From festivals to glamping: 20 nice UK campsites with a distinction | United Kingdom holidays

For lively individuals

Mountain climbing, Shropshire
Wild Contentment is a small, off-grid campsite in a meadow on the far finish of a dairy farm close to Oswestry. There are a handful of pitches for tents, campervans or caravans, plus two bell tents and three “Beryls” – transformed horse trailers with flushing bathrooms, showers and copper rolltop baths. The location, which is Greener Tenting Membership-certified, is a brief stroll from Llanymynech Rocks, and the house owners have teamed up with a neighborhood climbing teacher to supply half-day climbing periods (£50pp). New for 2023 are occasional exercise weekends, with yoga, climbing and abseiling (the primary is 13-14 Might, from £105 an evening). The entire web site sleeps 46 and will be employed from £400 an evening.
Pitches from £20, wildcontentment.com

Mountain adventures, County Down

East Coast Journey, in Knockbarragh valley simply exterior Rostrevor, runs actions within the mountains of Mourne and on Carlingford Lough. They embody guided walks, mountain-bike teaching and moist river bouldering (additionally referred to as gorge strolling or ghyll scrambling). Onsite actions embody a climbing tower and an archery space. Visitors can keep in six primary glamping pods – BYO sleeping bag, pillow, meals and toiletries (pods even have their very own outside hearth pits). There may be additionally a communal pod with a fireplace pit, an outside kitchen hut and a rest room/bathe block. The location is near Newry, midway between Belfast and Dublin on the east coast.
Glamping pods for 4 £90 an evening, eastcoastadventure.com

Lakeside, Cumbria

Park Foot tenting and touring park has three tenting fields on the banks of Ullswater, appropriate for tents, caravans and motorhomes. The location has its personal seaside and boat launch, and campers can go paddleboarding, kayaking or wakesurfing (like wakeboarding, however with out holding a rope – so even more durable). There’s a bar/restaurant and a store, and raised barbecues are allowed, however not campfires. The location is a mile from Pooley Bridge on the northern finish of the lake – the Ullswater steamers boats name there and at Glenridding, Aira Pressure and Howtown.
Pitch for 4 from £30, parkfootullswater.co.uk

Watersport mecca, Nottinghamshire

Holme Pierrepont nation park is the house of the Nationwide Water Sports activities Centre, in addition to an eight-hectare (19-acre) campsite. There are pitches for tents, campervans and motorhomes, plus tenting pods. It’s the excellent place for an aquatic exercise break, with white-water rafting and tubing, a Whole Wipeout-style inflatable impediment course on the lagoon, paddleboarding and kayaking. Land-based actions embody a high-ropes course and “fight archery” – a cross between archery, dodgeball and paintball. There are many biking and strolling routes within the 109-hectare park.
Pitches for as much as 4 from £28, nwscnotts.com

Wing foiling, Essex

Household-run Malting Farm, in Little Bentley, has a small glamping glade between a wildflower meadow and a stream. There are 4 bell tents with tea-light chandeliers, a fireplace pit and barbecue space with picnic benches, plus three cabins and two treehouses. The farm has a reservoir the place visitors can go swimming, fishing, paddleboarding and take wing-foiling classes. After mastering the fundamentals of this kite browsing/paddleboarding hybrid sport, it’s simply 20 minutes’ drive to the closest seashores to strive it on the open water.
From £120 an evening for as much as eight in two tents (tents are employed in pairs), maltingfarm.co.uk

Biking, Norfolk

Clippesby Corridor, a vacation park three miles from Acle within the Norfolk Broads, has eight tenting areas, from secluded pitches within the woods to open lawns the place kids can play collectively. There may be an onsite cycle rent centre, so visitors can discover the paths across the park or the quiet lanes of the Broads. Different services embody grass tennis courts, a mini golf course, an journey play space with zipwires and a soccer pitch. The bar, kitchen and store are open all day for breakfast baps, mild lunches, afternoon truffles, night pizzas and burgers, and Sunday roasts.
Pitch for 2 from £25, clippesbyhall.com

Horse driving, Suffolk
Bardwell Manor Equestrian Centre close to Bury St Edmunds has a small campsite with simply 5 pitches for tents, caravans or motorhomes. It’s subsequent to an orchard and surrounded by grazing horses. Campers can guide driving classes, from a half-hour newbie’s lesson within the college to an hour’s hack on village roads and bridleways. Eager riders may even carry their very own horses for a vacation (from £18 an evening for grazing). The location is a 25-minute stroll from Ixworth village, which has pubs, outlets and a restaurant.
Pitch for 2 from £18, bardwell-equestrian.co.uk

For nature lovers

Rewilding, West Sussex

The campsite on the 1,400-hectare Knepp Property – one of many greatest rewilding tasks in Europe – is a wildflower meadow on the sting of historical woodland. Every pitch has its personal upcycled hearth pit and barbecue grill, and campers share the new showers, open-air baths, camp kitchen and pizza oven. There’s a wild swimming pond and glamping choices, too (bell tents, yurts, shepherd’s huts and tree homes). There are 16 miles of walks, with 5 tree viewing platforms and a hen conceal overlooking Knepp Lake, and visitors can guide a safari to view the free-roaming deer, ponies, pigs and cattle; endangered nightingales and turtle doves; varied owl species; 13 sorts of bat and the UK’s greatest inhabitants of purple emperor butterflies. From £20 an evening, knepp.co.uk

Yurts, North Yorkshire

Swallowtails, a glampsite close to Pickering on the sting of the North York Moors, has yurts and bell tents. All of them have correct beds, woodburners and fridges; yurts even have skylights for stargazing and en suite rest room sheds. All have a hob in a coated arbour, a barbecue and a fireplace pit, plus indoor and outside seating and hammocks. Throughout college holidays, there are nature-led artwork workshops for youngsters and pizza-making nights (each twice every week). Adults can guide yoga lessons, therapeutic massage and scorching tub periods.
From £110, sleeps 5, swallowtailholidays.co.uk

Clifftop tenting, Carmarthenshire

Thorning Farm, a clifftop family-run farm close to Tenby, proper on the Wales Coast Path, has diversified into tenting and glamping. Every tent pitch sleeps six and has its personal compost rest room, a fireplace pit with a grill for cooking and a picnic desk. There are additionally campervan pitches and geodesic domes, and a farm store. The fields across the tenting areas have been left wild and are actually a habitat for bats, barn owls and different wildlife. The location is licensed by the Greener Tenting Membership. Campers have panoramic views over Caldey Island and the coast, together with seven-mile Pendine Sands, and are inside strolling distance of Marros and Morfa Bychan seashores.
Pitches from £18, lowered charges for coast path walkers and cyclists on route 4, thorningfarmglamping.co.uk

For foodies

Winery, East Sussex

Tillingham, a 28-hectare winery and farm close to Rye in East Sussex, has two luxurious bell tents with views over vines, woodland and hills. They’ve kingsized beds, woodburners and bathrooms, plus their very own bathe rooms with Haeckels toiletries. The onsite wine bar serves cheese and charcuterie from midday until 9 each day, woodfired pizzas are rustled up within the Dutch barn and the restaurant runs a four-course backyard menu within the evenings, serving homegrown and farmed produce, and fish from Rye harbour. There may be additionally a set lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, and a feasting menu on Sundays. Winery excursions embody tastings of 4 pure, biodynamic wines (£35).
Bell tent from £170 B&B, tillingham.com

Forage and feast, Monmouthshire

Penhein Glamping, a family-run farm and glampsite close to Chepstow, has eight Persian tents to remain in, with woodburners, kitchens and toilet pods. There’s a tuck store promoting native produce together with Penhein honey, and a pantry stocked with selfmade meals that may be heated on the range or hearth pit. {Couples} can guide a Persian woodland banquet or a fireplace pit fine-dining expertise; teams can go for a hog roast or rent a horsebox cocktail bar. There are food-based actions, too, from foraging (for gin botanicals, mushrooms and extra) to campfire cookery lessons. Meals apart, new actions this yr vary from birdsong safaris to axe throwing.
From £295 for 2 nights, sleeps 5, penhein.co.uk

Cider farm, Dorset

On the (adults-only) Dorset Nectar cider farm close to Bridport, campers pitch tents amongst 3,000 apple timber. Every tent is in its personal row of timber, about 5 metres extensive and 45 metres lengthy, so there’s loads of room for personal cooking (hearth pits can be found), however there’s additionally a cider backyard with a communal barbecue and pizza oven. Meals vehicles go to at weekends, and there’s a store promoting native produce. Better of all is the tasting room, which serves a minimum of 12 varieties of selfmade cider. Guests can tour the farm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Footpaths result in the River Brit, there’s a pub half a mile away and it’s a 15-minute drive to West Bay seaside.
Pitch £16pp, dorsetnectar.co.uk

For a pageant vibe

Music and meals, Hertfordshire

Residence Farm’s glamping meadow on the 60-hectare Aldenham Property is only a 10-minute taxi experience from a Thameslink station and essentially the most northerly stops on the Jubilee and Northern tube traces. Visitors keep in a dozen bell tents and yurts with their very own outside seating, hearth pits and barbecues, and may participate in a lot of occasions and actions. New occasions on the web site this yr embody a “wild writing” workshop with eco poet Helen Moore, plus watercolour workshops, bat walks and rewilding days. The mini pageant sequence At Residence Farm returns for a 3rd yr, with stay music and comedy on the woodland stage, woodfired feasts hosted by visitor cooks within the meadow, and a visiting classic circus.
From £100 an evening for 4, homefarmglamping.com

Weekends solely, Worcestershire

Out To Grass, a countryside campsite close to the Malvern Hills 12 miles west of Worcester, is open solely on choose weekends in the summertime for family-friendly, festival-style occasions. They vary from the One thing Totally different music pageant in Might to a solstice celebration in June and stargazing in August. The ultimate occurring is August Financial institution Vacation Shenanigans, with stay music, storytelling, road meals, therapeutic massage and extra. Guests can select to camp or guide a bell pod. The location can be out there for personal rent from Might to September. The Main’s Arms, which has a beer backyard with an excellent view, is a stroll away throughout fields.
From £30pp for 2 nights, outtograss.com

Summer time pop-ups, Norfolk and Hampshire

The Caravan and Motorhome Membership, which has been operating two pop-up campsites for touring autos for the previous two summers, is opening them to tents this yr. The websites are within the grounds of Holkham Corridor in Norfolk and the Beaulieu Property in Hampshire. Campers will get pleasure from discounted entry to Beaulieu, the place points of interest embody the Nationwide Motor Museum, and Holkham. Each websites have supersized family-and-friends pitches, which two tents can share. There shall be occasions reminiscent of meals festivals on chosen weekends.
From £39 for 2 at Beaulieu, 4-31 July, and from £41 at Holkham, 11 July to 17 September

For teams

Walkers’ retreat, Firle, East Sussex

This yr The Fold, a campsite on the Firle Property close to Lewes, is obtainable solely as an unique rent for teams of as much as 70: campers can pitch their very own tents or guide bell tents. The location isn’t accessible by automobile so visitors park in a close-by automobile park and ferry their equipment in wheelbarrows. There are hammocks, campfires and a sheltered seating space, plus scorching showers, compost bathrooms and consuming water piped from a borehole. The location is on the South Downs Manner, with two pubs in strolling distance. The Area at Firle is ready to open later this yr for regular tenting, too.
£15pppn, with a minimal spend of £900, which covers as much as 30 individuals for 2 nights, woodfire.co.uk

Off-grid, Isle of Wight

Eco-friendly Camp Wight is on a household farm within the west of the island, two miles from Yarmouth. It has about 30 plots in meadows, woodland copses and beneath oak timber. Campers can pitch their very own tents or rent a hammock, tent, tensile tent or geodesic dome. There are hearth pits to hire (upcycled from washing-machine drums), compost bathrooms and solar-powered showers. The location is unlit, to facilitate stargazing, so a head torch is useful. It’s a five-minute stroll to the pub and a mile to the closest store. Visitors can guide individually or rent the entire web site.
From £20 an evening for 2 adults and two kids (£5 low cost for car-free travellers), or from £1,000 an evening for unique rent, sleeps 130, campwight.co.uk

Yoga and sauna, Pembrokeshire

This Kip Hideaways glampsite contains a clutch of cabins in woodland. There are three sleeping cabins, a kitchen cabin stocked with selfmade Welshcakes and native Barti rum (made with seaweed), a yoga studio, a woodfired sauna, a bell tent with kids’s video games and a campfire. Visitors can order breakfast and barbecue hampers, as the closest pubs, outlets and eating places are three miles away. Westfield Capsule nature reserve, a habitat for otters, is inside strolling distance, and it’s a brief drive to Pembrokeshire seashores and market cities reminiscent of Narberth.
From £295 an evening, sleeps eight, kiphideaways.com

Camp and cook dinner, Herefordshire

As much as 10 individuals can pitch tents in Maggie’s Area close to the village of Staunton-on-Wye. This exclusive-use campsite backs on to an orchard and a nature reserve. Components have been put aside for wildflowers, brambles and self-seeding blackthorn and hawthorn and extra timber, together with candy chestnuts and area maples, have been planted. Amenities embody a compost bathroom, washstand, cook dinner hut and canopied trestle desk; there may be additionally a fireplace pit, a barbecue and a tree swing in an excellent oak. It’s a four-minute drive to the River Wye and the location is inside 10 miles of Hereford and Hay-on-Wye.
From £90 an evening for 5, plus £20 for every extra camper as much as 10, maggiesfield.camp