It’s the little things that add up to an enjoyable life, and caravanners are experts at making the most of quality time together. Lasting memories are formed for everyone in the family, and what better times can you have than sharing family meals outside or in the sunshine?

Taking the right camping gear on tour is essential to ensure you remember these special times for all the right reasons. We’ve been testing a selection of folding camping tables, to find out which are the best for caravan holidays.

Checking the pros and cons of camping tables is more involved than it looks. For a start, we decided the best tables should be strong yet lightweight, big enough for a family and stable on soft ground and hardstandings alike. The best caravan awning tables should fold up small enough to store in the caravan or car and should be a doddle to put up and fold down quickly.

Ingenious and practical designs scored extra points, and of course we favoured the best looking tables, which you can see when you browse through our other online folding table reviews.

From the cheapest Quest Superlite Medium Table at £22.99, to the most expensive bamboo-topped Outwell Cluster Large at £109.99, we looked for great value for money.

Mindful of big families, caravan rally fans and all those who like a bit of a party, we checked out the Outwell Toronto Large folding table, a 10-seater costing £90.

We also tested the beautiful bamboo-topped Robens Wayfarer Large camping table at £79.99, a four-person table you could be proud of at home and away. And we were blown away by the versatility of the Coleman 6 in 1 Camping Table, a premium camping table at £70. 

Many medium-priced camping tables are available and we tested the Kampa Oval Table at £53.99, the Kampa Prestige Camping Table at £59.99, the Outwell Penticton at £53.99, the Argos Trespass Camping Table at £49.99, the Quest Elite Packaway Slatted Table at £44.99, and the Kampa Element Waterproof Table Medium at £54.99.

We compared weights and folded table sizes, as well as the tabletop areas, acknowledging that some of the bigger tables will be heavier and bulkier than some, yet well worth their share of the payload.

Smooth tabletops that you can wipe down easily won more brownie points with us than those with too many places where crumbs could get lodged. We were realistic about the chances of most people leaving tables out overnight, hoping it wouldn’t rain – and getting caught out. Weatherproof tables were the ones that won us over the most.

Table height and stability played their part. Given that we eat from dining tables 70cm high at home, we don’t want to crouch over our food on holiday. Luckily camping chairs are lower, too. We liked the tables with adjustable table legs and feet, so the height and any wobbles can be fixed.

We also considered each table to see if diners would have enough room on the tabletop, and also checked for obstructions such as table leg supports.

Value for money went into the mix and we checked for any bonus features such as shelves.

In this review we’ll consider the Kampa Oval Table, which costs £53.99. Whether it’s the oval shape or the faux onyx top surface, this is another camping table that just looks right in the caravan awning. Which makes it all the more of a shame that, overall, it just doesn’t perform that well.

Our biggest concern is the table’s immediately obvious instability — it’s definitely not one for tall, full-to-the-brim glasses.

This time we can’t blame flimsy construction: at 6.5kg this is no lightweight, even if the weight is respectable considering the 120cm x 90cm surface size. Worst still, while height can be set to either 46cm or 67cm, there’s no way of adjusting the legs for uneven ground, which means that a rough pitch will make the wobbling even worse.