Camping or glamping? It’s the age-old question. As soon as the weather gets better here in the UK, we head for the great outdoors for an adventure, and then it’s time to decide whether you’d prefer to glamp or camp.
While both experiences are brilliant, there are a number of differences between the two. Glamping – or glamorous camping – is a far more luxurious experience but you can still enjoy a stay in nature. If you love camping but prefer not to have to rough it, then glamping could well be for you.
In this article we have a look at some of the advantages that glamping has over camping for a family holiday or a break away with friends. Read on to find out why you should choose glamping for your UK holiday this year.
1. Glamping saves space in the car
Saving space is one of the biggest benefits when you choose glamping over camping. You don’t need to bring the tent, as your accommodation is already there for you, and all YHA’s glamping options feature our trademark cosy bedding ready made up inside, so you can leave your sleeping bags at home.
When you stay with YHA, you also have access to all of the hostel’s own facilities, including a well-equipped self-catering kitchen, so you don’t need to bring your camping stove, pans, crockery, or cutlery.
You don’t need to find camping gear in that spider covered loft and the kids will be delighted that they can stretch out in the back of the car without resting their legs on boxes and bags!
2. All your bedding is provided
As we mentioned above, all bedding is provided when you glamp with YHA, whether you choose to stay in a Landpod, bell tent, or tipi. Pillows, soft comfortable duvets, and bed linen are all there on all of the beds.
Leave the sleeping bags at home as you won’t need them, and don’t even mention sleeping mats or airbeds.
This also saves you a job when you get home. You won’t need to do loads of washing and hope for a dry day so that you can get it all out on the line.
3. No need to put up a tent – just turn up!
For a genuinely hassle-free experience in the great outdoors, you should absolutely choose glamping over camping. Ever had to put up a tent on your own in the pouring rain whilst the kids moan about being wet? Well, it’s not exactly a great start to the holiday!
Add to that the stress of finding all the poles and pegs and getting them in the right place, and you’ll be ready to go home before you’ve even had any fun. With glamping, you don’t need to put anything together – all the hard work has been done for you.
When you arrive, your tipi, bell tent, or Landpod will be waiting for you. It’s all set up inside, too, with the beds made, so you really don’t need to do anything except perhaps light the fire (in tipis and bell tents) to boil the kettle on your wood burner and make yourself a cuppa.
This also means you don’t need to worry about when you turn up. If you get stuck in traffic or held up on the way, it doesn’t matter. You can just head straight to your cosy bell tent or quirky Landpod and relax.
4. Protection from the elements
As we all know, the weather in the UK can be a little unpredictable. One minute, it’s wall-to-wall sunshine. The next, it’s blowing a gale and chucking it down.
While a tent does provide you with some protection from the elements, it can be very noisy when it’s windy or rainy, and if you’re not confident in your equipment or your expertise at putting it together, there’s always a worry that a peg could come loose somewhere. And then you’re in Wizard of Oz territory, convinced you’re about to blow away on a twister…
When you go glamping on the other hand, you can chill out, safe in the knowledge that these semi-permanent structures are expertly built and completely solid. If it does rain, you can enjoy staying inside, warm and cosy, as you listen to the drops on top of the canvas.
5. Enjoy the hostel’s facilities
A unique benefit of glamping with YHA is that all guests can use the hostel’s facilities, including the lounges and social areas, the self-catering kitchen plus the toilets and showers.
You can cook your own meals in the well-equipped self-catering kitchen. Or if you fancy a night off, lots of our hostels have restaurants where you can eat if you fancy a break from cooking.
Many of our hostels also have dedicated camping and glamping facilities with toilet and shower blocks close to the camping area. This helps to keep you from queuing for the showers, even when the hostel is busy.
Hostels are social spaces where you can have a chat with your fellow travellers and make new friends. Let your children run around and explore the hostel grounds with their new pals whilst you enjoy a drink with their parents as you keep an eye on them.
If the weather’s bad, head inside to the bar or lounge areas and pick up a board game or book.
6. Choose glamping for a quirky stay in the outdoors
If you like to experience something different then glamping is for you. Try one of our Landpods (as seen on the Channel 4 show Taskmaster!) for a quirky stay. These off grid and off the ground glamping pods feature a canopy roof which lifts right up so you can enjoy stargazing from your bed or keep cool on balmy summer evenings.
Our tipis in the Lake District wouldn’t look out of place at a music festival, so if you love posting about your adventures on your social media channels, then this is the stay for you.
YHA has locations in some of the most beautiful places across England and Wales, from stunning national parks to rugged coastlines and picture-perfect towns and villages. Wake up to gorgeous views each morning and enjoy beautiful sunsets right from the glamping area.
7. Space to bring your dog with you
If you can’t bear to leave your best friend at home when you go away, don’t worry—you don’t need to! Almost all of the YHA glamping and camping sites are dog-friendly, so you can bring your pooch on holiday with you.
Your furry friends will love our rural locations with miles of wonderful walkies right from the doorstep before curling up in front of the wood burner in one of our tipis or bell tents in the evenings. There’s plenty of space for everyone when it comes to glamping, so bring your pup with you for just £10 per night.
8. Warm up in front of the wood burner
Although camping is a fantastic adventure, it can get a little chilly sometimes. But you don’t need to worry about the cold when you’re glamping. Some of the premium bell tents and tipis at YHA have an integrated log burner inside to keep you cosy when the temperature drops.
This also means you can enjoy outdoor adventures for longer each year as you don’t need to put an end to your travels as soon as the good weather stops.
As well as keeping you cosy and warm, the wood burner also has other benefits. You can dry your wet gear easily when you get in, boil the kettle on it and make yourself a brew, and enjoy building the fire and tending to it.
A lot of the YHA glamping accommodation also has a firepit outside so you can enjoy sitting al fresco for a little longer. Light the fire and play games, tell stories, or just relax. With each stay, you get one bag of wood, and more is available to buy from reception.
All you need to bring is the marshmallows!
9. Luxury camping on a budget
The word “glamping” is an amalgamation of glamorous and camping and refers to a camping-type experience with added home comforts.
You may be forgiven for thinking that this way of staying is expensive. However, at YHA, we keep the costs as low as possible so that you can enjoy amazing trips without breaking the bank.
Glamping at YHA is available from just £50 per night with some of our glamping accommodation sleeping up to five people. If you’re going away with friends and splitting the costs between you, then this makes for a really wallet-friendly break.
You’ll find our glamping accommodation in some fantastic locations across England and Wales including summer holiday favourites Cornwall and the Lake District and some more undiscovered locations like West Sussex, Hampshire, and even Stratford-upon-Avon.
You can also save money on food. Bring your own food and make the most of our well-equipped self-catering kitchens to save money on eating out. You can also head to the hostel’s restaurants to take advantage of our reasonably priced food and drink.
You can also take up our great kid’s meal offer, where children eat for just £1 for each main adult meal purchased. This offer applies to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so just pick the one that works best for your family.
10. You don’t need to invest in kit
And speaking of saving money, another benefit of glamping is that you don’t need to spend money investing in lots of specialist kit.
Although camping is a budget-friendly holiday, it does have a large initial outlay. By the time you’ve bought the tent, airbeds or camping mats, sleeping bags, table, chairs, cool box, and maybe even a roof box to transport everything in, you could have spent a small fortune.
With glamping, you don’t need to bring any specialist equipment. You can just bring what you usually would when you stay in a hotel or self-catering apartment.
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