Gear

hi,I am after some advice.I would like to fly to europe over the summer(as cheap as possible) and then camp using my own tent.
The problem is, there will just be me and two kids(9 & 11).Can someone suggest a good light tent - RyanAir's luggage allowance is minimal.was looking at Coleman Epsilon 3,Vango Storm 300+ or Jamet Brevent 4000.Any suggestions? needs to be under £200 quid. Also has anyone done the cheap flight and camp angle ?I dont want to hire a car to get about.
Thanks

i did the cheap fly and camp to sunny espania a few years back with my daughter.i thought it was fantastic and so did she....4 weeks of absolute fabness. Remember that the kids will be paying FULL fare for the plane tickets and thats full baggage allowance for em too.

The vango storm 300+ looks like its a good tent and will certainly take anything that a british summer can through at it....not sure about two kids penned up on a wet miserable day though!

alternitavley arrange via the net with a local outdoor shop to purchase a tent in advance and collect the day you arrive. Then simply post it back before you fly home.

Drew

Last summer I took my Wild Country Levache (4.8kg) to Italy with Ryanair.

http://www.summits.co.uk/acatalog/Wild_Country_Levache.html
(first result on a Google search)

TENT
I previously had a Eurohike tunnel tent that was the same shape, but quite 'wobbly' in wind - I liked the fact that the porch is as big as the inner (which is big enough for 3).
The Levache has two points where the poles cross, leading to greater resistance to wind and less general flapping about.
The large porch means that it isn't cramped if you have to cook and spend the evening in there in bad weather.

FLIGHT
Ryanair do still allow 25kg per person, but you have to be canny in splitting it between your hand and checked baggage (10 and 15kg respectively). What we tend to do is wear our heaviest shoes & clothes (coats included, no matter how warm it is) as they don't actually weigh YOU (yet...), stuff our hand baggage as full as possible and then put the remaining equipment in the suitcase.

Also, if you take water on the flight, don't put it in any of the bags (it's 1kg per litre) - just try to hold it as inconspicuously as possible.

CAR
With regard to your comment about car hire, bear in mind Ryanair's 'relaxed' attitude to airport locations. You may find that you spend nearly as much money (and a lot more effort) getting from the airport to the nearest public transport hub and then on to where you want to go, than just hiring a car.

Also - and this only applies to our experience in Italy - it is a car culture, and the corresponding lack of public transport would have made it very difficult to get to the places we wanted to stay.

AND FINALLY
Back to the tent to finish - I think you need to decide what you want to use the tent for. If you are mainly going to be carrying it around, and just putting it up in a corner to sleep in, then the lighter ones (Coleman, Jamet) would be better. However, if you are going to be pitching it for a few days in a proper campsite, you may as well go for the extra kilograms and get lots of space, so that you can spread out and relax more.

Hope this helps,


Mark.

Ryanair have indeed lowered their weight limits but I have not experienced any difference with this. It seems to me that so long as you have a reasonably sized pack you will be OK.

Mark - while there's no doubting that Italy has a car culture, and Italians love their cars, they still have a pretty good public transport system. Their trains are reckoned to be among the best in the world and are pretty cheap, and even the most out-of-the-way rural locations have good bus services. I've never been stumped by a lack of public transport in my travels in Italy.

Pixie - as for getting camping gear onto a flight, I just returned home from a trip where I camped about a quarter of the time. My bag weighed 12kg at check-in and all I carried as hand luggage was my camera, money and documentation. Think lightweight!

hi, and thank you for all your advice. I had not even thought about just ordering a tent and picking it up when i got to my destination.There is also the option of buying a heavier but cheaper tent out there, then just giving it to a charity like Oxfam to use in emergency relief.Then no need to post it back. I will definately wear all my heaviest clothes to travel in,
The reason for not getting a car is i havent driven for 12 years,but i am quite cool with foreign public transport.I want to get away from the package tour and give the kids real foreign travel (not sure they are as convinced about this as I am).
I will let you all know how i get one.
and Thank you again

Ryannair are changing their baggage policy this summer. I have never really had any problems with them in the past.