Camping holidays

[WanaBaba]

Hi
Looking for a really cheap holiday this year due to to being a bit skint!
While looking online I came across camping holidays, I've never been on one and hadn't really considered it but saw some deals for around 100 pound for a week with free passes to the holiday park entertainment etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone has ever been on one of these and what you experiences where?
Also how does it work? The deal is for an electric pitch, How exactly does that work with a tent? And do we even need an electric pitch? What would we need to take with us? Etc?

As you can tell I've no clue about camping so any info you could tell me would be great thanks so that I can consider this properly

There would be me, oh and our 2 year old LO. Is it a good idea to go camping with a 2 year old? Lol.

Thankyou x

 

[Mazzy17]

I love camping!! Am going to get a new tent to accommodate Amy now (and an excuse to get a new tent )

What i take is:

Tent (i have a Gelert Tornado)
Double airmatress (one of those extra thick ones)
Duvet & Pillows
Airpump
Spare batteries
Cooking stove
Lanterns
Kettle
utensils
Chairs
Table

Have you got a tent?

I go camping with my friends who have kids and they love it.

 

[WanaBaba]

No I haven't got a tent yet, the budget for this will have to be low too! I've seen one for £49 will this be suitable?

I'm a bit worried about how we will eat! Don't think we will be able to afford to eat out for every meal for a week! X

 

[Mazzy17]

Get a camping stove or disposable BBQ! Nothing like camping food

What is the tent you are looking at?

 

[WanaBaba]

https://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3401699.htm
This is the tent I've been looking at, hope the link works!

How does a camping stove work? Sorry for the stupid questions!

X

 

[Mazzy17]

oh not a bad tent, its like my one. And as its on offer i would say go for it.

My camp stove is this, i use it for my morning coffee. And bacon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-...sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1371215424&sr=1-1

Oh get a water holder, got a 15L one from Asda and one of the first things after setting up tent is to find the nearest water tap and fill it up

 

[Mummy Bean]

look at sandyballs (awful name i know) - it a place in the new forest they do pre set up tents - with beds, cooker and everything you need for £250-£300 for the whole week for up to 8 people!

Takes all the hassel out of camping, and they adventure stuff and swimming pools, horse rides,bikes rides ect all on site!! would deff recommend it. as you could easily spend £100 on camping gear

 

[WanaBaba]

oh not a bad tent, its like my one. And as its on offer i would say go for it.

My camp stove is this, i use it for my morning coffee. And bacon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-...sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1371215424&sr=1-1

Oh get a water holder, got a 15L one from Asda and one of the first things after setting up tent is to find the nearest water tap and fill it up

Thanks I just have to convince my oh now! He is not too sure as isn't really into the camping thing! But I totally think it'd be great, I love little adventures!
Just gotta get clued up first haha.

I'm still confused about the electric pitch thing, you can get a cheaper deal if you go for a non electric pitch but I'm not sure if we would need an electric one?
How does this work though, I'm not even sure what it is

 

[WanaBaba]

look at sandyballs (awful name i know) - it a place in the new forest they do pre set up tents - with beds, cooker and everything you need for £250-£300 for the whole week for up to 8 people!

Takes all the hassel out of camping, and they adventure stuff and swimming pools, horse rides,bikes rides ect all on site!! would deff recommend it. as you could easily spend £100 on camping gear

Thanks Hun it looks really good! But unfortunately a little far to travel x

 

[Mazzy17]

Naaah you dont NEED one, just another luxury (my SIL "NEEDS" one for her hair straighteners!)

Hubby was not up for camping and i took him last year...he took to it like a pig in shit!

 

[mum22ttc#3]

If you was to have an electric pitch you would need the electric mains hook up lead to be able to hook your tent up. I've had a look about for one this year and their around 50 pounds.
We've never bothered with electric before and I don't think we will this year either. I think as long as you have a gas stove then you'll be fine without.

 

[WanaBaba]

I was wondering about the hair straighteners, I suppose I'll have to rough it for a week haha. All part of the camping fun! Lol.
Thanks for the info about the electric pitch, that's saved a bit more money!
Getting excited now and oh has said he's willing to give it a go, yay!

 

[Mummy Bean]

i can find the link for the website...but you cant hire campervans for well cheap then they got everything in.

or look out for the next round of sun holidays...we go every year and get a caravan for liek £60 a weekend. if u havent alredy got all the camping gear a carvan will prob be cheaper. looks haven, or small private placss.

 

[WanaBaba]

i can find the link for the website...but you cant hire campervans for well cheap then they got everything in.

or look out for the next round of sun holidays...we go every year and get a caravan for liek £60 a weekend. if u havent alredy got all the camping gear a carvan will prob be cheaper. looks haven, or small private placss.

Don't think there will be another round of sun holidays before July will there? Not sure when they do them?

Yeah I've been looking at haven deals but the cheapest caravan deal I can find is around £300 and that's just for 4 nights, whereas for a 7 nights pitch it would be £63!

I've worked out it'd cost around/ under 100 for the camping gear, 50 for the tent, 15 for the camping stove and 10 for a pack of 4 gas cartridges, does anyone know if 4 will be enough?
And we would just take our air bed and quilt and pillows. And our own plates and pans etc.
Have I missed anything off here that I would need? Would I need a special kinda kettle? lol.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

We took 4 cannisters last year for a single hob stove and only used 2. That was for 5 of us for breakfast and dinner, we had picnics at lunchtime.
I also brought a kettle of eBay for a fiver.

I would also get a water container which again if you want to go cheap you can get for around fiver, that's what we used last year and although it wasn't the best it done for the week. If your not taking any tables or chairs maybe a picnic blanket which you can also get fairly cheap.

 

[Gc85]

I LOVE camping, it's a brilliant economical holiday!! LO loves being able to toddle about in the fresh air! We have electric hook up but that's just cause we go for 2 weeks and it makes life a bit easier. You don't strictly need it, most camp sites have power points in the toilets you can use for hair dryers/straighteners too.

Here's what we normally take

Double air bed for me and DH 2 x sleeping bags
LO still uses her travel cot and gro bag with sleeves just layered with a few extra blankets if necessary
Stove 1-3 canisters is plenty for 2 weeks
Plastic plates, bowls, forks etc (cheap as chips from asda)
A few pots and pans (I didn't bother with specific camping ones just got asda smart price ones as they are nice and light) and kettle
Chair each and table
We take LOs Ikea high chair so she can sit at the table with us (she's still to wriggly to eat properly in a normal chair)
Electric cool box is good cause you can use it as a fridge but not essential
Lots of towels for pool/showers/beach
Clothes that you can layer up if its get chilly
We also take a folding baby bath so we can bath LO in the tent cause sometimes shower blocks can be freezing and she doesn't like showers much. Some sites though have family bathrooms with proper baths which makes life a bit easier.

Go for it you'll have a great time! 'Go outdoors' is good and they have all the tents on display to properly look at, if you've got one nearby

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Another thing I forgot to add is a light and a torch. I picked up a great Vango light last year for about 8 pounds. It is this one here but if you look around you may get it slightly cheaper.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vango-48...ing_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item2a2a0a8663

You'd obviously need batteries to go with these aswell.

 

[lindseymw]

I have just come back from Camping today. Went for 3 nights. We took:-

Tent (Voyager 6 from GoOutdoors...its HUGE!)
Cadac Safari Cooker (Posh one that can be an oven, wok, griddle, frying pan & BBQ)
Camping Storage https://m.gooutdoors.co.uk/elite-4-shelf-wardrobe-p152322
2 Adult Chairs
2 Child's chairs
Picnic BackPack (has plates, cutlery, chopping board, cups etc in one place)
3 × double blow up mattress
In Car Air Pump (to blow up mattresses)
Double sleeping bag
Kids sleeping bag
Gas Bottle (we have a huge one as my parents gave me their old caravan one, it's 15kg! Only needs to be 2-3kg max or you can buy cannisters)
Kettle
Coolbag
Ice Packs
Electric Cable (you need a proper cable, you can't use an extension with a 3 pin plug) https://m.gooutdoors.co.uk/pennine-leisure-delta-3-socket-caravanning-mains-kit-p106504 Like this, you can get it a LOT cheaper though
Electric Heater - can be a bit chilly on a night/early morning

I put all our clothes in vacuum packs to save space before we went then used the In Car Air Pump to re-vacuum coming home.


You don't really need electric hook up, we mainly used it charge phones/iPad but could have done this in the car.

We like our luxuries when we go camping.

 

[WanaBaba]

Thanks ladies writing down my list now of what I will need
And thanks for the tip about the picnic blanket! I was considering buying a little table and chair for LO but may aswell just take a blanket I have plenty of them!

Can I ask what sort of things you ladies cook on the camping stove? I'm just getting a basic one.

Ok this question might sound a little stupid but ill ask anyway cos I'm a worrier and can't help worrying about everything! .... I'm just wondering if camping is safe enough for a LO? As there will be no lock on the tent when we are asleep, I'm worried I won't be able to sleep all week for worrying about LO being safe!

X

 

[Mazzy17]

From my experience of camping with friends kids the problems they have is actually waking up their kids as they are so comfy!!!

Bacon, BBQ beans, bananas with choc buttons mmmmm

lindseymw are there any faults with your tent? Looking at it on gooutdoors and looks great!