So you want to visit another city and are looking to save some money? When it comes to taking a vacation away from home the greatest expense that we will incur (other than a plane flight) depending on the length of stay will be the lodging costs. Hotels are infamous for being money holes, where with each passing day you are watching as your vacation savings disappear. Many people would be willing to give up a few luxuries and have more money to spend on food, fun, and travel.
If you are looking to save money on these costs, invariably you will be looking for a budget hotel. While these hotels do deliver on the necessities, the stay experience can sometimes fall short. This is particularly the case when at the close of your trip you assess how much of your vacation money was spent staying in these places. You may at that point wonder, is there a way to cut my lodging costs?
When you really think about it, what you are really needing is a place to sleep for the night and wash up. These two things can easily be achieved for a lot less through camping. You may wonder is camping really that much cheaper? The answer to that question is it depends.
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RV VS HOTEL
The first thing to consider when camping is will you be camping with a tent, or something else. If you are camping in an RV, your costs will increase significantly. At campsites, RV sites are always more pricey than tent sites. Many RV owners in addition to being able to park their trailer for the night also may need an electrical hook up, as well as a place to connect to a water supply. This will also add additional fees. Where the real cost is however is in ownership. Owning, maintaining, and towing/driving an RV is where you must pay for additional comfort and convenience.
If you are using an RV regularly than it may be worth considering since over time an RV will save you money over needing to room in a hotel overnight. However, if your traveling is less frequent than a tent is the clear winner.
How Much Does Tent Camping Cost?
There are various versions of tents that one can purchase with differing levels of comfort and expense. The most basic is a simple tent. Tents can be pitched anywhere in a campground, they take up very little room, and they have no additional hook up requirements. Is it cheaper to tent camp than stay in a hotel? For these reasons, a tent site is by far the cheapest. You can easily stay in a paid campground for as little as 15-40 dollars per night. This is dependent on where the campground is located, what the demand is, and what additional amenities are being offered. Still even at 40 dollars you are going to save a considerable amount of money throughout your trip.
There are some start-up costs for tent camping to consider. You will, of course, need a tent. A tent can be purchased for as little as 50 dollars and can be in the thousands of dollars for an expedition level tent. You will also need to purchase your food during your stay, however, this would be the case regardless of whether you are in a hotel or campground. You will need to purchase sleeping bags, thermal rest, cooking utensils, lighters, flashlights, and some other odds and ends. However the beauty of camping is once your set up than camping does not require many new purchases from year to year.
There are other ways to increase the level of comfort for tent camping. You can purchase a tent that is large enough to stand up in. While these tents are not ideal for backpacking due to weight, if you are simply car camping being able to stand up in them to change, set up a small table inside with chairs, or other improvements can make a big difference with regards to one’s comfort level.
There are tent trailer alternatives that can be towed behind a vehicle. These tents tend to be roomier with the additional advantage of being able to sleep off the ground. These trailers generally have a higher sleeping area and a lower sitting area. While requiring to be towed can drive up gas costs, the weight of the trailer is minimal.
The ultimate in comfort and safety are rooftop tents. These are becoming more and more popular. The advantage of these tents is that they can be quickly set up, you are sleeping off the ground so they generally feel safer and they are quite comfortable. These tents though can be quite pricey. In some campgrounds they offer a more private tenting area separate from the RV campers. Sometimes this area proves to be more private and wooded and the campsites can be cheaper. Having a rooftop tent would of course limit you to the RV area and would not give you the flexibility of movement away from a vehicle that a normal tent provides. However for strictly car camping if you are willing to pay out initially, these tents can be a good investment, still coming in cheaper than an RV.
How To Camp Near A City Centre
For the hardcore backcountry camper, finding great places to pitch a tent are numerous. However as you move closer and closer to a city center finding places to camp becomes harder to find. However, within a 30 minute to 1-hour drive of a major city there are usually campgrounds to be found. Prices can be affected by supply and demand, location placement and busyness. In most cases, you will be saving considerably more per night staying in a campground than in a hotel.
It is important during the busy season to call in advance and try to reserve a campsite. Some campgrounds may have a policy of only allowing a percentage of campsites to be reserved allowing for a few to be open on a first-come basis.
For the campgrounds that are closest to the city, if you can find a campground that is not crowded and offers some wooded areas with more privacy, these campgrounds are jewels to be found. Most private campgrounds that are close to city centers tend to be quite crowded, the lots offering little privacy.
If you are tenting it a good idea to check and see if they offer sites for tents only. These areas at times require a short hike from the car, however, they can be a little more private. Provincial (state) or National campgrounds tend to have more land to develop a campground on as compared to a private owner. They also tend to space the campsites out better and offer more in the way of privacy. If you can find one of these campgrounds closer to the city center, these are usually a good value and should be checked out first.
Google Maps is a great tool for finding campgrounds. Simply type in camping near the city you are looking to visit. A vast amount of campsites will pop up on the map. You can sort them according to what their star rating is. Look at the posted pictures to get a feel for the campground. Are the sites well spaced? Is there a tree cover? Do the buildings look well maintained? A campground that has an average star rating above 4.0 is probably a good starting point since no campground is going to get 100%, happy customers. This is camping after all.
It is important not to set your expectations too high for these types of camping experiences. Keep in mind the main goal of why you are camping. You are camping in these campgrounds to save a lot of money, not for the wilderness or comfort experience.
When you find yourself close to noisy neighbors or the lack of privacy, or not having your private bathroom, keep in mind that you are saving throughout your trip possibly hundreds of dollars that can be spent on things that you like doing. If you can stay in a campground that does offer a great wilderness experience, really nice bathrooms and just a generally nice atmosphere, celebrate this since your getting the best of both worlds.
It is important to either pack enough clothes for the entire trip if its short, or pack light. The most ideal in my opinion is to pack as bare-bones as possible and visit the laundromat often. For guys, packing some cotton undershirts that you can change out frequently can help you possibly stretch your shirts a little longer between washes. Always check the weather forecast since if they are calling for rain the entire time you may want to come even more prepared for rain than usual. If they are calling for some colder temperatures than you can pack accordingly. The weatherman is not 100% accurate as we know, however, the weather forecast can help us make an informed decision as to what conditions will be like.
What Food Do I Eat?
If you are traveling on a budget, purchasing food at a supermarket and cooking it back at the campground is the most cost-effective. Some people live for being able to cook while camping. Being able to cook your favorite camping foods over a fire is the best. Nothing tastes better than eating food while camping.
We like the hybrid approach to cooking. The money that we save not staying at a hotel can be spent eating out. For us this is a much better value. You can also prepare a quick breakfast before you get started. What we do that works well is buy oatmeal and add a bag of instant oatmeal to the mix to sweeten it up and add taste. We find if you just buy instant oatmeal, its too sugary and it doesn’t carry you as far as regular oats. You can also add various nuts to the oatmeal to make it carry you even further.
If we are visiting a city we will eat a big lunch while we are out and about. We usually purchase freeze dried prepared meals for our dinner. You can also purchase an instant mash potato mix as well. We don’t eat milk however if you add just a little oil, spices and cook the mix in water instead of milk it still tastes pretty good.
Depending on which freeze-dried brand you buy they can taste pretty good actually. The nice thing about the freeze-dried, is it doesn’t take up much space, is lightweight, and very quick to prepare. Cleanup time is minimal. This is a bonus if you are camping.
If you have your basic food structure than you can always purchase other items that you want, to add to the fun. This food strategy can be pretty economic and practical and allows time to enjoy your vacation.
So in conclusion, is it cheaper to stay in a hotel or to Camp? Tent camping is always the most economical choice. While staying in a hotel may have its perks, tent camping provides you with the most value. Rather than blow most of your budget while your sleeping you can have more money in your pocket to do the activities you enjoy and will remember for years to come.