Bad camping experience - Do we try again or is it always like this????

[mrsjingles]

Hi, me, dh, dd5 and ds3 went on our maiden camping adventure this weekend to Brean. It was going well, we put the tent up quickly, had a nice saturday but the night time was another story. The kids went to sleep just b4 10pm, and there was a family playing really loud music just starting a bbq. We thought this would calm down for 11pm as the campsite rules are to be quiet after 11pm. How wrong we were, they turned the music up and were talking, drinking and laughing very loudly until well after 12, when I think someone from the campsite asked them to turn it off. They did, so we went to sleep thinking all would be quiet then. We were woken about 2am to the very loud talking and laughing off another group, who again had there own kids so god knows how they got to sleep. This went on until 3.30am when we finally got to sleep again, but quite understandly were very upset. My daughter was woken by the noise, and we can't believe how families can be so rude and selfish, especially when they have kids of there own.

We came home feeling like it was hell on earth, but it was really the night time thing, although without proper sleep it kind of ruins the day anyway.

Do we try again somewhere else, were we just unlucky or is this generally what to expect on a campsite????

Ha, that reminded me of a trip I had about 3yrs ago. DH dead keen, me reservations,ds8, ds6 and dd5 at the time. It rained, we had no ground sheet and mud was walked into the tent the whole time. At night we had lots of "folksy" singing also, but mercifully everybody slept (bar me, par for the course I think) probably due to our artic range sleeping bags). I loved camping as a child and couldn't work out where it had gone wrong...answer was that back then I had a Mum to do all the work!!
I think it is generally what you expect on a campsite.

thanks janthepan, I feared as much.

mrs jingles, I think it depends on the campsite - pls don't give up yet - give it another try or 2 (different places, obv!) before you decide it's not for you. Some people are v rude and selfish but I think you were a bit unlucky to get 2 lots like that.

(Did you find your gas bottle btw?)

hi,
we've just done our maiden trip out , me & 2 x dd. many friends are caravaners / campers...we picked brains before first trip, we were recomended to join the caravan & camping club (husband teased mercilessly as he doesnt want anything to do with our camping exploits)...did join up, firsttrip I O W, fantastically good well run site up to 8 wardens on duty, a few children running around, but told to stop it promptly, they stopped any late nite noise, we visited several other sites for a prospective next trip to I O W, and couldnt better it so bokked to return again in summer, pity some are so selfish, I too was after a combination of P & Q, but playground / swimming poll for children, ( and clean toilets!!)
dont give up..have a look at their web site

you just have to pick the right site! Camping is great if you go on a quieter site and IME most people are considerate of other campers so dont give up just yet!

thanks for the positive messages, I'll try the website, a campsite warden would of done the trick definately. A lot of parents also seem to want to just dump the kids to run riot while they relax, so a warden would of kept them in check. I think we picked a really bad site for the first experience.

janh - I got the gas bottle thanks - through the calor website, it wasn't cheap as you have to buy the bottle first and then get it filled, but it should last for ages.

Made me really sad to read this as we are huge camping fans and have had loads of wonderful experiences and the kids LOVE it (5, 4 and 10mths).

I have to say though that some sites are very popular, especially with young groups and then it can get noisy. We've been paranoid enough ourselves before when our kids wouldn't settle and were noisy.

I remember one trip to a site near coniston. It was right on the lake so very popullar for watersports and very very busy. We had a group similar to you who played music till late and to be fair you don't actually have to make much noise for it to SEEM loud on a campsite at night.

I try to avoid such sites and prefer the more basic ones - especially the ones on farms which don't appeal to the crowds but have extras such as animals for the kids to enjoy.

This weekend we went to an organic farm near ashbourne. We were the only ones. No proper facicilities - a tap and a compost toilet but it was fine for a weekend. Despite non-stop rain on Saturday we had a lovely time and I can't wait to go again. If you have the right site then IME you can't beat it for the kids

My advice would be that think about what is around the site and who it will appeal to. If you think it might be busy then either try to go mid-week (makes a world of difference) or choose a slightly less popular site. However tents do not have walls and sites do become busy and noisy so you have to tolerate it a bit. But as long as its not camping surburibia then its usually still great fun.

Please give it another go. I'm sure it will be different next time.

Mrsjingles, we were in Brean last weekend only for the day though. I think you should try again at another site. We have only just started camping but where we stayed people did settle down around 10.30pm. Don't give up yet!!!!!!

they are very strict on french camp sites ime

I camped for 2 weeks in SW France when I was pregnant and wasn't aware of any other campers at night at all. It was lovely and on that experience i can't wait to go again. Sorry yours was spoilt by selfish people though .