Roof tent or ground tent?
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The short answer
A roof tent keeps your bed on the car: it needs roof bars and a roof that can take the load, and you pack it up whenever you drive. A ground tent stays on the pitch while the car comes and goes, but it needs space in the boot and a pitch that takes tents. Which suits you depends on how often you move.
Both kinds of tent come in many designs, so the points below are about how each one works rather than how comfortable or quick a particular model is. For the two main kinds of roof tent, see hardshell vs softshell roof tents. If you're also weighing up a roof box and sleeping in the car, see roof box, roof tent or boot camping.
Driving away from camp
This is the biggest practical difference. The Camping and Caravanning Club lists it as a drawback of roof tents: you have to pack up each time you want to use the vehicle. Camping and Caravanning Club: roof tents buyers guide.
- Roof tent: to go shopping or on a day trip, you close the tent, stow the ladder and do your travel checks. Anything left on the pitch has to be something the campsite allows. Our guide to using the car during your stay covers this.
- Ground tent: it stays pitched, so you can drive off and come back to your camp as you left it, subject to the site's rules.
If you plan to stay at one site and explore by car each day, count how many times you'd pack the roof tent away. If you move on most days, you'd be packing up either tent anyway.
Access during the night
A roof tent is reached by a ladder. The Camping and Caravanning Club mentions needing a ladder as a drawback, especially with a dog. Think about toilet trips in the dark, wet rungs, and anyone in the group who finds ladders awkward. Check where the ladder sits on your exact model and keep a torch in reach.
A ground tent opens at ground level, so getting in and out doesn't involve climbing. You do sleep on the ground, so the pitch's surface and slope matter more.
Wet-weather packing
Both kinds of tent get wet, and both should be dried before they're stored. GO Outdoors says storing a tent wet can damage the fabric, coating and seams and lead to mildew and mould. GO Outdoors: tent care.
- Roof tent: the wet tent closes on the roof rather than going in the car. TentBox says it's better to let the tent dry completely before packing it away, but the weather won't always allow this, and that with some models, such as its Classic, bedding can stay inside when it's closed. TentBox FAQs. Follow your own maker's wet-storage instructions.
- Ground tent: the wet flysheet, poles and pegs go in the car with everything else, so pack a bag or box to keep them away from dry kit.
The Club also says you're more exposed in a roof tent and may need to strike camp if very strong winds are forecast. Our rainy weekend routine goes through a wet trip step by step.
Campsite pitch requirements
A roof tent needs a pitch you can drive onto, because the car is the tent. The Caravan and Motorhome Club says roof tents are welcome at all its UK Club campsites, on hardstanding and grass touring pitches, booked with the Touring option. Tailgate and hitch tents are welcome too. Caravan and Motorhome Club: roof tents. Its FAQs say roof tent camping isn't currently permitted at its Certificated Locations. Caravan and Motorhome Club: roof tent FAQs.
A ground tent can use a tent pitch, but the car still needs somewhere to go. The Camping and Caravanning Club lists standard pitches of 8m x 5m as suitable for a standard-sized tent, caravan or motorhome, with jumbo pitches for units over 5m x 9m. Camping and Caravanning Club: pitch types. Measure your car with the tent open, or your tent's footprint plus the car, and ask the site which pitch to book.
Storage between trips
- Roof tent: it needs roof bars and a roof that can take its weight. TentBox says its tents mount on cross bars, that you should check your vehicle's roof load limit, and that you'll need an extra pair of hands to lift one on. TentBox: installation guide. The Camping and Caravanning Club points out that there's a dynamic limit for the road and a static limit for when people are in the tent on site, and says to check your handbook. TentBox says a roof tent can be left on the car all year, though some people take theirs off for winter. Off the car, it needs a dry, protected place big enough for it, and helpers to lift it. Our guide to leaving a roof tent on the car covers both choices.
- Ground tent: it packs into a bag that lives in a cupboard, loft or garage, and needs no bars. GO Outdoors says to store it completely dry, in a cool, dry area, flat, with nothing heavy on top.
Total cost
A roof tent's cost usually includes compatible roof bars, any mounting kit and fitting, as well as the tent. A ground tent's cost is mostly the tent and its pitching kit. Prices differ by model, so check the current price of each option, including bars, before you compare. If you're not sure you'll use a roof tent often, hire or buy a roof tent sets out the questions to ask first.
Who each option is likely to suit
A roof tent is more likely to suit you if:
- you move to a new place most days, or stay away from home for single nights;
- your car and bars can take the tent's weight on the road and in use;
- you have help to fit it and somewhere to store it, or you're happy to leave it on;
- everyone using it is comfortable with a ladder.
A ground tent is more likely to suit you if:
- you stay at one base and use the car every day;
- you want camp to stay put while you're out;
- your car can't take a roof load, or you'd rather not fit bars;
- you have space in the boot for a wet tent on the way home.
You can also pair a roof tent with a separate tent or shelter on the pitch, but check the campsite's rules first. The Caravan and Motorhome Club's site rules allow an extra tent for sleeping or storage within the pitch area, provided the main outfit is occupied. Caravan and Motorhome Club: UK Club campsite rules.
Check your roof first
Before you spend money on a roof tent, add up the tent, bars and anything else on the roof against your car's limits. Check your roof-load figures, then confirm compatibility with the vehicle, bar and tent makers.
More in Roof tents
Sources
- Camping and Caravanning Club roof tent buyers guide: a drawback is packing up each time you want to use your vehicle; needing a ladder; static load limit on site with people inside and dynamic limit on the road, check the handbook; whether you can set it up alone; the initial lift can need several strong people; more exposed in a roof tent, may need to strike camp in very strong winds (checked )
- Caravan and Motorhome Club: roof tents welcome at all UK Club campsites on hardstanding and grass touring pitches; book via the Touring option; tailgate and hitch tents also welcome (checked )
- Caravan and Motorhome Club FAQs: roof tent camping not permitted at Certificated Locations at present (checked )
- Caravan and Motorhome Club site rules: 6a, an extra tent for sleeping or storage may be put up within the pitch area provided the main outfit is occupied (checked )
- Camping and Caravanning Club: standard grass and hardstanding pitches measure 8m x 5m and suit a standard-sized tent, caravan or motorhome; jumbo pitches for units over 5m x 9m (checked )
- TentBox: mounts on cross bars; check your vehicle roof load limit; you need an extra pair of hands to lift it onto the bars (checked )
- TentBox: with some models, such as the Classic, bedding can stay inside when closed; better to let it dry completely before packing away, but weather may not allow; can be left on the car all year, some people take it off for winter and store it; store in a dry, protected place when not in use (checked )
- GO Outdoors, read in browser: storing a tent wet can damage fabric, coating and seams and lead to mildew and mould; dry poles and pegs; store completely dry in a cool, dry area, flat, nothing heavy on top (checked )