Best camping chair 2024: comfortable seating solutions for outdoor adventures

Gather 'round, outdoor enthusiasts, as we embark on a quest to find the most majestic thrones for your camping kingdom. Yes, we're talking about camping chairs – those humble yet essential pieces of furniture that elevate your outdoor experience from "roughing it" to "royal retreat."

Now, before you embark on your quest for the perfect camping chair, a word of wisdom for those new to the realm of outdoor seating: beware of the siren song of cheap chairs. While they may seem like a bargain, they often crumble at the first sign of trouble, leaving you stranded in discomfort.

So, arm yourselves with knowledge, our fellow campers, and join us on this epic journey to find the throne that will reign supreme in your camping kingdom. And while you're at it, why not check out our recommendations for the best camping beds and best tents? After all, no royal feast is complete without the proper accoutrements!

Our current favourite camping chair is Helinox's Chair Two. This superb model has it all: excellent comfort, lightweight portability, and easy packability. For something less imposing, try the Trekology YIZI Go, a small foldable chair offering strong support. Backyard warriors should check out the Nemo Stargaze Recliner – simply the most comfortable sitting portable pew right now.

Best overall

The Helinox Chair Two presents a compelling blend of comfort, portability, and quality construction. Its lightweight design and compact size make it ideal for outdoor adventures, despite requiring a brief setup time. With top-notch comfort, sturdy build, and innovative features like a headrest wrap, it offers a premium seating experience.

Despite its slightly longer pitch time compared to traditional camping chairs, its portability and comfort make it a standout choice for campers seeking convenience without compromising on comfort. With a generous weight capacity and durable construction, it's a versatile option for various camping scenarios, offering a premium seating solution for outdoor enthusiasts.

Read our full Helinox Chair Two review.

Best folding

If you're looking for all-around comfort in a small packed size, the best camping chair is the Trekology YIZI Go. It packs down impressively small and light, but the deep bucket seat provides a surprising amount of comfort. In fact, you can even recline in it – although one of our testers noted that you might have trouble wrestling your way out of this seat after a few ales.

The Trekology YIZI Go also has multiple mesh panels to encourage greater airflow around your body as you sit, making it perfect for hot weather camping or for those glorious heatwave days at the beach or park. It sits well on sand as well as grass and paving and packs down into a weather-resistant carry bag when not in use. Also comes in red, green and blue.

Read our full Trekology YIZI Go camping chair review.

Most comfortable

The Nemo Stargaze Luxury Recliner combines the best of camping chairs and hammocks, offering supreme comfort through its innovative swinging design. While not the most compact or lightweight option, its sturdy construction and clever reclining mechanism provide unmatched relaxation.

It delivers a premium camping experience with top-notch build quality and thoughtful design details like a well-designed carry bag. The chair's setup is straightforward, and its suspended seat, mesh fabric, and integrated features like a drink holder and head cushion enhance usability.

Its bulkiness when packed and comparative heaviness may be drawbacks for some users. Nonetheless, its comfort and performance make it an excellent choice for glampers, car campers, and outdoor enthusiasts seeking luxurious relaxation in the wilderness.

The Nemo Stargaze Luxury Recliner stands out for its unique design and exceptional comfort, making it a worthwhile investment for those prioritising comfort and quality in their camping gear.

Read our full Nemo Stargaze Luxury Recliner review.

Best budget

Don't read too much into the 'deluxe' bit of the name; the Kestrel Deluxe from Trail Outdoor Leisure is very much a budget option, albeit one that packs an impressive number of features for its low price.

With a higher back than other camping chairs in the brand's range, it's perfectly comfy and supportive to sit in, and it features a lightly padded sear section and areas of breathable mesh all over the shop, including under the front of the seat so that you don't have to contend with a hard canvas edge digging in your knees. There's even a padded cup holder! 

It's a bit bulky and doesn't pack up very small, but when you consider that for this sort of price, the best you can hope for is that it won't collapse the first time you sit down in it, this is a real bargain.

Read our full Kestrel Deluxe high-back camping chair review.

Best for garden use

Next up is the Coleman Sling chair, which we think is the best folding camping chair for when you need some extra seating in the back garden. In its collapsed state, it's still pretty chunky, which means it's not such a good choice for actual camping unless you've got plenty of spare boot space. What it does offer is a high-quality, robust and very smart-looking chair – and the aluminium frame means it's much lighter than it would appear, too.

The generously sized seat is comfortable to sit on, and the fixed, slightly reclined position is ideal for relaxing in. In our minds, this is the kind of chair you'd store in your shed and crack out when you need additional seating for a back garden gathering. It's stylish enough and sturdy enough to feel a lot more purposeful than your average camping chair.

Read our full Coleman Sling chair review.

Best for kids

Need a portable seat for younger kids or a toddler? Try this Kids’ Camping Chair from Hi-Gear, available in navy with a super-cool shark print, or pink with a cute panda design. This outdoors chair for kids packs down into a small carry case, making it easy for your little one to carry to and from the campsite, beach or park – if you can get them to. It's also sturdier and less flimsy than many kids' options. The fabric is water-resistant, and features a supportive high back design with arms. Finally, there's a built-in cupholder, ideal for holding drinks safely, or stashing colouring crayons, small toys, or any other treasures.

Best for the beach

The Robens Pathfinder Lite is one of the lightest chairs in our best camping chairs roundup. And we think it's one of the most stylish too, in an old-school Riviera kind of way. We've taken this chair everywhere so far this summer, from the campsite to the park to the beach and the riverbank, and it hasn't let us down.

The Pathfinder Lite is ideal for hot weather camping or chilling at the beach or park during a heat wave because it has full mesh panels. They encourage greater airflow, so you stay cooler when sitting and don't succumb to a yucky build-up of sweat.

In terms of comfort, you can really sink into the soft fabric back yet still feel supported. This Robens camping chair is also easy to get out of. You may think that’s an odd thing to say, but if you've ever sat in a deep camping chair, you'll know that getting out of those things is no easy task if you want to do so with an ounce of grace.

Finally, unfolding and folding the Pathfinder Lite is simple and fast. It also comes with a carry bag that attaches to the base of the chair—handy, as that means there's no chance of the bag blowing away in the breeze. The only slight drawback is that it's on the pricier side, especially compared to the similar Trekology Yizi Go higher up this list.

Best for heavy people

If you don't want to sacrifice comfort, this Alpha Camp Oversized chair is the best camping chair for you. It's big, padded, and very heavy-duty, so it'll last. There are also enough built-in features that once you're set up and sat down, you don't need to move again.

Fancy a cold drink? Take it out of the cooler bag and pop it into the stable cup holder. Want to read a magazine? There's a side pocket to store those in, too (also useful for stashing your phone safely).

As you might expect, you won't want to strap this onto your hiking backpack for a multi-day walking trip. It's heavy and bulky, and although it does fold up to pop into your car boot, this is still very much one for the glamping crowd. 

Best heated

The Vango Radiate DLX camping chair is designed to provide enhanced comfort and warmth for outdoor enthusiasts. It features a robust steel frame with a texturized finish that supports up to 140kg (22st).

The chair includes a large padded seat and backrest made from 'Radiate Heather' fabric, known for its high quality and durability. One of its standout features is the built-in heating element, which is powered by a USB power bank (not included). The heating system is simple to operate with a one-button control and provides warmth to the lower back area using a flexible Graphene heating element.

Comfort-wise, the Vango Radiate DLX is highly adjustable, with armrests that allow you to change the angle of the backrest from upright to almost horizontal. The chair is praised for its supportive design, making it suitable for various body sizes. It folds flat for easy storage and transport, although it is not particularly lightweight at 5.86kg. This makes it more suitable for glamping, caravanning, or back-garden use rather than hiking or backpacking.

Despite its lack of cup holders and storage pockets, the Vango Radiate DLX stands out for its comfort and the added luxury of built-in heating, making it a great option for chilly evenings outdoors.

Read our full Vango Radiate DLX review.

How to choose the best camping chair for you

For the most part, these types of folding chairs are lightweight and portable. But some are heavier than the average, and that’s because they’re packing in more padding or other goodies to deliver higher levels of sitting comfort.

So if you're driving to the campsite and can afford to take heavier gear, you literally have your pick of the best camping chairs listed in this guide, as weight won't matter. If you're heading to the park or beach for the day and want a portable chair to carry with you on foot, you’re best off sticking to one of the lighter camping chairs featured.

We'll highlight the weight of each different model (you can find this information in the spec section) and point out which ones we’d recommend for car camping, for example, or for more portable use. Maximum seat load is another thing to look out for, as some camping chairs hold more weight than others. The most common materials used on these types of folding chairs are polyester and PVC-coated polyester fabric, which are wiped clean. Frames are usually either aluminium or steel. 

How we test the best camping chairs

At T3 we place a high value on the authenticity of the product advice we offer, and each of the camping chairs featured here has been extensively field tested by our outdoor-expert reviewers. The chairs have been taken out on camping trips and various al fresco adventures, and put through their paces on a variety of terrain types, to assess how easy they are to transport and put up. Each has then been tested against a set of criteria, including design, features, functionality, stability, build, material quality and robustness. 

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