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Do you have any friends that camp? - if they are anything like me ( and a few others on here ) they may have a spare tent that you could borrow so that you can have a trial run not too far from home before you fork out good money.

It does get cold at night but if you have insulation under your campbeds and sleeping bags you should be alright. Wear night clothes, bed socks and take an extra fleece just in case or go for electric hook up and take a fan heater  

Im sure you will get loads of good advice on here - just keep reading the threads and you will learn so much.

It is a good start that your family are so excited about camping - a few on here have had a trial run in the garden ( or a friends garden ) which is also a good idea.

Good luck

Hi Penny

The freedom the kids get on a camping holiday is great and they really enjoy it. Mine even like helping out with washing up etc as it's a bit different than doing it at home. I feel the cold easily but still really enjoy camping. Just make sure you take a fleece blanket to go over the top of the sleeping bags if you do get cold and a hot water bottle is a great way to warm the beds up. Picnic rugs on the bedroom floors are a good way of  keeping some heat in. Aldi have some for £4.99 at the moment. If the weather is nice nothing beats waking up on a sunny morning in a tent with the birds singing. If its bad - just make sure your in a good quality tent - It can't rain forever

Good Luck

First of all, tell all your friends, neighbours  and family you intend starting to camp, you may be surprised how many will have equipment they no longer require, that they will loan or donate to you.

I was given a cooker, gas bottle ,kitchen stand, washing up stand and windbreaks years ago, when we started out. The cooker and stands were years old, they'd not been used for about 10 years, but stored in the dry, and in excellent condition. we got a new gas hose for about £2 and it's worked perfectly ever since. I still have the cooker, it must be over 20 years old now.

They came from the most unlikely people I'd have ever thought would have been campers. I also got lots of good advice from them too.

It can get cold at night. One site in the Auvergne was lending out blankets once in August but it was at the bottom of a steep valley. My mum hates the cold but she manages camping and looks forward to it each year. We take a picnic blanket to go under the bed, sleeping bags and a fleece to go over the top and warm clothes for the night. Last 2 years I have kicked off the fleece, unzipped the bag and slept in a tshirt but you have to be prepared.

In terms of being stuck with kids who hate it I would be surprised. Kids love being out of doors as long as there is something to do and there always is. If you take wellies and a mac you can't go wrong. If its raining you get wet and that's all there is to it. It is equally boring in a villa or a hotel i would imagine if it rains. Swimming in the rain is fantastic.

Last year in the Dordogne it rained or drizzled for the 5 days we were there (did the year before as well so I think we'll give it a miss this year!) and we still loved it. Getting towels dry was a challenge and we did resort to the tumble dryer eventually but otherwise it was lovely. I managed to cook in the pouring rain (take a waterproof container for matches) even on my birthday.

If you are worried about the weather get a tent with enough room inside to play in. You won't manage in a tent that just has bedrooms - our first tent had a 6 foot square area in the middle that we could get the table and chairs in and that was fine in the rain (watching the water run under the plastic groundsheet was fun too). We now have a monster tent to give the boys enough room to play apart if the weather's bad but that's not ideal for a first timer.

It sounds to me like you are ready to buy things really....it will be fun. Don't worry

The first time we went I was really dreading it, I had an awful time camping as a guide when I was younger.

We started off with a tent from Tesco and a list of essentials from here.  The only other thing we bought was a gas stove which we got a cheap deal on in Millets and some really decent sleeping bags from an online store.  All our pots, pans, cutlery, plates etc we used were from home, we took numerous fleece blankets to sleep on top of, bunged our wellies in and had a really great time.

When we realised we liked it and knew what we really wanted from a tent we went around a couple of tent displays, and we literally spent hours going over the pros and cons of how it went up, how big it was, how many rooms, the colour...........and invested in that, plus our self inflating mattresses and crockery and cutlery especially for our trips that we could just have ready to go.  The next trip we had a kitchen tent and a larder unit to store everything in and on, plus a table and some more chairs so we weren't eating on our laps, the next time we got a day room for when the weather was really awful and a bbq so that we could either cook on it, but also use it as a heat source in the evenings.  The first time I would literally take the bare minimum, if you are going to buy a new tent then look at the reviews and go to a shop where they have the tents up and get something bigger than you think you need! 

I think electric hook up will be our next buy, but we have managed fine without it so far (4 children 5-13), I really don't miss not having electricity, but some people can't manage without it.

Oh a couple of decent lanterns and a torch, we use the coleman rechargable lanterns and they are more than adequate for seeing what you are doing or where you are going, but if you are rooting around in bags or want to read a book then a decent torch or headlamp is a must.

Have fun!

Hi Penny,

Welcome to the site. I only started camping a year ago and this site offered loads of hints and advice. We have a little boy and for our first trip we went to a haven site and stayed for two nights just to see if my little boy and other half would enjoy. We borrowed a tent, sleeping bags and a cooking stove. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and we've been plenty of time since. In fact we're going camping for a week in the summer.

My advice is go for a short trip to start with and borrow as much as you can as if you don't like camping then at least you haven't wasted money on equipment, although I am sure you will enjoy it.