Our family camping checklist: everything you need to pack

Camping essentials for family holidays

We’ll get onto the items you might not have considered below but these ones are truly essential – you know, the kind of kit that you’ll need to turn the car around for if you forget it. Double-check that these are ticked off your family camping list before setting off!

Tent

This one goes without saying, right?

The key thing here is to make sure you’ve got a tent that is optimised for family camping trips, ie, one that has a good balance of living space and sleeping compartments to accommodate everyone. You can probably make do with something smaller but you’ll also be inviting arguments.

The Home five-person tent from Olpro, for example, has multiple features that are specifically designed for family camping trips, like an annexed section with extra ventilation to set up your camping kitchen. It has a partitioned space in the porch for a camping toilet, too. This is all in addition to a large open living space with multiple large windows to let light flood in.

Innovative design features like those help to keep your tent to easily accommodate a busy and bustling family!

Sleeping bags

In short, make sure that all sleeping bags are optimised for the season in which you’re camping – you’ll hear complaints if you have kids trying to rest in thin sleeping bags during early spring.

Most people take mummy-style sleeping bags but there are classic rectangular ones available, too, which offer more space for legroom and wider shoulders.

Camping stove

For family camping trips, that single-burner stove you make instant noodles in isn’t going to cut it.

Instead, look to get something like the Campingaz Camping Kitchen 2 CV – the Multi-Cook version just won Best Camping Stove 2024 in the Camping Awards. It’s got three independently controlled burners, one of which has a grill plate, making it a much more versatile cooker that can simultaneously boil, fry and grill.

Make sure you’ve got enough fuel to last the whole trip and that it’s compatible with your stove – we’ve made that blunder before…

Camping chairs

A decent camping chair can help to make relaxing on a campsite a realistic possibility, so while you don’t need to invest big money into your chairs, it’s worth doing some research to find some that are genuinely comfy.

The Quest Elite Naples Pro Recline is a great option if comfort is high on your priority list – its padded headrest is adjustable, the premium fabric remains soft time after time and it features a handy side table for keeping drinks and essentials close by.

That moment of relaxing into a camping chair with a cold drink in your hand is pure bliss, so make sure you’ve got a decent chair to start with.

Your camping essentials packing list

Those items listed above are the headline acts of your camping set-up but there are more essentials that you need to pack, too:

• Tent
• Sleeping bags
• Airbed / sleeping mats
• Pillows
• Camping stove
• Fuel / gas
• Tableware: cutlery, plates, mugs, etc
• Kitchenware: pots, pans, etc
• Washing-up equipment
• Camping chairs
• Folding table
• Lantern / torches
• First aid kit
• Water carrier
• Bin

Extras for your family camping list

Once you’ve got the basics wrapped up, there are some more items that, while easily forgotten, will make a big difference to your camping experience. These are the essential camping items that nobody ever tells you about, as selected by Iain Duff, editor of Camping.

Extras for family camping: kitchen

Three-in-one coffee sachets

So-called cofficionados will no doubt throw their hands up in horror, but these are brilliant to have for a quick caffeine burst in the morning without access to a proper coffee machine.

This is the ultimate in instant coffee – just boil the kettle and pour. No need to worry about keeping milk fresh or sugar dry.

Sauce sachets

Speaking of sachets, we always save up sauce packets from cafés and fast food restaurants and take them on camping trips to save a bit of money and space.

You can do the same with salt and pepper.

FryLight spray oil

It's healthier to cook with this, of course, but using spray instead of a bottle of oil has other advantages.

There's far less chance of a spillage for a start, and it takes up much less space in the camping box.

Instant tea

Another one to upset the purists! Again this is all about the convenience and instant tea has improved dramatically over the years.

Slow cooker

You might think this is insane, but believe me, if you have electric hook-up, a slow cooker will change how you think about campsite cooking forever. Start cooking in the morning, leave it to do its thing all day, and by dinner time you'll have a fantastic curry or pork stew all ready to serve up.

I wouldn't advise going off and leaving it unattended during the day, but if you're around the campsite then it's perfect.

Frozen bottles of water

Freeze them at home before you set off and keep them in the coolbox. They'll help keep the temperature down inside the box and, as they melt, will provide you with a ready supply of chilled water.

Tea towels

It might seem obvious, but you'd be amazed how many people don't think about packing these.

Kitchen roll

Kitchen roll is a truly essential piece of camping kit, as you'll forever be mopping up something around the tent.

Extras for family camping: a tidy tent

Slip-on shoes

Keep these by the tent door so when you want to pop out during the night you don't have to spend ages putting on your trainers or boots.

Mini washing line

String it up between trees or from a tent pole to your windbreak. Ideal for drying towels, tea towels and swimming cossies.

Clothes pegs

Pack these, too, or you could find your favourite Speedos speeding their way across the campsite if the wind picks up.

Door mat

Some tents come with them, but, if yours doesn't, it's well worth getting one and placing it at the main entrance to avoid getting muddy footprints through the tent.

Folding clothes horse

If it's wet outside – and let's face it, it often is – then a clothes horse is the ideal way to get your things dry. Set it up in the front porch or one of the bedrooms to avoid cluttering up the living room.

Dustpan and brush

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, tents get grubby and a dustpan and brush is the easy way to sweep up grass cuttings, sand and dirt.

Trug bucket

These flexible plastic buckets with handles come in all sorts of sizes and have plenty of uses. The largest versions can be used as a makeshift bath for kids, while smaller ones can sit at the tent door to store wet shoes and jackets. Our favourite use is as ice buckets to keep drinks cold.

Cable ties

Handy for fixing things, such as broken zips, but just as useful if you make them into loops and use as hanging hooks.

IKEA big blue bags/bags for life

Use these as laundry bags or take them to the shower and put all your dry clothes inside to keep things protected from shower splashes.

Bin bags for wet clothes

Just what it says. Fill your black bin bags with wet and dirty clothes and sling them in the boot of the car, out of the way.

Foam floor tiles

For a softer, more comfortable tent floor instead of a carpet and excellent insulation under airbeds in the bedroom.

Extras for family camping: sleeping

Eye mask

If you don't have a darkened bedroom in your tent, you'll appreciate just why they are so popular every time you wake up at 4.30am with the sun rising. An eye mask is a quick fix, until you upgrade your tent.

Duvet

Sleeping bags are the usual method of keeping warm at night, but, if you have space in the car, a duvet can be even better. In fact, if it's really chilly, how about a sleeping bag with a duvet over the top?

Extra-thick socks

I find I lose most of my heat in bed through my feet and once they get cold it's impossible to get warm again. When it's cold, I always wear a pair of thick fleecy socks when I go to bed, even if I take them off during the night if it gets too warm.

Ear plugs

Tents don't offer much in the way of sound insulation, so if you're a light sleeper, the night chorus of snoring campers, crying babies, barking dogs and cars on distant roads can keep you awake. This is the solution.

Fleece or blanket under the bed

If you're sleeping on the floor, most of the cold comes from the ground, so a blanket or fleece laid down on the groundsheet under your airbed or self-inflating mat, provides a vital layer of insulation.

Hot water bottles

When campers talk about how to stay warm in bed they come up with all sorts of solutions, but the good old-fashioned hot water bottle is the most obvious and arguably the most effective. Stick it in your sleeping bag half an hour before bedtime and you'll be toasty warm as soon as you tuck yourself in.

Your own pillows

Another fairly obvious one but, for sleep comfort, real pillows from home are an essential.

Extras for family camping: miscellaneous

Glow sticks

Stick these into the ground around your tent and not only will they add a welcoming glow, but they'll illuminate guylines and pegs so you avoid any accidents in the dark.

Walkie talkies

Letting the kids roam free without adult supervision is one of the big attractions of camping. But it's also handy to know where they are and for them to be able to request help if needed.

A pair of walkie talkies will be reassuring for both parties… and, of course, they're great fun!

Citronella candles

You can get fancy camping lights that release anti-mosquito fumes into the air, but, if you want to sit outside after dark in the summer, a few citronella candles should keep the biting bugs at bay. Don't use them in your tent, though.

Firelighters

Most people like a campfire, but not everyone has the knack of lighting one. Firelighters will provide plenty of help.

Duck Tape

If you only take one item from this list, make it this.

Otherwise known as duct tape, it has loads of camping uses, including repairing tears and holes in your tent; splinting broken fibreglass tent poles; mending splits in waterproof trousers; making a watertight seal on a torn groundsheet; wrapping around trouser and sleeve cuffs to keep bugs out; fixing broken buckles on rucksacks; using as a heel patch to prevent blisters; even removing verrucas.

The list goes on. You name it, Duck Tape can do it.

Bathmat

Campsite shower trays can be slippy, so carry a small mat with you when you go to do your ablutions.

Flip flops / sliders

Again, these will prevent you from slipping in the shower, but, even more importantly, will reduce the risk of you catching something horrible from the shower floor.

Camping slippers

You don't want to be wearing dirty shoes around the tent, but, equally, walking around on the cold, lumpy groundsheet can be uncomfortable. Slippers are the perfect solution – either special camping slippers or just an old pair from home.

Portable camping toilet

Some people don't mind trekking across the campsite to the toilets during the night, but others like the convenience of having an en suite loo in their tent. Make sure you've got a suitably private spot to set it up, though – no one likes an audience when they're on the loo!

Packing list for camping with kids

Finally, make sure you’ve packed enough to keep the kids entertained while you’re away, whether they’re five or 15. Here’s a list of items that have worked well for us in the past:

• Board games (Scrabble is a camping favourite but many more are out there)
• Books
• Binoculars
• Swimsuits
• Watersports kit (inflatable kayaks are fantastic fun with kids)
• Marshmallows for the campfire
• Bicycles

With all of that in mind, you can see why many parents look into roof boxes and trailers for lugging everything to the campsite, but you may not need everything listed above. Pick and choose the items that are most relevant to your holiday and your family. And enjoy!

(Psst, if you’re still missing anything, check out the Out & About Shop for products recommended by our editors!)