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I am looking to renew our camping set up. I have not been camping in this country as a large family yet, so would appreciate some much needed advice.

First of all...how accepting are campsites of customers using more than one tent on the pitch? Ideally I would love to have tent, utility tent and small tent for two teenagers. It seems to me that many camspites would not allow this setup (not sure why if it fits on pitch). If this is the case what works best for you?? tent with canopy for kitchen and kids in another tent outside? larger tent with utility tent outside?

Incidentally, how many campsites do you think will allow that set up?

With regards to the utility tent too? anyone know of one with a sewn in ground sheet? Like the idea of stopping rats getting their dirty paws near my food/worktops.

My head s spinning .......in an ideal world i am sure we would all buy HUGE tents, but it I know it will put us off nipping off for a weekend camping if it takes a few hours to set our equipment up everytime (and hernias and bad backs to boot)

That leads me to another question.....who puts their cooking equipment inside the tent?? I know we are not supposed to, but..........gas cookers are well protected, tents are well ventilated etc etc???!!! The idea of a canopy for cooking sounds appealing!

Look forward to advice.

BB

We have a large tent and a day tent and have not yet had a problem finding a site that can accomodate us.  I think as long as you ring and check before you book you will find somewhere without a problem.

I have cooked inside the tent before we had SIG, but now prefer to cook in the porch, mainly for fear of build of fumes, that kind of thing.

If sites can charge you for everything they probably will!!
A lot of the sites we have visited have a pup tent OR utility tent rule along with your car and tent on a pitch. If you want to use other tents/day rooms etc... they usually class that as a seperate unit and you will require 2 pitches (we tried booking family tent, 1 car and 2 pup tents)

Best thing to do is contact the site direct and ask them what their policy is.

I personally never cook inside our tent - apart from creating a lot of condensation, we usually have children and loopy dog runnning in and out so I don't risk it. If it rains, I get wet!!

Oooh..this is all very helpful!! Sounds like having two smaller tents a better idea. I have seen some campsites say 2x2m for a pup tent but i think i will buy slighty bigger so the girls don't end up maiming eachother!! Will ring ahead and ensure ok.

The tent I have got my eyes on is the mckenzie 6 cabin version which comes in at a tidy 5.90m x 3m, positively small these days! There is a canopy comes with it so cooking undercover with ventilation not a problem (no dog...but manic kids, so better safe.) The utility tent can wait until south of france next year!!

Off to Pentewan sands this summer and pitches are 13x13.....rather large!!

Eliza...that's a good point...maybe council grants planning permission on those rules?

bb:)