Camping and holiday park tips

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Carry on camping

If your image of a camping holiday is a bit of a Carry On with Barbara Windsor doing healthy physical exercises, then think again. Things have changed.

For starters, there’s Barbara Windsor herself – let’s face it, the thought of her bikini pinging off these days is frankly not the most alluring. But luckily the quality and range of camping holidays available to families has dramatically improved, particularly on the continent, if you fancy spending your holiday under the stars.

Of course you can still spend the night in a cold sleeping bag, in a wet field, in a leaking tent, surrounded by noisy cows.

Carry on swimming

But if you fancy more luxury, you can spend it in a huge tent, in a real bed, with a real electric light and a real kitchen with a real fridge.

Then take a swim in the camping resort’s heated pool, stroll down to the sandy beach before leaving the kids in a properly supervised kid’s club while you have a delicious meal in the on-site restaurant. Ooh what nice big amenities! As Kenneth Williams might say.

Plus it’s much cheaper than self-catering, a genuine change from normal life and there’s (literally) acres of space. You can take your own car over or under the Channel and travel at your own pace instead of dealing with the hassle of luggage, airports, queues and delays. Above all kids love the pure adventure of it all – even if you are cosseted in relative comfort.

Best of all, there’s no stuffy hotel owner telling your kids to keep quiet, no vases to knock over, posh restaurants to disturb, carpet to stain or lounge to keep out of. That said, there are potential downers:

Carry on raining

Not least the weather. If it pours, you certainly know it when you’re camping. Getting you, them or it dry can be a problem.

The further south in Europe you go the less chance of rain, particularly in summer. But it is a genuine risk. Equally you can spend a week in the Lake District with total sunshine and get utterly soaked in La Sud de France.

Plus after a hot day it can get nippy at night, there’s a bigger risk of sunburn and with those light mornings, kids (and small noisy ones in particular) can wake up early.

 

Carry on up the Khyber

While luxury family-friendly campsites are perfect and great fun for a traditional family summer holiday, you can be more adventurous.

At Take the Family, we’re finding that walking, cycling and trekking holidays are becoming more and more popular as our families spread their wings. A night under the stars is superb in Penzance or Provence.

And it’s even more thrilling if you’re staring at the stars from your Moroccan Bedouin tent or Tanzanian National Park. If you fancy a more adventurous camping trip, please get in touch. Be sure to check out our guides to camping in France and Spain, as well as UK holiday parks, Center Parcs Europe, great camping destinations such as The Netherlands, Loire, Vendee and loads more family friendly European camping destinations. And wherever you go, carry on camping!