I HATE CAMPING ITS THE WORST THING EVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mosschops30]

Just returned from 4 nights camping in Nodes Point in Isle Of Wight.
Now dont get me wrong, the IOW is glorious and we had amazing weather and yeah the view from the field was nice but ....... OMG what a stinking dump and why would I spend any holiday doing this.

1. Cleaning my teeth whilst someone unrelated takes a dump behind me.
   
2. Stinking toilets and showers, with 'things' wiped on the wall that were there 2 days running.
   
3. Bins overflowing for days on end.
   
4. Having nowhere to hand up my clothes
   
5. Sharing a shower with 100 other people, I mean I dont share my showe at home with all my neighbours, why do it on holiday.
   
6. People who drive old Rovers and think that playing music til all hours is what everyone wants (Eagles/T-Rex anyone?)
   
7. Walking across a field to wash my dishes, er no thanks I have a sink and dishwasher in the next room at home.
   
   I could go ono but I wont
   
   Needless to say I wont be camping again anytime soon and dh has not persuaded me to go to France camping for our main holiday next year

[pleasemum]

sorry you had a rotten time, we love camping and go to france every year, we have been to both large and small sites at various times of the year, and have been all over france. My girls totally enjoy the freedom camping gives them, the friendships they make and the sheer fun they have.

however when looking for a site i always try to find out as much as poss. I do agree that cleanliness is very important and the shower/loos etc to be well looked after. I like to feel relaxed not smelly!!

I think camping is one of those things you either love or hate...a bit like marmite..yuk!! personally for me it started as a cheap way of holidaying abroad but now we go as because its our first choice.

I must be a bit sad as well as i love the sound of zips in the night, taking the torch to the loo in the middle of the night, washing up in a bowl, meeting loads of new friends (campers are nice folk) and at the end of the day sitting with a glass of the local wine in my hand and the smell of BBQ's.....can't wait to go in july

[blousy]

I'm with you mosschops, had my first experience of camping this summer and thought it was horrendous! It was such a faff and completely knackering, not a holiday in any shape or form. Having said that, pesky kids and dh had the time of their lives -grr!
My children have been all over the world but declared the grotty beach in Norfolk to be the best they'd ever seen!

[biglips]

xxx

[biglips]

mosschops - im so sorry to hear about the crap time you had!.... we went the weekend before the bank holiday and it was perfect. Which campsite did you go on?

[Blandmum]

Have camped in France several times in a number of differet sites. the facilities in the places we have visited are first rate.

Excellent pools, play areas for the kids, bars, cafes and restutants, along with take away facilities are the norm. And extras like horse riding, crazy golf, paintballing.

You do pay higher pitch fees though. more like £25 a night, as oppsed to the £10 I have paid in the UK.

hate dirty loos and showers though.

[miljee]

I have tunnel vision.

[Kewcumber]

Am I the only person who has the Canvas Holidays banner appearing alongside this thread?

[miljee]

Hardcore campers don't go NEAR the bigger/ more popular sites on a BH! Look on UK campsite (link given below) if you don't believe me!


I was wondering why I go camping- dodgy week last year in Charmouth (because of the WEATHER), but a good site nonetheless; but THIS year we only went for 4 nights to Sandy Balls (the site, not the MNetter though I'm SURE she'd have us if we asked!), I made absolutely sure I didn't spend more than 4 hours total on arranging it and getting the stuff together and in the car; the weather, miraculously, wasn't at all bad, and it was by far my most enjoyable family camping experience! Oh, and I think we spent no more than 4 hours deconstructing the whole doodah once we were home (inc 3 wash loads). I'm militarily organised and I take a hanging rail and canvas 'shelf unit'.

SO why does it work for me?
-The sheer novelty value of being in a tent
-The freedom it allows the children

• Just BEING there is often holiday enough for younger kids
  -The pleasure of twilight on a nice summer's evening, glass of wine in hand; exhausted, happy children falling asleep
  -It's relatively cheap
  -The knowledge that what you look like in the morning DOES NOT MATTER as everyone looks the same!
  
  To me it sounds like
  a) you're not really 'into' the concept which is fine, of course! Some are, some aren't and
  b) you were there at such a busy time they couldn't cope AND, dare I say,
  c) BHs in particular do tend to attract the less considerate, heavily boozed up brigade who by and large, also only ever camp the once, to be replaced by a different hoard next year!
  
  The nature of camping in the UK HAS changed in recent years. The Guardian etc made it quite popular and trendy (post 9-11) so suddenly there was nothing 'last minute' about it anymore; you have to book the best sites a year in advance! The upside is you can do it in a lot more comfort, if you choose. I insist on proper loos and hot showers even if we only shower properly every 2-3 days. The best and most commendable sites keep these spotless, but- it IS possible sites like Nodes Point assume their BH crowd are mainly going to be 'one hit wonders' if you'll excuse the expression so maybe don't put in the effort for cleanliness their UK campsite reviews normally speak of.
  
  Finally, I'd treat the concept of French camping as being a whole different ball park. I've not been but I gather standards are consistently higher etc.

[Blandmum]

Dolbryn campsite in Newcastle Emlyn in South Wales has fantastic toilet facilities!

They are beautifully clean, cleaned at least twice a day, and even have wild flower arrangements in them

Nice and quiet abd it even has a tiny pub on site for the campers.

they only take about 40 campers, so you don't feel 'overwhelmed'

Bank holiday can see camping at its worst IMHO

[mosschops30]

lol sandyballs maybe we should swap dh's just for holidays he sounds perfect

[sandyballs]

Mosschops - you sound just like my DH .

He has decided he will never ever camp again, he just sat outside the tent shaking his head "I just don't get it, why do people want to do this when they have lovely homes that they have spent so much time and effort on" .

I've told him he'll have to get a different job if he doesn't want to camp next year.

[Peachy]

It does sound like you had the misfortune to share the site with some idiots- after all, its the fellow campers not the staff who smear etc.

When we were there it was school holidays, but as we go in the first week its usually abit quieter. And it was fine. We dont tend to camp over August /h- think you know why now!

The rest of the problems- just sunds like you're a non camper, because the walking to loo etc really is a part of it.

[DaftAndFussy]

We stayed in a very busy C & C Club site over the bank holiday weekend, and yes, it was heaving and noisier than I would like, but the staff really pulled out the stops to keep the place nice, and were doing additional swoops to freshen up the loos/showers - if it's so certain that somewhere is going to be busy I think it's poor that it was just left to get foul.

[Cloudhopper]

I understand totally mosschops and am really sorry that you had an awful time.

Every time we go camping, I hate it for 50% of the time and love it for 50%. I reckon that without children it is a gas, but with children it maybe tips over into 'sheer bloody hard work' and leaves you with a pile of washing and a feeling of not having had a holiday.

I think the reason we do it at all is precisely for the novelty of having to walk across a field to go to the loo/wash up, and cook on a tiny stove. If you don't enjoy that stuff (and let's be honest, it sounds mad if you do), then it just isn't your thing.

No shame in that, and I am glad you discovered it before you ended up miserable for 2 weeks in France.

[Kewcumber]

I'm not a camper myself. I like mattresses and electricity and private running water etc. it's not that I don't see the attraction but I would definitely go for a caravan over a tent if I didn;t have a nice sister who lent me her house whilst they were away.

[Kewcumber]

oh mosschops - you should have catted me before hand I would have given you my phone number as we were in a house about 15 mins drive away and spent several evenings at the beach in St Helens - you could have come and had a shower at our place.

[mosschops30]

Tellusmater, thats what dh said but I think the fact that its a busy weekend is a poor excuse.
I have been in cleaner toilets in service stations and I dont think having a member of staff to check facilities on a big park like that every hour or so is unattainable.
There was no hand towels or toilet roll left, shit on the walls and 2 toilets without seats which had broken off.

IMHO cleanliness is not a luxury its a necessity.

You wouldnt excuse a hotel not cleaning your room or changing your linen because it was a 'busy period' they cater for that eventuality.

Not acceptable to me, and like I said little welsh campsite was spotless compared to this place and toilets/showers checked regularly, bins emptied daily etc and that was Easter hols

[TellusMater]

"Toilets were not cleaned from one evening 6pm until the following morning"

Gawd. I wouldn't expect more than that TBH. And a meal in a motorway Service Station costs more than a night's camping IME...

You chose a bad weekend, which is why the facilities were overwhelmed. But the other things you complain about are part and parcel of camping (walking to the loo, walking to the washing up area) and so you are probably right to avoid it.

But I do hang up my clothes (we have a rail and one of those soft hanging shelves things), and I clean my teeth by our tent.

[Piggy]

I know I shouldn't laugh but no 1 on your list made me lol. I'm so sorry you had a miserable time.

[mosschops30]

Sorry peachy, I know the recommednation came from you and thats no reflection on you but it really was disgusting. Toilets were not cleaned from one evening 6pm until the following morning (even motorway services manage a check once an hour fgs). The bins were overflowing so people just had to leave their rubbish by the side of the bins which stank and looked pretty gross.

It was just awful and I wouldnt go there again. IOW was beautiful though.

Quadrophenia we do have a 2 week holiday abroad in an apartment/hotel in May and this was just a little extra. But dh would like us to go camping in France for 2 weeks as our main holiday ..... its never going to happen now I'm afraid

[MamaG]

sorry peachy, didn't see your last post

[MamaG]

(lol at peachy's minor strop>

[quadrophenia]

I think if you have the option of something 'more' eg holiday abroad, hotel, caravan etc then if camping isn't for you there is no point. However for some of us we don't have an option therefore we kind of have to embrace it, otherwise bye bye two weeks in Cornwall for £130 with 4 kids. Sometimes i wonder if i was richer would i still camp alot, i really don't know, would probably do both, but the idea of a break in a hotel without having to cook, clean does sound heaven.

[Peachy]

(and I recommended that site to you that last post I found quite offensive!!)