Campsite with pre-erected tents?

[TractorTedTed]

I'm hoping some of you experienced campers can give me some advice!

Am looking to go camping with dh and 2 dc this summer for a couple of nights. We don't have a large enough tent for all of us, so before we go to the expense of buying a big tent we'd like to give camping a go on a campsite with tents already set up) to make sure we all actually like it!

So we're looking for a campsite in the South West / Central England (ideally Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset) which has Bell tents or similar already set up. Any recommendations?

The problem I'm having when searching is that there are lots of fancy campsites which do glamping (and cost megabucks!), whereas we really want cheap and cheerful, and ideally a campsite which allows camp fires.

Is this do-able? Would be very grateful for any suggestions.

I don't know of any campsites, however I'd recommend checking Gumtree (etc.) for secondhand tents. You can find some bargains.

I found somewhere near Woolacombe in North Devon via air BnB, I think its called Strawfields...

In UK I've only seen clamping, at prices where I'd hope you'd get to take the tent home.

Borrow or secondhand is probably your best way forwards. Gumtree?

Glamping, not clamping.

Ah I saw one of these on Come Sleep With me once but I can't remember the name!

Had fairly bog standard tents already set up.

Not come sleep with me, four in a bed. They did a campsite special once.

Strawfields in £40 a night and sleeps 4

Park farm camping in Norfolk. That's it.

Ooh, thank you. Strawfields and Park farm look exactly the sort of thing I'm after. Both are slightly further away than I wanted, but certainly possible.

However, the suggestions to just buy a tent made me Solomon gumtree and now I'm seriously considering it! Just seen a practically brand new tent for £40!

What sort of tent do I actually want though? I haven't a clue...

I'm at Verwood in Dorset just now on the Verwood camping and caravanning site and they have four or five pre-erected tents. We had a squiz and it looks like there's a double bed with a set of bunk beds and a table and four chairs included.

I know it's not in the areas you mentioned, but it might be worth a look.

Have you considered sites with camping pods? They are basically a wooden tent; you still have the plus points of camping but they are a bit more rain proof!

Some questions to ask yourself if you decide to buy:

Do you just want something to sleep in or do you want space to sit in/ eat in/ cook in if the weather is bad?

Do you want something that you can stand up in/sit on deckchairs/have a table etc in?

Do you want one sleeping compartment so you are in with the kids or seperate sleeping compartments in different parts of the tent?

Do you want something with a porch (useful if its wet to stop rain and mud being tracked through the tent.

DH and I went to go outdoors where they had loads set up and spent time looking at the pros and cons of each tent before choosing what sort we wanted to buy.

Verwood looks nice, but checked the price and 3 nights would be nearly £300

This is why I'm starting to think I want to buy a tent!

Yes, camping pods are great. We did that last year actually and had a really nice time. Campsite was fantastic - and cheap! But campfires weren't allowed. I know my dc spend so much time playing with sticks, that they'd love a proper campfire. Their highlight from last year seemed to be filling the water contaimers! Dh thinks we should do the same again, but I just fancy 'proper camping.' He got our old 2 man tent out recently and the dc played in it in the garden for hours.

I guess having a look in Go Outdoors would be sensible.
Think we want one we can stand in, with room to sit in if it rains. Agree that porch would be useful. Don't really mind about sleeping compartments.

Been reading old mumsnet threadba for ideas. Are Vango and Outwell the best brands?

we are SE not SW, but have 3 de Waard tents ready pitched from £50 a night (that includes the regular camping pitch of £30 a night)
coolcamping.com/campsites/uk/england/south-east-england/east-sussex/183-glottenham-castle

we positively encourage campfires too and are running some ad hoc activities through august

Anita's campsite near Mollington in Oxfordshire. Probably the best kept and cleanest campsite I've ever been to.

They have yurts, wooden pods and 'the arc'.
Open fires allowed.

Walkers Cottage, Hay on Wye - blissful.

Vango and Outwell are very good brands but we've just bought the Berghaus Air 6XL. It's on offer at the mo and won the best value tent this year. Look at Millets I think they have an extra 20% off at the mo.
If you're likely to camp again I'd buy one. We were looking at the glamping sites for this summer but decided a new tent was going to do us better.

Look at the Camping Unplugged sites. They have a couple near Winchester, I think, and can provide ready erected tents. Not sure if they are bell tents.

Oh, go to NettleTea's site!

De Waard tents are the bees knees!

NettleTea's site looks lovely, but sadly too far for us.

Yes you could buy a tent for less than your Verwood stay!

this one looks a good starter tent ...4000HH is good enough for UK and is not too huge...lots of the sellers blacks etc have offers at the moment.... There are some lovely sites in Oxfordshire/Wiltshire that allow fires ...and a great one near Stroud
small...
www.tobacconistfarm.co.uk/campinfo.html
or big...(havent been but heard good things)
thistledown.org.uk/
HTH

www.argos.co.uk/product/4811886?cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59156|cid:189949525|agid:18091974325|tid:aud-144400486596:pla168978338245|crid:77627773765|nw:g|rnd:7501325436293213920|dvc:c|adp:1o10&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzJv4-sK11QIVQr7tCh32Sg69EAQYCiABEgLD8PD_BwE

Nettle teas site looks lovely. It's a shame eurocamp etc don't do the U.K. for more choice of location.

Trying not to buy that berghaus air tent.

I've seen the berghaus one in real life and still have tent envy literally went up in ten mins

Sadly my budget will only stretch to a second hand tent, so the Berghaus one is out of the question.

Am busy searching ebay and gumtree!

Found one I thought would be good, but then realised it only had a sewn-in groundsheet in the sleeping areas, not throughout the whole thing. Seeing as I'm not a big fan of creepy crawlers I decided it would be best to give it a miss.