Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2016 Highlights

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This is the first time we’ve managed to get down to the NEC for the Caravan, Camping & Motorohome show, and we weren’t disappointed. Read on to see some of our highlights from the 2016 show.

NEC Camping Show 2016

Occupying a colossal 5 halls of the NEC, it’s a dream day out for anyone who is remotely interested in camping or caravanning. We thoroughly enjoyed our day out, and found a never ending number of things to drool over.

Ready Camp

Fabulous Ready Camp safari tent holidays

The glamping village was lovely, featuring tents from our friends at FieldCandy and Ready Camp, as well as Lotus Belle Tents and impressive ensuite glamping pods from Wigwam Holidays.

Lotus Bell

Outside the 5m Lotus Belle

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Inside the 5m Lotus Bell

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The round windows in the Lotus Belle

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Ensuite Glamping Pod from Wigwam Holidays

There was an excellent range of tents on display from well known manufacturers like Vango, Outwell, Coleman and Kampa.

Kampa Hayling 4

Inside the Kampa Hayling 4 Air

Outwell Montana 6SA

The 2016 award winning Outwell Montana 6SA

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There were also a great selection of tents from PJ Outdoors from brands I’d not come across before, including Zempire, Westfield Outdoors and Outdoor Revolution.

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The Impressive Zempire Aerodome tent

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Inside the Zempire Aerodome

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Internal structure of the Zempire Aerodome

Zempire Tent

We liked the Zempire range of tents a lot

The majority of tents we looked at were air beam style tents as the trend for inflatable tents continues; and there were quite a few polycotton tents on display too, like this Outwell Harrier 6 SATC.

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The new Polycotton Outwell Harrier 6 Smart Air

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External features of the Outwell Harrier 6

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Sturdy inflatable beam structure

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Polycotton tents like this are increasing in popularity

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Internal design features

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Two new Outwell Smart Air Polycotton tents, the Harrier 6 is on the right

The sheer variety of caravans and motorhomes on show was impressive, and since last staying in a trailer tent in the early 90’s, it was fantastic to see just how far they have come in terms of design and comfort.

Holtkamper Tent Trailers

Holtkamper Tent Trailer

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The Mini Silver 290 Micro Caravan
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Inside the Mini Silver 290

Mini Silver 290

It was a great day out, with loads to do for all the family; we particularly liked the acorn shy and the incredible world record breaking, Lego caravan built for last years’ Motorohome & Caravan Show.

VW Campervan Hire

Gorgeous retro VW Campervans for hire

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There were show only offers to be had, particularly on the tents and camping accessories we looked at, and I had to drag myself away before buying yet more camping gear.

Camping accessories on show

Colman camping lantern

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Coleman Bungee camp chairs

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Deluxe Kampa kitchen unit

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Coleman Kickback Camp Chair

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Gorgeous Bamboo topped camp table from Outwell

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Outwell hanging tent light

We loved the quirky design of the Coleman Fastpitch Air Valdes 4, which features something we’ve not seen in a tent before; an actual opening door. We particularly liked the introduction by some tent manufacturers (including Coleman), of extreme black-out sleeping areas.

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Blackout bedrooms inside some new Coleman tents

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New Coleman FastPitch Air Valdez 4 tent

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The tents on show, were mainly medium to large tents, aimed at family buyers and weekend campers wanting space. I’ve been to tent shows before, and have never seen such a big variety.

If you are planning to buy your first family tent or wanting to upgrade, the show is a great place to see loads of model in once place. Likewise, though we’ve not featured many, for caravan and motorhome buyers, the show offers the opportunity to see an exceptional range.

Shell Robshaw-Bryan
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