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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Which fellow campers make your heart sink?

103 replies

Tabarnak · 24/05/2026 16:18

You’ve worked out the perfect spot, set up, and are just settling down with a cold drink when THAT fellow camper comes and sets up next you.

Which fellow campers make your heart sink?

(in the spirit of today’s threads about other people being anti social or just not what you want on beaches , in restaurants etc etc)
(on the whole I find camping folk lovely)

Me: An enthusiastic parent producing a bubble machine / bubble wands / vats of bubble detergent that will burst all over my canvas tent wrecking the whatchamacallit properties of the cotton canvas and destroy the waterproofing.

OP posts:
Tabarnak · 24/05/2026 18:53

Quokka2 · 24/05/2026 18:07

Lol you did ask for generalisations 😂

IME these groups tend to be louder and drunker than mixed aged or younger family groups.

But I did say families and you said you were a group of friends so not even describing you!

😍 I am relieved I am not a campsite menace !

I know what you mean about noisy adults. The only time I ever asked a group just as you describe to be quiet was at 2am after they had shared some wildly salacious gossip about people in their village in great detail and at top volume, and I went over and said I was fascinated by the gossip but could they quieten down.. they apologised profusely, poured a massive glass of wine and invited me to join them. (I didn’t, and they did shut up)

OP posts:
Tabarnak · 24/05/2026 18:55

WoollyandSarah · 24/05/2026 18:17

The ones who let their children drive their car around the campsite spring to mind. It was quite a nice campsite too.

I did that once.

But not until everyone else had packed up and left

OP posts:
Nourishinghandcream · 24/05/2026 18:58

We never go away in our Moho at the weekend or bank holiday.
School holidays are also a nono but to get around the long summer break, we choose quiet or adult only sites.

Screaming & shouting, music & ball games are our per hates.
Dislike flags & strings of lights, not because they affect us but we just can't see the point 😉

canuckup · 24/05/2026 18:59

Oh I've seen a few belters on camp sites

One guy had 'fuck karma' tattooed across his chest

Lucienandjean · 24/05/2026 19:02

The man who, when I asked him politely to stop flying his drone right above me as I sat outside my tent, told me he’d fly his drone wherever the f**k he wanted.

JudgeJ · 24/05/2026 19:05

Lucienandjean · 24/05/2026 19:02

The man who, when I asked him politely to stop flying his drone right above me as I sat outside my tent, told me he’d fly his drone wherever the f**k he wanted.

Where's an air rifle when you need one for a bit of target practice?

Shittyyear2025 · 24/05/2026 19:05

#vanlife-ers. Bloody awful.

I have a small van, but have always been a camper so I respect my fellow field-mates, no swearing, no big boozing, no mad noise. Been to a few weekends away where dickheads turn up in their DIY builder van conversions and immediately crack open a beer, start swearing and spoil it for everyone.

Wallywonker72 · 24/05/2026 19:08

Any music. At all. So selfish to assume that anyone else within hearing distance shares your enthusiasm for Ed Sheeran / Slayer / ABBA etc. Just keep it to yourself,

Barky dogs.

Anyone who doesn’t pitch their tent properly - facing the wrong direction, too close to the boundary line, etc.

fairy lights are fine but nothing that flashes, please.

larkstar · 24/05/2026 19:11

Scousers

Xanadu78 · 24/05/2026 19:13

Loud Performance parenting

Anyone with an annoying laugh

ReignOfError · 24/05/2026 19:20

The giant tent plus even larger awning, plus additional canopy, plus 15 inflatable windbreaks, carpets and most of their living room furniture including the giant speakers, the lights to drape on every surface, and a sodding flag on a really high pole, wankers.

Whataflippincircus · 24/05/2026 19:23

Playing Music is a big no from me. We were on holiday in Devon and a man insisted on playing loud music. My DH asked his DW very nicely to turn it down, which she did. Five minutes later it went loud again and the man came onto our pitch very riled up. He said that enjoying his music was what camping was all about. I tried politely to point out the annoyance to other campers but he wasn’t listening. He talked over me in a very aggressive manner.

I spoke to the site manager about the loud music and the aggressive camper. He completely agreed that it was out of order and that he would send his DW over to have a word. It suddenly went very quiet and stayed quiet. We had a bit of a chuckle at the manager sending his DW to sort it out but evidently she did a good job. I was pleased it was a woman who tackled this, after the man was so rude to me. 😂

Funiculus · 24/05/2026 19:40

Barking dogs are the absolute worst. Little children I don’t mind at all. But people who think the rest of the campsite really don’t mind having their entire nights’ rest ruined by continuous barking need to give their heads a wobble. So inconsiderate and entitled

WeAreNotOk · 24/05/2026 19:45

I went to a campsite in Tenby, top of a hill overlooking the sea. Lovely. Then 2/3 families turn up with their inflatable tents and all the other expensive trimmings. They had tons of kids between them. Of course, all the adults got drunk and lots of loud laughing and screeching all evening and god forbid, after 11! Lol. I found it quite entertaining until I tried to sleep. It was like Little House on the Prairie - all calling out to each other from their respective tents. The kids were well behaved compared to them.

Oh and I don't mind a barky dog as it makes me feel less bad about my own, who, to be fair, only barks if I dare leave to go to the loo. He's got used to strangers, kids, other dogs wandering into 'our space'.

On one sight, campers walked right past our tent as a short cut. I set up the guy ropes like The Matrix. It was hilarious seeing them still try to get past. They got a round of applause it they managed it but most apologised and turned back.

chasetheace99 · 24/05/2026 19:50

Anyone with children as my dog will just spend whole time barking! I don’t dislike children (I have 4 and have camped with them) but my dog does not!

Screamingabdabz · 24/05/2026 19:55

Dog owners.
Children who decide to piss about or kick a ball just by my tent. Not their family’s tent. Always mine.
The people who think everyone wants to hear their music.

Other than that I bloody love camping.

SqueakyFromme · 24/05/2026 19:57

JudgeJ · 24/05/2026 19:05

Where's an air rifle when you need one for a bit of target practice?

I was thinking more an AK47 ?

ThePieceHall · 24/05/2026 20:02

The ones who ignore the no cars on the field rule and speed-drive their car to their pitch to unload/load. If you want to drive right up to the doors of your tent, maybe book a Premier Inn with a parking space.

The parents who send their kids to play outside other people’s tents/shepherd’s huts so they can have some quiet time.

The land grabbers who pitch their tent right in front of you and your view but who put up 77 windbreakers so nobody else can encroach on their space. They tend to claim about a third of the field.

The knobheads who are so worried about their tent being lonely that in a massive, empty field, they will pitch 10mm away from you and literally cross their guy ropes with yours. The same dicks who park their car slap-bang next to you in a supermarket car park where you were the only car.

The selfish performative parents who start cooking breakfast at 5am and allow their offspring to run riot around the camping field.

The idiots who tramp all the mud into the shower blocks and the actual showers.

Those who brush their tooth and do their full ablutions in the outside dish-washing sink, when there are actual bathroom sinks a few metres away.

Snoring men.

Men and boys who take over the whole campsite with their games of football.

Parents who change their babies on the actual dining table in the indoor communal kitchen block.

People who ignore the dogs on leads rule and take them into the aforementioned kitchen.

People who set their fire pits so the smoke blows your way and not theirs.

Im sure there are about 55 more. As you can clearly tell, I absolutely love camping!

YoBetty · 24/05/2026 20:10

Feral kids don't usually bother me as they usually quieten down when I switch on my long-practiced Death Stare. It's their feral parents I can't stand.

EffortlesslyDedicated · 24/05/2026 20:14

Any music whether it's a solitary guitar or a ghetto blaster.

Large groups whether they are families or just adults, it changes the dynamic as they tend to be louder than people who are maybe just chatting for the first time with their neighbours.

Performance parents

We tend to look for quiet basic sites that are not in walking distance of a pub.

Tickingcrocodile · 24/05/2026 20:18

I dread being next to a group. They invariably stay up late playing music loudly.

crackofdoom · 24/05/2026 20:21

JustAnUdea · 24/05/2026 16:52

A few years agi we invrsted in a battery and solar panel set up and go for basic campsites instead of EHU. Greatly reduces the number of idiot campers.

I find this to be true. The worst people all seem to be wedded to their EHUs.

albhub · 24/05/2026 20:40

HolidayPlanningAgain · 24/05/2026 17:14

The guy with a guitar that things he’s Ed Sheeran and subjects everyone to awful music in the evenings

Yes! I was about to post this.
Bloke rocking up with a guitar makes my heart sink.

Nat6999 · 24/05/2026 20:43

The ones who pitch their tent right on the end of my tow hitch then refuse to move, set up a television & gaming set up & have music blaring all night & play football round my caravan.

JustAnUdea · 24/05/2026 20:54

The ones who set up camp on top of you afe so frustrating.

A few years ago we wete at a "pitch anywhere" site which specified a minimum distance between tents, and to park your car to the right of your tent to help maintain distance.

We went out one afternoon, came back to find a tent on our "car space", in front of our canoe and trailer. (So we couldnt move either). There was another tent the otber side of them.

They were told to move by management who were doing their evening checks as we got back.