Pros and cons of camping...

PROS

Cheap holidays A week’s camping can set you back less than a night or two in a decent hotel. A pitch for a tent is usually €10-€15 a night; even on the French Riviera, it’s normally €25-€30 a night. And good luck finding a hotel for only twice that down there!

Adventure Scotland and some parts of Europe allow wild camping: just pitch your tent in a wilderness area and don’t make a mess. No cost, no formality, just real adventure…

Flexibility Hotels get full. Even busy campsites can normally make room for a friendly biker with a small tent. In some places, there may be no hotels but there’s probably a farmer who’ll rent you a corner of a field.

Close to nature It’s you, your tent and your bike, surrounded by fresh air, wonderful views and birdsong in the morning.

CONS

Set-up cost Getting everything you need from scratch can be more expensive than a weekend in B&BS. And if you use it once, then decide you hate it. Oh...

Rain When you’re shivering under canvas and can’t get your kit dry, camping starts to look a lot less fun. And packing away a sodden tent in a high wind is like wrestling with a pissed-off octopus.

What about my lie-in? As soon as the sun rises, your tent fills with light. And will someone shut those bloody birds up? Never mind the cockerel, you’ll never get back to sleep if the donkey starts braying.

Too close to nature Midges: little biting, itchy, maddening bastards like a biblical plague on campers. And ants aren’t much better. As for getting up in the middle of the night for a discrete wee… ever stepped on a slug in bare feet?