Top Ten Camping Tips for your Holiday to France

When you're planning your next camping trip make sure you're fully prepared with our handy hints.

1. Air out your tent.
At the beginning of the summer, air out your tent and seal the seams. This will help you keep the dew and rain on the outside during your summer camping trips.

2. Practise in the Garden
If it's the first time you've used your tent then its worthy pitching your tent and even sleeping in it in the garden. It can be fun and a good way for you or the kids to get used to it and the equipment. Plus if you know your equipment before having to pitch your tent in the wind or rain as its getting dark once you're doing it for real you'll be glad you had a trial run!

3. Clear the area
Always make sure the ground is free of stones, sticks or other objects. These could damage your tent or worse give you a sleepless night!

4. Protect your tent
Tents can be an expensive investment so it's worth looking after them. If you're going to be camping on rough ground even if you've cleared it, use a tough sheet of plastic or tarpaulin under the tent to protect the built in groundsheet. When packing up the tent wash or wipe down any dirt and make sure your tent is bone dry or the next time you pitch your tent you could find mildew has ruined it.

5. Take spares
Make sure you have spare tent pegs as these are easy to lose, spare guy lines, silicon sealant and some 'duct-tape' in case your tent fabric needs a bit of a patch up.

6. Keeping dry
Think about where you're going to pitch the tent. Flat, level ground might seem like a good idea but it the area could become easily waterlogged sot try and choose a pitch with a gentle slope that will drain well.

7. Protect your tent from the wind
The design and shape of your tent will deflect the wind, so pitch your tent with the prevailing wind in mind. If you have a single entrance pitch the tent out of the wind to prevent rain being blown inside or the wind lifting your tent.

8. Keep organised and tidy
Try and keep the inside of your tent organised and tidy. When you've used an item put it back where you found it. If you know where things are you won't spend your time sorting through things in the tent. Take plenty of plastic bags with your for storing litter. Think about your environment and don't leave litter around the campsite, apart from it being unsightly but it also attracts scavengers. Keep the litter inside your tent or dispose it in the campsite facilities at regular intervals or take it with you.

9. Avoid fire hazards
Never cook, smoke, have candles or any form of naked flame in the tent. Tents and sleeping bag materials are highly flammable and a simple mistake can result in disaster. In bad weather, sit in the porch of your tent to protect you from the weather but keep the stove well away from your tent. Use a battery operated or wind up lantern for the inside of your tent. Also a head torch is particularly useful when walking in a field at night to the loos with your loo roll!

10. Keep it clean
Take your boots or shoes of when you're entering your tent and leave them in the porch area. There are plenty of germs and bacteria that can be picked up around the campsite so it's a nice idea to keep them out of contact of your personal items and sleeping area. Wet wipes and anti-bacterial hand gels are handy when the washing facilities aren't close by or non-existent!