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Planning a summer camping holiday with the kids? A great family tent is probably the most important element to ensuring a gang of happy campers. You need somewhere roomy, waterproof and comfortable, both to sleep and hang out in, especially if the weather isn’t looking so balmy. Family tents don’t come cheap though, but it’s worth investing in as good a quality model as you can afford – with care it will last you decades of camping holidays in Britain and beyond. Waterproofing It’s waterproof to a very decent 4,000mm and has a strong sewn-in groundsheet underfoot – this is a tent ready to deal with the foulest weather without a fuss. “Airbeam” blowup poles make it easy to inflate with the included pump, despite its hefty size and weight.
Versatility - With a 10 minute setup time and being by no means light, we'd see this tent as being great if you intend on doing longer stays.To make the decision a little easier, here are our top 3 tips on purchasing your perfect family tent. Specially designed for family camping trips, the Quechua Arpenaz is an affordable four-person tent, offering fantastic value for money. The flysheet’s fabric can withstand winds of over 50 miles per hour and offers UPF 30 sun protection. When erected, the roof of the tent stands well over head height, making it easy to stand up and walk around. The classic cotton canvas Bell tent is an icon in the camping community. The traditional shape and simple design makes them one of the easiest tents to pitch. All of our 5m canvas tents can be easily fitted with a Flashing Kit to allow for the use of a stove. You can learn how to do this by reading our blog post Installing a Flashing Kit/Stove Hole.
The living space isn’t huge but there is good headspace, and the tent was one of the most breathable we tested, with plentiful vents for hot nights. We also found the Buxton easy to pitch, with colour-coded poles making it intuitive to erect.A variety of our Tent Awnings and Tarps can be used with our 5 metre tents, such as our Bell Tent Porch or Large 180cm Pro Porch & Connector. Here are more of our customer’s favourite accessories for 5m Bell Tents: The weightiest and most expensive tent we tested is also one of the very best. Vango’s excellent Illusion eight-man tent is your best bet if you have a large boot, a large budget and are planning to camp in one spot for a week or two.
An iconic shape in the outdoors, this family bell tent is easy to pitch, spacious inside and hugely popular with glampers, families and scout groups. In 2022, Zempire tents were voted joint 1st in the Best Family Tents category at the Tent Owner Satisfaction Awards. Big family tents are heavy, take up space and can be fiddly to erect, so make sure you’ve got space in the car to store a weighty model. Newer family models are now often inflatable with pumps instead of erected with traditional poles. These “air” tents can be a real time-saver if you have a decent pump.
Tent size
The Luna is the ideal first canvas tent to invest in for annual summer holidays and family festivals. It’s a lovely spacious size for a family of four, with tons of head space and big circular windows, making the inside feel airy and light. Comfort - With a large living space and 3m height, this is definitely a comfortable tent. We liked the three ventilation points around the base, as well as the roof aperture should you wish to use an internal stove - would've been great to be able to control the roof ventilation as you can in some other tents. Coming in slightly cheaper than the most compelling alternatives, especially for this size of tent, the Life Under Canvas 5m Bell Tent offers good value. We would have scored it 10/10 but it loses a point for the rubbish zips. Despite its vast size, the Zempire Aerodrome is surprisingly simple to erect. The Aerodome can sleep up to six people in two separate compartments, giving you a variety of options for sleeping arrangements. There’s also an attached awning that provides great shade and an outdoor spot for family chats or camping games.
Working out the right sized tent for a growing family can be confusing. Be wary of the number of people a tent claims to sleep (e.g. “four man” or “six man”) – this usually means how many adults you could squeeze in at a push, sardine style. We recommend halving the number to work out how many the tent will sleep in comfort, so a six or eight man tent will usually fit a family of four nicely, with plenty of space for gear and cooking kit. Perfect for a small family camping trip, the Vango Beta 450XL can comfortably accommodate up to four people. The tent gives an impressive space-to-weight ratio due to its tunnel design. The Vango Beta gets its sturdy stability from the Tension Band System, which can be adjusted to prevent sideways movement in strong, changeable winds. You can also store various pieces of camping gear in the functional porch area. Accommodating up to ten people, the Quest Touareg Bell is a tipi-style tent perfect for summer camping with large families. During the summer, roll up the sides and enjoy the spacious socialising area. In the winter, roll down the sides and socialise comfortably around the single central pole. Stay cool in warmer weather and comfy in the winter with the 100% cotton canvas flysheet equipped with breathing and insulating properties. Berghaus has been highly commended by 92% in our 2023 Owner Satisfaction Awards, so it’s definitely worth the splurge.If you’re looking to go on a family camping adventure, you’ll first need the right tent. We’ve put together 15 family tents that our camping experts recommend for 2024. We’ve also included everything you should look for in a family tent before purchasing one. What to look for when buying a new family tent Separate bedrooms are great for longer trips, or if you have older children or teenagers who need to their own space. A roomy porch, especially one with plastic windows, is great for hanging out in on wet days, and some standing room is a big help for sorting out gear. While it’s important you like the look of your tent, there’s no point in going for something that looks stylish, when ultimately, it might not keep you warm and dry. While we do live in a beautiful country, the weather is unpredictable at best. Therefore, it’s worth looking at the waterproof rating of any tent, also known as the Hydrostatic Head rating. The rating measures the quantity of rain the tent can withstand in millimetres. It’s key to remember that the higher the score, the more durable the tent. • Is it spacious enough for your family?
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