Scotland Travel Forum

Hi,

I'm flying into either Glasgow or Edinburgh in the end of August, roughly a few days before the Hydro Connect festival. Where could I rent a tent and a sleeping bag from either of the cities for ~4 days, and approximately how much would it cost?
It looks like all the local hostels and B&B's are fully booked for the time of the festival already, so I don't mind camping. :)

-S.

if it's just a smell tent you want you can get them so cheaply in supermarkets (Tesco etc) that it might not be worth the trouble of hiring one

I don't even think you will be able to hire a small tent, so yes....buying a cheap one (and sleeping bag, if you haven't got one to bring) from Tesco or somewhere like that is the best idea.

But it's still worth checking availability in hostels/b&bs. Look at www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com I found Edinburgh hostels for 27th August (3 nights, 1 person).

For b&bs look at

http://www.bedandbreakfasts.co.uk/propertysearch.asp?townCity=Edinburgh

http://www.visitscotland.com/guide/where-to-stay/ (hostels and university accommodation listed too)

If you do camp, where will you set up? You cannot camp wherever you want: it is illegal. The only campsite near Glasgow is

http://www.craigendmuir.co.uk/New%20Pages/aboutframe.html

There is more choice around Edinburgh, though transport may be a problem. Clicking the brown 'search for Edinburgh caravan and camping sites' link on this page will list sites:

http://www.edinburgh.org/accom/caravan-and-camping/

Have I misunderstood? :-( Is it accommodation actually for the festival you want? In that case you will do much better to just buy a cheap tent/bag. Tesco (or Argos) will be cheapest, but there are plenty of other camping shops (e.g. Milletts) which do cheapish tents/bags.

There are buses running from the festival to cities/towns nearby:

http://www.connectmusicfestival.com/content/default.asp?page=s8

which might be an alternative, if you could find hostel/b&b accommodation elsewhere.

The Hydro Connect Festival is held in the grounds of Inveraray Castle at the head of Loch Fyne. I am unclear as to whether you want a tent for the festival or a tent for the few days before the Festival i.e. to camp out in either Glasgow or Edinburgh. Inverary is a fair and twisting way from Glasgow and even further from Edinburgh. As Leics says, you certainly cannot camp in Glasgow. You might just get away with it in Edinburgh on The Meadows, if you put it up late and take it down early, as it will still be Festival time in Edinburgh and people are known to camp on The Meadows then. However, you cannot just pitch your tent and leave it for three days, so you will have to deposit it in the left luggage at Waverley Station. I assume that the Hydro Connect Festival has designated camping grounds, and this is what you want your tent, etc. for - to camp up at the Festival. If you cannot borrow or buy cheaply a small tent in your home country, then the places the previous posters have suggested are a good place to go. However, find out where the nearest Tesco or Argos is to the city centre of where you are flying into, 'cos a lot of them are on the periphery. I doubt if you will be able to rent a sleeping bag (hygenic reasons - Health and Safety Europe would have conniptions!!) but again, a summer weight one is cheap to buy if you cannot borrow one in your home country or buy one there.

Okay, thank you for the advice. I am interested in hiring a tent to camp at the festival grounds during the festival. But indeed buying a cheap one from Tesco seems to be the best way to go..
Taking a tent with me from [my country] is something I would not like to do - I would have to check it in at the airports, wait for it at destinations, and most no-frills airlines charge per piece of luggage, so that would mean extra cost too..

A small "pup" tent would take no room at all and a sleeping bag squashes down very small. Together with your personal possessions you might not be able to take everything as hand luggage but it would be cheaper to pay for the no-frills baggage charge than buying the items in the UK. Baggage comming off flights in Glasgow and Edinburgh is pretty swift but you may be travelling by a circuitous route. Have you figured out how you are going to get from Glasgow to the Hydro Connect site? And have you booked a camping spot at the site?

I worked as campsite staff at this festival last year. As stated above you can quite cheaply buy a tent & sleeping bag (for Glasgow try Graham Tiso on Buchanan St and for Edinburgh there are a couple of shops on Rose St). Given the weather that we had last year (Inveraray in September) I strongly recommend going for the delux version of camping on offer on the festival website. The other things to remember are however you travel to the site, the carpark or bus drop-off points are at least a mile from the camping area, secondly do not bring any glass bottles as these will be confiscated unless you decanter the contents into the plastic bottles the staff will attempt to sell you (my chosen job for last year).

Best in my opinion was the campervan site which is away from the main camping area beside the staff so less of a mudbath to fight your way through if it is wet. I appreciate that this could be way over budget but you don't need to have a camper van to use this facility (transits, minivans or even an old mercedes were used last year).

Graham Tiso is expensive. You could try Millets on Jamaica Street, just around the corner from the Central station exit onto Jamaica Street. There are also various army surplus stores in the vicinity - I'll have a think and try and remember where they are. There's also a Milletts on Sauchiehall Street. Also a Blacks' but it is also expensive. You'd do better finding an Argos - there is one on Sauchiehall Street, and also one off Argyle Street on Stockwell Street, I think. I'm beginning to think that it's going to be cheaper (and quicker) in the long run to bring what you want from your home country.

Argos is a really good shout, tent for £9.99 & sleeping bag for £6.99

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3409756/Trail/searchtext%3ETENT.htm
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3407208/Trail/searchtext%3ESLLEPING+BAG.htm

Although I could never condone it, for a free tent & sleeping bag you could always sneak into the security camp site where they have large boxes of tents & sleeping bags (I know this to be true as I & most of my mates may have some of them type of items from last year).

clivedinburgh, thank you very much for the info!
The idea of "borrowing" a tent from the security area never occurred to me.. until now =) but I doubt I will go down that road.. while I am sober, anyway..
I'll be taking a bus to the festival and back, most likely from Edinburgh. That deal from Argos is really good, but I doubt it will last until the end of August.
Bringing my own tent and sleeping bag with me would be too much of a hassle, as I am departing from my country, Estonia in a few weeks to Finland, Germany, Hungary and then finally to Scotland. And I intend to take only a backpack with me. The campervan site is not an option unfortunately.
What else should I pay attention to at the festival site? For example, how much does a beer cost at the festival grounds? A meal? Anything else I should keep in mind?

The main problems last year were the fact that the field where the main campsite is quickly became a mud bath. So obviously cleanliness is an issue so I'd advise to take some good boots and gaiters and then not to expect to take them off for the weekend (apart from when asleep).

http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=subdept&wce=74306&Main=1874&Brand=0&Price=99999&Action=Apply+Selection

Security is also an issue so don't leave in your tent anything you aren't prepared to have stolen (phone, passport wallet & money).

The main arena is quite a hike from the camp site and you are not allowed to take any drink inside as you will be searched by security. Last year, we mainly stayed in the Koperberg tent with a bottle costing about £3.50. Other than that we sneaked drink in using our Staff wristbands to dodge the security checks.

Sorry but didn't read your reply to thoroughly, the tent & sleeping bag isn't just a deal. Argos are a catalogue shop that always have stuff that cheap, when is Edinburgh you will find one on North Bridge just off the Royal Mile.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ArgosStoreLocator?nextView=ArgosStoreLocatorMainMap&failView=ArgosStoreLocatorMain&returnToURL=ArgosStoreLocator%3FnextView%3DArgosStoreLocatorMainStoreList%26failView%3DArgosStoreLocatorMain%26pageNo%3D1%26mmTownName%3Dedinburgh%26mmPostcode%3D&postcode=&townName=edinburgh&mmBrowseURL=/browse.cgi%3Fclient%3Dargosxml%26lon%3D-3.187380%26lat%3D55.950800%26height%3D300%26width%3D300%26scale%3D10000&distance=0.17

Thanks for the help, clivedinburgh :)