Camping, as anyone knows who's tried it, is the least glamorous pursuit known to woman. It's the equivalent to glamour of the luminous headband to style - the two can never be mistaken as belonging to each other. Which is why 'glamping', the thing we'd never heard about two years ago and now seem to hear about every other week, is in truth, a bit of a misnomer. However, as camping goes, glamping is undoubtedly luxurious. And I suppose 'luxing' doesn't have the same ring.
However, once you are square with the fact that at no time in a glamping experience will you feel like donning red lippie and high heels, then you open yourself up to something that has a lot of other positives at its disposal.
Galway glamping happens in yurts, large, round almost carnival looking tents which have been imported from Mongolia, and are in situ from March until October, when presumably not even the more fervent (or, in non-camping terms, mad) campers can withstand the elements.
You know that cosy feeling when you get into your warm bed on a chilly night, and listen to the elements outside your window, aware of the world but immune to its perils? Well, that's the feeling you get when you enter a yurt. It's the cosy of childhood dreams. And its colourful decorative interior only adds the sense of being cocooned. If there's one major plus to yurt camping over your regular kind, it's so significant as to divorce the two experiences almost completely: the comfortable bed. Yurts sleep up to four, without inducing claustrophobia. And they are surprisingly warm inside - once you are in bed, that is.
The setting for Galway glamping is stunning. On the banks of a river, eleven acres of land makes up the entire area, with a converted chapel forming the main of three communal areas available to glampers. Formerly a protestant estate with buildings dating back to the 15th century, it is full of charm and haunting beauty, perfectly set off by a ruin that stands adjacent to the camping area. There are all sorts of possibilities too: yoga, dance classes, walking, trips to Galways around 40 minutes away, to name just a few.
The owners, wife and husband team Kathleen and Joe, bought the land around a decade ago and have been working lovingly and diligently over the past couple of years to bring Galway Glamping to fruition, having opened only in March 2013. And if the end of the boom signalled a change of direction for the couple, who had different original intentions for the development, you can't help feeling that they're on to something good here.
Kathleen's decorative touch prevails throughout with its mix n match warmth and quirkiness, making it feel very homely and welcoming across the site. And the couple couldn't be more welcoming or accommodating to campers' needs. Joe, whose background is building, has overseen the restoration of a beautiful main house, which soon will have a very elegant bridal suite ready to do business, and indeed they've already had a wedding there, in a marquee.
It's still a work in progress and there's improvements to be made including an increase in shower facilities and, hopefully, the piping of water into a second communal area which currently, though very cosy with the fire lit in the old hearth, lacks certain basic amenities. But all seems to be in hand in this major redevelopment, and it's certainly up to scratch as it stands as a more than satisfactory experience.
There's a wonderfully easy-going atmosphere, goats, dogs and horses giving it a true country feel, and members of our party swum in the river even in September - though they are the kind who love nothing more than exclaiming how refreshing the Irish sea is on a windswept August day, when all around them go blue and pass out.
For small parties there are cabins which sleep two, and there is also a very nice dormitory for large parties. But the yurt experience is one to strive for, in my view.
The nature of camping is mucking it. It's about the outdoors as much as anything. Attaching a bit of the word glamour onto it and combining it with some hallmarks of civilisation won't necessarily change that. But then again, sleeping in a very comfortable bed in fresh linen feels way better than the superficial shine glamour offers. Even if you have to walk through rain to get a cold loo where you're likely to be greeted by a colony of daddy long legs's, you still get to go back to bed, not mat, or inflatable thing. And the stars you'll see dazzling in the black sky that has never known light pollution will more than make up for the shock of cold. You just have to let it in.
If you've always been attracted by the spirit of camping, but unable to get around the sleeping conditions, glamping is definitely worth trying. If you are a seasoned camper, you will consider this beyond glamour.
Tip: Large parties should check which communal area they will have access to, as they tend to be allocated separate ones, which may or may not favour your group. read more
