Family tent which packs down small

[Twickerhun]

I’m looking for a quality family tent which packs down relatively small (we have a small car and the tent we have now fills it). We have three kids. Any recommendations?

Have you tried a top box?

Haven’t tried a car roof box due to the fact that they impact fuel Consumption too much (air flow) and we drive long haul (to Italy).

They don't make all that much difference. We've travelled thousands of miles round Europe with ours. It's a Thule. Very aerodynamic

What about a trailer then? It's good to have the extra space in the car.

How old are your children, and what do you want from a tent? For example, do you need a large living space, do you want separate sleeping areas?

I can recommend wild country tents, but they are more backpacking style than stand up comfortably style. If your children are older, and you're off to Italy, you may find it better to buy two 2-3 man tents just to sleep in and take a day tent/tarp for the living area. It's easier to pack 2-3 smaller things in a car than a big lumo of a tent.

The problem is with 3 kids, the tent starts to take up the least amount of space and it's the bedding/clothes that take up the room!

Hiking tents are small but even 4 man aren't designed with families in mind,

Our kids are 1 and 3 and my step daughter (who only camps with us occasionally) is 13. Ideally we would have separate sleep space and a reasonably high head high. Don’t need massive living space. A porch or canopy is nice.

Our kids are small enough that clothes don’t take too much room.

We have a Wild Country 4 man - packs down very small indeed and is easy to put up. You could squeeze five in but it would be very tight.

The wild country tents seem to have great reviews for weekend camping. How would they work for camping for a week? Do they hold up in bad weather?

Wild country are an excellent brand- made by the same firm that make Terra Nova. I wouldn't be worried about bad weather with them. We have used ours for a week with 3 kids, think they were 6, 3 and 8 months then, so similar ages, but we were 'touring' so didn't need inside space as such.

Thank you

We have a wild country Aspect 4 which is a slightly bigger version of the Zephyros 4. It’s genius, only 2 poles. We have been away for week but we have a tarp too for windbreak and one of the children is old enough for a small separate tent.

A more spacious tent is better in bad weather or it can feel a bit claustrophobic with little ones. They end up spilling stuff or not settling to sleep.

Vango have some good compact tents and of course you can try to keep all your other kit compact too.

Wouldn't step daughter like her own tent next to yours? Can remember wanting my privacy at that age, plus will probably be cost effective as she might well use it for festivals in her later teen years, have sleepovers in friends gardens etc.