Over the years, we have been glamping several times with boys. It is always a good holiday, enjoying the great outdoors, unplugging from the technological world that we live in and spending time as a family. Quality time. If you are planning on doing the same and going glamping with kids. Although you may leave the sleeping bag at home. There are some glamping essentials that you should take with you to make your family experience easier. Especially if like me, you have a husband or wife that is less than keen. All of these things included in our glamping packing list will help your first-time glamping experience go as smoothly as possible.
31 Essentials for your glamping packing list
One thing to consider is how you are going to transport your glamping essentials to your glamping accommodations for your outdoor adventure. Some are easy to reach, and some provide wheelbarrows as a means of transport. Others such as when we stayed in a treehouse in Wales are across fields and up banks. Before pulling your ultimate glamping packing list together it is worth considering what your camping experience will involve.
Depending on how glamorous your accomodation is, there is a good chance you will not need bed linen. As normally this is provided with the comfy beds. It is a good idea to check directly to see if there is an extra blanket for chilly evenings. If there are hot tubs at your location in which case you will need a bathing suit and if there is a private bathroom.
I have not included essential clothing items on this glamping checklist. It will depend on the time of year you are staying. I normally pack what I would do if I was going on a traditional camping trip. Casual clothing, plenty of layers for both for adults and children and always a waterproof jacket. Likewise, if you need prescription medications, contact lenses or allergy pills for outdoor activities then make sure you add them to your list.
Firelighters and matches
Most glamping experiences require you to cook on the stove. I’ll come onto that in a minute if, but you’re not used to setting a fire because you don’t have a lock burner or an open fire at home then the chances are you’re going to go through quite a lot of firelighters until you get the hang of it. we have an open fire and still use more firelighters than I would expect. Many glamping experiences will allow a certain number. If you exceed this then you will need to pay to buy more from the honesty shop. Depending on how honest your honesty shop is this could mean that the extra cost is above market rates. So it is a good idea to take a few with you.
Flip-flops
This may sound like an odd thing to take with you, however, most glamping experiences consist of either a shower block or an outside shower of some sort. There’s nothing worse than trying to squeeze your feet into socks and then into Wellington boots or similar once you have had a hot shower. So if you’re glamping in the spring or autumn flip-flops are a great option. I’ve even showered in flip-flops before. Especially if they’re communal showers.
Dry Shampoo
I always bring some with me incase the shower blocks are not nice!! Really useful to have for a weekend away.
Camping lights
Depending on the type of experience you have opted for it could be that you are completely off grid with no electricity. Although oil, lamps and candles may be provided you can move around the tent into different areas or rooms. Depending on the type of safari tent or bell tent you’re staying in. A top tip when glamping with kids is to have a camping light they can use next to their bed. Harry in particular needed this when he went to the bathroom on our last visit trip. Helping all to have a good night’s sleep.
Camping Chairs
Again depending on where you are staying. Some glamping accomodation comes with outside seating. Others don’t so to help with your comfort it is worth bringing your own camping chairs if this is the case. Think about a waterproof picnic rug when glamping with kids, as it will also take up less room.
Glow sticks
If you’re travelling with young children that are used to night light, and you have no electricity. You could consider buying glow sticks. They are designed to give light for eight hours which is normally sufficient to give them reassurance, especially the first time. But it also means that they can transport them around, should they need to come and find you. Making them a much safer option than little tea lights. Which have been offered in some of the glamorous camping that we have stayed in. We wouldn’t go glamping with kids now without glow sticks.
Toilet paper
Worth checking in advance. As if you have a private bathroom you would need to treat it as any other self catering stay and bring your own.
Oil, salt pepper
As most of your cooking will be done on the stove. It’s important to remember some basic cooking supplies such as oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes the glamping destinations will provide these. Some don’t. So to avoid any concerns we have some travel ones that we take with us to self-catering accommodation. Likewise think about other essentials that you may need teabags, sweeteners, sugar, and coffee. Anything you need to prepare your own food. If you’re only glamping for a few nights, then you do not want to be taking full-size options with you on the basis that you may not be able to park next to your camping tent. Oh and don’t forget the tea towels, washing up liquid, cloth and a bottle of wine and a cork screw! One of our essential things.
Power packs
Yes, I know the intention is to unwind on the switch off from the world around us. However, we now live in an environment where we are constantly online or reachable. For this reason, we take power packs with us, and enable our mobile phones to have a certain level of charge. Should we need to be reached by family members. We have found that taking one really good power pack that is designed to charge your mobile phone several times is normally sufficient for the weekend.
Thermals
If you are glamping in the shoulder seasons, when the weather is not great, then you will want some sort of base layer. Although you are unlikely to use them during the day, and may not even need them when you go to sleep because the log burner will have heated up your tent. There’s a good chance you’ll wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning and think you’re freezing. So I would suggest Merino wool thermals and potentially thermal bed socks for sleeping in or some sort of chalet slipper. For the boys, I also take an extra layer of thick onesie which often means that they sleep without a duvet. Or if the weather is really cold then they are lovely and cosy with both.
Hand warmers
Useful for when you are glamping in the cooler months. We had some left over from our trip to Lapland and they have come in very useful since.
Wellies
The grass is normally wet when you wake up even during the Summer months. So never underestimate the need for wellies on your glamping packing list, especially when glamping with kids. If you are going to be taking your wellies into your tent, then it’s definitely a good idea to have something like Waterproof Wet Bags for storing wet wellies as well as wet clothes, so you avoid getting your glamping set up wet.
Fans
On the same basis that you might take the thermals to keep you warm during the winter months. If you are glamping in the peak of the warmer weather, you may also want to take some sort of fan with you tents can get very hot during the summer months, especially if I have a stove inside to provide cooking facilities. Normally with a glamping tent, you will be able to roll the sides up. Yet it is unlikely you would sleep like this. Therefore some sort of USB-powered fan which you can charge during the day could be an option. Some glamping resorts offer power stations in the main building.
Foil
This is another essential that I do not leave home without when going glamping as you never really know what you’re going to face when you arrive. Foil is useful for keeping food airtight but also when you’re using potentially barbecue or cooking something within the embers of the fire. Such as a jacket potato. I also tend to pack some paper towels on the same basis.
Rubbish Bag
I always pack a couple of extra ones for just incase. They also prove useful to use to sit on a damp floor with if needed. Also while glamping you will want to make sure you get your rubbish out as much as possible to avoid ants etc.
Food in general
You do need to think about this in advance. Even in some of the best glamping places we have visited, we’ve ended up with only two rings. In the worst only one ring to cook on. This makes preparing a meal tricky so you need to think about one-pot meals that are easily executable and reasonably quick. Because, we have found that when you’re cooking on the stove, it will not be as quick as when you are cooking on an oven. Even the simple act of boiling water for pasta can take considerably longer. We tend to cook things like, jacket potatoes, sausages, bacon and pasta. Nothing too complicated leaving the finer things for when we eat out.
Bottled water
Again depending on where you are going, you may not have access to running water. Or you may only have access to water for washing and not for drinking. Check this out before you go and pack accordingly.
Thermos flask and refillable water bottle
A little sneaky tip. If you’re glamping experience offers a communal area where there is electricity there could also be a kettle. In this instance, you may want to take a large thermos flask with you so that you can nip up and get some hot water for that first cuppa in the morning. While you are doing that the stove can come up to heat and the kettle on the stove can merrily reach its boiling point. Ready for your next hot drink of the morning. We have even stayed in some glamping accommodations that have a French press coffee maker!
Spare shopping bag & clothes bag
If you intend on using the honesty shop on site or similar to buy certain items then it’s useful to have an extra bag as your tent may be quite away from the area. This is in addition to a bag to put dirty washing and outdoor clothing in after all glamping can get quite muddy, especially for the younger members of the family. We also take a bag or box for footwear.
Suncream
You will be spending a lot of time outside so suncream needs to be on your glamping packing list. I always have factor 50 with me in the warmer months.
Entertainment and travel board games
We take a small number of travel games with us. All of which tend to be predominantly in card form. This means that we have something to do in the evenings as a family. The boys look forward to the games evenings and it means we avoid that I’ve got nothing to do. This is a great way to keep them off their electronic devices.
Outside games
A ball is an essential glamping item when you go glamping with kids. No matter where you are it can keep them entertained for hours. I also normally try and pack a bat and ball and frisbe. You are looking for things that don’t take up much room and are light to carry.
Torches
It goes without saying, but if you’re in an environment without electricity a torch would be handy. We also take head torches if we are moving around the campsite during the evening when we have lost light. Leaving both hands free.
Barbecue skewers
Most glamping places will come with a fire pit and the option to toast marshmallows. This is always on the boy’s bucket list and is one of the simple things to enjoy while glamping with kids For this reason, we also take barbecue forks to allow us to do this without having to find our own sticks to secure a marshmallow. I find that the metal ones tend to work better and they are reusable.
Ice packs
I know that ice packs sounds a little counter intuative. But we have done this for several of our trips. Useful to help transport food to and from the glamping site. Some places will have a freezer in the main building you can use so you can refreeze them. Ready for going out on day trips. But we have also used them in the cool box provided to help keep everything as cool as possible.
Hot water bottle
Hot water bottles are a great idea for your glamping packing list if you are travelling in the shoulder seasons or later in the year. Water bottles can help to make the sleeping situation more comfortable.
Extra batteries
Extra batteries are always on a glamping list. For anything that operates on the battery, torches, lamps, et cetera make sure that you pack at least one spare set. As you can always bet that the item will suddenly lose power the moment you need it.
Mozzie spray
Always useful to have some mosquito spray or insect repellent. Even if you are not staying near bodies of water. If you have a husband like me who is allergic to mosquito bites then repellent is really important. As we seem to come across a lot in the countryside. It is also not easy to remove them all from a tent if you have all the sides open in Summer months
First aid kit
This goes without saying as an essential glamping packing list item. I have a travel one in the car which I use when we are glamping. Thankfully it is very rare that I need to use anything from it. But travelling with kids you never know what is going to happen. So it is useful to have one on hand. Although I do have to remind myself to remove it from the car.
Towels
Depending on where you are staying. You may find that some will provide bed linen but not towels. It is worth checking. I always have some in the car for just incase. Especially if we may end up going swimming at our glamping site or finding a river to paddle in.
Maps and hiking trails
Before you go make a plan on what you intend to do while you are there. Again depending on your glamping destination ideas may be provided for you by your hosts. But it is always worth having an idea of what you want to get up to. Especially if staying in National Parks. So that you can make the most of your surroundings.
Backpack
If you are planning on going on day trips while glamping with kids then a back pack is an essential glamping item. Because of the all the things you will need to take with you!
Have you been on a glamping getaway? What would you pack for your glamping adventure? Let me know in the comments below.
Related Blog Posts
If you have enjoyed this blog post about glamping essentials then you may also be interested in the places we have visited while glamping with kids:
- Glamping near Cheddar Gorge
- Glamping in Keswick
- Glamping at the Watercess Railway
- Glamping in Dorset
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One Response
Can’t wait to get camping again – fab list will prove invaluable