With the economy in the toilet, people who ordinarily rent a riad in Marrakech or a palazzo in Tuscany are rushing to book a patch of grass in the UK. Any patch of grass. It's getting crowded out there. Sales of camping equipment were up 40% last summer. This year, camping retailer Go Outdoors announced it would be creating 1,000 new jobs in the next two years. There's going to be an awful lot of new tents being erected for the first time this year.

For those who grew up camping and never really gave it much thought, this rush of interest causes mixed feelings. There's the temptation to smile sagely at the enthusiastic arrivistes who will insist on telling the world about their new discovery. Mostly, however, there's just relief and not being thought sad or weird anymore.

The interesting change is how the British love of class has spread through the camping world. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was something innocently déclassé about life under canvas. Other campers might talk posh, but they had the same sort of tents and ate beans or tinned ravioli and their kids did the same kinds of things as everyone else, just more nicely.

Now the stratification of camping is firmly established, and there's no such thing as a typical camper. Some are doing it to save cash, others actually like the experience of waking up in nature. Huge ranch-style tents with more rooms than a semi in Woking and a 4WD parked outside overlook tiny one-person jobs with no room to sit-up in.

Whatever style suits you, there are a few tips I've picked up along the way that are worth knowing. First, take a pillow. It's not very Ray Mears, but stuff it, cricked necks ruin moods. Whatever makes you comfortable is fine with me. Second, after three days of rain, you're allowed to quit. Not before. That's the rule. Anyway, lying in a heap with your people listening to rain on the flysheet is fun and good for you. And what's more, it won't cost the earth.

So, what kind of camper are you? Looking for a cheap holiday for the kids? Want the ultimate festival experience? Or do you need a soulful commune with mother nature?

Wild Camping

For those prepared to hump a load, escaping into the mountains with a lightweight tent and a freeze-dried meal means you can truly get away from it all. You don't camp on a recognised site, you just find a spot in the middle of nowhere, put your tent up and enjoy the solitude. It costs nothing. In England, this amounts to Dartmoor. In Scotland, wild camping is legal when pitching well away from dwellings and roads – places like the Cairngorms and Knoydart. Wild camping inevitably leads to wild pooing, which must be done safely, and everything else that arrives with you gets carried out. Leave no trace. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland offers good advice on how to do wild camping properly. More information at v-g.me.uk/WildCamp/WildCamp.htm

Family Camping

Camping with kids is great fun, but many parents want amenities on hand to keep their little darlings clean-ish and well fed. Sites with more amenities tend have to more rules and are more structured, but that can be a real blessing for young families, since the chances of being pitched next to a team of thrash metal fans with a cheap lager habit are far lower. The Camping and Caravanning Club has over 4,000 sites listed allowing you to find somewhere with everything you need, from washing machines to dog-friendly campsites. But here are some alternatives:

• Treloan Coastal Farm Holidays, Cornwall. Overlooking Gerrans Bay, the farm has a history of natural farming methods, with shire horses pulling ploughs, which the kids can help work or ride. The south-west coastal path runs through the end of the site and leads to coves and rock pools.
+44 (0)1872 580989, Coastalfarmholidays.co.uk, from £9.50-£19.50 per pitch per two adults a night.

• Kelling Heath Holiday Camp, Norfolk. Family-owned and family-friendly campsite in 250 acres of woodland and heathland on the north Norfolk coast with camping pitches and woodland lodges. Has won the David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award for 11 years for its schemes including running bushcraft and pond dipping courses for children aged from four-12 years.
+44 (0)1263 588181, kellingheath.co.uk, from £16.75 a night camping.

• Hoddom, near Lockerbie, Scotland. Set in partially wooded parkland in the grounds of the 16th-century border castle that's part of the 10,000-acre Hoddom and Kinmount Estate. Nature lovers can hook up with the site's own "countryside ranger", who organises nature-trail walks where you can help check bird boxes, plant trees and spot animals. On-site there's a tennis court, playground, games room, mini-golf and draughts, plus pony trekking is available at Powfoot.
+44 (0)1576 30025, hoddomcastle.co.uk. From £7.50-£14 plus £2 per extra adult, children seven-16 £1

• Shell Island, Llanbedr, north Wales. The UK's biggest campsite - 300 acres of sand dunes and grass on Snowdonia's coast just for campers connected to the mainland by a two-mile causeway. But fear not - campers cannot pitch within 20 yards of another tent in the same field with prior agreement with adjoining campers. 01341 241453, shellisland.co.uk. Family of four £17-£20 a night.

• Masons, Ainhams House, Skipton, North Yorks. In the heart of the Yorkshire Dales and with the River Wharfe running alongside – lots of space for games and playing in the river. . Iit was the favourite campsite of owners Georgie and Grant who bought it when it came up for sale. A mobile shop arrives on site each morning to sell local sausages, eggs and bacon. 01756 720275, masonscampsite.co.uk. Family pitch £19.50

Al-fresco camping

All camping happens outdoors, but not all camping requires a tent. Over the years I've slept in all kinds of weird places, from goatherd shacks in Morocco to the lych gate of a church in Derbyshire. (The vicar brought us tea in the morning.) The very best sleeping-out experiences involve beaches. Get a good forecast, find a secluded beach and someone to share it with, and then watch the sun slip below the horizon as you sit by a driftwood fire. Swim at night (yes, I know it's dangerous) and you might experience the magic of bioluminescence as the sea lights up around you.

Laid-back sites

Many of us go camping to get away from rules, not discover new ones. If you don't want to be told where to put your tent and when to go to bed, and you don't need much in the way of facilities, then Britain's countryside is full of stunning campsites where you really can relax and enjoy the best of nature. One of my favourites is Stonethwaite campsite (+44 (0)1768 777234) in Borrowdale, ringed by mountains and by a beautiful beck, just 40 minutes walk from the classic swimming hole of Blackmoss Pot. There's a toilet block, and that's it. £4 a night. Perfect.

Another is Upper Booth Campsite (+44 (0)1433 670250) on a working farm in Edale in the Peak District National Park. The farm nestles alongside Crowden Brook as it tumbles down from the Kinder plateau. £5 per adult a night.

And Torridon in Ross-shire is as close to wild camping as you can get – no charge to camp here - but with toilets and showers on hand. Liathach massif towers above, sea lochs surrond and there are 17 Munros nearby. Info from the Torridon Countryside Centre, 01445 791221

Glamping

Just because you're living in a tent, doesn't mean you have to abandon your sense of style. This is not to my taste, but fashion-conscious camping spots are springing up all over Britain for people who want to experience the great outdoors while still looking good. There's even a word for it – glamping. Britain's glitziest glampers head for Camp Kerala at Glastonbury, where a long weekend for two, including VIP passes and umbrellas, will set you back a cool £7,000. Slightly cheaper (but still much more expensive than the camping norm) are a number of yurt and tipi camps around the British isles, such as these:

• Full Circle Yurt in the grounds of Rydale Hall between Grasmere and Ambleside. lake-district-yurts.co.uk, +44 (0)97975 671928. Three-day weekend costs from £250.

• Deepdale Farm, Norfolk has four ready-assembled tipis with wood-burners inside, so you can just show up and throw your sleeping bag down. Deepdalefarm.co.uk, +44 (0)1485 210256. £40 a night if two people are staying, £72 for three to six.

• Hunger Hill Yurt Holidays, Devon, has four Mongolian-style yurts on a two-acre small-holding, four miles inland from the Jurassic Coast. Each five-person yurt is furnished with a kitchenette, a wood-burning stove, carpets, kilims, comfy mattress beds, bedding and Moroccan lanterns.
+44 (0)1395 568454, yurt-holidays.co.uk. From £75 per yurt a night (for two adults and up to five children).

• Trellyn Woodland campsite, Abercastle. Set in 16 acres of Pembrokeshire national park overlooking the sea with a mix of "luxury" yurts and tipis, plus five out-of-the-way camping or touring caravan pitches. The tipis have wooden floors, double beds, single futon beds and campfire kitchens.
+44 (0)1348 837762, trellyn.co.uk. Tipis from £425 per week/£195 for a three-day break, yurts from £525 per week/£240 per weekend.

• The Camping Book by Ed and Kate Douglas is published by Dorling Kindersley on 1 May at £12.99