Family Camping in the UK: The Sites Worth Visiting and How to Make the Trip Memorable

A camping trip is among the most reliably remembered childhood experiences. Not because it is always comfortable, but because it is different — you sleep differently, eat differently, and are together in a way that ordinary life does not allow. This guide covers the best family camping sites in the UK and how to make the experience one your children will tell their own children about.

Why camping creates strong family memories

The camping trip that goes slightly wrong — the tent that takes an hour to put up, the night that was colder than expected, the rain that came at exactly the wrong moment — is often the one children remember most fondly. Adversity overcome together creates narrative. Smooth, comfortable holidays are pleasant but forgettable.

Camping also creates conditions that ordinary family life rarely provides: genuine unstructured outdoor time, meals cooked together from a limited kit, and evenings spent by a fire without screens. These are the conditions under which the best conversations happen.

The best family camping sites in the UK

The Lake District

Coniston, Windermere, and the quieter valleys to the east of the main tourist routes offer excellent family camping. Low Wray (National Trust, on the shore of Windermere) is one of the best family sites in England — clean facilities, direct lake access, and beautiful views. Book months in advance for summer.

For something quieter, Sykeside Camping in Hartsop (near Brothers Water) offers direct access to some of the Lake District's most manageable fells for families with older children.

Pembrokeshire, Wales

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has some of the most spectacular camping in the UK. Treginnis Isaf near St David's is wild and beautiful — rocky coastline, clear water, and an almost entirely unspoiled landscape. Caerfai Farm sits on the clifftop above Caerfai Bay, with direct access to a sandy cove below.

The Yorkshire Dales

Quieter than the Lake District and arguably more dramatic in places. Gordale Scar Campsite sits in the limestone gorge below one of the UK's most spectacular natural features, which you can walk to from the campsite in five minutes. Rukin's Park Campsite near Hawes offers excellent facilities and easy access to the Pennine Way.

The Scottish Highlands

Under Scotland's Land Reform Act, wild camping is legal anywhere in Scotland — a unique freedom in the UK. For families wanting facilities, Inver Campsite near Dunkeld is a beautifully designed site on the banks of the River Braan with excellent facilities and easy access to Perthshire's forests.

The New Forest

The New Forest Forestry Commission campsites are consistently excellent — clean, well-maintained, with the ponies wandering through and miles of accessible forest on the doorstep. Holmsley and Ocknell are among the best for families.

Cornwall

The Lizard Peninsula has some of Cornwall's best camping away from the main tourist honeypots. Teneriffe Farm near Coverack offers coastal access, beautiful views, and a genuinely farm-like setting that children love.

What to bring for family camping (the essentials)

• A tent that goes up in under twenty minutes — tunnel tents are better for families than dome tents; they have more usable space
• Sleeping bags rated 2–3°C lower than the forecast minimum — UK summer nights are colder than they look in the forecast
• A roll mat or inflatable sleeping mat for each person — warmth from below is more important than warmth from above
• A camping stove and basic cookware — you do not need elaborate camp kitchen equipment; one pot, one pan, and a kettle
• A mallet and pegs — even on mild nights, a tent needs to be properly pegged
• Head torches, one per person — children love the autonomy of their own torch
• Waterproofs for everyone — always
• Wellies or waterproof walking shoes — morning grass is always wet

How to make the trip memorable

The camping activities that children remember are not the ones you plan — they are the incidental ones. The slug they found under the porch mat. The fire they helped build. The way it smelled in the morning when you made the first coffee.

A few intentional additions that consistently work:

• A campfire — where allowed. Build it with children, let them feed it (safely), and sit around it after dark. This is the single most memory-forming camping activity.
• Stargazing — away from city lights, UK skies are extraordinary on a clear night. Download a star map app beforehand.
• An unscheduled day — do not plan every day of the camping trip. Leave one day entirely unscheduled and see what happens. Usually what happens is the best day of the holiday.