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Hi  Nelly,

I`m a newcomer aswell, it`s a great site for info. & opinions. Anyway to your enquiry, it really is a lottery out there, we`ve been on sites with no pitch boundaries down to the smallest which was approx. 5 mtrs. x 8 mtrs. inc. car parking. I think you will have to contact individual sites to find out their rules & regs. Good luck.

C

Hi there and welcome.

We have a tent, Outwell Georgia XL, that has a large footprint. We struggled with C&CC sites as they have very restrictive pitch sizes, so they are out of the question for us. I'm not too fussed about that as many of these sites are a little to regimented for me.

Unfortunately, some sites just see 'large tents' as a way to over charge and this is becoming increasingly more common in the UK. It is acceptable to fill your pitch with cook tents, day tents, gazebo's, muliple pup tents and so on with small extra charges... and when all of these items are on the pitch, it is often no different than having a large tent where you have to pay for a double pitch.

The good news is... there are still loads of sites that aren't overcharging for large tents. There is a post under the campsite in the UK forum regarding this:

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=4&TopicID=27296&PagePosition=1

It's a shame that some sites here aren't more accomodating like some on the continent. We have never struggled abroad and never been charged for a double pitch. In my exprience, they go out of their way to accomodate you.

Don't be put off buying the tent that you want, but be aware of some restrictions and chose sites that will take you and remember, when it's raining and others are crammed into little tents with no room, you can be lording it in your mansion!!!!

I hope that this helps.

Hello Nelly and welcome to UKCS. There is no standard pitch size, so it is always to wise to ask any site about what they can accommodate. Having said that, tunnel shaped tents have a more compact footprint and just as much useable space as the large domes with offshoot bedroom pods which create a very sprawling foot print. Tunnels are usually easier to erect oo, so that may be another issue to consider.

If you want more specific advice on tents, it is helpful if you can tell us a bit more - like what your budget is, how many peeps is it for ( and ages etc) the kinds of camping you want to do (one big long holiday, or touring, weekends) and waht kind of layout may suit ( number of bedrooms, next to each other or at opposite ends for sake of privacy??? etc). Also, you need to give the specific model names of any you have seen as there are lots out there!

Just ask as many questions are you need to; there are enough camping nuts out there to gladly help! (I should know, I am one...)