Henley to the Highlands... Staycations for everyone
GLAMPING’S scenic locations, generously spaced pitches and lashings of fresh air mean you would be hard-pressed to come up with a safer holiday option in these socially distanced times.
The popularity of glamping was already soaring prior to Covid-19, according to Martin Smith, founder of the website Campsites, which lists more than 3,000 locations across the UK. He says: ‘ Since restrictions have lifted we’ve seen record numbers of bookings – campers can finally book with confidence and look forward to a summer under canvas.’
If glamping is about going offgrid, then the pair of cabins on the shores of Loch Rusky in the Scottish Highlands deliver this in spades. Set in 160 idyllic acres of pine forest on a working deer farm, you’re likely to spot wild roe deer, ospreys and red kites.
Each cabin comes with a kingsize bed, kitchenette and shower, as well as cosy blankets and sheepskins. Loch Rusky is an hour’s drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow, or the owners can collect you from the railway stations at Bridge of Allan or Stirling (kiphideaways.com).
Families, ours included, return year after year to camp by the sea at Eweleaze Farm in Dorset, which opens for just four weeks every August. Pitch up your own tent, or hire a bell tent complete with comfy beds, bunting and fairy lights, and enjoy views across the bay to Weymouth and Portland Bill.
Go rockpooling or take a dip at the private beach, and enjoy refreshments at the site’s patisserie, farm shop, juice bar and pizza van. Outdoor yoga classes every morning are not to be missed. Bell tent hire costs from £50 a night, or regular camping is from £9 per adult per night and £4.50 per child per night (eweleaze.co.uk).
Embers Camping has five glamping sites in the UK. These include one on thePy le well Estate, close to Lymington in Hampshire’s New Forest, with stunning views of the Solent and Isle of Wight, and another on the River Thames, just outside the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
Each peaceful pitch comes with a fire basket and you can hire a bell tent or take your own. There’s a well-stocked shop and the woodfired pizzas come highly recommended. Stays cost from £20 per adult per night plus £50 for a bell tent per night, with a £50 set up charge (emberscamping.co.uk).
Live out your Little House On The Prairie fantasies in a quaint Idaho cabin in Forest Garden, near East Grinstead in East Sussex. It’s set in a glade in several acres of ancient woodland and sleeps four. The owners offer activities such as woodwork classes, mushroom foraging, willow weaving and cooking up lip balm from their own beeswax. A three-night weekend stay is from £490 (canopyandstars.co.uk).
At Alderfen Marshes in the Norfolk Broads National Park, campers are given use of their own Canadian canoe to explore the labyrinth of waterways. The remote adults-only campsite has four pitches but has cut it down to two for this summer. Two nights for two adults costs £130, or three nights is £180. Hire a teepee or use your own tent (campsites.co.uk).
Wigwam has more than 80 glamping sites across the UK. Its heated pods have firepits on private terraces as well as en suite bathrooms. The site at Charnwood Forest near Leicester is particularly appealing as it overlooks a wildlife pond. Prices in high season start at £90 per night, based on one cabin and two people sharing (wigwamholidays.com).
New to camping? Then dip your toe in at the luxurious end with a safari tent at the 45-acre Bainland Country Park in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, and you won’t have to sacrifice any of your creature comforts.
An on-site Starbucks delivers to your door plus bike hire and tennis is available. All lodges come with hot tubs on the deck.
Tents sleep up to six people, or the new two-storey ‘big beasts’ sleep up to eight. All come with a log burner and TV. Also available are luxury lodges, some with their own private swimming lakes. The six-berth safari tents start at £499 for a weekend or midweek break (bainland.co.uk).