The rise of the glamper generation

As a schoolkid, I spent summer holidays at Lake Klöntal. It usually rained. Around our tiny two-person tents, I dug 20-centimeter-deep trenches to keep water from seeping in. Camping in the Glarus mountains meant soaked socks, damp sleeping bags – and when the clouds cleared, gloriously wild days under alpine skies.

Decades later, not much has changed with the weather. At the TCS campsite in Solothurn, right on the Aare River, I arrived with my son and his friend and booked a tent lodge – the latest in the camping club’s glamping range. The wooden-framed structure, built by «tipitop tents,» looks more like a chic mini-chalet than a tent.

Inside included everything a vacation home would boast: a small kitchen, hot shower, toilet, two double beds, a sofa bed, even a terrace. Space for up to five people. The price: 145 francs per night in low season, 245 in high. Not cheap – but undeniably comfortable, and far closer to nature than any hotel room.

We stayed four days in mid-July. The weather was mad: one hour of blazing sunshine followed by two hours of pounding rain. Yet the drumming of rain on the roof was oddly soothing – nostalgic even.

The boys didn’t complain: Switzerland’s largest swimming pool, complete with diving platforms, sits right next door and is included in the price. The Aare meanders peacefully –perfect for floating on an air mattress. And when the clouds broke, we strolled into Solothurn’s old town – just two kilometers away – for ice cream and cobblestones.

A Clash of Cultures on the Campsite

But glamping has a flip side. In Switzerland, the year 2025 is defined by urban gentrification – rising rents, upgraded districts, the squeezing out of low-income residents. Something similar is happening at campsites. Municipalities are tightening rules or banning permanent camping altogether, frustrated by residents who have turned cheap pitches into second homes.

TCS Camping, in response, is leaning heavily into glamping lodges and rentals. They’re popular, profitable – and contentious.

Grumbles from the old guard

One evening, we sat on our terrace at pitch 148, enjoying the view. Several campers walked past, eyeing the lodge with suspicion. One man shook his head. Later, I asked him in the campsite shop if he liked the new rentals. His answer was curt: «Not really. They take up a lot of space.» End of conversation.

The clash is unmistakable. For many long-time campers, their pitch has been a second home for decades, a place where summer weekends follow a familiar rhythm. Now, the rise of rental lodges feels intrusive – even threatening. What was once a culture of simplicity and community is being overshadowed by sleek new structures that don’t quite belong in their eyes.

For campsite operators, the balancing act is tricky: how to welcome new audiences without alienating the old guard. But one thing is clear – the trend is irreversible. At TCS Camping La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel, 17 new tent lodges are already planned.

The era of digging trenches around your tent might not be over entirely – but increasingly, Swiss camping means sleeping in comfort, under a solid roof, with hot water and Wi-Fi.