what are the top tips for a successful camping trip?

[Wolfcub]

After nine years I've finally convinced dh to try camping. He's discovered modern tents and has been very excited buying a tent and things to go in it. He has real issues with public loos so for our first trupr I've booked a site that won loo of the year! ds and I are very excited and I'm not worried about us but I want to make sure the trip is a success so that we all have a great time. what are your top tips for a great family camping trip?



Hello. This thread is a little old - for more up-to-date tips, take a look at our round-up of Mumsnetters’ top camping advice or check out this list of their 10 favourite UK campsites. MNHQ.

[LaGuardia]

My best tip for camping is to book yourselves into an hotel without delay.

[WanderingGecko]

My parents started taking me camping with them when I was 10 weeks old so I grew up with a love of it and can't wait to be taking my own family. They didn't have a car when I was a baby so it was me on the back of mam's bicycle and the tent on the back of dad's. Both had panniers and, since we live in the Lake District we would head off from home and explore. Sister and brother came along and we had to get a car but we went all over Europe camping in the summer hols and those trips taught me a thing or two!

Don't take masses of stuff! You don't need it. But things like having a bowl or bucket to cart stuff up to the washing up spot are great pieces of advice. Don't forget biodegradable washing up liquid etc. Depending on your site it may not drain into the main system but seep into the soil.

Bits and pieces! Lots of us who camp a lot have separate boxes of camping gear ready to pick up and go. But it's always useful to make a list to ensure you pack things like: can opener, corkscrew (!), sugar, salt, matches, torch, etc!

Avoid campsites with hook ups: they can be noisy at night with people watching TV and playing loud music!

Take a bat and ball

Waterproof, slip on shoes for trogging across dewy grass and being able to get in and out of easily at the tent door. Don't allow shoes in the tent, it soon gets wet, muddy and full of bits of grass.

I like the self-inflating foam mats (like Thermarest). However, my DH gets a bad back and also gets cold more easily than me, so I've learned the hard way that not everyone takes joy in roughing it as I was brought up to. He also hates being confined in a sleeping bag so we take a lilo, sheet and duvet for hilm ... and pillows!

Waterproofs and a dry bag with a spare set of clothes in...

And don't ever fall asleep with the inner tent pressing against the outer! Once the inside of your tent is wet you won't find it fun!!!

Have a great time

[SaggyOldClothCatPuss]

DO NOT walk to the loo at 6.30 am wearing fecking flip flops! You will wake up the entire campsite and everyone will hate you!

[Clarella]

one of the best things I ever did was write a big list. and then whilst on said wet, windy, disastrous camping trip, add all the things I wished I'd taken with me/ emergency buys. and cross off all the unnecessary things. put the amended list in the camping cook set then the NEXT camping trip you are much better prepared.

a couple of years ago a very last min decision to go camping with friends saw me rock up with only a tent, wetsuit, duvet, kids surf board, cava and a pot of honey. that particular camping event apparently needed sausages.

(this was pre child I add)

[Clarella]

wellies are always a necessity.

[Clarella]

oh and I always pack clothes in different coloured plastic bags eg all the underwear, all the tops, all the bottoms easier to find in a rush.

[Bellbird]

My fave bit of kit is a camping washing-up bowl with a wire handle that then frees up my hands for carrying dirty saucepans etc. I can do the washing-up in one trip to the communal hot taps, which is great, and I've then got the bowl to carry all my clean (wet) stuff back. Some people use trugs.

I don't waste other people's time and space by doing my drying up at the communal area - my dh does that when I get back to the tent. It gets pretty busy around the hot taps from 7pm onwards, so time your washing-up accordingly!

[pussycatwillum]

Many camping trips and I've never taken wellies or owned a pair of crocs. (Do have flip flops though).
We never had ehu and found that often the non ehu field is quieter, less crowded and has better pitches.
We bought those thin blue ice packs from Dunelm as they take up less room in the cool box. A lot of sites will refreeze ice packs for you. Some charge, some don't. We always buy what we need for the day if weather is hot, but taking ready frozen home-made meals eg spag bol can be useful. I agree with eating out, and if you are near enough to a supermarket a lot of them do good breakfasts, which we have done before.
Make sure you have enough camping gaz and find out in advance where you can get replacements. Some campsites do gas canisters.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

My kids don't get on with wellies either. I always buy them, thinking they are essential, but they are hardly worn. Somehow they always manage. Don't ask me how ... I have fake crocs which I love.

We don't have a proper cool box either - just one of those picnic cool bags. Our fridge is the local shop. We use a 1-pint packet of long-life milk a day.

[JamJarOfDaffs]

Am a single mum and took two DCs camping for ten days on my own this year, it was brilliant.

Top tip from experience:

If taking an inflatable mattress, do not forget the stopper that you placed on a high shelf at home to keep it out of the toddler's reach (oops - we slept well on the ground though!)...

[JamJarOfDaffs]

DCs both aged > 5 I should add. They loved it.

[Inertia]

Second the cropped PJs mentioned above- and to be honest cropped trousers/ shorts are a good idea all round. Something like crocs/ birkenstocks are handy for around the site. I take my travel slippers for in the tent.

Cotton sleeping bag liners are handy for extra warmth if it's cold, if it's really hot you can sleep in just the liner or unzip the bag, and it means you only need to wash the liner rather than the whole sleeping bag.

Another vote for the suggestion of keeping camping kit all packed up and ready in the garage if possible. It's worth having a dedicated set of camping cutlery, cooking utensils , scissors etc that stay with it.

Fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried.

It's worth buying a fold-up, hard-topped kitchen cupboard with rigid poles that you can clip the EHU to, and put the toaster and kettle securely on top of.

String and pegs, so you can tie a line between the tent and the car to hang towels etc from.

Take microfibre towels - they dry much much faster than regular towels. We have one each for showers and another one each for the beach.

Kitchen roll comes in handy.

Make sure you watch the video showing how to put the tent up before you use it for the first time.

[TiggyD]

Check weather.
Know when to give up.
Pack stuff in case it's much warmer and colder than you think is possible.
Have some meals ready that can be prepared with zero effort.
Practice in the garden first.

[Rockinhippy]

Definitely good mattresses & bedding,we prefer taking douvets & sheets to skeeping bags, but DCs prefer sleeping bags -

a gazebo is a godsend be it shelter from too hot sun, or rain or communal living room or bar if camping with friends - ours has sides to it & windows & we've had many a great evening huddled up in it gossiping & drinking whilst the DCs sleep on in the tents

Glow sticks & lots of them - especially the ones with attachments so that the can be made into various shapes - these are great for letting the DCs play later, as they often want to do - adults can relax & still be able to keep an eye on the DCs as they can easily be seen

Cartons of juice & breakfast bars - always good first thing on a morning with hungry kids who don't want to wait for breakfast & prefer to play

Freeze some of your drinks & use these to keep other things chilled


Marshmallows & bamboo skewers

[Rockinhippy]

I also recommend having your camping kit packed & ready to go -

we use 2 of those huge zipped laundry type bags - one has all the basics / sleep essentials, bedding, mattresses etc, camping lights etc -

the other has kitchen/cooking equipment - depending on the camping trip you choose if you need both - recently we were at a small local festival - we knew we wouldn't really need to cook, so left that bag behind in favour of eating from site kiosks or a local cafe

Oh & plenty of wet wipes - we do a lot of wild camping - no showers, lucky if you have a loo - these are great for a strip wash

& a portable notebook grill fold up flat' so takes up no room & is great as both a fire pit & for cooking on - even better if you have a couple together :)

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

Small bucket with lid from camping shop. Double line with the biodegradable bags the council give us for recycling food waste. Add a couple of handfulls of woodchip cat litter (smells lovely and absorbs liquid). This is great for overnight wees. Tie off and bin in the morning.

Pack of paper plates, cups and bowls for when no one could be bothered to do the washing up.

Queen size, double height air bed with proper sheets, pillows and duvet forus and self inflating camping mats for kids (younger bones - they're fine).

Separate tent for kids.

Fridge that runs off electrics or camping gas. (No fridge - no camping )

First rule of camping - when you get to the site, have a cold beer from the camping fridge before attemptig to put the tent up - nice and relaxed=fewer hissed instructions and sour faces.

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

For those of us who spent our holidays camping in the 70s, I recommend 'The Tent, The Bucket and Me' by Emma Kennedy. Hilarious.

[curlew]

Take my dp. He can cook a complete roast dinner on a barbecue and camping stove in a thunderstorm!

[ViviPru]

Seconding Peppermints traveljohn shout. I cannot recommend these godsends enough. You're going to need a tent with a decent separate porch tho for privacy from your DH, what's been seen cannot be unseen, and carefully arranging your nethers into the funnel of a bag of crystals is not something another human needs to witness.

We have a Coleman airbed with two individual inflation chambers within the whole double unit so no rolling into DH, it's absolutely brilliant.

I also highly recommend a long wheelbase VW transporter. Our camping experience improved infinitely once we added this giant cupboard-on-wheels to out kit. We're heading back from a weekend in Shropshire as I type and chucking the soaking outer skin of the tent in the back of the van to worry about later was a blissful experience. It also keeps our tent completely free of crap during the trip.

Other essentials include a DAB radio and lots of batteries. There is no more heavenly way to spend a Saturday afternoon than listening to Gilles Peterson in the sunshine while sipping cider and gazing across the gloaming.

Also, I adore our Retirement Recliners. Forget moon chairs. We're the envy of our pals with our padded garden relaxers. What they lack in the style stakes they make up for in comfort and warmth. Ours go completely horizontal, perfect for afternoon snoozes.

Also, I think I'd find camping a chore without a head-height tent with a massive porch. Once you add comfy seats, DAB and traveljohns to the mix, camping becomes infinitely more enjoyable.

[sheridand]

to the lady who asked about the cooler: it's and igloo one, like this:
www.igloocoolers.com/Coolers/All-Coolers/120-Quart-Polar, but it's a catering one, so slighty bigger. Husband got it from a wholesalers of catering equipment. They keep things at a freezable temp for 5 days, fridge temp for 7. It's quite big, but for a weeks worth of food, a bargain. You don't need to biy in anything. And if you camp for longer than a week, you can buy ice from a supermarket, and "ice it up" again, for a further week. It's so nice being able to open a "fridge" on holiday.

[TheSunTheMoonTheTruth]

It's probably too late for my top tip as you have booked your site already.

Open Fire Pit. This, for my own camping experience, is essential. It is what makes camping an experience all of it's own and an experience that I want to repeat. Kids running free for hours, eating food by the fire, toasting marshmallows, then kids asleep while we sit in the darkness, with our lanterns glowing, drinking wine/beer and prodding the fire until the stars are as bright as they can be and the fire has collapsed into embers. That is camping perfection.

Wine. As already mentioned. Or, as DH says...rum.

Duvet, pillows, air mattress.

Swathes. I cannot, simply cannot go camping without my swathe box. It's been the source of many arguments.

[TheSunTheMoonTheTruth]

You will need a good pen-knife. Easy to make new tent pegs or air mattress stoppers if you have one...

Lots and lots of night lights! Aw! I want to go camping now! (I did go onto Dartmoor and have a day camp with a fire and did toast on it, and it is fucking it down now, so not actually horrendously jealous)

[Everhopeful]

Trout, would it reassure you that we're taking some glow-in-the-dark dragonflies to decorate the tent with this year?! £1 a pop at Poundland, source of much useful camping gear if you don't worry too much how long it'll last. We've had several camping pillows from there too and they last a good 3-4 years, which I reckon is enough for that money.

Sun, mystified and intrigued by the "swathing box". Huh? Whassat?

[ViviPru]

Same, Everhopeful. Even the Googles doesn't seem to know. I have big-time Swathe Box FOMO.