The 10 best campsites in the Lake District

No English landscape rewards camping like the Lake District. Wake at a valley head and the fells are simply there, filling the tent door before you have found your boots. Sixteen lakes, a dozen distinct valleys and England's highest ground are packed into an area you can drive across in an hour, which means you can pitch beneath Scafell Pike one week and beside Windermere the next and feel like you have visited two different countries.

The flip side is popularity, and weather. The best sites are busy from Easter to October, and the Lakes are among the wettest places in England: even in August you should expect at least one day of proper rain, and the valley bottoms hold water long after the sky clears. A site with good drainage, a drying room or a pub within walking distance is worth more than any glossy facilities list.

Timing helps too. May and June bring long days, dry spells and quieter fields; September has settled weather, autumn colour and far fewer midges than the still evenings of July and August. These are the ten sites we rate, from famous National Trust valleys to quiet farm fields, with a spread across the district so you can pick by the fells you want to climb.

How we chose

Setting above everything, because that is what the Lakes are for. Then a spread across the valleys, a range of budgets and comfort levels from full holiday parks to gloriously simple fields, and a consistent record in guest reviews. Every site here was open and taking campers when we checked.

1. Wasdale Campsite, Wasdale

4.7 ★ Google rating from 650+ reviews

The National Trust site at Wasdale Head sits at the end of the long road past Wastwater, England's deepest lake, directly beneath Scafell Pike and Great Gable. It is the classic base for walkers and climbers who want the biggest hills in the country at breakfast, and the drive in along the lake is one of the great approaches in British camping. You can book around a hundred tent pitches scattered through fields divided by trees and hedges, eleven campervan hardstandings with electric hook-up, camping pods and a couple of tipis, and the site stays open year round. Facilities are better than the remoteness suggests: a shop, a refurbished shower and toilet block, laundry and washing-up areas, and charging points for electric bikes. What people love, consistently, is how clean and spacious it feels and how uncrowded the showers stay even on busy weekends. One practical tip: book before you travel, because the Trust turns away arrivals without a reservation, and take the lakeside road slowly in a van.

2. Great Langdale Campsite, Langdale

4.7 ★ Google rating from 700+ reviews

Another National Trust classic, Great Langdale spreads across meadows beneath the Langdale Pikes, with some of the best valley walking in the district starting at the gate and a famous walkers' pub a short stroll up the road. There are 120 informal tent pitches where you choose your own spot on arrival, hardstandings with hook-up for campervans and motorhomes up to 6.5 metres, and nine camping pods, one of which takes dogs. The site has a well-stocked shop, showers, a drying room that earns its keep in Lakeland weather, a play area and shared EV charging. Reviewers praise the hot showers, the helpful staff and the sheer drama of the setting; one Tripadvisor reviewer found the pods "very cosy and comfortable when it is windy and rainy", which is exactly when you will be glad of one. Tip: campfires and barbecues are suspended in dry spells because of wildfire risk, so check the rules before you pack the fire bowl.

3. Low Wray Campsite, Windermere

4.7 ★ Google rating from 600+ reviews

Low Wray is the National Trust's family site on Windermere's quiet western shore, next to Wray Castle and handy for Ambleside and Hawkshead. It offers the widest choice of any Trust campsite in the Lakes: meadow and woodland tent pitches, a small number of lakeshore and lake-view pitches, campervan spaces, camping pods, safari tents and even a pair of suspended tree tents. Facilities suit families well, with a shop, three shower blocks, laundry and drying rooms, an adventure playground, bike and kayak hire, and a wood-fired pizza oven that fires up several evenings a week in season. Being on the western side keeps it away from the crowds; one Tripadvisor reviewer found the site "really quiet and peaceful" despite sitting on England's busiest lake. The lakeshore pitches cost more and go first, so book those months ahead, and bring a canoe or paddleboard: launching straight from the shore is the whole point of the place.

4. Syke Farm Campsite, Buttermere

4.6 ★ Google rating from 200+ reviews

Syke Farm is a simple, sloping farm field on the edge of Buttermere village, in one of the most beautiful corners of the district, with Buttermere and Crummock Water a few minutes' walk in either direction and Haystacks and High Stile rising straight from the valley. This is camping for people who want scenery over facilities: grass tent pitches, a shepherd's hut for those who prefer a bed, a toilet block with coin-operated showers and a separate car park, with dogs welcome on leads. The farm is a working one, and its ice cream, made with milk from its own Ayrshire herd, is a local institution; reviewers rave about the village tearoom as much as the campsite itself. What people love is the setting and the simplicity, and the way the fells feel close enough to touch. The family-run office is often unmanned, so email ahead rather than phoning, and pack for weather: this valley catches a lot of it.

5. Side Farm, Ullswater

4.3 ★ Google rating from 200+ reviews

Side Farm is a working farm squeezed onto the strip of land between Ullswater's shore and the steep flank of Place Fell, just outside Patterdale. The location is extraordinary: pitches run down towards the water, the lakeshore path to Howtown passes the gate, and swimmers can be in the lake within a minute of the tent. Expect honest farm-campsite basics rather than luxury: hot showers, washing-up sinks and laundry machines, with the farm buildings adding plenty of character. What people love is obvious the moment you arrive; a Tripadvisor reviewer sums the site up as "a mesmeric view of Ullswater", and the sunsets across the lake draw campers to the shoreline every clear evening. Be realistic about the practicalities though: the access track is long, narrow and rutted, and some pitches slope, so it suits small tents and patient drivers better than big outfits. For the best first impression in British camping, leave the car in Glenridding and arrive on foot along the shore.

6. Castlerigg Hall, Keswick

4.7 ★ Google rating from 850+ reviews

Castlerigg Hall is the polished all-rounder of the northern Lakes: terraced pitches on the fellside above Keswick, looking over Derwentwater towards the Jaws of Borrowdale, with the town a walk away through the woods. It has been welcoming campers for over a century and holds an AA five-star rating. You can book hardstanding touring pitches in three grades, many with fell or lake views, grass tent pitches, a whole family of glamping pods and static caravans for hire. Facilities are the draw for first-timers: a heated campers' kitchen, an on-site shop, laundry, a dog wash, and a daytime café with homemade cakes and one of the best terrace views in Cumbria. Reviewers consistently praise the housekeeping, with one recent guest finding the "toilets and shower blocks immaculate", and the staff get regular mentions for helping vans onto their pitches. Tip: sunset from the top terraces is the site's party piece, so ask for a view pitch when you book.

7. Baysbrown Farm Campsite, Chapel Stile

4.6 ★ Google rating from 400+ reviews

Baysbrown Farm is a huge, easy-going field on a working Lakeland farm at the entrance to Great Langdale, with the Pikes on the skyline and the village of Chapel Stile, complete with pub and shop, a short walk away. There are no marked pitches: you drive on, choose your spot, park next to the tent and spread out, which makes it brilliant for families who want space for bikes, ball games and big group camps. Facilities are deliberately simple, with toilets, solar-heated showers, a washing-up room and drinking water, and the site opens from April to mid-October. It runs first come, first served with no advance bookings, so arrive early on Friday afternoons and bank holidays to be sure of a spot. Reviewers score it remarkably highly for such a basic site, returning again and again to the spectacular, peaceful setting and the friendly welcome. Tip: the valley floor can be soft after rain, so pitch on the higher ground if the forecast is wet.

8. Fisherground Campsite, Eskdale

4.5 ★ Google rating from 350+ reviews

Fisherground is a relaxed farm site in gentle, lake-free Eskdale in the quiet south-west of the park, and it might be the best small-child campsite in England. The Ravenglass and Eskdale miniature railway runs along the edge of the farm with its own little halt, so children can board a steam train within yards of the tent, and campfires are positively encouraged, which has become a rarity in the Lakes. Reviewers describe evenings of dozens of small fires flickering across the field, and the site has featured in national round-ups of Britain's best family campsites. Eskdale itself is made for young legs: shallow becks and pools for paddling, low fells, Stanley Ghyll's waterfalls and Muncaster Castle down the valley. It gets very busy in the school holidays, so families with pre-schoolers should target June or September instead. Tip: pair a ride on the railway with fish and chips in Ravenglass and you have a rainy day solved.

9. Park Cliffe, Windermere

4.7 ★ Google rating from 800+ reviews

Park Cliffe is the full-facilities option, a 25-acre estate on the fellside above Windermere's quieter southern end, ten minutes from Bowness. If the simple farm fields above sound like hard work, this is the opposite: grass tent pitches climbing the fell, fully serviced hardstanding touring pitches, camping pods, ensuite glamping pods, a shepherd's hut and static caravans for hire. There is a bar and a seasonal kitchen on site, plus a well-stocked shop, a games room, an adventure playground, park-wide wi-fi and EV charging, so a wet day is no crisis. Reviews are consistently strong, with guests praising the grounds, the modern shower block and the way the terraces catch views over the lake to the fells beyond. The fellside tent pitches are the scenic ones, so ask for a lake view when you book, and note that the higher pitches involve a walk down to the facilities that feels longer in the rain.

10. The Quiet Site, Ullswater

4.8 ★ Google rating from 1,200+ reviews

The Quiet Site sits high above Ullswater at Watermillock with big views down the valley, and it has quietly become one of the most interesting campsites in Britain. It is a genuinely sustainable operation: carbon neutral, generating most of its own energy, home to what it claims is the UK's first zero-waste campsite shop, and busy planting trees and wildflower meadows across the hillside. You can book ordinary camping and touring pitches, cosy pods, and two options you will not find elsewhere: underground glamping burrows insulated by the hillside itself, and carbon-positive gingerbread houses with solar roofs. The social hub is a bar in a converted Cumbrian long barn dating from the 1680s, complete with wood burner and local ales. Reviewers keep coming back to the same trio: the ethos, the views and the welcome. The glamping burrows book out far ahead for weekends, so plan early, or go midweek off-season when the bar's fireside is at its best.

Before you book

A few things make or break a Lakeland camping trip. Book early for bank holidays and school summer weekends, months ahead for glamping and lakeshore pitches, and remember that Baysbrown takes no bookings at all, so build your plans around an early arrival there. Check hook-up availability before you commit if you need power: several of the valley sites have little or none for tents. Pack for rain even in August, favour a pitch with drainage over a pitch with a view if the forecast is grim, and bring midge repellent for still summer evenings, especially near water. Dog owners should check each site's policy, since rules range from dogs on leads to a single dog-friendly pod. And if you are in a larger van, read the access notes: the roads into Wasdale and down to Side Farm reward patience.

When you are ready, find a campsite and get it booked. For more trip inspiration, try the best campsites in the Yorkshire Dales or the best UK campsites of 2025.