Camping Travel Store Blog

One of our favorite sites, Town Farm Camping in Ivinghoe has rentable Karsten 350 tents for you to hire for your stay.  Located at the base of the Ivinghoe beacon, this site is fabulous for families with good facilities and a lovely play area; not to mention it's proximity to Whipsnade Zoo  and lovely walks to the local village and pubs! The nearest train line is a few miles away in Tring, so the City of London is easily accessible. The views from the site are spectacular so if you want to try a Karsten tent before you buy, why not book a stay with them. For more information on our Karsten Air Tent Range please visit www.campingtravelstore.co.uk

We've done it!!! We've taken the plunge and moved into our own new premises just south of Cambridge. We are located at Phillimore Garden Centre in Melbourn, where we used to do our displays and have taken over the Cross Camping and Leisure shop and display area.  We have a selection of tents up inside for you to view all year, plus a rotating selection of tents outdoors; we are also displaying a selection of our emergency tents and Safari Tents. Our fully stocked shop offers lots of camping accessories for an enjoyable stay on any campsite! We look forward to welcoming you to our new showroom in the near future. Showroom address Phillimore Garden Centre | Cambridge Road | Melbourn Hertfordshire | SG8 6EY Telephone 01763 273662 Link to Map

Other than Karsten, there is one other manufacturer that epitomises the Dutch Tents... De Waard. We are proud to announce that we will be adding the De Waard tents to our display collection of Dutch Tents at our next display in June , firmly establishing that with Karsten, ESVO & De Waard we really are the Dutch Tent specialists! De Waard's origins date back to 1948. Machiel de Waard, who was a sailmaker for the Royal Netherlands Navy, designed the first tent at the Lepelaar campsite: the Albatros # 1.  In the need for a tent that never topples over, he started drawing on the back of an envelope.  The tent was designed in such a way that it could withstand strong gusts of wind and offered a nice home for a family. Now, 70 years later, the Albatross still exists.  Over the years, the tent continued to adapt to changing needs.  Albatros # 4 was introduced in 2015.  A tent with all the features as the original but adapted in size and function...

Kickstarting the 2019 Season We've been a bit lapse with the upkeep of this blog over the past year and it was a very challenging year following the devastating fire that destroyed the Karsten factory and store, but as you would expect, like a phoenix they have risen from the ashes stronger and more formidable than ever! I will backtrack and fill in some post from our camping adventures throughout 2018 but thought we'd do a very quick catch up with what's been happening so far in 2019. Well, we're two shows into the season already with the first one being a very cold (not to mention windy) one in early February. This was the display where we were able to show off the Combi-Awning connector for the first time! We had been in discussions with Karsten about making one since November the previous year, and now it was on display. So to say that it turns heads is an understatement. Connecting directly to the tent we thought it looked the business and no poles invo...

I'm very lucky with our Cambridge Tent Displays that the field we use is East facing. This gives me the opportunity to get up early and view the rising sun. The added bonus of the large unobstructed skies just adds to the experience. Here are a couple of photos from the last couple of days, and what a difference some passing cloud makes! For more information on our Tent or Touring Displays please see  www.campingtravelstore.co.uk

I know that i'm totally biased but the Karsten Tents look just as lovely, day or night!

We're all set up for our weekend display at Phillimore Garden Centre, just south of Cambridge. We have a mixture of tents on display including: Karsten 350 complete with awnings and sleeping extension (Air) Karsten 300 & 260 link tent with awnings (Air) Karsten 240 Carp Bivvy with awnings (Air) Karsten Opera 2400 Tunnel Tent (Poled) Karsten Glamping Luxe - A permanently pitch tent for the Glamping / Rental Market (Air) ESVO Bedouin 300 Pyramid Tent (Poled) The garden centre also has a cafe for refreshments and there is a pub serving great food a 10-minute walk from the display! All information can be found on our website www.campingtravelstore.co.uk or FaceBook page @ campingtravelstore Alternatively, if you've got any questions that we can help with, please just call James or Suzie on 01763 273662