Message Forums

Hi Everyone

We are very new to camping, actually taking delivery of our first tent tomorrow.

It was a spur of the moment thing, we decided as my wife and I and our 3 children all had the same week off in August (7th - 14th) we would try camping, we have spoken about it in the past but now we thought we would go for it.

Our problem, the tent we have got is a Vango Colorado 800 DXL, it is 2nd hand and is about 3 years old, I understand the size of it is 7.1m x 5.9m (is that correct?), we would like to camp in Dorset but everywhere appears to be booked and those sites that have availability can't accept our tent because it is so big, most places are saying 7m x 4.5m is the biggest because of fire regs.

Is this tent extra large???

We have looked through this site again and again at the reviews but we appear to be getting no-where and it is now less than 2 weeks away and we don't want to have 3 disappointed children, we have also looked at Devon and Somerset but we just can't find anywhere that will accept the tent, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Darren

Does it have to be a coastal site?

Insdie Park at Blandford Forum, Dorset has large unmarked pitches but is about 12 miles to the coast (Poole, Bournemouth, Weymouth)

Large childrens play area though

Hi Valbarley

No it doesn't have to be coastal, we can travel so thats not a problem, the main thing we are looking for is plenty to do for the children, either on site or in the local'ish area

If you don't mind somewhere a bit basic, without EHU and club houses etc only simple showers but with a view over the sea to the Isle of Wight, I can recommend thoroughly Acton Field: the number is on the campsite list on here.

There's lots to do for your children,is about three miles from Swanage and Studland beach (five miles away) is one of the best there is.

You just turn up and pitch where you like and I have little doubt you'll find space.  The only possible downside is it's all lumps and bumps so there's not many large flat bits but hitherto I've had no trouble finding space for the Aruba which isn't much smaller than your tent.  I'll be on Acton Field from 05/08/10 to 10/08/10.

Mind you having said there's lots of space, although there has been in the past twenty years i've been camping there, what with the recession, the weak pound and more folk camping in the UK, perhaps I shouldn't count on it.

Hope this helps

R

Oooo:  I've just had a thought.

Steeple Lease Farm is amazingly situated, is huge and you can have fires.  Only downside is I don't believe there's any showers.

Take care

R

Thanks to all of you.

we had a look at Inside Park, we have just called them and booked a large pitch for the week 6th - 13th August, it looks ideal for what we want, so thank you for the information.

We are going to have a practice run this weekend putting it up and making sure it is all there.

I will let you all know how it went when we return

thanks again

Glad you got sorted!

Nice campsite and good shower facilities etc

You'll have a great time

Quote: Originally posted by darrenj2308 on 26/7/2010

---

Thanks to all of you.

we had a look at Inside Park, we have just called them and booked a large pitch for the week 6th - 13th August, it looks ideal for what we want, so thank you for the information.

We are going to have a practice run this weekend putting it up and making sure it is all there.

I will let you all know how it went when we return

thanks again

---

We have now made it safely back from our first camping trip and I have to say we are completely hooked.

Inside Park was great and we thank you for your recomendation, the kids loved it, playing all day without a mention of missing the tv or computer games, we have already booked 2 weeks back there next August.

We are looking to go away for a weekend in September, somewhere more local but we just don't want it to be too long before we use the tent again.

Thanks to you all for your help and advice in helping us get a fantastic week away and we are so glad we got into this camping.

For future planning, there is a pinned thread which lists sites that accept large tents like yours.

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

Might give you some ideas and help you find somewhere suitable for your next trip away.

Hi all

We will have a look at the Pillaton Meet and see if we can make it.

We were on pitch 55 and we have provisionally booked pitch 58 for next year, we enjoyed being on that side and 58 was the only one left for the time we wanted.

Thanks for the list of sites for larger tents, I think we will certainly make use of that.

Darren