The key question is whether you are carrying it / cycling with it.
If you are carrying it then consider...
proper brand names such as Wild-country, Hilleberg and the like. They
are very nice but relatively expensive (mine's a Wild-country - v. happy
customer and all that). I've also used a Vaude, and been extremely
impressed with the severe conditions it stood up in - bearing in mind it
wasn't even claimed as a proper mountain tent. The Vaude was also
exceptionally easy to put up too - a big advantage when you're moving on
each day, or it's raining and you arrive late etc.The improvements over
cheap tents are in small details - rather than overall design. Worth it in
my opinion, but poorer value all the same so it depends on how much you'll
use one, and budget etc. So if I had to carry / cycle with it, I'd probably
get a Hilleberg, and pay the considerable money, or perhaps a Vaude
(slightly cheaper) - which stood up to some very severe conditions on one
occasion.. These are typically 3 feet high style tents, so probably not
ideal for you, unless you really have to carry yourself.
On the other hand, if you will be car-camping ...
then there is a great deal to be said for a family camping tent, or
something close to it. Also even the cheaper tents in this sector are still
reasonably good. In my humble opinion, the traditional frame tent is now
obsolete, as it's really so heavy, and a team effort to put up (but v. good
as living-space). I think I'd get something like a giant hiking tents - with
a room one or both ends . Perhaps something like this, or at least this sort
of design (though I've not actually used this exact one)
http://www.fieldandtrek.com/product.asp?cat_id=EQUITENTFAMI&pf_id=32573&cid=SYU7UEYCG7CAQQLYEF9OYII5NYG89ZBW
Vango do one similar which I have sat in all day on a very rainy trip, and
which wasn't too bad to put up
However one design I'd avoid looks just like a giant-sized geodesic
4-crossed-pole mountain tent - very good at first glance, but to put it up
relies on you first erecting two small inner tents an exact distance appart
then putting the overall flysheet over both. This is just daft and is a
pain.
Some tents exist looking like a star-shapped moonbase (possibly also
Vango) - but these are a pain to put up - needing a team-effort - too much
so in my view. Although spacious once it's done.
There is a secondary question as to whether you are stopping in one place
for a week, or moving on every few days - this gives you the big, luxury
tent, versus modest, easy to put up, equation.
If you're going to France at some point, then Decathlon often do tents
extremely cheaply at the end of a season. Their own brands, though inferior
in various small details, than the "designer labels", are still stoking good
value for what they are. Vangos etc also appear in Decathlon I'm told.
Another thought is that there's really no point in a proper mountain tent
for camping on campsites. On my caving trips, cavers being "outdoor types"
have all bought small mountaineering tents, but on wet days, everone seems
to be sitting in someone's family tent, not skulking in their small mountain
tents !
Another, ostensibly obvious, comment is that (unless you have to physically
carry it), there is no point buying special camping saucepans and plates
etc. Use proper saucepans and china plates from home rather than some daft 1
thou' aluminium nonsense which burns the food. Similarly it's better to eat
proper food than dehydrated space-porridge and the like.
Cheers
Hywel
