Whether you love home comforts and hot tubs or pitching your tent on a remote mountainside, these are some of the best places for the perfect camping experience
Camping divides the crowd: some people love it, others really don’t. But we firmly believe that with the right set-up and a great campsite, anyone can be won over.
From pitching on a remote Atlantic island to luxury glamping in the Scottish Highlands, there really is a camping experience to suit everyone. And if you don’t love it already, it’s only because you’ve yet to find your tribe. Here, we’ve selected some of our favourite sites for each type.
Camping is great for enjoying time in nature, but there’s no need to go without. This tribe has it all – including the kitchen sink. They’re the ones with a proper cooking set-up, spacious dining tables and comfy chairs, watching while the rest of us battle with a tiny gas stove and grumbling knees. They’ll also want to know there’s every facility available, from a laundry room to a well-stocked shop.
‘Home from home’ campers are fond of creature comforts
(Photo: Supplied)Hayfield Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Derbyshire
In a sheltered valley below the Peak District’s highest point, Kinder Scout, Hayfield combines a stunning location with excellent on-site facilities including accessible washroom, drying room and children’s play area.
There are grass pitches for tents, or campers can opt for super-service hard-standing pitches with their own electricity, water and drainage.
This is outstanding walking country, with classic routes direct from the site, while Hayfield village has several great cafes.
From £14.70 (members) or £25 (non-members) per person per night, campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk
Mablethorpe Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Lincolnshire
A pebble’s-throw from the Lincolnshire coast, this well-appointed site offers a great range of different-sized and serviced pitches. Alongside the sparkling clean facilities, you’ll find a shop, Wi-Fi, laundry and dedicated dog walk.
Venturing out, there’s easy access to Mablethorpe’s expansive sandy beach, a great choice of local pubs and cafés in the village, and level cycleways to explore nearby.
Less than four miles south is Sandilands National Trust nature reserve, a former links golf course being returned to nature that also marks the start of the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park, which stretches to Chapel St Leonards.
From £14.70 (members) or £25 (non-members) per person per night, campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk
Pencelli Castle Caravan and Camping Park, Powys
The magnificent Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) are the backdrop to this family-run site, where you’ll find a laundrette, Wi-Fi and well-stocked shop, as well as a children’s play area. The spacious and spotless facility block has won awards.
With the Taff Cycle Trail passing the entrance, Pen y Fan – the highest point in the National Park – to climb, and a pub just down the road, there’s plenty to do on the doorstep, too.
From £14 per person per night, pencelli-castle.com
Pencelli Castle Caravan & Camping Park in Powys (Photo: Supplied)
With vast tents, a herd of energetic children and the need to cook large amounts of food quickly, family campers demand an understanding campsite. The best provide feral, free-roaming opportunities for the kids, with a nice, flat pitch and electricity and water on tap for the grown-ups.
River Dart Country Park, Devon
Set within 90 acres of the beautiful Dart Valley near Ashburton on the eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park, River Dart Country Park is a firm favourite with families.
There’s relaxed, riverside camping surrounded by ancient woodland, alongside a range of entertainment for children of all ages – from swimming in the lake or clambering about on the adventure playground to a bike park and high-wire course.
A short drive away you’ll find the wilds of Dartmoor and the south Devon coast with its many family-friendly beaches.
Pitches from £20, riverdart.co.uk
Low Greenside Farm, Cumbria
With glorious views during the day and dark skies at night, this friendly, spacious site in the unspoilt Westmorland Dales near Kirkby Stephen has the stunning Howgill Fells as its backdrop.
With award-winning environmental credentials, the facilities are warm and spotless, there are acres of space for kids to roam and fire pits are included – perfect for toasting marshmallows.
The Lake District is just across the M6 and road-trippers’ favourite Tebay Services close by, too.
Pitches from £25, lowgreensidefarmcampsite.co.uk
Castle Howard, North Yorkshire
This lakeside campsite is set within the 8,800-acre Castle Howard estate, with woodland, fells and gardens to explore. Kids will love Skelf Island, where there are treetop adventures, rope bridges, slides, nets and climbing equipment. The onsite shop stocks local produce, including Castle Howard Gin and ice-cream so there’s something for everyone. Nearby, York’s Jorvik Viking Centre is a great rainy-day option.
Pitches from £19, castlehowardholidayhomes.co.uk
Really wild camping – pitching on a mountainside between dusk and dawn and leaving no trace – is the ultimate escape. This tribe is keen to experience the freedom of sleeping out in nature within the reassuring bounds of a campsite, where they don’t have to sacrifice basic conveniences.
The Nearly Wild tribe like to go back to basics – with a few exceptions (Photo: Supplied)Knepp, West Sussex
Pitch in a wildflower meadow on the edge of an ancient wood that’s part of the 3,500-acre Knepp rewilding project for a wild camping experience with a difference.
The estate has turned a failing farm into a flourishing landscape of grassland roamed by free-ranging grazing animals and habitats to which rare species such as turtle doves and purple emperor butterflies have returned.
Campers will find solar lighting and charging for devices, a wood-fired pizza oven and communal room with comfy leather armchairs and wood-burning stove, a wild swimming pond and sauna in a converted horsebox.
From £20 per person per night, knepp.co.uk
The Knepp Estate’s wilderness kitchen (Photo: Knepp)Lee Valley Almost Wild Campsite, Hertfordshire
Choose from spacious riverside pitches, a secluded woodland glade, or simply sling a hammock between the trees for a wilderness adventure less than 20 miles from London near Broxbourne.
You won’t find organised entertainment, Wi-Fi or electric hook-up here, but with solar lighting, composting toilets and drinking water on tap, it’s the perfect spot for a truly off-grid experience.
RSPB Rye Meads is three miles north and the 1,000-acre Lee Valley Country Park – with its lakes, waterways and Olympic white-water rafting centre – is on the doorstep.
Pitches from £30, visitleevalley.org.uk/almost-wild-campsite
Bryher Campsite, Isles of Scilly 
Bryher Campsite is a short walk from seal-dotted beaches (Photo: James Osmond/Getty Images)
Friendly, family-run Bryher Campsite is tucked between two hills on the tiny island of Bryher – the smallest of Scilly’s inhabited islands.
It’s as peaceful as it gets, with no cars (visitors arrive by boat) and a background soundtrack of birdsong and the gentle wash of the waves.
Pick your own pitch and enjoy views to the Atlantic and the white sand beaches of neighbouring Tresco. There’s a village shop and pub on the island, as well as excellent cafés and restaurants, including Hell Bay’s popular Crab Shack. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a grey seal or two on Great Par beach.
From £13.50 per person per night, bryhercampsite.co.uk
Packing only the essentials, adventure campers favour tiny tents but big rucksacks, crammed with all the gear for exploring beyond the campsite. Proximity to the mountains, trails or coastline – as well as a great post-adventure pub – is a priority.
Adventurers like to embrace the basic spirit of camping
(Photo: Supplied)Great Langdale Campsite, Cumbria
Deep within the glacial valley of Great Langdale, surrounded by the jagged pinnacles of the Langdale Pikes, this friendly, National Trust-run campsite is right at the heart of the outdoor adventure action of the Lake District National Park. Whether you’re into fell running, rock climbing, ghyll scrambling or wild swimming, you’re spoiled for choice with activities on the doorstep.
Set yourself up for the day with freshly baked croissants from the well-stocked shop, then head over the road later to the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub – an institution in climbing circles – for post-adventure refreshments.
Pitches from £22, nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/lake-district/great-langdale-campsite
Great Langdale Campsite has magnificent views (Photo: National Trust/Paul Harris)Comrie Croft, Perth and Kinross
Campers have 21km of outstanding mountain biking trails on the doorstep at Comrie Croft near Crieff, named one of Scotland’s top mountain biking destinations. Trails with a range of challenge levels wind through the hills and woods of beautiful Strathearn, and there’s a bike shop and bike hire service.
After the day’s adventures, refuel in the onsite farm shop and Tea Garden Café, then relax around a campfire, soaking up the site’s chilled-out vibe. If you don’t fancy bringing your own tent, the site has gorgeous handmade Nordic kåtas available for hire.
Pitches from £30, comriecroft.com
Celtic Camping, Pembrokeshire
Set within Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, surrounded by 250 acres of farmland, this laid-back but well-equipped campsite has glorious ocean views and easy access to the beach and coastline.
Create your own water-based adventures, or join organised groups for expert-led coasteering, snorkelling, kayaking and wild swimming. Abereiddy Beach and its blue lagoon are a couple of miles away.
From £14 per person per night, celticcamping.co.uk
They love the great outdoors, but this tribe doesn’t necessarily want to sleep out in it. Above all, they seek security and comfort and vow never to pack or pitch a tent. From cosy cabins to treehouses, boats to revamped helicopters, glampers want comfort and style – with duvets and pillows on a proper bed.
Glampers want the best of everything – even if it’s outdoors
(Photo: Supplied)The Bothy at Glen Dye, Aberdeenshire
Bothies are an established feature in the Scottish Highlands, offering basic shelter in remote locations. The Glen Dye estate’s bothy is far from basic, however. Surrounded by 15,000 acres of wilderness, forest and moorland on the banks of the River Dye, the cosy space has a luxury kingsize bed, outdoor kitchen with a Green Egg barbecue and private Swedish wood-fired hot tub.
Stroll down to the BYO Glen Dye Arms, book a wood-fired sauna or pick up some new skills – axe-throwing or bushcraft – at the Discovery and Adventure Centre.
Sleeps 2, from £430/night, glendyecabinsandcottages.com
WILDish Cornwall 
Get glam while camping at WILDish Cornwall (Photo: WILDish/Jon Broom)
Sleep in the trees in the Lost Meadow Treepod, or head to the Riverside Meadow and its two cosy Landpods, where there’s room for up to two families – WILDish Cornwall offers off-grid glamping on the edge of Bodmin Moor.
There’s easy access to the Bedalder river for paddling and wild swimming, dark skies for stargazing and ancient temperate woodland to explore.
The pods have comfy beds and spring-fed hot showers as well as solar lighting and charging. Close by, there’s mains power, a washing machine, freezer and library, as well as helpful host, Jon.
Sleeps two to eight, from £144/night, wildishcornwall.co.uk
Caban, Powys
Scattered across rolling Welsh countryside between the Cambrian and Eryri mountains near Machynlleth, are six unique off-grid cabins, two treehouses and a converted barn, created by Caban’s architect-owner Daffydd.
Powered and heated with renewable energy, the cosy spaces are surprisingly roomy, with comfy sofas and beds, stoves, a cooking area and quirky vintage decor.
Sleeps two to eight, from £85, caban.space