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Hi, we are new on here and have just decided to get rid of our old touring van and go back to camping. We've seen so many tents on the internet and they are so different from when we used to take our old frame tent out over 10yrs ago, and was hoping that maybe you may have some suggestions towards a good tent. There will be 2 adults and 6 kids and a dog so it needs to be a good size with a large living area and idealy be able to stand up inside. Toilet compartment/wardrobe would be an added bonus, but even more important that it stays up in the wind and rain! We have seen the Kampa Tenby 10 online and seem quite impressed because it has 5 bedrooms, one of  which we could use for all the kids stuff and also a seperate wardrobe/toilet area. If anyone has any suggestions they are very welcome!

The Cabanon Espace and Sunncamp Grange are both lovely 8 berth canvas frame tents, and can be picked up in good condition second-hand. You won't find a modern tent which will survive the British weather as well as a frame tent.

Many campers on this forum have changed from modern tents to trusty old frame tents, so I certainly won't be the last one on here to recommend these  

With 2 adults, 6 kids and a dog you're probably going to need a trailer to cope with all the stuff you take, irrespective of which tent you choose (been there, done that), so you could probably cope with the pole bags of a frame tent if you want?

Like Jean, I'd recommend the Cabanon Espace. We had one and it was fab; took us no more than half an hour to pitch (nice, easy shape), fits onto most pitches and the arrangement is just great for a family; bedrooms behind a dividing curtain and with a changing area, full standing height throughout, clothes hanging rails galore (well, x 2: one at the rear of the tent and one between the two separate double bedroom compartments on the right hand side), curtained off kitchen area with dedicated kitchen window (so you can cook inside), good size living area with large windows and front and side panels can be rolled up for ventilation as and when required.

I made an additional curtain (from a shower curtain) and used it as a divider, behind the kitchen curtain, to create an interior toilet tent, complete with loo roll pocket.

I'd recommend getting the additional side canopy if you can; it's easy to attach and just creates a bit more cover (useful with all the sun we have in this country!).

The new Espace price was just silly last year, but there are usually some available on ebay when the weather pics up a bit.

Wonderful tent for a large family, or people who just like lots of room!

One thing to consider is the overall pitch size of any potential tent.

Tents over 5m wide or those that are X or Y shaped can encounter problems on some sites due to their massive footprint.
Some sites will refuse to accept them, others will but will charge extra and some will charge you for 2 pitches which then lakes a family holiday very expensive.
There are sites that accept jumbo size tents but you may find your choice is more limited so it's just something to be aware of.

We have the Khyam Ontario 8 which is a genuine 8 berth tent (can take 8 x 75cm wide airbeds rather than the little 60cm wide mats that many manufacturers base their bedroom pod sizes on)
It has a large living area and you could get the sun porch to give added space. Being a tunnel tent, it has a neat footprint and fits on a standard pitch.
See it here:
http://www.khyam.co.uk/detail.asp?p=373

As already mentioned, depending on the age of your children, you may be better off looking to get a large family tent (like the Ontario 8) and a smaller pup tent for 2 of the older children (pup tents are often free to use on your pitch or for a small fee of a few pounds per night)
This option would give everyone a bit more space.

Hi all, thanks for the advice.

We did consider the polzeath, but the extra bedroom over to the side  was abit of a concern as we have a boy who is asperger's and it is another place for him to run around or pull down. The pup tent would be ideal our teenager would not share with her brother (I don't blame her) and the others are way too young. Using at as utility tent is a good idea, but I have visions of running backwards and forwards to it all day.

We haven't considered a frame tent after our last experience in Tenby when we got washed out! Will have a look at the frame tents and the Khyman though.

We already have a trailer, just need to find a kit to make it higher. Luckily we do have a big car with a big boot, and for weekends away we have a carrier thing which sits ontop of the towbar, but folds down quite flat for storage.

We have thought about the size of the pitch, but our son likes his space, so it's either limit the sites that will take us or give him a holiday that will go smoothly. Woodlands leisure Park in Devon had some huge trailer tents with different exstensions, gazebos, pup tents etc, so we're hoping there will be some sites that will have us.

We still keep swaying towards the Kampa, mainly because of the sleeprite and the seperate toilet area ( a must on a wet, windy night when all the kids need the toilet one after the other, which I don't like the thought of!).

Thanks for all the advice, I will let you know what we decide.

I too have a large family of 6 kids one of which has ASD so needed quite a bright space so he doesn't go into meltdown mode. We have a Vango Amazon 800 which is quite big but to free up space we use a utility tent for cooking. I keep a small 1 burner cooker in the main tent for boiling water for cups of tea or if we are at a campsite that has electric a kettle in there, just saves running back and forth making drinks

I also have a smaller tent for my older 2 so they can have a bit of piece away from their 4 brothers which they love.

Let me know which tents you find that are spacious and can take a family of 8 as I'm on the lookout for a new one this year

We were going to wait until March, but we phoned Kampa and they said that the price was going upto £999.94!!! All they are doing is changing the colour. When looking on the net, everywhere was sold out of the 2010 model apart from a few here and there. We found somewhere with 3 in stock so took one there and then to avoid the £400 price increase!

The kids have self inflating mats already because they used to sleep in the awning of our tourer and they have burst way too many airbeds over the years, so fingers crossed all will go ok. We are going to have a practice when the weather gets better, so I will try everything out then. (we'll all probably end up sleeping in it )

Not sure how long the kids will wait, I probably wake up one weekend and find them trying to set it up!