Some of the best family tents for 2026

Are you planning your family camping trip and looking for a tent to accommodate everyone? Our Expert Guide to Buying a Tent will lead you through the many options in detail, but to help narrow things down, here are some ideas taken from Camping & Caravanning magazine team’s tour of the product launches for the 2026 camping season.

Psst! Make sure you also keep your eyes peeled for our exclusive discounts on many of the brands featured here. If you’re not already a member, what are you waiting for? Join here and start saving.

Easy Camp EC Easy Living Hamra 4

This compact four-berth tent is great for weekends away. The sloping front can be opened up completely if the weather is good and there’s a side entrance door to use if it rains, which has a mesh door to keep bugs at bay.

You won’t find lots of extras in this little tent, there are only a few windows and no extra bells and whistles, but it’s well designed with good ventilation and features to keep the weather out. It could make a great starter tent for a small family.

Find the Easy Camp Hamra 4 here, prices around £250 >

Vango Tacoma 400

This family tent has a sleeping cabin at each end (known as vis-à-vis format) so you can keep a little space between different family members at night.

This leaves a slightly darker central area than you’ll find in bedrooms-at-the-rear tents, but you can open up both sides of this four-poled tunnel tent, using poles to make canopies, if the weather allows. It even comes with a groundsheet protector.

Find the Vango Tacoma 400 here, prices around £500 >

Outwell Vermont 7 Air

Sleeping up to seven people in a spacious, five-room tunnel, this large tent has three zones. There are three separate sleeping cabins at the back, a central living space and a large enclosed front porch that can be completely opened to form a sun canopy if the weather allows.

There are entrances at the front, side and rear, two having porches so you can remove muddy boots and keep the rain out, whichever direction it’s coming from.

Outwell’s Light System is built in and the bedrooms are Ambassador size, measuring 2.3m x 1.8m (three person) or 2.3m x 1.2m (two person), meaning you can get decent sized camping beds inside and still have room to move around. Be aware, however, the tent weighs more than 40kg, which is a lot to transport and pitch.

Find the Outwell Vermont 7 Air here, prices around £1,500 >

Quest Elite Signature Emperor bell tent

If you’re looking for traditional camping smell and feel, the Quest Emperor has it in spades. Made from 100% cotton, this sturdy tent has room for 12, though that would mean sleeping all together in one room. Add an inner tent or two and you gain some privacy, still with plenty of living space.

The cotton fabric needs a little more care than a polyester family tent, but should last a lot longer and will definitely capture attention on the campsite.

Find the Quest Emperor here, prices around £1,350 > 

Karsten Type 380

If you’re looking for the ultimate in flexibility and longevity, you’ll struggle to find better than a Karsten tent. Winner of the Best Premium Tent (£1,000+) category almost every year since the inception of our Owner Satisfaction Awards, the Dutch company has been making high-quality inflatable-tube tents since the 1980s.

The Type 380 is a dome tent measuring 3.8m x 3.8m that can be extended using any number of awnings, sleeping annexes or linked tents.

Karsten tents are not cheap, but if you look after them you can expect them to last several decades.

Find the Karsten Type 380 here, with prices from £3,000 > 

Quechua Arpenaz 6.3 Fresh & Black

This poled tunnel tent is well priced and spacious, though may be better for four than the maximum six.

The Fresh & Black of the title refers to the extra insulation you get from Decathlon’s patented fabric that reflects the sun’s rays and gives dark sleeping cabins at the back of the tent. Divided into three two-person sections, these darker bedrooms should mean the early morning sunlight is less likely to wake youngsters than inners in a traditional tent.

Find the Quechua Arpenaz 6.3 here, prices around £450 >

What to look for when buying a new family tent

Picking the best family tent for your camping adventure can seem overwhelming, but it’s worth taking time to choose the right one - it can make a big difference to the enjoyment of your trip. Here are our top three tips on purchasing the right family tent.

Is it spacious enough for your family?

Consider the number of people living inside, how long you’ll be staying and what you’ll do if the weather is poor. A very large tent with a spacious living area can be great if you have young children and need space for them to play on site if it rains during your holiday, but if you’re going away for a weekend with teenagers you may just need the tent for sleeping and a smaller unit will suffice.

Big tents may feel great, but remember you’ll need space to transport them, pitching can be a challenge and you’ll need to store them when you’re not camping as well.

Does it have the right features for your needs?

Whether it be a front awning as shelter from the sun, storage pockets or hanging rails, blackout bedrooms, a space to use as a washroom or a side porch to take off your boots when you return from a hike, the smallest details can make a big difference to your holiday. Research some of the tent’s features to see what might make it perfect for you.

How long will it last?

Cheaper tents may seem a good way to try out camping, but some of the things that bring the cost down may only become apparent when you’re on the campsite. Something as simple as having a seal at the bottom of a door can make the difference between water pooling in the groundsheet and keeping your feet dry when the rain drives against the door. In tents you generally get what you pay for, so a good way to try out camping is to buy a second-hand tent for your first trip, rather than getting a cheap new one that could disappoint.

This also gives you the chance to find out which features are important to you. If (or, we hope, when) you get the camping bug, you can always sell your pre-owned tent and buy a better-quality one to give you plenty of holidays where great family memories are made.

If you’re new to camping, check out our ‘Beginners Guide to Camping’ or discover more helpful camping tips here.