Last Updated on 13 October 2026 by Colette
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Camping is a great way to spend quality time with your family and enjoy the great outdoors, however when you have a big family, finding the right tent can be a challenge. With so many options on the market, it can be difficult to choose the perfect tent that has enough room for everyone, is durable, and fits within your budget – big tents can get really expensive!
When it comes to choosing your next (or first) tent you’ll need to consider the size of your family, your budget, and the features that are important to you. If the right tent comes in above what you’d planned and you need it before the season starts, some families look at fast cash loan options with easy process to cover the cost, but it’s worth making sure the repayments sit comfortably within your budget first.
Personally I think the best family tents are ones which have separate rooms including space for family members to sleep separately and also a decent sized living space – both in terms of the floor area and the height of the room. I remember when we were choosing our first tent and the best advice I was given was “make sure you can all stand up in it”.
Typically tents are sized according to how many people they will sleep – but generally speaking, if you’re going on a family camping trip and are likely to want to do anything more than sleep in your tent, then I would suggest you’re going to need more room – particularly for those rainy days. As a family of five, we would generally look for at least a 6-person tent – of course the bigger the tent, the more space it will take up and some campsites do limit the size of your pitch so this is something you’ll need to consider when choosing a campsite.
Our current tent has two large sleeping areas which are designed to sleep six people (presumably with sleeping bags on mats) however what we tend to do is use one room for Dave and I and the other room for the girls. Ben then has his own separate 2-person tent which is used purely for sleeping in – at festivals the entire family sleeps in one tent so that we don’t have to carry another tent with us, but for a normal family camping trip we find that Ben having his own space works really well – it also means that there is ample space for everyone to have a camping bed and not to feel like they are on top of each other.
It’s worth considering the floor plan of your tent – our first tent was a dome tent which had two bedrooms next to each other (officially it could be made into three with room dividers but we never bothered) and I quite liked that the rooms were at the back of the tent with the main living space at the front. It had two large doors – one to the front of the tent which let lots of light in and another to the side which was where we had a tent extension to create a porch area. Our current tent has a very different lay out with the two bedrooms at opposite ends of the tent and a living space in the middle – I actually prefer this as it doesn’t feel quite so much like we’re sharing a bedroom with the kids when they’re rustling about next to us – admittedly they’re still only at the other end of the tent but it just feels better. We have actually added a porch to the tent again as we just love the extra space it gives and the flexibility in terms of having somewhere to take wet clothes and shoes off!
Having plenty of room inside your tent is particularly important if you’re going to be camping in bad weather as it means you’ve got somewhere to relax. It’s also important to consider what storage space you have available to you – I like to try and keep the floor space inside the tent as clear as possible so we keep all the clothing etc in the bedrooms (having camp beds is super helpful for this as it allows us to store things under the beds without taking up usable tent space!) and all the food and kitchen equipment is stored in the porch area – a porch or tent extension is a great add on to give extra room to your tent if you want to create more space without investing in a bigger tent.
Another way we create more space is by having an event shelter – essentially like a gazebo but with zip on sides. This effectively creates an additional living space and is a great option for larger groups. When we are camping with friends and the weather is not quite as we’d have hoped, we usually spilt off into adults in the living room of one tent and the kids in the living area of the other tent – but the event shelter just means we have a large room we can use to fit all of us in for meals and such like.
I can’t recommend our last event shelter – pictured below – as it failed to withstand high winds and our replacement hasn’t been out of the bag yet but I know Karen loves her Coleman event shelter. When we’ve tried out our new one I’ll add some details in!
Finally I do think it’s important to consider ease of setup when considering the best tent for you. It makes sense that a larger tent will be bigger to store, heavier to move and trickier to pitch – so for this reason I’m a massive fan of our Berghaus Air 6 which we can have pitched in about ten minutes – it’s practically an instant tent – this obviously doesn’t include pegging out etc but it does mean that if the weather conditions are questionable, we can get the tent up and be inside with minimal fuss! At this point I think it’s worth noting that the downside of having a large tent is the temptation to fill it with more stuff – we have an awful lot of camping gear and there’s very little of it that I’d be prepared to go without! Being comfortable when camping is really important to me!
Some of the best large tents for families that are available in the UK
Berghaus Air Tent
Kings of the air tent, Berghaus offer a range of sizes to suit all families – we have and love the Berghaus Air 6 – it suits our needs as a family of five (plus a dog) perfectly. But, if you need something even bigger then the Berghaus Air 800 Nightfall Tent is an inflatable tent that can comfortably accommodate up to 8 people. Both tents feature a large living area and separate bedrooms. The tent inflates in minutes, making it easy to set up.
The Berghaus Air 800 Nightfall is currently available from Millets for £750.
The Air 600 Nightfall (which is the updated version of the Air 6) is currently available from Millets for £599.
Vango Vesta Air 850XL
The Vango Vesta Air 850XL is an 8-man inflatable tent designed around a central living space with large panoramic windows and skylights to increase the amount of day light in the tent – I’m totally fascinated by this as the inside of any tent does tend to feel quite dark so I’m torn between loving the idea of the skylights and thinking they’d just be a faff to have to close over at night.
The Vango Vesta Air 850 XL has a very similar layout to the Berghaus Air 6 with a generous living space and a bedroom at either end of the tent.
The Vango Vesta Air 850XL is highly waterproof and pitches in minutes thanks to the AirBeam® technology.
The Vango Vesta Air 850XL is currently available direct from Vango at £1000.
Eurohike Buckingham Elite 8 Man Family Tent
The Eurohike Buckingham Elite is a spacious tunnel style 8-person tent that has a large living area and two separate bedrooms (you can make three using dividers). The tent also has an extended front canopy for additional outdoor space, making it perfect for families who require extra space.
The Eurohike Buckingham Elite 8 is currently available for £179 at Millets!
You can read more about the Eurohike Buckingham Elite here:
Eurohike Buckingham Elite – Scrapbook Blog
Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Family Tent
The Coleman Weathermaster 8 is perfect for families who like to camp in all seasons. The tent is designed to withstand heavy rain and strong winds and features a large living area, two separate bedrooms, and a screened porch.
The Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air tent is currently on sale for a very spendy £899 at Decathlon.
Coleman Meadowood 6L
Kate from Counting to Ten explains what she loves about her Coleman Meadowood 6L
“I love our Coleman Meadowood tent. It has a black out sleeping area that you can section off or have as one section (we have it all as one and put 3 double air mattresses across). Inside there is enough room to stand or hang out. And there is an open porch section at the front so you can take wellies off if it’s raining (it’s always raining when we camp) without getting the inside all wet.”
You can read more about the Coleman Meadowood 6L tent here:
Coleman Meadowood 6L tent review – Counting to Ten
The Coleman Meadowood 6L is currently available on Amazon for £544.99
Outwell Montana 6PE Tent
The Outwell Montana 6PE Tent is a favourite among families and can accommodate up to 6 people. It features a spacious living area and a convertible bedroom, which can be divided into two separate compartments. The tent also has a large front porch area, providing extra outdoor space.
The Outwell Montana 6PE tent is currently on sale for £1109.99
These are just a few of the many tents that are available in the UK for big families – if you’ve got one you think should be on the list (or one that people should avoid!) let me me know.
Whilst I have included pricing information in this post, this is just a guide and it’s worth shopping around as pricing can vary wildly depending on availability and special offers! I should also say that once we had settled on the Berghaus Air 6 (which is a really expensive tent), Dave set about stalking Ebay and Facebook Marketplace just to see if we could pick up a good deal – I was really apprehensive about buying a secondhand tent – what if it hadn’t been looked after, what if there was some damage that we didn’t notice until it was too late? Of course these are risks to buying second-hand but we struck lucky and our tent had only been used once (his wife had decided she wanted a motorhome after all) and it still smelled brand new!
You can prepare for your next festival with Craghoppers voucher codes and find great deals on outdoor essentials for the whole family.
For more camping related content, have a look at these posts next:
Things to consider when choosing a campsite
Tips for taking your dog camping
How to survive camping at a festival with kids
Tips for unpacking after camping
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Great tips! I never thought about using a porch or event shelter to add extra living space—definitely useful for big family trips.