Camping Virgin with potentially stupid questions

[Isaidno]

DH and I have decided to try camping next summer. Our previous camping experienced to scouts / guides and our honeymoon when we stayed in an ensuite tent in the Masai Mara with a real double bed and a nice man who popped hot water bottles under the duvet while we were at the bar.

We popped to the camping shop and like the look of the Sunncamp shadow 800, which is 8 berth; there are 5 of us altogether.

What is essential camping kit? Sleeping bags obviously but what else?

When you have an electric hook up do your things need special plugs?

How much does it cost to stay on a campsite?

How do you find a good one?

What do you do if the weather is terrible?

Sorry for all the questions, hope someone can help.

Can't help with the electricity question but our essentials are.
8 berth tent for three of us.
Fold up beds
Insulated sheets for the ground
Gaz cooker with five burners and one single stand alone one.
A sauce pan and a frying pan, mugs and cutlery for three, never used for anything else.
Matches
Torches and head torches.
Cool box.
Cost to stay on sites vary, I haven't been to a UK one for about 12 years so can't help there.
We tend to find ours by stumbling over them. When we lived in Switzerland we used the ones run by TCS.
When the weather is terrible, we go home. TBH, in the past four years, we've never gone anywhee more than about 3 hours drive away.

sleeping bags/pillows
self-inflating mats
childrens' teddies
trangia x 2/meths/matches, and large saucepan.
pop up storage boxes
wine
chocolate
twice as much food as usual + extra cake
wellies/waterproofs
cool bag
a site with showers and toilets.
cutlery/crockery/cooking utensils/washing up bowl/cloths/kitchen roll
loads of warm clothes - esp. for evenings.
microfibre towels
lamp (wind up).
folding table/chairs
small BBQ
mallet
clothes pegs
we do not use elec hook up
For campsites = try ukcampsite; they quote prices. We have paid £11-17/night (peak) but you will pay more on sites with more amenities. The camping and caravan club are expensive, I think. the ukcampsite website also has tent reviews.
There are 2 adults, 2 children and 1 baby in our orchy 600. Suncamp 800 is bigger. Check packed dimensions unless you have a large boot/trailer/roofbox...
I always take a list of contact details/locations etc of local things to do in non-beach weather for the area we are visiting.
When it really rains - more of a problem. Our dc are 5, 3, 0. They will play with cards, toy trains/ dominoes etc, but only for a few hours, and are too young for most museums.
Swimming/cinema...
if just drizzling:
walks
adventure-type outdoor play
steam railways
are popular.
Last summer I found myself following ds2 along the aerial walkways of Bewilderwood in the rain while 7 months pg.
If it is just you and DH:pub. And eat out.
When you buy a tent think about where you would cook if it rained - we have a porch-thing with no groundsheet.

The EHU will take your normal plugs but you need to be careful not to overload it though.

Thank you all, just reading a borrowed copy of coolcamping and getting excited!

Good advice from all so far. Nothing to add other than get the carpet for your tent, if there is one. Makes a huge difference comfort wise IMO!

Sleeping bags not essential and really rather horrid IMO - we take our duvet and pillows - much comfier and cosier.

Absolute essentials would be our fat airics for sleeping on with said duvet/pillows, wind-up radio, portable notebook barbecue and wine (red as it doesn't need to be chilled)

The amount of kit you want and the amount you actually need are always very different and there are loads of cool gadgets out there to spend your cash on. The main problem with this, other than ruining your bank balance, is transporting it all to wherever you are going. We have a mid-sized family saloon and a giant roof-box but really struggle to get everything in.

We have paid anything from £4 to £20 per night depending on season and campsite facilities. Out of season can be a great bargain if you are not tied to school hols and if you are its best to book early i.e. now if you want half-term, summer hols etc. as the most popular places book up very quickly.

Welcome to camping - hopefully you will love it as much as us other camping-nerds...

What is essential camping kit? Sleeping bags obviously but what else?

Something to sleep on is more important imo that what you sleep in or under. My vote is always for thermarests for warmth and comfort.
Something to cook on.
Something to eat food out of/with.
Good pegs
Torches

you can just keep going and going with camping kit. Depends how rough/luxurious you like it and how big your car is.

When you have an electric hook up do your things need special plugs?
You don't need EHU. seriously

How much does it cost to stay on a campsite?
Varies massively. Can be v cheap (under £10 for a family of 4 for one night) or ££££ if you go to a site with lots of amenities.

How do you find a good one?
ukcs (ukcampsite) website.

What do you do if the weather is terrible?
Put on waterproofs and go outdoors.
read
playboard games/uno
make love sweet love

do you really not need electric? How do you keep food cool?

cool box and ice blocks.

Most campsites have a freezer where you can rotate your ice blocks through to keep them cold. Sometimes it'f free and on some other sites you have to pay a small amount to do it.

tbh if you are camping in Britain and buying fresh then it's hardly sweltering heat that will make your milk turn in a day anyway.

We do a quick supermarket trip on the way back to the tent each day, so most stuff only needs to keep for

We have the Sunncamp 1000 which is the 10 berth as there is 7 of us. We have to ring alot of campsites first because of the size of it and either end up on a larger pitch or having to pay for 2 pitches.

Check the dimsensions of the tent against campsite pitch dimensions as larger tents can be a nightmare to find cheapsites for.