Vango Ravello 500

A great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500

A great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500

We test out the Vango Ravello 500 inflatable family tent.

Review Score

We found the Vango Ravello 500 a great family tent that's ideal for weekend camping. Use the Vango Excel AirBeam awning to add some extra space for longer family camping breaks.

Our Score: 9.1/10

We've given the A great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500 the Thumbs Up award.

GOWTK Thumbs Up Award
Value for MoneyQualityFeaturesFamily Friendly

The good

  • It was nice to have an inflatable family tent that was lightweight and easy to take to the campsite. Pitching is really quick and easy.

The not so good

  • This is only really a 5 person if you remove the bedroom divider.

This was a hands-on product review. The product was supplied to us to test and conduct the review.

Price Guide

A great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500 Videos

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A great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500 Photos

Vango Ravello 500

Vango Ravello 500

Vango Ravello 500 Review

Vango Ravello 500 Review

Vango Ravello 500 Bag

Vango Ravello 500 Bag

View from inside

View from inside

Our Review

You might have invested in a great big family tent, plus all the furniture to go with it.

Perhaps you had a great family holiday in it last summer?

Now, with the weather improving, you book a campsite for the weekend and take it away again. Only this time things don't go as well as when you took it on holiday last summer.

Why? Well, there's nothing wrong with the tent. However, the effort in packing the car, putting up the tent, fitting it out, only to do it all again in reverse the next day as you pack it away. You soon find that you spent a lot of the weekend setting up or packing away.

If you have a big family tent, taking it just for a single night at the weekend can be a lot of effort. Not impossible, but a lot of effort.

Fortunately, there's a simple alternative: get a smaller tent for the weekend.

Yes, the idea of getting a smaller tent just for the weekend may at first appear excessive, but a lot of family campers have two (or more) tents.

Why get a Weekend Tent

There are a few excellent reasons:

They are smaller and easier to pack so that you can get away quicker at the weekend.

As a weekend tent is smaller than your large holiday tent, you take less furniture. Again, this helps reduce the time required for packing and setting up, and then packing away again afterwards.
Yes, you might be 'roughing it' compared to your main tent set-up, but for just a night or two, you will find it no problem.

Simple weekend camping in the sunshine

Suddenly, the ability to check the weekend weather on Friday and decide to take the kids camping becomes a real possibility.

After all, in the UK, we have to grab what good weather we have when we can.

Vango Ravello 500 Tent

The Vango Ravello 500 Tent is such a tent I would consider it a great tent to take away at the weekend.

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It resembles a smaller version of Vango's big family holiday AirBeam tents.

Vango Ravello 500

What's more, as it is an AirBeam tent, it's inflatable. So, setting up is a breeze.

Vango sent us one over to look at this tent closer.

Vango Ravello 500 Bag

Inflating the Ravello 500

The Ravello was very easy to pitch. Anchor the corners with the supplied pegs, and inflate each AirBeam tube.

Anchor the Corners before Inflating

The pump locks onto the valve and also has a pressure gauge.

Vango AirBeam pump connector
Vango AirBeam Pump

Being smaller than some of the larger family tents, the Vango Ravello is easy and quick to inflate.

Inflating the Ravello

The Vango Ravello 500 Layout

You have a small living space, which will give you space for your bags, and enough space if you need to spend some time 'indoors'.

Vango Ravello 500 Review

The bedrooms are at the back of the tent.

Technically the bedrooms can take five people, though you have to remove the divider. I expect most families would use the tent with the divider and two double bedrooms.

There's a side door with a small porch and a big entrance at the front of the tent. This side door is great if the weather changes and it starts to rain, as you should get less water in the tent using this door.

Inside the Vango Ravello 500

Not 'roughing it' too much

You can get a carpet for the Ravello 500: the Vango Universal Carpet 240x300cm.

We found this a decent carpet and insulated the tent well. It is worth getting the carpet, even if going just for the weekend.

Universal carpet in the Vango Ravello
Vango Universal Carpet rolled up

Not just for weekends

Of course, if you have a smaller family, the Ravello 500 could be good enough as a family holiday tent, though you might find the living space a little small if you intend to get furniture.

airbeam-excel-side-awning-std

The Vango Excel Standard Awning is the best match for the Ravello 500 if you want more space for longer camping breaks.

Recommendation

We've already had a few weekends away in the Vango Ravello 500. It's been a great tent and gets the GOWTK Thumbs Up award.

Alternatives

Another weekend tent we've tried and were impressed with is the Outwell Earth 5. Click here to see our review.

Details

AttributeA great weekender: The Vango Ravello 500
RRP
Best Price
Product Info
Dimensions
Tent Details
Recommended Tent UseIdeal for Weekend Camping
SleepsSleeps 5
Bedrooms2 Bedrooms
Frame TypeInflatable, air frame
Tent Accessories
Tent Construction
Tent Windows
Tent Doors
Tent Bedrooms
Tent Living Space
Pitching and Storage