Keen camper and now Mum to toddler. Looking to buy new tent for gentle camping hols with me, dad & aforementioned toddler. Want to get a 5 berth thats light-ish (not a big car)...and not a big budget...at the moment am torn between the Vango orchy 500 ...& Outwell Oregon 5 (Both are around £150 and suit our needs). Does anyone have any experience of these tents...or any advice...? Cheers? CM
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 Take a look at www.ukcampsites.co.uk for information about large Family tents. The forum on that site is full of like minded 'gentle family campers' I hope you find what you want.
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 you can always get cheap family sized tents on the auction site, you dont need owt special, just to do what it says on the tin. G
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 Vango are nice well put together family tents, outwell are also decent, though I find them a bit yucky to look at! Consider Wild Country. Well made family tents from Terra Nova. Depends how big you want to go but certain of their big tents attract fairly good discounts. Look at Halo or Homestead ranges, both are excellent car camping tents. You'd never want to carry them anywhere far though!! Try here for a good price on 5 man Halo. It's a bit more than you'd said to spend, but very well made tent. The same site has the 4 man version for £180, but it's not quite so spacious.
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 Some good advice there! There are lots of pro's and con's - I have an 'outwell minisota 4' which is very sturdy due to steel pole poles and therefore great if the weather does turn a bit nasty. It also has a sewn in groundsheet so there are no draughts in the porch. Still, not good for cooking in due to the floor but if the weather is that bad we usually eat out anyway. Whatever you choose take your time and you will make the right decision for you, and err, your budget, family etc. When looking similar family tents I could see little difference in quality / construction between brands. 
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brilliant thanks for all the advice happy camping 
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I have just has my first outing in a vango 500 venture (£75 from go outdoors). I am not experienced at camping by any means but i am chuffed with it. As a way of getting 'into' camping for me & my family i think its perfect. Bigger than i expected but in terms of storage when packed away it was tiny in real terms. Could fit it in the rear footwell of my golf car. Again i dont have any experience but in terms of space i reckon i could easily fit 2x double blow up mattresses in the sleeping quarters (Can be split into rooms) and the front area was more than enough for me & my son, although i wouldnt want 4 of us to spend much time indoors normally Hope this helps
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Dunno if you can stretch to it, but the space offered by the vango diablo gives a lot of potential. We've found that for prolonged family trips space is king!
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 My family have used a Vango Diablo 600 (which is actually most like the Albany 600) for several years now. We started using it in about 2000 with a family of 6 (my parents plus a baby girl and 3 boys aged 7, 10 and 12) and as far as I know it did a successful trip to Norfolk last weekend with my parents, my sister (who is now 9) and a couple of her friends.
Build-quality-wise it has done very well and has never let us down, though the elastics between the poles are now on their last legs.
Design wise - It has always been a bit annoying that the living space in the middle isn't quite big enough for a camping table and chairs, and my mum hates that she cant stand upright in it. Those are factors you should maybe think about.
Overall I'd recommend Vango as a family brand. We own 4 of their tents altogether and they do pretty much what they say on the tin very well.
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 I've got a Vango Oregon for family trips which is similar size to the Orchy. Its been excellent so far and I'm very pleased with it. I think any of the big brand names are going to be decent enough, I personally think Vango have the right balance of quality, function and value. My mate in work bought an Argos family camping tent last summer and after one trip he reckons its crap and wants to buy a new one. Only point above I'd add comment on is, if buying on Ebay, buy a good brand name tent and research it - I seem to remember reading on www.UKCampsite.co.uk that a lot of the apparent bargains on family tents on Ebay turn into horror stories, falling apart on the first trip.
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 The Vango Aspen has to be the best family tent IMHO. I don't think they're part of Vango's range anymore - so bargains are to be had. Like here for example It's a massive well-built Yurt! & we all know you can't beat a Yurt! Yurt Yurt Yurt! I just love the word...........
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 I was looking at getting the Vango Yukon and Albany myself, I decided against the Outwell due to the fact I prefered the design of the Vango.
I've also looked at the Wildcountry tents but still think the above Vangos meet my requirements for:
Me being able to stand up or sit on a chair in the porch area when it's raining.
Able to accomodate two Thermarest Basecamp XL mats (I like my comfort)
The second criteria was the hardest to fulfill as most of these family type tents have got tiny sleeping quarters!
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 Im just back last week from my first outing with a Vango Yukon 400 and my first impressions are pretty good. I like the windows in the roof so ytou can see the stars or the rain pitter patter from the comfort of the porch. no drafts as is got a sewn in groundsheet. It stood up to the rain well as it p*ssed down the whole of last sat and the oly water that got is was stuff from our shoes/clothes etc. Ventilation was excellent and the "stand up" height was lovely after many years using mountain tents on campsites. I got mine very brand new and cheap on a well known auction site from a shop selling with no reserve.
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My sis got an Outwell recently, put it up in the garden and was impressed with it. She has 3 kids (husband and kids 2 & 4) and is really pleased with it. I'll be joining them on a camp in July in my own tent (other side of the camp site). Vango went a bit cheap and dropped down the market a bit however they are in the process of trying to reverse this image a bit. That's according to my local camping shop called Kendal Camping, they stock both brands along with several other makes. Hope you enjoy it whatever make you get. I grew up with camping holidays and really loved them. Kids get a lot from it, and this big kid still does.
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