1. Vaude Badawi 4

This is our pick as the best family camping tent overall.

Price: £800
Weight: 11.5kg
Type: Semi-geodesic tent
Sleeps: 4

German outdoor brand Vaude are another manufacturer better known for their lightweight tents than their large family tents – the highly-regarded Hogan SUL and Terra Hogan 2P being two such examples, models that made it into our Best Solo Backpacking Tents and Best 2-Person Tents guides respectively. We’ve also been impressed with their innovative approach to tent construction, the Space Seamless 2-3P being a case in point.

In addition, Vaude are known for their focus on sustainability, and many of their products have been regular entrants in our annual Green Gear Guides – which includes everything from eco-friendly sleeping backs to backpacks. Unsurprisingly then, the 4-person Badawi 4 has also been built with sustainability in mind.

Unlike many family tents, particularly those fitted with windows, this tent is entirely PVC-free. What’s the problem with PVC? Well, despite being a widely used plastic for products like water pipes, tarpaulins and bags, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) often contains phthalates, plasticizers that are added to keep the material from becoming brittle. Although PVC itself is inert and non-toxic, phthalates are suspected of being carcinogenic and they can ‘outgas’ from finished PVC.

The tent itself utilises an unusual and effective design that is very cleverly engineered. It is built around three structural crossing poles made from DAC aluminium alloy with an additional triple hubbed overhead pole to further increase headroom. The result is a broadly triangular central footprint with a porch and twin two-berth bedrooms off the main living space. Though this set-up might sound complex, pitching is actually very easy. In fact, the flysheet and inner tents can be pitched all-in-one, while the poles are all conveniently the same length, so it hardly matters which one goes where.

The sizeable and pole-free central area is well ventilated, with three mesh windows to bring light and air into the tent. There is some 2.15m of headroom in the middle, so even tall adults can stand up. The bedrooms aren’t quite so roomy – they’re wide enough to put two large sleeping mats down (or even a double mat), but not particularly long at 2m each. The walls also slope fairly steeply, reducing headroom, especially for the person who draws the short straw and has to sleep on the ‘outside’.

The porch is a good size though and has a handy footprint to keep it free from mud and grass. Overall, the benefits of this unusual design outweigh its drawbacks – it is stable, sheds wind well and is versatile enough for warm weather or colder conditions thanks to variable ventilation and multiple zipped doors. The domed central area and large porch, with its big entrance, are also great when you’ve got multiple campers getting up and out for the day, giving you plenty of space to store everyone’s gear.

2. Kelty Rumpus 6

This is our pick for the best value family camping tent.

Price: $300
Weight: 8.37kg
Type: Dome
Sleeps: 6 (4P also available)

OK this isn’t the most specced out or luxurious family tent, but it’s functional, convenient, and fairly priced and we really like the simplicity of it.

We’ve found putting the Kelty Rumpus 6 up to be quick and easy and packing it away was convenient too, all thanks to the oversized ‘shark mouth’ stuff sack it comes with.

The living space is huge, with plenty of space for six fully grown people to lie down and a decent amount of headspace too. There isn’t much porch space but there’s still room for three or four people to kick back in their camping chairs. You can also open up the back of the tent to essentially transform the whole thing into a gazebo of sorts.

It’s design, resembling a kind of oversized packing tent, makes this a sturdy option that’ll withstand some rough weather. The durable materials also add to the overall reliability too.

Bear in mind there’s a 4-person version of the Rumpus too.

3. Robens Klondike

Selected as our favourite bell tent for family camps.

Price: £899
Weight: 16.7kg
Type: Bell tent
Sleeps: 6

With timeless looks that will appeal to glampers and traditionalists alike, this large and airy bell tent offers masses of internal headroom and plenty of floorspace. It’s part of Robens’ popular Outback range, a series of eye-catching, retro-styled tents based on the designs used by early American pioneers. However, it’s made from lightweight polycotton rather than old-school heavy cotton canvas, making it much quicker drying than a standard bell tent, not to mention easier to transport. With a packed size of 80 x 27cm, it’ll fit in the boot of most family cars with room to spare.

It will sleep up to six people in relative comfort, though a family of four would be the ideal occupants.  If you want to divide up the interior space, an additional inner tent can be purchased to create two bedrooms and a separate living area. Plenty of other accessories are also available, including a footprint and a soft, fleecy tent carpet. It also has a vent for a stove pipe, allowing it to be used with a frontier-style woodstove (though this can’t be used in conjunction with the optional inner tent).

With a stove all set up and blazing away inside, it makes a very cosy shelter for colder weather, extending its use into winter. That makes it a pretty versatile tent and arguably a good investment too, especially if you intend to use it year-round. Whatever the season though, this is a durable tent with plenty of charm that is the ideal base for outdoorsy families.

Best of the Rest

5. Vango Lismore 450

Price: £425
Weight: 21.04kg
Type: Tunnel
Sleeps: 4 to 5

From what we’ve seen having tested out this tent in early spring conditions, the £450 price tag is pretty good value for what you get from this. 

We found that pitching this singlehandedly is doable, though it did take us about 25 minutes to get it to a satisfying enough standard. With two people, a 15 minute pitch is realistic. 

We found it to be very spacious. The sleeping area is huge – easily big enough for two adults and two children. This can also be split in half with an easy to erect wall divider. 

There are lots of really nice touches to the Lismore, with easy to erect window covers, big vents, pockets and doors and windows that allow you to open the tent right up – that’s something we really appreciated when using this on hot days. 

Our only gripe about this tent is that the poles do feel a little flimsy. They’re made from fibreglass, which doesn’t have much of a reputation for durability. Vango sell replacements, which is good, but we’d prefer it came with poles with a more built-to-last feel. 

6. Coleman Valdes Deluxe 6XL Air BlackOut Tent

Price: £629
Weight: 38.4kg
Type: Air tunnel tent
Sleeps: 6

The tunnel tent is a popular design for family tents given its good space-to-weight ratio and decent internal headroom. The Coleman Valdes Deluxe 6XL is one such example. The result is a tent with 2 metres of head height throughout virtually the entire interior. You also get a very generous sleeping area that has three pretty much equal-sized BlackOut bedrooms, all of which can accommodate a double camp bed or inflatable mattress. The right-hand bedroom has toggled dividers so it can be removed if you don’t need three compartments. There are ample storage pockets in the bedrooms and outside the bedroom doors. The BlackOut design means they stay very dark indeed, ensuring a sound night’s sleep, but another advantage is that they also stay cooler in the day – by up to 5°c, according to Coleman. This is great for summer camping, since there’s nothing worse than trying to sleep in a hot, stuffy tent.

The main living space is large enough for a camp table and chairs, and is fronted by a roomy porch. This is sheltered with a canopy and side walls, though it cannot be closed off. The main tent entrance has an unusual rigid door, meaning it opens and closes without needing to be folded or rolled away. There’s also an additional side door. The PVC windows are fitted with roll-up blinds, offering light and privacy when you need it. There are mesh-lined vents above and below the main windows to promote airflow.

Pitching is relatively quick and easy, with a little practice. The valves for Coleman’s air beams are actually inside the tent, so to inflate them with the supplied pump, you need to reach through zipped flaps and twist-lock the nozzle to the valve. It’s pretty straightforward, though maybe not quite as intuitive as some other designs.

Still, if you’re looking for a roomy tent with well-proportioned blackout bedrooms but also plenty of light, air and an overall sense of space in the main living area, this is a great choice.

7. MSR Habitude 6

Price: £550
Weight: 6.07kg
Type: Dome
Sleeps: 6

This performed excellently in our tests. In fact, we used this in some very windy conditions and it held up excellently – just what we’d expect considering MSR’s tent making prowess.

It’s an inner pitched first design with sturdy but lightweight hubbed poles that cross in several places and then a flysheet that’s thrown over the top. Pitching, we found, was somewhat tricky the first time we used this, requiring three of us to get it right. Once it’s been figured out once person should be able to pitch this by themselves if the conditions aren’t too windy.

Inside, the walls are steep and the ceiling is high, creating loads of room for people to move about and sleep in. Lying down in this does actually feel like you’re sleeping in a kind-of tent cathedral.

Four people can lie side by side in this comfortably, alongside loads of kit. You could get six people in here at a maximum but that would probably mean all the gear needs to be stowed in the porch. As for said porch, its footprint is large, but the sloped doorway does limit the headroom.

Given the roominess this provides, it’s amazing just how light weight it is. OK, it’s not something you’re going to take on a multi-day backpack, but one person could feasibly hike with this in their backpack, so long as that’s all they’ve got in it. And while the materials are all light, they’re by no means flimsy. This is one very well-crafted tent.

Read our full MSR Habitude review.

8. Snow Peak Amenity Dome M

Price: £385
Weight: 8.91kg
Type: Dome tent with porch extension
Sleeps: 4

With its striking styling, considered design and unusual offset porch that also has the option to create a vestibule canopy, the Amenity Dome is far more than just another standard dome tent. For one thing, entry and exit is easy from almost every angle, thanks to the addition of front, side and even rear doors. If you hate having to crawl in and out of a single small entrance, you’ll love the versatility that this model offers. This design also means that it feels bright and airy, aided by mesh ventilation throughout for plenty of airflow.

Though Snow Peak describes the Amenity Dome M as a four-person tent, it’s really geared towards small families, and works best for parents camping with two or three small children. For families with older teenagers, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere. On the other hand, this tent would work well for a camping couple or a group of three friends – since the main inner space will accommodate up to three full-size sleeping mats, placed side by side. With an internal height of 1.4m in the porch and 1.5m in the main inner, there’s plenty of room to sit up and even to relax on camping chairs. The large front door can be rolled up or set up as a canopy with a pair of trekking poles or bivvy poles to make a forward dining shelter too.

The domed tent structure is a familiar design that is easy to set up, aided by colour-coordinated poles and pole sleeves. It pitches inner first, which is maybe not so ideal for wet weekends away, but on the other hand it does mean that the inner can be used without the flysheet as a cool, shady shelter in summer. The main body of the tent is completely free-standing, which makes it easy to reposition if required.

Build quality is excellent, with robust materials and components employed throughout, and the tent feels both robust and stable when pegged and guyed out. At 1,800mm the hydrostatic head rating of the fabric isn’t the highest, and although it is of course fully waterproof, this is really a tent designed for balmy nights rather than severe, sustained downpours. It probably wouldn’t be our first pick for soggy nights away. But if you’re anticipating decent weather for your camping holiday or heading to sunnier climes, this would be a great pick thanks to its fantastic airflow, multiple entrances and generous porch/vestibule canopy area.

Which Family Tent is Right for Me

When choosing a tent for family camping trips, some of the first things to consider include the size of your family, the length of your trip and the weather you’re likely to expect. Thinking about those factors will help you to gauge the size of tent you want, the amount of comfort or conveniences you’ll need from it and the overall durability it will offer. 

Family tents – and tents in general, actually – tend to come with tradeoffs. If you want something that’s light to carry, it will often be short on space. Likewise, if you want something that’s roomy, it’ll often be heavy to carry. There are exceptions to this rule but the problem then is that they usually come with a heavy price tag. Find something that balances all three and you’ve hit the sweet spot.

Material quality is a big factor affecting a tent’s warmth-to-weight ratio. Generally speaking, if a tent is light and spacious, that’ll mean the materials are all good quality. It might have aluminium poles and pegs, for instance, and nylon fabrics – maybe even silicon coated nylon. 

If you’re planning camping trips where you’ll be pitching your tent right by your vehicle, weight shouldn’t be such an issue. Still, it’s worth considering the packed size; you don’t want your tent swallowing up the entire space of your car boot, do you?

In our books, the ideal family camping tent will be light, packable and easy to carry, it’ll be stable in strong winds, waterproof in wet weather, good at managing condensation and it’ll be easy to pitch and to pack away. It’ll also be liveable and will have private spaces for sleeping, space to stand up, and places to keep your gear organised too. Think about protection from creepy crawlies too – a good tent will be able to block them out without restricting airflow through the tent too. 

Inflatable Tents Versus Tents with Poles

Inflatable tents came onto the scene about a decade ago and they’re now extremely common. What’s made them so popular? It’s down to a couple of reasons. First of all, tents with ‘air beams’ are not only extremely stable but they’re also durable. This makes them able to bounce back from the kind of gusts that would normally destroy a tent that’s erected by poles. Inflatable tents are also easy to pitch too, saving you from the awkwardness of having to carefully slide rigid poles through sleeves without them catching.

 The main drawback to inflatable tents is that they can be bulky and heavy – and that’s before factoring in the weight of the pump that’s required to inflate them. So, if you’re going on a trip that might involve having to carry the tent more than just a few yards, then an inflatable one might not be the best option for you. There’s the price too, with air beam tents generally costing quite a bit more than tents with poles.

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