There is a smattering of sun, no sangria and you won’t be corralled into a game of beach football by an overzealous holiday rep.

In the Lake District the weather is bracing, you make your own entertainment and a mug of hot cocoa is the best thing to wash down the day’s wholesome outdoor activities.

There are no heated swimming pools, flumes or minigolf courses as boasted by many of the company’s sites in France and beyond, but this is still Eurocamp, purveyor of the hassle-free continental camping experience enjoyed by British families for more than 30 years.

After a 15-year absence, Eurocamp is back in Britain to meet the demand created by a collective belt-tightening that is cutting into the summer holiday abroad. One of the nine new “Brit camps” is in Great Langdale on a National Trust site next to the Langdale Pikes, a mecca for hill walkers.

Holidaybreak, the company that owns Eurocamp, closed the last of its camp sites in Britain in 1994 as the boom in budget airlines prompted a mass summer exodus. The brand’s return reflects the new economic reality in Britain plus the strength of the euro that has marked a general rise in austerity holidays.

The reason that the concept has endured is because zero camping skills are required. The six-person tent, furnished with beds, foam mattresses and a mini-kitchen, is already set up when its next occupants arrive.

Eurocamp claims that it goes through 294,000 tent pegs a year so that its customers don’t have to come into contact with anything more complicated than a barbecue — which at the Lake District site is supplied.

Cumbria may be as beautiful as Umbria, but the tent is in a muddy field and the temperature is what outdoor types call “fresh”. There is no sauna. Nor a buffet restaurant or pizzeria in sight.

The lack of organised fun is probably a bonus for the recession-hit middle classes seeking a cheap summer holiday in Britain.

Neil Gillis, chief executive of Blacks Leisure, the outdoor retailer, has noticed a more affluent customer who may not yet be hard-pressed enough to abandon the annual foreign trip but will “top it up” this year with camping.

The Camping and Caravanning Club recruited an additional 53,000 people last year and is heading towards a membership of 500,000.

According to Visit Britain, one in five people who holidayed abroad last year is considering a “staycation” — an extra five million domestic tourists.

It is not hard to see why. The May Day Bank Holiday weekend for a family of four (plus the dog) at Eurocamp costs £195 plus the fuel to get you there. A self-catering package in Málaga costs more than £1,130.

Despite the mini-kitchen and the real beds, though, this is still camping, with the absence of luxury that entails. I might not have lain on a lumpy groundsheet but I still arose with a heavy dew on the bedclothes and even heavier eyelids, having been kept awake most of the night by the hammering of rain on canvas and the cries of the lambs at dawn.

The ablutions block was just too much like a draughty version of a motorway service station facility for me to feel entirely clean even after a hot shower. Plus it was miles from my bed in the middle of a cold, wet night when I lost the test of will with my bladder.

It was a big tent, albeit hardly the pioneer-style luxury of Feather Down Farms, but it is comfortable — and is half the price. However, it seems that word about Eurocamp has yet to travel — a few weeks after the company’s British launch, ours is the only one of the five big green, red and yellow tents on the site that is occupied.

Fellow campers, who look like seasoned regulars, look quizzically at our oversized Wendy house. “If you’re going to brave camping in the Lakes, wouldn’t you bring your own gear?” asked James Dixon, from Harrogate.

Fiona from Wigan said: “We’ve already invested in the equipment because B&Bs are expensive but I suppose it could work for people experimenting with camping. For families it’s lovely.”

Ultimately, this is a back-to-basics holiday for first-time campers or people who’ve remembered that they like it. Eurocamp says it will introduce activities such as animal-tracking, fire-making, bird-watching, canoeing and fishing. Until then, parents would be advised to tire the kids out with a long hike so that they can enjoy a well-earned glass of wine before bedtime.

Free events today

London The Great London Garden Trail Various locations, noon-4pm www.dk.com/gardentrail. Access to ten designer gardens, some open to the public for the first time. Includes a Kings Road roof terrace and an architectural garden at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Birmingham Reach for the Stars, Soho House, noon-4pm. www.bmag.org.uk. Astronomy-themed event for the bicentenary year of Matthew Boulton’s death. Use of solar telescopes to look at the Sun, and shows and family activities

Manchester Discover the Balearic Islands, Albert Square and nearby venues, 11am-5pm. www.manchester- discover-majorca-menorca-ibiza-formentera.com. Last of four days of festival celebrating Balearic life with musicians and entertainers putting on street shows, parades, dancing, theatre and free samples of Mediterranean cuisine

Glasgow The Burrell Decathlon, The Burrell Collection, Pollok Country Park, 1pm-4pm. www.glasgowmuseums.com. Family event to celebrate the last weekend of exhibition on Ancient Greece. A special “decathlon” suitable for children, with sporting and creative challenges and the chance to win a medal

Belfast Festival of Fools, Victoria Square and various city centre locations, noon-5.30pm. www.foolsfestival.com. The free festival continues today with street theatre, music, comedy, circus acts and more, spread throughout central Belfast

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