Do you actually sleep when camping, or is everyone just pretending they do?

[NaciGeorgopoulos]

we went camping last weekend and everyone keeps saying how “restful” it was. Meanwhile, I’m there lying awake at 3am listening to every rustle, zipper, and owl within 5 miles.
Kids slept fine (of course), my partner snored through a thunderstorm, and I’m wondering if I’m just not cut out for “peaceful nature”.
Do people genuinely sleep well in tents?

I always find I get the best sleep. I have a warm sleeping bag and make sure that I have a comfy base layer.

Yes, but the first rule of camping is take ear plugs!

I need an air bed, a very warm sleeping bag, and a couple of stiff shots before bed (no beer or wine or i need to go for a wee and that is cold!) Ear.plugs and face mask optional. And the more you do in the fresh air during the day the better you sleep.
The thunderstorm would wake me though.

We camped for the first time this year and it’s the first time in 6 years that I’ve hit my 8 hour sleep goal on my Apple Watch 🙈🤣 I haven’t slept longer than 5 broken hours on any other night in the last 6 years, but camping seemed to help me sleep 🙈

No doubt just an absolute fluke and it’ll be horrendous when we go next year 😂 but however!

No, but I often come back feeling rested. I find the owls calming, once I get over the stress that I'm not asleep! Noisy camp neighbours are hell though

First night, no I never sleep well. Same as first night anywhere that's not home.

Otherwise I sleep fine.

No I hardly sleep. Don’t do it anymore too uncomfortable

No. I always found it exhausting. All the packing and unpacking, getting big stuff out of tiny bags and shoving it back in, lack of sleep and traipsing across a field at 3am for a wee in the rain. We did lots of camping trips when the kids were young. Never again!

I sleep really well when I camp but the only time I camp is when I’m either doing long Lakeland fell walks or 50+ mile bike rides so I’m ready for bed after that.

Not really, I wake a lot during the night. We've been camping a lot and have decent gear but no, I don't sleep well. I do like the feeling of sleeping on the fresh air but it's part of the reason 4 or 5 nights is my maximum.

Yes but you need earplugs and a blowup mattress.

Duvet rather than sleeping bag if you can swing it.

Yes, I sleep well, as long as I'm warm enough. I use an air bed with mattress topper for insulation/warmth plus a proper pillow and duvet. I always take lots of layers and spare blankets just in case.

I never have the best sleep despite ensuring I am warm and comfortable. The trick for me is to be as busy as possible during the day to tire out. I’ll definitely invest in earphones too.
Last summer we stayed in a family campsite near Salamanca and after a fairly exhausting day we settled to sleep only to be woken up around 2am by a rave! It wasn’t on the campsite but the sound travelled our way and it didn’t stop until around 6:30am! The music was awful - endless doof doof and we had a long drive to Bilbao to look forward to.

I love camping but I always struggle to sleep in a tent, especially the first night. It's a combination of the hard ground (even with a sleeping mat) and feeling constricted by the sleeping bag. I listen to music or an audible book and drift in and out of sleep.

Yep I hate camping. Big part of the reason I don't do music festivals. I'm one of these people who can only sleep in a bed in a dark quiet room. Sleeping on a blow up mattress in a tent with wildlife chirping away and early morning daylight shining through the tent, or just generally sleeping on a sofa, just doesn't work for me.

Earplugs, eye mask, Boots sleepeaze tablet so I don’t wake up to go to the loo every 30 minutes. We have stopped camping thankfully .

I sleep awfully in hotels. The fact its camping makes no difference.
In fact I'm just rubbish at sleeping. Last night it was because DH was home from a work trip. But on Monday it was because he had gone on a work trip....

The children always sleep better. Must be the fresh air and exercise.

I sleep great, my husband doesn't. He says things like, it was windy last night! 😂

No, I just can’t switch my ears off, if that makes sense. We got a caravan instead and I sleep better in that than I do at home.

No and I’m so envious of people who can.
I have a good air mattress, warm bedding and clothes, ear plugs, eye mask, black out tent, do loads during the day and exhausted but would literally lay there all night until the sun comes up. I find air beds so uncomfortable- how does any one get comfy on that?
What has helped a bit is taking melatonin but even then, it’s broken sleep of a few hours. Better than nothing at all. Can only do a couple of nights max.

You need self inflating memory foam mattresses - air beds are horrendous!

I love camping and always sleep well probably better than I do at home 😊 it's so quiet and peaceful ❤️

When I go camping it's generally part of an active holiday, so the trick for me is basically exhausting myself throughout the day with activities so I just crash as soon as I go to bed and could sleep anywhere on any surface as long as it was vaguely horizontal and not made of wasps.

Warm thick sleeping bag and ear plugs!

I love sleeping in my tent, and sleep well.

It’s a canvas tent so never feels sweaty in the morning sun, I have a comfortable set up (self inflating mat - the ones with memory foam inside, v wide cotton lined sleeping bag, real pillows).

I pick ‘wild style’ sites away from roads, that don’t allow amplified / electronic music , have a ‘quiet’ curfew, and are ‘pitch where you like’ which tend to allow loads of space between tents.

The spring dawn chorus and those dratted wood pigeons often wake me but I have learned to go back to sleep once they quieten down a bit.