There are many types of tent accessories out there. One particularly important feature is a tent vestibule. A tent vestibule is a protected area along the front or the sides of a tent. It provides additional space outside of the walls of the tent but under a rain fly. This gives a camper extra space that's outside of their tent but still a part of it, which is ideal for many purposes.
With that extra space, you can leave muddy boots or clothes outside your tent, leave other gear outside so it doesn't take up tent space, or even have some room to cook, which is much safer than doing it inside the tent. In other words, a vestibule is a lot like having a small porch for your tent.
Do You Need a Vestibule?
Well, it's not that vestibule is absolutely necessary. However, it certainly never hurts to have a tent with a covered entrance. Indeed, the added fabric of a vestibule makes your tent a little bulkier and just a little heavier, but ultimately, it's almost always worth it.
If you’re camping with multiple people in one tent, vestibules are extremely necessary for efficiently keeping as much space open within the tent available as possible. If it rains and gets muddy, a vestibule is perfect for keeping your boots out of the elements but also outside of your tent, keeping your tent free of dirt and mud.
Ultimately, a tent with a vestibule is almost always better than a tent without one. It doesn't add much weight or bulk and offers a lot of functionality in return.
Top 10 Tents With Vestibules 2023
Now that we've talked about what tent vestibules are and why you should consider getting one before you go camping — let’s go over some of the best tents with vestibules.
Ayamaya Pop Up Tent with Vestibule
The Ayamaya Pop Up Tent has several noteworthy features. It can fit up to 6 people, making it a particularly large tent with vast floor space and a center height of 4+ feet. The vestibule design provides a great deal of room for all sorts of storage so that even a pet can sleep in the area.
There's an electrical cord access port to run a power cord to an outside source. It comes with storage pockets and a lantern hook in order to keep things organized within this dome tent.
Also of note is the double layer construction of the tent, with an outer layer and an inner layer that has some space between them to prevent condensation and act as a venting system. This allows the regulation of temperature for both warm weather camping and winter camping.
It comes with pre-assembled poles that make setup a process that only takes a few minutes at most. It has two large doors and rear hooded vents, as well as four zippered windows. All of these have a mesh layer so you can open up for ventilation without letting any bugs in. Double-sided zippers are standard, and the entire structure is waterproof.
Although it may seem a bit pricy, this is a massive tent with many excellent features and offers great value for the money.
The Coleman Cabin Camping Tent has an enclosed screen porch that efficiently adds more space compared to other tents designed to house four people. The weatherproof vestibule space has enough room for more than one person to sleep below.
The cabin style tent comes with a detachable rainfly and a floor that is shaped like a tub. That includes welded corners and inverted seams, all of which help prevent water from getting into the tent. The robust nature of this frame allows the tent to survive wind speeds up to 35 mph.
The size of it is so great that average height campers can stand straight up inside of it, thanks to the six-foot ceiling and 11 x 8 ft. floor space (adequate enough for a stove jack), which is enough to fit a queen-sized air mattress. It has panoramic windows for great lighting and ground vents for air ventilation.
This tent is admittedly quite expensive compared to others, but few cabin tents are as spacious as this one with a large front vestibule.
The Nassi Equipment Feirr Collection is a much more affordable tent than the previous entries, but it’s not as luxurious as them. It makes a much better budget option and has enough space for two people to sleep. Plus, a rainfly vent that provides ventilation even on rainy days and has two spacious vestibules.
It's easy to set up thanks to aluminum color-coded poles and clip system. It comes with some exciting additions, including a rain fly, guy ropes, aluminum stakes, a carry bag, and a repair kit. You can also still bring a sleeping bag along without any additional weight issues.
The tent has a vestibule space area that is around 18+ square feet. The total weight is only around six pounds, making it very light and easy to carry around if you’re camping in the wilderness and have to do a lot of hiking on your own or with kids.
The Kelty Salida Camping Tent is designed explicitly for backpackers, meaning portability is the primary design philosophy since it’s used for hiking long distances. To achieve that, it comes with gear loft loops, color-coded clips, fly attachments, and folding poles. It's made of polyester and nylon. The tent comes with a roll-top cube carry bag, and it’s free-standing.
It's a relatively small tent at 30.5 square feet for the main area and a vestibule area of 10 square feet. However, that's still more than enough room for two people. There's only one door, and it weighs a little less than five pounds, which is on the lower end of the weight spectrum.
Admittedly, this tent is a little pricy for the relative lack of unique features that it has. The most noteworthy thing about it is that it is very light, making it easy to carry around when hiking or backpacking.
The DEERFAMY Easy Pop-Up Tent is a three-person tent that is slightly different from some other options because it’s big and somewhat bulky. Since it’s a pop-up tent, very little construction is required to set it up or take it down.
It comes with two doors, two large windows on the side, and a top window. It has a vestibule of sorts, but it's more of an extended roof. It doesn't include any kind of floor or wall aspect, limiting its use to providing cover from the sun. The vestibule tent has a rating of UPF 50+ sun protection. All of the windows and the door can also be closed to your choosing.
It's worth noting this tent is not in any way suitable for heavy rain or harsh weather. It's a tent for some light camping. As far as tents designed for heavy-duty hiking and camping, it probably isn't the best choice.
Unlike many of the others on this list, this tent has a variable price range because you can order it in a variety of sizes, ranging from two to four people.
Of course, that also means the amount of space in each tent depends on the size of the tent that you order. The fabric is polyester, and the poles are made of fiberglass.
The three-person tent has a maximum height of 4.8+ feet and a floor area of eight by seven feet. The other two models are smaller or larger in all dimensions respectively. It has an entire mesh interior and a full rainfly to keep everything warm. You can buy it in several colors, including gold, orange, and red.
It has inverted seams, waterproof floors, wind-resistant frames, and zipper protection. The vestibule does not include a floor, but it provides a roof over the tent entrance. There are also storage pockets for keeping things safe.
The NTK INDY tent is designed to fit 4-5 people. It has one door and is very easy to assemble.
It has a double-layer full-coverage rainfly that makes it 100% waterproof, and it has a thermoplastic coating that makes it UV resistant, perfect for summer camping. Most notable is the huge vestibule it has — in fact, almost half the tent is a vestibule, providing campers with a huge front porch.
The frame of the tent is also imposing, made of nano-flex fiberglass poles with double gold chrome plated ferrule hardware, making the structure very durable. It has a breathable micromesh designed to keep you safe while also letting air in, increasing breathability.
The tent’s floor is designed in a tub style and has a silver-coated inner layer to prevent leaks and keep water out while also being fire retardant. With an occupancy of five people, it's a large, tough, and comfortable tent with a large vestibule with both a roof and floor. It's costly but has many features to justify the price.
The ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 3 person tent is very lightweight and designed to fit three people. It's free-standing and easy to set up with two strong aluminum poles. There's a polyester tent fly that resists UV and water and also creates two vestibules offering sufficient ample space.
The tent comes with eight zippers, a gear loft, storage pockets, guy ropes, stakes, and two doorways. A coated floor protects from the water and factory-sealed seams.
It's a reasonably durable and rugged tent while remaining fairly lightweight, though not as much as a hammock, but still an excellent choice for people who are hiking long distances. While it can fit three people, there's no denying that it would be a decently tight fit.
The GEERTOP Backpacking Tent is decently priced and is made of 210T anti-tear checkered polyester that is tough enough to resist both abrasions and tears. It's also UV and water-resistant, allowing it to shrug off snow and rain.
It also has two layers, giving you the option to add the second one if needed. The way the layers are used together gives excellent ventilation in both warm and cold weather. The double-stitched seams are sealed and can keep out harsh weather.
Perhaps the most notable part of this two-person tent is how compact it is. It has a lightweight storage bag and can easily be set up by just one person in a few minutes. Being lightweight and pretty compact, it can be easily carried in a backpack by one person, making it ideal for backpacking or hiking.
The MSR Elixir is noteworthy on this list because it’s the only one designed for just a single person. It’s one of the lightest tents on the list as well and is about 3+ feet tall.
It's simple to set up, using a freestanding system with color-coded poles, webbing, and clips. The vestibules are small but also color-coded to make it easier to set them up properly. Mesh and solid fabric panels allow the vestibule tent to offer privacy but also warmth and excellent ventilation.
There's a rainfly included, and it has special pole geometry designed to optimize headroom for the sole occupant. It has several built-in lofts for gear as well. This one-person tent has glow-in-the-dark zippers, so it's easier to get in and out of the tent at night.
It’s the perfect option if you hike or camp solo since you don't need a large tent. If you’re concerned about weight, it doesn't get much lighter than this. The vestibule area isn't the largest but it's still provides decent value for the money.
Types of Tent Vestibules
Most vestibules offer the same functionality on the surface, but the only difference is where they are placed and whether or not they come with the tent in the first place. Still, there's enough of a distinction that we'll mention these types briefly.
- Front vestibules - These vestibules are located at the front entrance of your tent. The size of the vestibule varies by tent and has no fixed required size. The thing about front vestibules is that they are the only ones you have for some tents. That can make getting in and out of the tent cumbersome if the vestibule is cluttered.
- Side vestibules - These are found on either side of the tent. Some tents often have two vestibules, providing you with extra space. It also means that they are generally not in front of your door.
- Add-on Vestibules - Some tents don’t come with vestibules, but they have add-on vestibules that you could buy separately to attach. Once attached they function like any other vestibule. It depends on the tent whether they can add them or not.