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With the Summer holidays just around the corner it’s time to shake out that picnic blanket and enjoy a bit of al fresco dining. If you haven’t got a picnic blanket or yours needs to updating to something more suitable for your needs, then you are in the right place! Here are 8 of the best picnic mats available on the market right now as recommended by us and other travel and lifestyle bloggers.
1. Recommended for being Multi-Purpose
The Brug by Wunderlife
Karen from Mini Travellers has her own favourite which is the Wunderlife Brug.
- Size: 150 cm x 150 cm
- Price: £49.99
- Material: hard wearing, water resistant polyester
“I made the mistake the first time I took the Brug out of packing it as I would a normal picnic blanket and taking it in addition to my bag full of picnic things. This is not the right thing to do as I’d say the Brug is heavy to carry in another bag. The point is you don’t need another bag, you put everything into the Brug. Literally you throw it all in and off you go. For me this works better when you’re leaving the beach as it literally took seconds to throw it all in, buckets spades and more and off you go!”
Buy online at www.wearewunderlife.com
You can read a comparison of the Brug and PACMAT here too!
2. Recommended for being Lightweight
PACMAT Family Waterproof Picnic Mat from Rubbastuff
Two votes for the PACMAT.
Laura of thehelpfulhiker.com is a huge fan of her Butterflies Family Waterproof Picnic Mat.
- Size: 140 cm x 140 cm
- Price: £39.99
- Material: microfibre polyester surface; water-proof rip stop nylon base
“I absolutely adore our PACMAT. So beautiful, yet durable and waterproof. It’s also super lightweight and folds up tiny. I take it camping and on days out. It’s always in my bag and and ready to be unfurled at a moments notice.”
Karen from Mini Travellers also agrees and is never without hers on a day out. She has the butterfly one but also a National Trust one from the new collection.
Buy online at https://rubbastuff.com
3. Recommended for being Comfortable
Family Picnic Blanket from Great Little Trading Company
Michelle of www.whatmummythinks.co.uk swears by her Family Picnic Blanket from the Great Little trading Company.
- Size: 135 cm x 180 cm
- Price: £40
- Material: 100% cotton top; water-resistant 100% polyester reverse; 100% polyester wadding
“We have a super one from GLTC which has a waterproof base and also carry handles when folded to keep it compact. It’s comfy and a great size.”
Buy similar online at https://search.gltc.co.uk/children/Picnic-Rug . There is currently 20% off!
4. Recommended Small Mat
Outdoor Rug by Vertbaudet
- Size: 150 cm x 90 cm
- Price: £19.50
- Material: 100% polyurethane
Emma from readyfreddiego.com loves the Vertbaudet Outdoor Rug (which can be used indoors as well as outdoors!).
“This is an outdoor rug style blanket and it’s vinyl but really soft. It rolls up really easily and is so light and easy to clean. I love that grass doesn’t stick to it, it’s versatile too, from the garden to the beach!”
Buy online from https://www.vertbaudet.co.uk
5. Recommended as Value for Money
Outdoor Reversible Picnic Blanket from TK Maxx
Emma of www.fuelledbylatte.com is really impressed with her new Outdoor Reversible Picnic Blanket from TK Maxx.
- Size: 127 cm x 152 cm
- Price: £12.99
- Material: 100% polyester
“I love the range of funky colours that this picnic blanket is made in. It is water repellent and double sided too so if you’re out all day and it gets dirty on one side you can just flip it over. The material feels good quality and the blankets are slightly padded so more comfortable on hard ground, and yet they are still small enough to fit in a neat little travel bag with a carry handle. I think they are great value for money.”
Buy online or instore https://www.tkmaxx.com
6. Recommended for the Beach
SONGMICS Beach Blanket
Kelly, one of the writers here at Mini Travellers, jumped at the chance to tell us all about her favourite super-sized picnic mat: the SONGMICS Beach Blanket.
- Size: 215 cm x 275 cm
- Price: £9.99
- Material: nylon
“We got this last year to just have in a bag when we went out, when we didn’t know if we’d be sitting down or not. Well, it folds down into a very small bag, is nice and big (easily seats 6-8 for a picnic), comes with ‘tent pegs’ for grass and inbuilt sand pockets for the beach, has a zipped pockets for valuables, it’s a strong parachute type material, water and sand just slide off it…. and it’s ridiculously reasonably priced! It’s not padded so you get a sore bum on hard ground and we still use our traditional padded picnic blanket if we’re going to be sitting for a long time. It lives in the car boot in the summer and we always stick it in the backpack if we’re going off somewhere for a wander, this simple picnic ‘blanket’ has become invaluable!”
7. Recommended for being So Big!
Jumbo 3 x 4M Picnic Blanket by QualityDiscounts.com
Jade from www.mummieswaiting.com got in touch with us to tell us about this huge picnic blanket.
- Size: 300 cm x 400 cm
- Price: £19.99
- Material: not stated
“We have a picnic blanket which we got from QD. It’s got a waterproof back and is nice and colourful, but my favourite feature is that is so BIG! We can easily lay across it and fit so many people on it!It’s great if we go to park meetups or local events because we can either have a bit more space or make new friends by inviting people to share the blanket if they don’t have their own.
Buy online at https://www.qdstores.co.uk
8. Recommended as a Good All-Rounder
SONGMICS XL Picnic Blanket
Tracey from www.packthepjs.com loves their SONGMICS XL Picnic Blanket for dining al fresco!
- Size: 200 cm x 200 cm
- Price: £17.99
- Material: flannel surface
“We LOVE our SONGMICS picnic blanket. It’s the only one we’ve had that is large enough for us all to sit on. And the daisy design is so happy! The blanket measure 200cm x 200cm. It has a waterproof backing and soft padding between the outer and inner layers. It is tear resistant and sand proof – it’s just a really large, colourful, durable picnic blanket. It also has a built-in carry handle, though we’re not very good at rolling it back up!” Click here to read more of Tracey’s Guide to Al Fresco Dining – IT’S PICNIC TIME!
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Woow. Nice. Thanks