A good-quality tent is an essential for happy camping, especially if you’re bringing the kids. Our five top picks are all cosy homes from home in the great outdoors.
Sleeping under canvas is a childhood rite of passage, and you can’t beat a summer camping trip for an excuse to get outdoors and back to a simpler way of life. But a decent tent is a must: you need somewhere roomy, waterproof and comfortable to sleep and hang out in, especially given Britain’s changeable weather. We’ve selected five of the best family-sized tents on the market, designed for four adults and up. There’s an option for most budgets, plus a posh canvas bell tent for those who fancy a spot of glamping.
Buying guide: How to buy the best family tent for you
What features do I need?
Multiple bedrooms are an excellent idea, especially if you have older kids, and a spacious living area gives you somewhere to hang out and play games on rainy days. A porch or anteroom is also useful for muddy boots. Look for a sturdy, sewn-in groundsheet with a coated nylon floor to keep you warm and dry, a waterproof rain fly (this is the outer layer of the tent) and plenty of guy ropes for stability. Inside, we like to see a lot of loops, hooks and pockets, for hanging up lanterns or stashing belongings. Multiple windows and doors make your portable home feel a lot less claustrophobic, and standing room makes a big difference too.
What size is best?
Tents are described as “two-man”, “four-man” and so on, reflecting the number of people who can theoretically sleep in one. These numbers invariably assume that everyone’s packed in like sardines: as a rule of thumb, half as many people will actually be able to share the tent in relative comfort. For two adults and two or three children, you want at least a “six-man” tent, as this will give you a bit of room for bags, clothing and other bits and pieces.
The larger the tent the heavier it tends to be, of course, and the longer it’ll usually take to pitch. If you’re planning to tour around several different campsites on your holiday then you might choose to go for something relatively small and simple. But if you’re just headed to one campsite and your car has a roomy boot it’s worth going as big as you can afford. The pitch times suggested by manufacturers are usually optimistic: expect a bit of trial and error the first time you erect your new canvas palace. If you aren’t sure how big you want to go, it’s definitely worth borrowing a few models from friends to test out first.
The best family tents to buy in 2017 from £170
1. Hi Gear Voyager Elite Family Tent: Best for weekend camping trips
Price when reviewed: £475 (£275 with Go Outdoors discount card)
This versatile, fuss-free tent is simple to erect – Hi Gear reckons it takes half an hour to put up, but we managed in 20 minutes flat. Once up, its geodesic design contains two bedrooms (one sleeping up to four, one suitable for two) and a central space with standing room and two entrances – which is great for ventilation on hot days. Despite sleeping up to six it’s a nicely compact size when erect. We reckon it’s really best suited to a family of four if you want a good amount of living space. A great choice for family camping trips and festivals.
Buy the Hi Gear Voyager Elite Family Tent from Go Outdoors
Key specs – Man size: Six; Standing room? Yes; Bedrooms: Two; Pitch time: 30 mins; Weight: 22.3kg
2. Vango AirBeam Maritsa 600XL tent: Best for camping in comfort
Price when reviewed: £1,000
A thousand pounds is a lot to spend on a tent, but it gets you a real palace. The Maritsa includes three massive bedrooms, an anteroom and a big, airy living room. You could easily sleep a family of six or even eight in perfect comfort in this TARDIS of a tent. It’s not hard to erect, and the bag rolls along on wheels so it’s easy to transport in its collapsed state, the skylight windows and high ceiling make it feel properly roomy inside, while the outer layer is fully waterproof and doesn’t flap around at all, even in heavy wind. If you’re a regular camper, the Maritsa will do you proud year after year.
Buy the Vango AirBeam Maritsa 600XL tent from Winfields Outdoors
Key specs – Man size: Six; Standing room? Yes; Bedrooms: Three; Pitch time: 15 min; Weight: 49.5kg
3. Mountain Warehouse Coniston 6-man tent: Best budget tent
Price when reviewed: £170
You get a lot of bang for your buck with the Coniston: it’s the cheapest tent here, yet it will comfortably house a family of four. The bedroom compartment converts easily into two with a divider, there’s a main living area you can stand up in, and some well-placed windows let in plenty of light and air. We found pitching it rather fiddly, but after a few practice goes it’s easy enough. The groundsheet feels sturdy and strong, and the tent is also one of the lightest we tested, at just 13.3kg. That makes it ideal for nomadic camping trips where you’re campsite-hopping with your family.
Buy the Coniston 6-man tent from Mountain Warehouse
Key specs – Man size: Six; Standing room? Yes; Bedrooms: One; Pitch time: N/A; Weight: 13.3kg
4. Coleman Octagon tent: Perfect for big groups
Price when reviewed: £200
The spaceship-like Octagon design only has a single room, but it’s a very spacious one, and ideal for sleeping big groups of children. There’s also plenty of standing room, and windows on every side – on a warm day you can open them all and sleep in a breezy open space, or even just erect the inner mesh tent for a view of the stars as you nod off to sleep. If you want to combine the luxurious feeling of a posh yurt with the better waterproofing and lighter weight of manmade fabrics, this is your baby – and the price is attractive, too. As a bonus, the tent’s bag is wheeled for easy transportation.
Key specs – Man size: Eight; Standing room? Yes; Bedrooms: None; Pitch time: 25 mins; Weight: 20.7kg
5. Boutique Camping Oxford Canvas Bell Tent: Best for glamping
Price when reviewed: £409
Once you go canvas, you never go back: canvas tents simply feel lighter, airier and nicer to sleep in than synthetic tents. Boutique Camping has a wide range of canvas yurts and tipis, but our favourite is the smart Oxford bell tent: it comes with a sturdy groundsheet, a centre pole for good standing room, zipped windows and a mesh inner door. It’s the perfect size for a family of four, sleeping on mattresses radiating out from the centre. Just be aware that the heavy canvas body of the tent does take a while to put up, and it’s a job best undertaken by two people.
Specs – Man size: Four; Standing room? Yes; Bedrooms: None; Pitch time: 15min; Weight: 24.5kg