Your First Family Camping Trip

Your first family camping trip should be exciting, but it can also feel slightly daunting. There’s the tent to think about, equipment to pack, meals to plan and the inevitable question of whether you’ve forgotten something important. The good news is that family camping doesn’t need to be complicated.

Start with a relatively simple trip, take the equipment you genuinely need and accept that you’ll learn something every time you go away.

Your first camping holiday doesn’t have to be perfect. The aim is to make it enjoyable enough that everyone wants to do it again.

Keep Your First Trip Simple

For your first family camping experience, there’s no need to plan an ambitious two-week adventure hundreds of miles from home.

A weekend or a couple of nights away can be an ideal introduction.

Choosing a campsite relatively close to home has several advantages:

Less time travelling
An easier journey with children
Less pressure to pack absolutely everything
A simpler first experience
The reassurance that home isn’t too far away

Once everyone is comfortable with camping, you can start planning longer holidays and travelling further afield.

Choose a Family-Friendly Campsite

The campsite can make a significant difference to your first trip.

For your first few nights under canvas, a site with good basic facilities can make life considerably easier.

Look for:

Clean toilets and showers
Drinking water
Washing-up facilities
A suitable family pitch
Somewhere to dispose of rubbish
A shop nearby or on site

Depending on your family, you might also appreciate a children’s play area, electric hook-up or somewhere to buy food.

You don’t need a huge holiday park packed with facilities, but having the basics nearby removes some of the challenges when you’re learning how everything works.

Practise Pitching Your Tent at Home

If possible, don’t let your arrival at the campsite be the first time you’ve ever taken your new tent out of its bag.

A practice pitch at home can save a lot of frustration.

It allows you to:

Understand the pitching sequence
Identify the poles or air beams
Check the guy lines
Learn where everything attaches
Make sure nothing is missing
Work out how long pitching takes

It also gives you a chance to practise packing the tent away again.

That knowledge can be extremely useful if you arrive at the campsite later than planned or the weather starts to change while you’re setting up.

Don’t Take Too Much Equipment

One of the easiest mistakes on a first camping trip is trying to prepare for every possible situation.

Before long, the car is packed to the roof with equipment you may never use.

Start with the essentials:

Family tent
Tent pegs and pitching equipment
Sleeping bags
Airbeds, mats or camp beds
Pillows
Camping chairs
Basic cooking equipment
Lighting
Suitable clothing
Toiletries
First-aid kit

You can add extra comfort items if you have room, but don’t feel that you need to recreate your entire home on the campsite.

After your first trip, you’ll have a much better idea of what your family actually needs.

Make Sleeping Comfortable

A poor night’s sleep can quickly take the shine off a camping weekend.

Give some thought to your sleeping setup rather than concentrating entirely on the tent.

Depending on your preferences, you might use:

Airbeds
Self-inflating mats
Camping mats
Camp beds

Combine these with suitable sleeping bags and pillows.

Remember that temperatures can drop considerably overnight, even after a warm summer day. Having an additional layer available is much easier than trying to get comfortable when everyone is already cold.

Arrive With Plenty of Daylight

Try to reach the campsite early enough to pitch your tent in daylight.

Setting up camp is considerably easier when you can see what you’re doing and aren’t racing against darkness.

Arriving earlier also gives children time to explore while you organise the tent and allows everyone to settle before the evening.

Once the tent is pitched, get the sleeping areas organised first. Knowing everyone has somewhere comfortable to sleep removes one of the main jobs from the list.

Keep Your First Meals Easy

Your first camping trip probably isn’t the time to attempt complicated outdoor cooking.

Simple meals are easier to prepare and create less washing up.

You might choose:

Pasta
Burgers or sausages
Sandwiches
Breakfast rolls
Simple one-pot meals
Pre-prepared food from home

You can always become more adventurous as you gain experience.

It’s also worth having an emergency easy option available in case you arrive late, the weather turns bad or nobody feels like cooking.

Prepare for Changing Weather

British weather can change quickly, even during summer.

Check the forecast before leaving, but don’t rely on it completely.

Pack sensible clothing including:

Waterproof jackets
Warm layers
Spare socks
Suitable footwear
Extra clothing for children
Sun hats and sun cream

Keeping a dry change of clothing inside the tent can be particularly useful.

Rain doesn’t have to spoil a camping trip, but being wet and cold without suitable clothing certainly can.

Give Everything a Place

Family tents can become untidy remarkably quickly.

Bags, shoes, toys, clothes and food gradually spread across every available surface unless you create some basic organisation.

Use:

Storage boxes
Reusable bags
Tent pockets
Separate bags for dirty clothing
A designated area for footwear

Keep frequently used items such as torches somewhere everyone can find them.

A little organisation makes the tent feel considerably more spacious and saves endless searches for missing belongings.

Have a Plan for the Children

Camping itself can provide plenty of entertainment, particularly on a new campsite.

Children can explore, play outside, ride bikes or simply enjoy the novelty of sleeping in a tent.

However, it’s worth packing a few simple activities for quieter periods and bad weather.

These might include:

Cards
Books
Colouring
Compact games
Outdoor toys
Footballs or other sports equipment

You don’t need to organise every minute. One of the attractions of camping is giving everyone time to slow down and enjoy being outdoors.

Expect to Forget Something

Almost everyone forgets something on a camping trip eventually.

It might be a tin opener, an extra towel, a torch or something else that suddenly seems incredibly important once you’re on the campsite.

Don’t let it spoil the holiday.

Most forgotten items can be bought locally, borrowed or simply managed without for a couple of days.

Keep a note of anything you wish you’d brought. That list becomes useful when packing for your next trip.

Learn From Your First Camping Trip

When you get home, think about what worked and what didn’t.

Ask yourself:

What equipment did we actually use?
What did we take but never need?
Was the tent large enough?
Were the beds comfortable?
What did we forget?
Would we choose the same type of campsite again?
What would make the next trip easier?

You’ll quickly develop a camping setup that works specifically for your family.

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Final Thoughts

Your first family camping trip doesn’t need to be an expedition.

Choose a suitable campsite, keep the first trip relatively short and concentrate on the basics: a properly pitched tent, comfortable sleeping equipment, simple food and appropriate clothing.

Some things probably won’t go exactly according to plan, and that’s perfectly normal.

Each trip makes the next one easier. Before long, pitching the tent, organising the equipment and settling into campsite life will become familiar parts of the holiday rather than things you need to worry about.

Your First Family Camping Trip