Campsite Star Ratings and Quality Labels: What They Actually Mean
Campsite stars measure facilities and pitch size, not welcome. How French classification, quality labels and reviews each answer a different question.
Camping guides and checklists
This section gathers the guides that cut across everything: the ones that are not about a single type of equipment but about preparing a trip as a whole.
A checklist does two jobs. Before you leave, it prevents the omission that costs you an evening — the gas canister, the head torch, the mallet. After you get back, read cold, it tells you what never came out of the boot, and therefore what you can leave at home next time.
The lists published here are organised by area — shelter, sleeping, cooking, hygiene, safety, documents — rather than by importance. That is the most efficient arrangement when loading the car, because it matches how the kit is stored.
For the equipment itself, each thematic section goes into detail: tents, sleeping, cooking, furniture, hiking and bivouac and motorhome and caravan.
Guides in this category
How Do You Choose a Campsite?
Location and the kind of stay you want decide most of the outcome — not the star rating or the facilities list. What to check before you book.
How to pack the car properly for a camping trip
Packing a car for camping is a weight problem: how to distribute the load, respect your payload limit, and pack in the right order.
Repairing Camping Gear in the Field and at Home
A zip, a torn fabric, a snapped pole, a leaking mattress: four faults cover almost everything, and a small repair kit fixes them all.
Where Did Camping Come From, and Why Did It Take Hold in France?
Camping began in England with a cyclist; it took hold in France through clubs, the 1936 paid holidays, and the arrival of the car.
What Glamping Actually Is
Glamping means a fixed, furnished structure on a campsite, not a comfier tent. What it usually includes, and what you still need to pack.
What Goes Wrong When Camping, and How to Prevent It
A tent that won't pitch, rain that gets in, a cold night, a noisy neighbour: the six classic camping problems, and how to prevent each one before you leave.
Winter camping and extreme cold: what changes
Below freezing, it isn't the sleeping bag that decides the night: ground insulation, gas, condensation, clothing and water all behave differently.
Family camping: the essential gear list
Camping with children: which tent, which sleep system and what gear to plan for. Storage, safety, laundry and organising the pitch.
What gear do you need for camping?
The gear you genuinely need for a first camping trip: shelter, sleeping, cooking, light. What to buy, what to rent and what can wait.
Camping gear checklist: the complete list
The complete camping gear checklist, area by area: shelter, sleeping, cooking, furniture, hygiene, clothing, safety and documents.