One of our favorite family traditions is our annual camping trip (ahem, glamping trip) to Huttopia! This was our fifth year staying at a Huttopia campsite, and our third trip staying at the Southern Maine location. I last wrote about our New England glamping adventures after our first trip (Jane was just a baby!) and figured it was time for an update on our experience and favorite parts of this family friendly New England glamping weekend! 
When we first started going to Huttopia’s campsites we went as our family of 3, but after the first two trips we convinced a few other families to join us. This year we had enough family friends on board to rent out 3 of the lakefront trappeur tents, and 4 of the tiny house cabins. It is so fun to have all of these friends come together – we share cooking duties and parenting duties, and the swarm of kids takes over our area of the campsite with hours of playtime. One of the nice parts of the campsite layout is that there are no cars allowed anywhere near the camping area, so the kids can run between tents or cabins without much worry. 
A few of my favorite perks about staying at Huttopia: the tents and cabins come very well stocked with everything from cooking tools to lanterns, towels and bedding – so you really only need to bring clothes and food. As once-a-year-campers, I really like that we don’t have to buy and bring a ton of gear with us. The ammentiiteson the property also make it so fun to spend the weekend outside with kids. In previous years we have spent the entire day alternating between the pool and the lakefront (which has a small sandy beach and a dock). We bring our own kayaks, but they have rentals available on site. This year our trip was incredibly rainy, so we made use of the main lodge a bit more than we had in the past – grabbing pizza and beers for dinner in the cafe, playing some board games, and the staff even set up a movie projector for the kids while we hid from the storm outside. 
And finally, whenever I share this annual camping trip on instagram, I get a few questions over and over again that I’ll answer in this post!
1) Are there bathrooms? Yes! The Vista tiny houses, cabins and trappeur tents all have bathrooms with a toilet and shower. It’s nothing special, but definitely leans more towards the glamping side of camping!
2) Tents vs Tiny Houses – which is better to book? We have booked a trappeur tent every year that we’ve gone, but we have traveled with friends that book the tiny houses so hva gotten to see into both. They both have bathrooms, real beds, and a varying level of a kitchenette (we stay in the trappeur tent that has a mini fridge and a small sink, along with some kitchen tools and an outdoor gas grill. The tiny houses have a bit more fridge space and a more traditional kitchenette counter set-up). For our family, we prefer the tent because they’re on the lakefront and I love the view and the openness of the layout. The benefit of the tiny house is you have two separate sleeping spaces, and the bathroom and kitchen are less rustic. They also have screened porches and more range in heating/lighting which is helpful if you’re going in one of the spring or fall months.
3) Which is better, the Huttopia New Hampshire campsite or Southern Maine campsite? We had amazing experiences at both the New Hampshire and Southern Maine locations, and for the most part they have very similar accommodations and amenities. If you had a larger family, the New Hampshire location has “chalet” type cabins that sleep more people, and the pool in New Hampshire felt bigger too. I prefer the layout of the Southern Maine location better, and found the main lodge in Maine was more accommodating for our big group when we were riding out the bad weather. One other consideration between the two locations: during our stay at the New Hampshire location, there was a lot of signage and warnings about bears in the area, and the importance of safely disposing of your trash every night. We never felt unsafe, but it is a bit of a hassle if you have small kids to think about trekking up to the secured dumpsters with your trash after dinner. Both locations have given us incredibly fun, memory-filled weekends and I hope it’s a tradition we keep doing for as long as all our kids still want to hang out with us!
