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Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 17/5/2013

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Based on my own experience in the past few years: camping during school holidays usually meant bad weather.

Therefore, another reason to avoid camping during the school holidays.

DK

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Quote: Originally posted by Mucker1884 on 17/5/2013

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Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 17/5/2013Based on my own experience in the past few years: camping during school holidays usually meant bad weather.

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Therefore, another reason to avoid camping during the school holidays.

DK

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I think you meant to put "camping on family sites during school holidays usually meant bad weather.", DK.

Adult sites are likely to remain warm, bright and calm!!

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When our kids were small, all of our holidays were camping holidays. If the weather was wet, we put their wellies and raincoats on and let them out. They came back soaked, muddy, red-faced, smiling and hungry! A quick change of clothes and a 'sponge down' and they were ready to eat, then fell asleep. We initially used to use a smallish tent, but then got a bigger one with two bedrooms and a decent living area we could stand up in, and a full sown-in ground sheet, that made a HUGE difference if we were confined to the tent by weather. It had a big door that doubled as a canopy (with extra poles and guys) and we could cook under that (unless it was a storm). We usually spent some part of the day away from the site, in the open if the weather was OK or find somewhere indoors if it was just too bad to be out. We were only washed out once, in a big unpredicted storm, the tent came down and the site flooded. In terms of picking a site, we always try to get a quite one with good toilet/shower/washing facilities, and ideally a bit of space between the pitches. We have returned to camping now that the kids have long flown the nest and the costs are noticeable relatively higher, unbelieveably so in some cases. For me though, the choice is not between camping and a cheap hotel (I do use hotels more than camping but that's for different reasons) because when I go camping it's to go camping! I love the tent, the life in the outdoors, the cooking/BBQing and eating outdoors, or simply sitting reading outside the tent or playing a game of scrabble or boules. I'm sure it appeals to something in our genes from prehistoric times when life was a lot simpler! As a returnee/newbie to 'modern' camping it's interesting (and sad) to read that some devotees of camping have been so put off by the terrible weather of the past few years (and it HAS been terrible) and the rising cost of camping. This has been a very interesting thread to read ....

Quote: Originally posted by Mike313 on 17/5/2013

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... I'm sure it appeals to something in our genes from prehistoric times when life was a lot simpler!..]

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I have the same misgivings as the OP. A number of things have made me re-think our camping hols. Unreliable camping buddies, a teenager who longer wants to go with the oldies for more than a few nights and GCSE's this year coupled with some pretty horrendous weather over the last 2 years have dampened my enthusiasm somewhat.

I am not  sure that me and OH will enjoy camping by ourselves (we don't usually spend too much time together as he's an HGV driver) We have a big 6 berth folding camper that we don't need any more and it's a lot of money to have tied up in something that will just sit on the drive.

I have booked a break in the Canaries in July for some guaranteed sun (although I have just read on a forum that someone out there just now has only had half an hour of sun in the last 3 days and their plastic rain ponchos are being eyed enviously by other holidaymakers- unbelievable)

I plan to sell the big camper and buy a smaller (cheaper) one and hopefully we can get away for some short breaks but it won't matter too much if we don't. We can't really do spur of the moment as OH especially has to book days off in advance so we will have to see how it works.