You are Adrian Mole all grown up, and I claim my five pounds!

We moved to Alberta (Cochrane) 16 months ago and were lucky enough to buy ourselves a trailer at the start of last summer. I know some people don't consider it "proper camping" but, hey, I like a few home comforts.

The majority of people camping do seem to have a trailer, motor home or trailer tent although you do still see a fair share of tents; just need to make sure you food is kept in bear proof containers!! We've got friends who camp with a tent and they love it.

So far we've only camped in Alberta and I've found the campsites great. Yes, they all vary with regard to facilities but all the ones we have been to have been in more remote places where you can enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. I would hate to go to a site with all the (as someone mentioned previously) Butlins like facilities. We usually go with friends and spend the evening sitting around the campfire with a few drinks and having a laugh. Kids love it too; we usually take their bikes and they enjoy doing their own exploring around the campsites.

I think many of the Alberta campsites are now taking bookings from March.

Roll on summer!

There's world class camping 20 minutes from me in south Calgary. The provincial park in Bragg Creek has about 8 campgrounds. Many campgrounds have decent washrooms, showers, electrical hookups, and even playgrounds for the kids.

I remember (tent) camping in England, Wales and Scotland and it was all about endurance and fortitude. Though my parents did buy a nice caravan after being washed out in Scotland.

For a young family in Alberta the best camping would be near a warm lake in Southern BC: Christina Lake springs to mind!

I went "Canada" camping for the first time ever last year. Granted we do have a small old trailer so its not really "tent" camping but it was so much fun.

We stayed at a place calle Police Outpost right near the Montana border, and about a half hour from Waterton.

We took the boat too and basically all we did was explore, fish and hang out round the fire at night.

There were no amenities at this campground other than toilets and it was the most fun holiday I have had

(apart from half the campsite was closed for the week because a grizzly kept coming into the family bit )

Isn't caravaning just as bad as camping?

You can also try http://www.discoveralberta.com/WheretoStay/Campgrounds/ and http://www.albertaparks.ca/

When you do get here you can go to the local tourism place and pick up a guide as well, we used to keep one in the RV. I think it's more important to book in advance for RV's and for long weekends.

Thank you I shall have a wee look at those.

Yes, but it's not "caravaning" here! LOL You call them trailers and they are much bigger and nicer than UK caravans. In the UK, you'd be stuck inside some tiny caravan all week while it poured with rain!! LOL Just had a flashback to childhood caravaning holidays in North Wales!! Like many, ours has a slide out which means, at the touch of a button, one side slides out to give you loads of room inside. If they were like that in the UK, you wouldn't mind spending the week inside one.

Yeah, I always hated UK caravaning - my idea of hell

We live on Vancouver Island and camp a lot in our tent with our kids and the dog! The provincial parks here are great.
Our faves are Rathtrevor and Gordon Bay. Then the camping up at Tofino and Pacific Rim comes under the National Parks reservations. It is basic but the best beaches and views.
A private site that gets booked up year to year is on Hornby Island and is
http://www.bradsdadsland.com/
The beaches on Hornby are flat, sandy and warm when you swim or skimboard.
The camping is very different from the UK, but I think I would rather have it this way!

excellent tips and links from all you wonderful people. Thanks!
I'm itching to go camping now. It sounds a lot like the kind of thing we did in South Africa. Can't wait to get to Canada - sounds like I'll never run out of places to camp. Yippee

Growing up in the UK, we were always under the impression that anybody who chooses to "live" in a tent or caravan were Gypsies.

Gypsies call their caravans trailers.

Oh dear, we call our's a trailer but we don't live in it; we just use it at weekends for trips to the mountains!!! LOL To be honest, our friends in the UK do joke about it and call us pikies!!!

When we went camping as children, the caravan was already at the holiday park. It was very nice, and it only ever rained occasionally. When it did, they had a big tv room where they put on videos or you could play on the indoor amusements. I see no virtue being uncomfortable while camping, especially if you have children with you, as they'll just moan.