The Best Family Tents in Australia 2022

Finding the right tent to fit the whole family is no easy task. But family camping trips are where the best memories are made, so it’s worth choosing wisely. You’d rather look back and laugh at the stories told around the campfire than have to remember that time the tent leaked overnight and you had to pack up and go home.

With this in mind, we’ve reviewed the best family tents in Australia, from Darche, Outdoor Connection, OZtrail, Coleman, Wanderer, BlackWolf and Zempire. From inflatable and instant tents to reliable dome tents, with one of these in your camping kit, you’ll have no hesitation to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.

The best family tents should be spacious, light, and easy to set up and pack down. But there’s also a heap of features to look for in a good family tent, including durability, ventilation and multiple access points. To help you choose the right tent for your camping trips, we’ve put together a Buyers’ Guide along with reviews of the top family tents on the market in 2022.

Outdoor Connection Aria Elite 2

Outdoor Connection Aria Elite 2

Specifications

• Type: Inflatable
• Capacity: 8
• Floor space: 300 x 500cm
• Height: 205cm
• Weight: 31.1kg
• Packed size: 81 x 38 x 38cm

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Outdoor Connection’s Aria Elite 2 is a two-room inflatable tent that is lightweight and quick to set up. It is designed by Aussie campers to be a simple, spacious home-away-from-home for the whole family. It also has a five-year warranty to give you peace of mind.

The selling point of this tent is, rightfully, the ease with which you can set it up. Thanks to the Air Poles, the tent can be erected in around 10 minutes. It comes with an outer fly that needs to be attached for your first use. From then on it can stay attached, so it’s one less step required each time you erect the tent. It also comes with a three-pole awning and the option to purchase side walls, if you want even more enclosed space.

The Aria Elite 2 has near-vertical walls giving you great internal space. The two rooms are separated by a sewn-in divider and the back room has an additional detachable hanging room divider. This makes the tent more versatile for the family and can be a good option for older kids who want their own space.

OZtrail Fast Frame BlockOut

OZtrail Fast Frame BlockOut

Specifications

• Type: Instant
• Capacity: 10
• Floor space: 600 x 220cm
• Height: 200cm
• Weight: 33kg
• Packed size: 116 x 34 x 34cm

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OZtrail’s Fast Frame BlockOut is a three-room tent that is durable, heat resistant and dark inside – all for a reasonable price. Our favourite part – the BlockOut coating on the fly will keep the inside temperature cooler in summer and allow the whole family to sleep-in.

In addition to the BlockOut coating, this family tent by OZtrail has Fast Frame technology to make set up and pack down easy. While its capacity is for 10 people, we think this tent would sleep up to six people comfortably, with room for gear as well.

It has a tough Polyoxford floor that will handle any ground surface – and anything the kids throw at it. As a bonus, the three-hub frame system gives equal headspace in each of the three rooms. Plus, there is plenty of ventilation and a full side awning with removable wind breaks.

Wanderer Nightfall Dome

Wanderer Nightfall Dome

Specifications

• Type: Dome
• Capacity: 10
• Floor space: 610 x 250cm
• Height: 210cm
• Weight: 16.5kg
• Packed size: Not specified

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For a budget family tent that doesn’t compromise on floor space, we like Wanderer’s Nightfall Dome. The three-room tent has blacked-out bedrooms, plus the second largest floor space of the tents we’ve reviewed – and yet it only weighs roughly half as much.

The Nightfall Dome is designed with two bedrooms and a living space in-between that could be used as a third bedroom for larger families. The two outer rooms are made with black polyester, which will keep the rooms darker during the day and allow you to sleep past sunrise. For a family of four to six, this is a spacious tent that will have plenty of room for camping gear inside and under the outdoor awning.

As well as being light, the Nightfall Dome also packs down small, making it easy to fit in the car for family camping trips. While dome tents are more complex to erect, if you do not camp often, or don’t mind spending more time setting up, we think this is great value

Zempire Airforce 1 V2

Zempire Airforce 1 V2

Specifications

• Type: Inflatable
• Capacity: 10
• Floor size: 440 x 360cm
• Height: 210cm
• Weight: 57.1kg
• Packed size: 125 x 59 x 50cm

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The Zempire Airforce 1 V2 is a mammoth of a tent, with great durability, that surprisingly can be erected in under five minutes. If you want to invest in a durable tent that will comfortably house the whole family, this could be the best option for you.

The Airforce 1 V2 has three separate living spaces – two rooms and one awning. The second room can be divided to create two separate sleeping spaces. This tent has 210cm of internal height at its centre and the largest floor space of all the tents we have reviewed. However, it is also the heaviest tent we have reviewed by far and will require two people to lift it.

There is one inflation point from which you can fully inflate the whole tent. Plus, the fly is already attached, saving you time in the set-up process. It also has multiple deflation points, ensuring you can pack down faster.

NOTE: The canvas will need to be seasoned before use to ensure it is waterproof. This means wetting it multiple times and letting it fully dry out in-between. This should be done before you leave for your first camping trip, so factor this in when buying.

Darche Kozi 6P

Darche Kozi 6P

Specifications

• Type: Instant
• Capacity: 6
• Floor space: 300 x 480cm
• Height: 194cm
• Weight: 17.1kg
• Packed size: 122 x 25 x 25cm

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The Kozi 6P tent by Darche is easy to set up and has a host of great features that will make camping comfortable for everyone. For campers who like to travel light, this one-room tent is a great option.

It is smaller than the other tents we reviewed, but also lighter and therefore easier to lift and set up. The spacious sleeping area will comfortably fit a family of four, and the outdoor area can be closed fully to provide extra storage space. There’s also an option to purchase a tunnel which allows you to connect two of these Kozi 6P tents together – great if you have a larger crew.

Additional features include multiple access doors, large rear awning, internal pockets, gear loft and lantern hook. Ventilation-wise this tent is a winner – it has large mesh-covered windows and doors, plus a mesh roof that will keep the inside cool in the warmer months.

Coleman Instant Up Northstar Lighted Dark Room

Coleman Instant Up Northstar Lighted Dark Room

Specifications

• Type: Instant
• Capacity: 10
• Floor space: 600 x 230cm
• Height: 190cm
• Weight: 33.5kg
• Packed size: 125 x 30 x 30cm

Buy now from Tentworld

Coleman’s Instant Up Northstar Lighted Dark Room tent is packed full of design features that will give your family a comfortable camping experience all-round. The 10-person capacity tent would comfortably sleep a family of six across three separate rooms.

The Dark Room technology on this tent blocks out 95 per cent of sunlight, keeping the interior dark during the day. For anyone who likes to sleep-in – or wishes their kids would sleep-in – this feature is priceless. This also works to keep the tent cooler during the day and, when paired with the good ventilation, makes this a great tent for summer camping.

Despite its size and durability, the Instant Up design of this tent makes it easy to set up and pack down. The latest feature to be added to this tent is the LED lighting that is built into the tent’s interior. It saves you having to hang lanterns in each of the rooms.

BlackWolf Turbo Plus 300

BlackWolf Turbo Plus 300

Specifications

• Type: Instant
• Capacity: 8
• Floor space: 480 x 300 cm
• Height: 210cm
• Weight: 35kg
• Packed size: 145 x 38 x 40cm

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BlackWolf’s Turbo Plus 300 is a durable and fuss-free family tent. The one-bedroom tent will comfortably sleep a family of four, and with the optional panels for the awning you can create extra indoor space. It also comes with a three-year warranty.

The popular Turbo Tent range has had an upgrade – with extra features for better durability. It now has extra reinforcement in the roof poles, more durability in the flooring and extra protection in case of wet weather. Add this to the FastPitch design and you’ve got a great quality tent that will be easy to set up.

If your family enjoys all kinds of camping adventures and you want a versatile tent to match, the Turbo Plus 300 is a great option. We reckon it’ll stand up to the test in even the toughest Aussie conditions.

HOW WE REVIEW PRODUCTS

4X4 Australia has been reviewing four-wheel drive vehicles, aftermarket products and camping gear for more than 40 years. When looking for the best family tents in Australia, there are some things that are essential to make sure the whole family enjoys your camping adventures.

When we compared each of the tents in the list with hundreds out there, we looked at the size, weight, design, ease of set up and price. We also searched for additional features that make these tents stand out from the rest.

We looked at hundreds of user reviews and drew on our own experience camping in family tents to make sure our recommendations are for the best on the market.

Disclosure: When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. We also include products that we do not earn a commission from.

BUYERS’ GUIDE TO TENTS

Types of family camping tents

There are a lot of different tents on the market, making choosing the best one for your family a tricky task. Here are the different types of camping tents that we’ve reviewed and their pros and cons when it comes to setting up and usability.

Inflatable tents

Inflatable tents are becoming increasingly popular due to their ease of set up. Replacing poles with air tubes, means you simply need to grab the hand pump in order to erect your tent. To make it even simpler, some family-sized tents can be inflated from just one point. If hand pumping isn't for you, purchase an electric pump and you can grab a beer, sit back and relax as your tent inflates.

Instant tents

Pop-up tents have many different names – such as Fast Frame, Fast Pitch and Instant Up – thanks to different brands creating their own technology and trademarking it. But essentially the design is the same – the poles come already connected to the tent. This saves a lot of messing around and once you’ve done it a couple of times, you should be able to erect your tent in a matter of minutes. However, because of their design, instant tents are usually quite bulky when packed down.

Dome tents

Dome tents take longer to set up than inflatable and instant tents, but their selling point is that they are lighter and pack away smaller. If your car is already full to the roof with camping gear for the whole family, a dome tent can be a great space saver. They are also lighter on the wallet. If you only need a tent for a few camping trips per year, you can save a lot of money by buying a dome tent.

Size

When assessing tent sizes, the capacity is not necessarily the best indicator. If a tent capacity is for 10 people, it sleeps 10 people side by side on the floor. But it should comfortably sleep six people – depending on what camping mattresses you use and how much gear you have in the tent. In the absence of an industry standard for tent sizes, we recommend using the interior floor space as a guide.

We’ve also included the internal height for each tent we reviewed, as a tent with a high roof allows you to stand up and move around easier. Most family tents will have multiple rooms, some with extra room dividers. An outdoor awning is also good to have additional space with sun and rain protection.

Weight

If you need a large multi-room tent for your family, you are going to be looking at tents that weigh a lot. It's an important factor for your overall car load – and for whoever is going to be lifting and carrying it to your campsite. Dome tents tend to be the lightest. At the heavier end of the scale are the inflatable tents built from extra durable materials and the instant tents which are quite bulky.

Design

The design features of a tent are important as you want your tent to be durable, easily accessible and versatile enough to use in all the conditions you’ll camp in.

Materials

Choosing a tent that is made from durable materials will not only protect your family from the elements, but allow you to use the tent for plenty of camping adventures before it needs to be replaced.

Access points

Having multiple entry points makes access easier for the whole family, and stops you climbing over each other to get in and out. Great for the midnight dash to the loo!

Ventilation

If you want to use your tent in warm conditions, good ventilation will be key to making sure everyone is comfortable sleeping at night. It will also prevent condensation forming on the walls of your tent overnight.

Ease of set up

When travelling with the whole family, having a tent that is easy to set up can make all the difference to starting your camping trip off right. The combination of complex pole systems, multiple awnings and kids who’ve been cooped up in the car for too long is enough to drive anyone mad. We recommend instant and inflatable tents as a great solution. However, if you only take one camping trip per year and stay for a few weeks at a time, you might find it more budget-friendly to get a dome tent.

Price

Price is a big factor in buying a family tent. You want your money’s worth so the tent will last for many years to come. The best thing to do is assess exactly what you need in a camping tent for the whole family – including the size, durability and features. Then purchase a family tent that meets your needs – from a reputable brand. Generally, if you buy from the cheaper end of the price range, or lesser known brands, you will compromise on quality, durability and warranty periods.