Camping Travel Store Blog

New UK Dealers for Karsten Tents! Following our 2nd visit to Karsten in September, where we were offered us the opportunity to distribute the Human Comfort Range of Camping Equipment & Accessories as stocked in the Karsten Travel Store, they have also asked myself and Suzie to become their NEW UK DEALERS for KARSTEN TENTS ..........WOW - Watch this space or the Club website /forum for more details....

16 Blissful days off - Touring under Canvas Dover to Calais and one and a half hours later we pulled into our first campsite on a working farm a few kilometres from Sluis on the Belgium/Holland Boarder. Fantastic location, and the camping field was great (12 Pitches) and all the toys available, trampolines, ride on tractors, play equipment and a sandpit. As this was a working farm, there were all the animals to be seen as well as heard. The only thing that let this site down was the toilet facilities - very basic! This aside, we were only a short drive from Brugees with all the architectural trapping of the magnificent city that it is and Sluis which was only a short cycle away had the canals, bistro's and bars of a busy small market town. After 4 days exploring this area, we ventured up further north to near Katwijk. We stayed at a more commercial site (Ko ningshof) that hosted an indoor and outdoor pool, bar/restaurant and supermarket. We are only short drive away from the beach...

Mablethorpe – 28th August for 4 Days A blustery start to our stay at Mablethorpe CCC site – Thankfully we were in our Karsten. A great little site in the shadows of the nearby wind farm; but only a 15 minute walk from a magnificent beach with all the tourist trappings of a Victorian Seaside. We played on the sand, and the children loved all the amusements and the fish and chips from the shop at the end of the campsite road were fantastic. Having said this, we found it very difficult to find a reasonable restaurant to eat in actually in Mablethorpe. We had a trip out to Lincoln one day as it was only a 40 minute drive away. Stunning medieval streets, possibly the steepest I’ve climbed in the UK to the cathedral at the top. If we ever stay at this site again, I would opt for the tent field without electricity, as I hate being in the middle of caravans with their TV’s on!

Following our trip to the Karsten Factory - we finally managed to get out in the garden and erect one of the new Human Comfort Tents. It a 2 man cotton tent with cotton bedroom 2 exits and 3 poles. Went up in about 5 minutes and I must say it was very toastie! Spent the night in it with our 3 year old daughter, sleeping on the new Human Comfort Self Inflating matresses. Not only are these matresses about 8cm deep, they also come with the option of a foam topper, all held in place by a machine washable cover. The testing station at the Karsten travel store is a bed of rock - I'm not exactly light and I could not feel the rock under me. Probably the best nights sleep on a camping matress that I have ever had.....Our daughter slept all the way through. So far both thumbs up to this new range!!!

Visit to Karsten Factory – 30th July - 3 Days We were invited by Karsten to their factory in Zwaag, Holland as a thank you for starting the Karsten Tent Club. We decided to drive, catching the ferry Dover to Dunkirk and proceeded on the 3 ½ drive to Northern Holland – Arriving in Zwaag at the Hart B&B , close to midnight we were met by Danny Hazewindus from Karsten. The next day, having hired bikes from the B&B to ride the 10 minutes to Hoorn, the neighboring town, we were impressed by how stunning this town was. Beautiful harbour, lots of canals and a busy feel to the modern high street. Having met Danny for lunch, we made our way to the Karsten Travel Store , where we stunned by just how big this camping ‘shop’ was. Having toured the shop and the Karsten Factory – we then were shown the Karsten Tent Display – Simply Fantastic to see them in all their glory – colours, sizes and different combination. In the late afternoon we were introduced to Mr. Karsten himself, who took us ...

Morton near Weymouth – 26th June for 10 Days The CCC site at Morton in Dorset was to be our camp for a fabulous 10 days of full on sunshine. Having booked to avoid the Summer Holidays, I was amazed' just how busy this site was, but bearing in mind that Swanage and Weymouth are only a short drive away (approx. 20 minutes) it was not surprising that this was a popular site for tourers. The site lived up to the CCC reputation for efficiency and cleanliness, and with the railway station on the doorstep, well, just down from the pub made travelling very easy. Moreton Church is worth a visit just to see the etched glass windows; as too is the grave of Lawrence of Ariba, all nearby the site – and don’t forget to stop by the tea shop – fantastic cakes! Just down from the church is a large ford which was perfect for the children to paddle in trying to catch the minnows with their nets.

We had the pleasure of joining the Oxmow Camping Group at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough over the past weekend (19th June), to endulge in a bit of camping and sailing etc. What a fantastic location , on the edge of a large lake, in the middle of the Nene Valley Park, where the Steam Locomotives could be heard and seen on the other side of the waters edge. There are plenty of bike and walking paths in the area, and it is also very close to the Peterborough Show Ground where the East of England Show was being hosted while we were there. The field we were in only had a water supply, with a toilet block (key supplied) about 100 yards away near the boating marina, which houses the showers. There was also an undercover area, where you could BBQ. Booking for this field is a year in advance.

All was planned for the 1st Karsten Tent Camping Weekend, alas the weather. All week I had been watching the weather channels, surfing the web to find the latest and in the end, those who had booked cancelled as the weather appeared to be horrendous. We got there, setup by 5pm on Friday and enjoyed good weather until Sunday Morning when later the heavens open around 4am. By 9am the Sun was out and the Tent went away dry. Hopefully when I try and get everyone together again, the weather forecast will be kinder to tempt out the Karsten Campers!!!

We ventured to West Runton CCC site for the last Bank Holiday in May - Glorious Weather awaited us, and it didn't diasappoint. We had a perfect pitch, up until the throws of Bank Holiday Campers turned up - not that there is a problem, hey it's going to be busy anywhere and we're one of them, but I seriously could not believe how tightly we were packed onto this well run site. By Friday night, it was bursting at the seams. The 6 metre rule still appllied, but everyone was on their boundary's, with the gaps between the tents/units being roadways. We could not even sit out the front to enjoy the caravans trying to manovure in between us to get to and from their pitch. In the end, some of them had to unhook and push it was that tight. Anyway regardless of this we had a wonderful time. The highlight being Wiverton Hall . Here was a pick your own farm, with a fantastic rustic restaurant/cafe, set in the unassuming grounds of a 17th Century Jacobean Manor House. The food (co...

Wembury is a small village in an area of outstanding beauty on the SouthWest Coast of Devon. We camped at the Pilgrims Rest site on the outskirts of the village to attend a friends wedding in August last year. The campsite was adequate and basic, but extremely quite and friendly - Perfect! The church situated high above the beach stands prominent and always seems to catch the last rays of the sun at sunset; the perfect setting for a ceremony, equalled by a wonderful reception at Langdon Court Country House . The City of Pltmouth is only six miles away, so you are not too far from the Commercial trappings.

Last year was wonderful, a full 52 nights under canvas – pure heaven. Sites included, West Runton , Sandringham , Hertford, Verwood , St. Neots , Plymouth (I will post more information of where we stayed in Plymouth), and culminating in August, visiting North Devon; and in particular Damage Barton CCC Site near Woolacombe Bay. What a great site! Busy as you would expect, but very well run. The view from the hill top over the sea was stunning, and it was not until we arrived home and looked on the site via Google Maps that we realised just how high up we were and how much land lay between the site and the sea. Being so high up, also had its downside….apart from the atrocious weather we experienced, the prevailing wind was very blustery, and on a couple of nights exceptionally windy. So much so people were packing up and the Kyham behind us snapped some poles. As faithful as ever, our Karsten Tent stood proud and drew lots of attention, even more so when people realised it was inflat...

First let me introduce myself as James King, from Buntingford Hertfordshire. I am a happily married family man with two children, who up until four years ago had never heard of Karsten Tents, despite camping for the previous 5 years. However, after a wet and windy stay at the West Runton CC Club, we happen to wander into Caravan & Camping , totally bedraggled, got introduced to Mark Saville, who basically changed our whole ‘outlook’ on camping. We were introduced to a Karsten 300—wow. We were so impressed that after a lot of saving and waiting for one to be listed on e-bay that we end up here. Proud owners of a 300 and have started an ‘appreciation society’, or rather the Karsten Tent Club to inform others. The formation of this club, happened rather quickly, and after purchasing the web site, found that Mark from Camping Direct and also Karsten themselves, were very willing to help establish the club. Hence we are able to use Karsten’s Advertising Photographs and their Logo’s. Th...