Anyone else considering Not Camping Again in the foreseeable future?

[LittenTree]

Just been having a moan in Chat about this fekken weather. I told 'em that I confess that I used to love camping, but, with sadness in our hearts, DH and I decided, last summer that we wouldn't be going again as a family. Though we are well equipped (all that ££!) and have gone every 'summer' for 8 odd years in the UK, the reality is that in this small, overcrowded island, because you have to commit to a holiday, and pretty much pay up front for it months in advance, even camping, we will from now on go to where there's guaranteed sun, hence a week in a villa in Mallorca at the start of the summer hols. Like for everyone, our holidays are precious and I am simply not going to allow the increasingly awful English summer holiday weather to wreck it for us again, thus losing both that supposedly 'happy time' for us all and being quite heavily out of pocket.. ( and spending the following week trying to clean and dry acres of tent).

We have the first and last weeks of the DCs summer hols off as a family, so if the weather has made a miraculous, long term ie 'longer than 2 days' recovery, I might phone around for a campsite in the UK, but I know that they'll all be 'full' on their booking sheet though 'empty' as in no shows or abandonments! And of course, I am a bit fussy about what I want on a campsite, so the 'good ones' are booked from one year to the next. They all cost the same, anyway!

Maybe once the DC are older and DH and I can make more last minute decisions and have a smaller range of kit, we may be able to get back into it, but really, right now, it's becoming a bit pointless. Do you find yourself sitting inside your shut up tent, rain hammering down all around, congratulating yourself on how well set up you are and how rain and wind proof you are, glancing at your cleverly arranged wellington boot dryer, your wet Gortex coat hanging facilities, occasionally getting up just to check an area of weatherproofing- then suddenly thinking 'Hang on, why has my annual holiday once again turned into a survival exercise? Why have I not spent one evening sitting outside with the other family we're supposed to be camping with, glass of vino in hand, watching the DC playing happily in the next field, sun slowly setting over the blue hills of the distance? Why is my contact with them a hurried conversation through 2 marginally opened car windows as we pass on our way out? Why do I slip out of my PJs and into my waterproof suit every morning in order to make breakfast? Could the DSs not be rather more comfortable lying on their beds at home glued to ipods as there's not a vast amount else for them to do? Could this hol be costing me as much as a villa in Mallorca after I've shelled out ££ every day driving to indoor 'attractions' to try and salvage some bonhomie the situation?'....

Or am I a lightweight

Feel for you litten and I can see your point, I couldnt give up camping though because I love it too much as do the Dd's.

We tend to do shorter trips than many people 8 nights is the absolute longest we have ever done in one go. We normally do several short trips of between 2 and 7 nights.

We have managed over the years to find quite a few sites that will except a small deposit and pay the rest when you get there. They tend not to have loads of stuff for the kids to do but usually have a decent shower or two and some have been very well equipped.

My Dd's have never been abroad and although I know they would like to we are not in a position to take them ATM, so for us it is camping or nothing and we are off to devon on tuesday, rain or no rain.

Enjoy Mallorca and wish me luck. Dont hang your guy ropes up for ever

We went camping for a week last august and have sworn it will be our last time for a very long time.
The weather was horrendous!
It blew a gale and poured with rain all week.
This year we are taking the children to Spain for a week!
Yes I know it will cost more money but the weather should be so much better.

Have you thought about camping in France?

We went a few years ago due to having had too many wet camping trips here, and have never looked back. Fantastic weather every time, dh loves driving there as much easier and lots if good quality campsites that don't charge the earth.

Also at end of our summer hols most sites are reduced as the French children have gone back to school.

Win win all round!

France is a big place.

Where do you go which guarantees great weather?

I'm with you OP. I love camping, but really, it feels more like survival than holiday.

Go over the channel and simply head south! Nowhere will guarantee good weather but the odds are in your favour.
When we went last year we could feel it getting hotter, and us relaxing the further we got!
My parents used to take me and db every year as kids. Mum said they started going due to crap weather here.

I sort of agree, we bought a new tent this year on the condition we do not camp in uk in August. However due to unforeseen circumstances I now find myself with 2 wks on the isle of wight instead of south of France! If it rains again this time then it really is the last summer hols under canvas in uk. I love love love camping but the rain is so draining.
I feel desperately sorry for campsite owners this year, we are already holding off booking weekends breaks with friends for fear of festival of wetness.

I agree with the camping in the Uk thing. I can't stand wet tents and all the palaver that goes with it.
Over the last 5 years we have gradually worked our way down France looking for better weather - we are off to the south in 2 weeks for hopefully some sunshine, fab campsites, cheap wine and good cheese

I'd love to just be able to go for more weekends in this country but the weather does serioulsy put me off. I feel for you Litten.

Gawd blimey ... No use doing stuff which makes you miserable... It's supposed to be fun.!
I'm alright with rain and uk camping tbh.... Kids and i not good with heat anyway.But then we live in the northwest and already have webbed fingers and toes. My kids barely notice rain.
The wind seriously pisses me off though... It scares the shit out of me at night and then you can't leave your tent if its blowing a gale invade it takes it with it. I have gone home a few times because of rain and wind... But not just rain.

Yes, wind and rain is a truly unpleasant combo, isn't it?!

OK, France. IF one were to say go at the very end of the UK hols, the last week of August, do you think we'd need to prebook sites if we crossed the channel (realistically, pricewise, Dover-ish as opposed to the far more handy Poole/Portsmouth that of course, take you to Normandy/Brittany, places with weather not vastly dissimilar to Devon! That crossing also costs ££), Could we just 'head South?' is that feasible time-wise as in does it take 2 days to get to The Sun, and 2 days back?

One of the problems with UK camping is the reality that everywhere is booked up whereas I recall driving across Brittany 3 or 4 years ago and asking 'Where is everyone?'

Finally: 2 years ago, we camped in N. Devon, just to the north of the A30 with Dartmoor spread to the south. Was a lovely site, but the grass was a foot deep as they'd been unable to get in and mow it due to the rain. We only had crocs and trainers, but we were getting trench foot from having constantly wet feet (had to scour the hamlets of N. Devon to find a shop to buy wellies...). It rained every single day. We had wifi (thank god) and could see the next bout of rain coming, so on the worst day concerned, our friends were determined to go to Plymouth for the day to avoid it; we suggested everyone from every tent in east Cornwall would also go to Plymouth so we decided to go to Exeter. They had a day of traffic queues, monsoonal rain and frayed tempers, ours wasn't too bad, went to the cinema I recall (apart from me going flying when smooth soled Crocs lost traction on wet pavement!).

We got back first. We helped one family re-jig their partially collapsed tent then did a walk around our friends tent, an oversized, square block of a thing. It all looked OK. Shoulda looked inside. Fortunately the, well, sack of rain water hanging down from the roof, teetering literally a foot almost over all his electronic gear hadn't burst or even dripped much. It was a 5 foot teardrop shaped bag of water, pushing in the the roof, a bulbous stalagmite of near-destruction. Unbelievable. We were able to, with all hands, push it back up and over the side without it tearing the fabric. That was the last 7 nighter we did.

Last year we did 5 days near Henley, 1st week of the hols and the weather was great!! Other friends camped with us but we'd all come under-equipped, ready for a quick pack-up and off when the weather turned nasty, and we'd only booked 4 nights in anticipation of shite weather. However, the weather got worse and worse throughout the rest of the summer hols so we were damn lucky. Can't win.

I was right...

We use the Dover to Calais crossing. The main route down is called route of the English and goes straight down!
Yes you can do it in 2 days each way. My parents used to travel overnight and do it in 1 but that would not suit me. We take our time and enjoy the journey! There are lots of places to stop on the way.

Have a look at ukcampsite as there will be loads of information and very knowleable people to question.

littentree if you do Dover-Calais ferry or Folkestone-Calais Eurotunnel you can simply drive like the wind (DH's words, not mine!) We went to the Auvergne and it would be around a 9 hour drive, though we stopped overnight to give the ancient car a break.

If you both drive and book a late crossing you could be there by lunchtime, DC's sleeping while you travel. If you stop overnight you could book a hotel overnight or a pre-erected tent to save you unpacking all your gear then up early and on your way. Driving in France is SO much easier than the UK and while the idea of a 9 hour drive here would fill us with dread, in France it is fine.

Also agree that the Poole/ Portsmouth crossings (also more convenient for us) are mega money and not really worth it- we paid for the tunnel with Clubcard points this year but it was only £130 anyway and that included a supplement for the dog :)

We have a caravan. Stored down in Dorset. Like you, I just can't stand it anymore and just want some sun, rather than persistent pssng rain.
I don't know what the answer is. We have a week in Aug booked. Will let you know after that, If I will not be camping again. Think this decsion is likely !!

We aren't camping this year - it will be the first summer in 10 years that we haven't camped. It's down to the Olympics rather than the weather, but I have to say I am quite relieved after all the awful weather!

We normally go Eurotunnel and tank it down to the Vendee or below - south of La Rochelle and the Loire have been great for good weather

In the UK, I only go for short trips when the weather is good. There are loads of smaller campsites where you don't have to book.

French camping is fabulous. Is you go at the end of August it's quieter and you don't have to book, so you can chase the sun.

If I was you then I would definately go to France! The weather gets hotter the further south you go. Don't book anything until you are sure the weather in uk is going to be crap as you will not get a cheaper deal now for your crossing as its to close to your travel dates, so no money to be saved. You will always find somewhere to camp in France, so have an idea of where you would like to camp and if its full (unlikely the end of August) then go to the next on your list. You will absolutely not regret it! You may do what many do and just get the forecast and head that way, it may not have to be so far south? Don't spend the 'exciting' build up to your holiday worrying about the weather, the UK is fab but in my opinion, only when its sunny. And when the weather is rubbish you end up spending more money on things to do. In france, you won't necessarily have to pack for all weathers, you can visit pretty villages, sit outside your tent with vino while other half cooks dinner on the barbi, kids happy with pools, possibly beaches, or wonderful river swimming (we did that last year

We only do weekends, and have been lucky this year that the one time we cancelled, we had not paid a deposit. Booked at Forgewood for mid Aug and Welsummer for Aug bank hol, and if we cancel both due to weather then we will lose about £60. I can live with that.

we came to the conclusion this weekend that we are going to have to save for a family holiday next year somewhere with guaranteed weather. The odd weekend away is OK and I can deal with a certain amount of rain, but with the prospect of a week in Brittany looming, I'm starting to wish we'd made that decision last year!
Holidays are potentially bad enough without certain rain to contend with. I suspect there won't be many articles about glamping in the Guardian this year!