Family tent for under £700

[Diorissimo1985]

I'd like to get a tent for our camping adventures but I'm overwhelmed by choice! Can anyone recommend one?

There's only 3 of us currently (me, DH and DD 14 months) but we would like something that will last years and we could fit another child in at least or ideally more.

We don't really mind layout but I do like to stand up fully throughout and to have separate rooms/living room etc.

Can anyone recommend something for us? Happy to spend up to £700 ish if it's a keeper!

TIA

[PlanningHolidays]

£700 is a generous budget for a tent for a family of three or four. One thing that might help narrow your search is to look for one with a blackout inner tent (not the "lights out" inner tent offered by Vango, which is just a little darker than standard). A good night's sleep makes the world of difference to a happy camping holiday!

[alphaechokiwi]

We have a Quechua Air Seconds, which cost about £350 a few years ago. I highly recommend it. Ours fits two adults and two children comfortably. They have blackout versions on sale now.

[BrieAndChilli]

we bought this one last summer
www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-kalahari-eclipse-8-tent-p429447

however we are a family of 5 - kids range 8-12. We had a much smaller tent for years plus we had a limited budget
However i love space in this one, we had space for us all to be inside when it rained without being on top of each other and used 1 half of out bedroom (with divider) to store all our stuff - clothes etc. we also had shelves set up in the living area for food etc.

[Diorissimo1985]

Thanks all - brie yes that size is the sort of thing I imagined, lots of space so we can accommodate more kids/grandparents/friends if required

[Diorissimo1985]

Also, any thoughts on these air tents I keep seeing? They seem a lot pricier

[TrickyKid]

We have a Hi gear one from Go Outdoors. It was £500 in the sale and sleeps 8 (6 comfortably). Loads if living/cooking space too.

[CrazyCrunk]

If you have / are having young children I would get an air tent, you don't want to spend hours fiddling with poles while watching toddlers

[squirrelnutkins1]

We have this and it's perfect

https://www.charlies.co.uk/outwell-montana-6-tent-37004.html?utmsource=googleeshopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7briBRD7ARIsABhX8aBQDrRfVv27RMj5Zc65WpSlQ0MylvMLAZaByZF7rUrddCr-V5TGHWwaArfREALwwcB

[Diorissimo1985]

Thanks squirrel - that one seems to be recommended a lot! How long does it take you to put up? And are the bedrooms dark enough for sleeping?

[squirrelnutkins1]

We got ours off eBay. The guy had only used it once and got the carpet as well.
Not too long, maybe 20 mins. There's only 4 main poles.
Yeah bedrooms are fine x

[NoMoreMarbles]

We have this one m.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-voyager-eclipse-6-tent-p429717

We also got the porch with it and the bedrooms are black out so great for cool dark sleep ins!

Plenty of space and sleeps 6 more than comfortably.

[ReasonedCamper]

Have a look at the Millets sale.

This looked very good value to me www.millets.co.uk/tents-camping/039373-vango-iris-air-600-xl-inflatable-family-tent.html

Personally I like a big wide open front with bedroom at the back, rather than Vis a Vis (bedroom pods facing each other).

Iris (and poled model, Icarus is on GoOutdoors for £279- really quick to put up) is an excellent tent model, very roomy, and straightforward.

The only issue is that the sloping doors make them hard to open in the rain without letting some rain into the tent.

Things to consider:
Do you prefer to be in a blue or green or other colour tent? (some people care) (I do, I don't like being in blue tents and prefer the look of green, in the natural outdoors - but v personal choice). Lots of the new model beige and mushroom tents are very handsome.
How big a pack size can you fit in the car? Airbeam are bigger and heavier, fibreglass poles the smallest and lightest, steel poles inbetween. In general.
How many weeks per year will you spend camping in strong UV light? Poles may be as sturdy as they come, but polyester tents are often only made to last a set number of weeks camping in Southern Europe, for example before the fabric goes brittle and leaky. Though you can now get UV roof protectors. Canvas tents last much much longer, but bring their own issues. So in some ways, I would always see a poly tent as reasonably short life and not spend a fortune.

[Diorissimo1985]

Thanks reasoned - v helpful!
Can you explain what air tents are please? I feel like I'm missing something

And you're right about colours - i like greens best too

[SpoonBlender]

Air tents are where you pump up the structure, the thing is built with embedded inflatable tubes rather than using metal/carbon poles.

[Logoplanter]

squirrel does the side door of the tent have curtains? Just wondering if you could you put a toilet in it overnight?

[squirrelnutkins1]

I'm 99% all the windows have roll down 'curtains'. A loo is a good idea, hate trapsing across the field at night 🙄

[Logoplanter]

Ha ha! I agree. I went camping with the kids last year for the first time since I was a kid. I bought a Kampa Khazi toilet and it was the best thing I bought/took with us.

DH is going to come this year so we'll need a bigger tent and when I saw the one you'd looked to I thought it looked perfect if we could squeeze the toilet in there for night time visits! Thanks so much

[chillpizza]

We have the vango orava 600XL it’s a man with carpet and footprint under £500. You can get an extra awning as well that goes on the side some people use that as a kitchen or toilet/clothes storage.

We wanted something with a large living space since we have three children for those wet miserable days.

[Diorissimo1985]

Will look at the orava- thanks!

[Corru]

We just started hiking since last year, because I was afraid that it would be difficult for a small child in a tent. We went to the reserve for a week with my brother and his family. We were 4 adults and 3 children. My brother loves camping, so he gave us sleeping bags and shared a tent (he has a big tent for 10 people), we were comfortable there with the children, plus a lot of space for things if it rained. This is really a very comfortable and spacious family tent. If you're interested, I can ask my brother the company and the model, it's quite not expensive. I also know that on specialized portals, for example hikezone.org/ , you can find reviews of different tents with reviews from real buyers. It describes the pros and cons of each tent, I think it will be useful information.

[mogtheexcellent]

We just bought a vango avington 6xl for £250. We are only having the one child though so a 6 berth gives us plenty of space. I wanted a covered porch as last year it rained one evening and we had to go to bed early as nowhere to sit without disturbing DD after she went to bed.

[Logoplanter]

Mog do you mind if i ask where you got the Avington for at that price?

[Juanbablo]

We have an air tent from Decathlon. This is our second year using it and we love it. We've got the 6.3 one that sleeps 6 but they have smaller and cheaper ones. It was £499. So easy to put up and plenty of room.