember, though, that it's your holiday, not an endurance test, so, if it rains solidly for days and the campsite is a miserable swamp, there's no shame in bailing out early and going home - or to a nearby B&B, which will probably feel like the height of warm, dry luxury.

But if hope springs eternal and you're waiting for the sun, here are some suggestions for coping with the rain:

• Portable DVD player
• Laptop computer ("We play a movie and have a family showing, snuggled up in sleeping bags.")
• Playdough, stickers, colouring books and lovely new colouring pens or crayons
• Games/puzzles/cards
• Books
• Pubs and cafes
• Indoor amusement arcades/play centres
• Indoor swimming pool - might as well get properly wet

Or just let them play in the rain. If they're in wellies and waterproofs, they'll be fine. You can watch from the tent window.

Keeping clean

Most campsites have shower blocks, but toddlers (and some older children) are notoriously shower-phobic, so alternatives are:

• The shower block sink
• Going swimming a lot
• Washing them in an inflatable dinghy or small paddling pool next to your tent
• Making a makeshift bath out of a large plastic packing box

Alternatively, stand young children in a washing-up bowl and sponge 'em down. Fill it from the shower block, or use water from a standpipe with boiling water added from your kettle. One mum says: "Showergel all over and voila - clean kids. Much easier than traipsing to and from the showers."

Failing that, if you're only camping for a few days, let them get gleefully grubby.

"Mine rarely get washed when we camp, much to my husband's horror. I wipe the food off their faces after they eat but pretty much leave everything else. Doesn't do them any harm and they have a good soak in the bath when they get back." Sandyballs

Keeping regular

Camping has one thing in common with pregnancy for some people: constipation. As one mum puts it: "Where to go on holiday: a head, heart or digestive tract decision?"

"Somehow my bowels just know. You'd think all the fresh air and tea and striding purposefully about would help." Slubberdegullion

Communal toilet blocks can have a binding effect on the bowels:

"I absolutely can't go if I'm shoulder to shoulder with the next person grunting in the cubicle next to me. I found one lovely toilet on the site that was indoors and private. Oh, the relief! But I went to it late in the evening and got locked in cos they were shutting up that bit of the site by the pool. I had to hammer and hammer on the door before I was eventually let out!" TsarChasm

Factor in different food and routines on top of lack of privacy and primitive toilets, and it can upset everyone's digestion, children's included.

One mum says, "My mother used to bribe me and my sister to go to the loo when we camped in France: one centime for a wee, two centimes for a poo. My sister always bought licorice wheels with her stash, which, now I am grown and understand the laxative effects of licorice, was a very cunning plan indeed."

Encourage your children to drink frequently, especially if they're tearing about the site all day, because dehyration can cause/exacerbate constipation.

Also make sure everyone has done a wee before they zippered in for the night - unzippering and trekking to toilet blocks is a pain. As are sodden sleeping bags at 4am. A bucket with a lid is a handy standby.

And, finally...

Please share your tips and recommendations with other MNetters when you get back. If the site you stayed at doesn't have a Mumsnet review yet, please add one.

"My camping trip fantasy list is obviously all the lovely MN campers, all pitched around a big field. The sun is shining and all our DCs are running and laughing and doing wholesome things, and the MNners are in a gaggle, posssibly seated under the Coleman outdoor shelter. There is a bbq. There is a lot of wine." Slubberdegullion

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