South West family camping kit: what actually works on Devon, Cornwall and Dorset trips
A South West campervan loadout doesn’t survive its first season intact. Dartmoor in October rain. The South Hams in a heatwave. The Jurassic Coast with a seven-year-old who wants to paddle every rock pool. Each trip teaches something, and the gear that earns its place rarely matches the gear that seemed essential in the driveway. Here’s what genuinely works after a few seasons on the road, and what quietly gets left at home.
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Real trips, real lessons: Devon, Cornwall and Dorset in a campervan
Dartmoor is where most South West campervan beginners learn their first hard lesson. Wild ponies wander past the van at dusk, children press their faces to the window, and somewhere around two in the morning the cold settles in. Pop-top roof, four people, a tired foam mattress: the maths doesn’t quite add up below ten degrees.
From there, the kit gets refined trip by trip. Higher Rew Farm near Salcombe pulls South Hams campers back season after season — pitches slope gently toward the sea, and the shower block runs warm enough to matter after a day on the water. Cornwall splits the difference: Polzeath for surf, Gwithian for dunes. Dorset draws families to Studland, where the bay stays shallow enough that small children can wade out confidently. The Jurassic Coast adds fossil hunting that can hold a child’s attention for an entire afternoon. Without a screen.
Family camping in the South West rewards the prepared. The weather doesn’t always cooperate.
Family camping kit: what actually works in a campervan
Space in a campervan is finite. Every item competes with every other, and the things that seem essential in the driveway often turn into dead weight by day three.
Sleeping arrangements matter most. A self-inflating mattress on the lower bunk, paired with lightweight sleeping bag liners for the kids up in the roof, is what turns cold nights manageable. Blackout blinds cut to fit specific window shapes are what keep children asleep past five-thirty in a Cornish midsummer.
Cooking kit should stay minimal. One good portable hob. A single deep pan that doubles as pasta pot and frying pan. A cool box that fits under the rear seat. That bulky portable BBQ that seemed essential in the driveway? Space of a folded chair, ash everywhere, lives in the garage by trip three.
Dry bags are the under-recognised hero of the South West campervan kit. One large roll-top handles wet wetsuits, sandy towels and damp waterproofs without contaminating everything else in the van. Most families who try one wish they’d bought it years earlier.
Water-side essentials: inflatables, safety and family fun
Paddling is central to most South West trips. River Dart Country Park near Ashburton is a near-perfect family launch: calm water, easy access, and enough distance to feel like an adventure without the genuine risk of open water.
For water like that, an inflatable kayak is hard to beat. Packed down, it fits in a bag that slides under a campervan bed. Inflated, it carries two adults or one adult and two children on sheltered water. Open sea and tidal estuary paddling need proper experience and the right kit, which is worth saying plainly. But for the creeks of the South Hams or a calm morning on a Dartmoor reservoir, the inflatable wins on roof-rack hassle alone.
Worth checking waterandoutdoors.com before a trip for inflatable sizing and buoyancy aid recommendations for children. Specific water-focused guidance for families is surprisingly thin on the ground online.
And a buoyancy aid for every child, every time, regardless of swimming ability. Always.
Favourite South West Spots for family camping and water adventures
Higher Rew Farm in the South Hams is one of those campsites families return to without giving much thought to alternatives. Trevella Park near Newquay suits Cornwall trips that need a pool and proper facilities alongside beach access. For Dorset, Knoll Beach at Studland sits close enough to the water that you can hear the sea from the pitch, and the National Trust facilities are clean and well-run.
Bantham Beach in Devon is worth the narrow lanes. Where the Avon meets the sea at low tide, a natural paddling pool forms that holds small children’s attention for hours. Along the Jurassic Coast, Durdle Door draws crowds, but early risers get something close to having the place to themselves.
Book early for July and August. Most South West campsites with good water access fill by February.
Packing smart for South West family camping
Strip the gear back further than feels comfortable. Then strip it back once more. Sleeping arrangements are non-negotiable: get those right and the rest is manageable. A dry bag costs little and earns its place every trip. An inflatable kayak, if water is part of the plan, opens up creeks and reservoirs that a rigid boat never could.
Devon, Cornwall and Dorset reward families who arrive prepared but not overloaded. The South West’s best moments happen when the van is parked, the kit is sorted, and someone is in the water or on the hill rather than rummaging through a boot full of things that probably weren’t needed.
That’s the only packing philosophy that actually holds up over a South West season.
