The 10 best UK campsites of 2026, so far

We are past the halfway mark of the 2026 season. The school-holiday fields are full, the booking calendars are telling their usual honest story, and a picture has formed of where this year's happiest campers have been pitching. This is our mid-season list: ten sites, in no particular order, that have defined the summer so far.

None of last year's picks are repeated, not because they slipped, but because the UK has depth to spare. What follows runs from a Lakeland institution to a Swaledale hay meadow, by way of clifftops in Pembrokeshire and Cornwall, a farm under Tryfan, and the foot of the Cuillin.

If your main week is still ahead of you, consider this a late-season shortlist. September remains the connoisseur's month: quieter fields, warmer seas than June, and golden light that flatters even a wet tent.

How we chose

The same rules as last year's list: a spread across the UK's camping regions, a mix of styles from spartan to comfortable, and places that earn devotion season after season. We have checked what each site actually offers this year, and we have leaned on what reviewers keep saying rather than what brochures claim.

1. Great Langdale Campsite, Lake District

4.7 ★ Google rating from 750+ reviews

Great Langdale Campsite is the National Trust's meadow site at the foot of the Langdale Pikes, and about as close to a national institution as British camping gets. Around 120 informal tent pitches are scattered across the camping meadows, there are hardstanding pitches with electric hook-up for campervans and motorhomes up to 6.5 metres, and a small cluster of camping pods covers the canvas-free. Facilities are proper: showers, a well-stocked shop, laundry and drying room, a play area and shared EV charging, and dogs are welcome on pitches (two per pitch, though most pods exclude them). Campers praise the space between pitches, the cleanliness of the blocks and the walks that start at the gate; one Tripadvisor reviewer calls it "a favourite Lake District location", and it recently took the campsite of the year prize in a national outdoor magazine's reader awards. The valley holds water after rain, so pack pegs that cope with soft ground and arrive early on summer Fridays.

2. Henry's Campsite, Cornwall

4.6 ★ Google rating from 450+ reviews

Henry's Campsite sits in The Lizard, mainland Britain's most southerly village, and there is nothing else quite like it: flower-filled terraces, painted signs, resident animals wandering about and the sea filling the horizon. Pitches are mostly level, each has an electric hook-up and a good number look straight out over the water. The little shop stocks a surprising range, from tent pegs and gas to local cider, and campfires are catered for with fire baskets you can hire on site. The village pubs and the coast path are a couple of minutes on foot, with Kynance Cove within easy reach. Reviewers keep reaching for the same words, quirky, homely, unique; one Tripadvisor review is titled simply "Favourite campsite in Cornwall". Charm at this concentration is scarce and word is long out: weekends this season have been booking out far ahead, so aim midweek or hold out for late September.

3. Porthclais Farm, Pembrokeshire

4.1 ★ Google rating from 190+ reviews

Porthclais Farm is a set of open clifftop fields just outside St Davids, with the Pembrokeshire Coast Path running along the bottom of the site. It is camping reduced to the good bits: a huge acreage of grass for tents, a separate field for tourers and campervans, and deliberately no electric hook-ups anywhere. Facilities run to toilets and showers and not much else, which is exactly the point, and the site is open from around Easter to the end of October. Reviewers score it highly year after year for the setting, the sunsets over St Brides Bay and the walking straight from the tent flap, and national newspapers have counted it among the best places to camp in Britain. Bring everything charged and embrace the quiet. The classic move is a high-tide swim in the tiny harbour at Porthclais, five minutes down the coast path.

4. Gwern Gof Isaf, Eryri (Snowdonia)

4.4 ★ Google rating from 300+ reviews

Gwern Gof Isaf is the hill farm between Capel Curig and Llyn Ogwen where British mountaineering keeps its tents, taking campers since 1906 and famously used by Sir John Hunt as a training base before Everest. It sits directly beneath Tryfan, and the view of that ridge from a sleeping bag is the whole sales pitch. You can book grass pitches for tents and campervans, a shepherd's hut, two bunkhouses and a pair of self-catering cottages. Facilities are simple and kept spotless: hot showers, an indoor washing-up area, a washing machine and charging for phones. House rules are traditional, including keeping vehicles off the grass. Walkers rate it as a base for the Glyderau and Carneddau; one Tripadvisor review calls it a "perfect campsite for hiking with all the amenities you need". Best tip: a footpath leads from the site to the foot of Tryfan, so the scramble starts without touching a road.

5. Sligachan Campsite, Isle of Skye

4.1 ★ Google rating from 800+ reviews

Sligachan Campsite puts your tent at the meeting point of the Red and Black Cuillin, with the old bridge and the full sweep of the mountains for a backdrop. It runs April to the end of September, with hardstanding pitches (with and without electric hook-up) bookable in advance and open grass areas for tents on a first-come basis. Facilities have come on well: hot showers, wifi, laundry, proper coffee served through the day and tacos in the evening, which after a day on the ridge feels close to civilisation's peak. The famous hotel over the road keeps a bar with one of Scotland's great whisky collections. Campers love the setting above all, and the hot showers get almost as many mentions as the mountains. In July and August arrive by mid-afternoon for a grass pitch, and peg for wind whatever the forecast says.

6. Upper Booth Farm, Peak District

4.6 ★ Google rating

Upper Booth Farm is a working hill farm on the National Trust's High Peak estate, tucked into the quiet western end of Edale beside Crowden Brook as it tumbles off the Kinder plateau. This is camping for people who like their evenings silent: backpacker and standard tent pitches plus a camping barn, no motorhomes, no electricity and barely any phone signal. The shower and toilet block has hot water, and the Pennine Way passes straight through the farmyard, which tells you everything about the walking. The season runs from late March to late October. Reviewers treat it with real affection; one Tripadvisor review reckons it is "possibly the best campsite in Derbyshire", and the peace and the setting under Kinder Scout come up again and again. Download your maps before you arrive, and factor in the lovely two-mile field path to Edale village for the pubs and the train.

7. Little Meadow, Devon

4.5 ★ Google rating from 190+ reviews

Little Meadow is a small, deliberately uncommercial site on the North Devon coast above Watermouth, with panoramic views over Combe Martin bay and the Bristol Channel. Its 50 individually marked pitches take tents, touring caravans and motorhomes across neat terraces cut into the hillside, and there is a bunkhouse for those without a tent. The essentials are done well: free showers, a laundry, wifi, a dog-walking area (dogs are welcome) and a farm shop stocking local produce including fresh bakes, so you can travel light. It opens from late March to the end of September. Reviewers return to the same notes, tidy, peaceful, immaculately kept, and above all that view, which does the evening's entertaining by itself. Ilfracombe is five minutes away and the coast path is on the doorstep. The terracing means most pitches get the outlook, but book ahead for the school holidays; the site's size is its charm.

8. Usha Gap, Yorkshire Dales

4.8 ★ Google rating from 450+ reviews

Usha Gap is a beckside meadow on a working family farm just outside Muker, surrounded by Swaledale's dry-stone walls, field barns and hay meadows. It may be England at its most timeless, and it is run with a light touch: no set pitches, so tents, campervans and tourers simply find their own spot by the beck. The facilities punch far above the setting's rustic looks: a shower block with underfloor heating and free 24-hour showers, a drying room, a boot wash, charging lockers and a reception shop stocking essentials alongside the farm's own produce. Fire pits can be borrowed and logs bought on site, and well-behaved dogs are welcome at no charge, on leads around the site. Reviewers rave about the warmth of the welcome and how spotless the block is kept. Time a visit for June if you can, when the wildflower hay meadows around Muker are at their best, and the village pub is a short stroll.

9. Red Shoot Camping Park, New Forest

4.7 ★ Google rating from 500+ reviews

Red Shoot Camping Park is the friendly park behind the Red Shoot Inn at Linwood, on the New Forest's western edge, with ponies wandering the lanes outside. It is an easy site to like for families and weekenders: more than 90 pitches for tents, caravans, motorhomes and campervans, most with electric hook-up, plus a shower block with underfloor heating, a laundry, a children's play area, EV charging and a shop selling freshly baked goods each morning. New owners have been investing in the facilities since 2025, and reviewers have noticed: the grounds and blocks draw consistent praise for cleanliness, and one Tripadvisor review sums it up as a "Lovely site, on edge of New Forest". Having a proper pub with food and live music next door does no harm either. Wifi is thin, so treat a stay as time offline, and walk out to Hampton Ridge for the Forest at its emptiest.

10. Sea Barn Farm, Dorset

3.9 ★ Google rating from 300+ reviews

Sea Barn Farm occupies the high ground above the Fleet lagoon near Weymouth, looking across to the endless shingle line of Chesil Beach and out into Lyme Bay. It is a calm, well-ordered park aimed at people allergic to crowds: mainly tent pitches with space for motorhomes, a modern facilities block with underfloor heating, family bathrooms and a laundry, a quiet-nights policy and no groups. In 2026 it is running on advance bookings only, so plan rather than turn up. The farm has its own two-mile circular walk linking directly to the South West Coast Path, with the lagoon shore about 500 metres away. Reviewers praise the peace, the upkeep and the views, and the sunsets over the Fleet close each day properly. The rules are part of the appeal but do read them before booking, especially around dogs and group sizes, and bag a September weekend early; they go fast.

Before you book

The late season is the open secret of UK camping: warm seas, quiet fields and golden light from late August into October, usually at shoulder-season prices. Book September weekends now while they are still there, and check each site's closing date, because several on this list shut up shop between late September and the end of October. Read the small print too. Minimum stays, dog rules, campfire policies and hook-up availability vary more than you would expect, and half the disappointed reviews we read while researching this list boil down to assumptions. Pack one warmer layer than July taught you to, and keep a wet-weather plan within reach of the tent.

Then go and squeeze one more trip from the year: find a campsite that suits you, or go deeper with our guides to the best campsites in the Scottish Highlands and the best campsites in the New Forest.