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Rolling hills, a sharp west-facing escarpment and numerous river valleys make up the landscape of the Cotswolds. It’s a celebrated scene that draws tourists from around the world to marvel at the preposterously pretty villages of honey-coloured Cotswold stone and charming market towns, made wealthy by the wool trade in the Middle Ages and textile and weaving during the Industrial Revolution.

The Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is the largest of the AONB family within England and Wales. Camping in the Cotswolds offers a gentler, more soothing landscape to walk and cycle than that of, say, the Lake District or the Peak District. It even has its own national trail — the Cotswold Way — which, at 102 miles, stretches much of the length of the AONB from Chipping Campden in the north to Bath in the south. 

Main photo: sheep in the Cotswolds (Getty Images)

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Best for holistic retreats This serene campsite has camping for tents and small campervans plus several individual glamping experiences. It’s regarded as a quiet eco-site with compost loos and a rustic camper’s kitchen. There are specific rules to maintain the peaceful ambience, including no musical instruments, radios, or children under 12. Camping is within the site of a historic Norman castle, with the water-filled moat surrounding the site. Holistic retreats and therapy treatments such as reflexology and mindful massage, offered on site at Holycombe Retreats, can also be booked. Whichford Pottery is within walking distance. Pets welcome N Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports N Price from £12 per night

Best for pick-your-own fruit You’ll be hard pressed to find a more rural spot, tucked at the end of a no through route, below beautiful Salter’s Hill. Hailes Abbey is yards away and you may hear the occasional toot from a stream train chugging along the restored vintage Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway nearby. There are pitches for tents, caravans and motorhomes, and bell tents for hire. Views are sublime.

It’s one for gastronomes and those looking to get their five-a-day — visitors staying at Hayles Fruit Farm can pick their own fruit (choose from soft fruits, apples, pears, or plums in season) or create supper with produce from the on-site farm shop.

Pets welcome Y Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £9.50 

Best for farm visits If you ever watch Countryfile, the Cotswold Farm Park may be familiar. It’s home to one of the programme’s presenters, Adam Henson, whose family has run the park since 1971 as a place to keep Britain’s rare breeds of domestic farm animals from extinction. The campsite sits right alongside the farm park.

The bonus of staying here is day-rate entry to the farm park for as many visits as you like during your stay on site. Bring your own tent, caravan or motorhome and enjoy views across the Windrush Valley; alternatively hire a fully equipped safari tent or camping pod.

Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £20

Best for back-to-basics camping If you feel that camping with too much extravagance is not “proper camping”, then the back-to-basics campsite at Abbey Home Farm, a mile northeast of Cirencester and one of the nearest sites to the Cotswold Water Park, is for you. The field includes a section where vehicles, even to unload, are forbidden. Plus there’s a rather lovely, secret woodland glade for private camping up to eight people. Don’t expect showers, hot water or electric hook-ups, only basic compost loos in the woods. Treat yourself to something tasty from the organic farm shop and café. Pets welcome N Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities N Electricity ports N Price from £8

Best for novice campers On the opposite side of Cirencester and in contrast to Abbey Home Farm, you’ll find ultra-clean, extensive amenities at Cirencester Park Caravan & Motorhome Club Site. It is ideal for novice campers and caravanners who may need handholding, as it’s managed by one of the largest camping organisations in the UK. Non-members are welcome to this caravan park, which is set in grade I listed dog-friendly parkland on the vast Bathurst Estate. Cirencester, one of the most beautiful market towns in the heart of the Cotswolds, is less than a mile from the site. Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £12.75

Best for green credentials This is one of the most popular tent-only campsites in the Cotswolds, based on a small, organic, family-run farm in the folds of the land west of Nailsworth. You’ll need to be speedy to book a pitch as, in particular, summer weekends can become fully booked quite quickly. Green values are emphasised on this environmental and ethical campsite, with much of the site vehicle-free; expect to wheelbarrow your gear to the tent pitches. Campfires are allowed and home-cooked pizzas served in the café. 

Thistledown sits within the extraordinarily beautiful Woodchester Valley, and guests may visit the National Trust-owned Woodchester Park for fabulous walks.

Pets welcome Y Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports N Price from £25

Best for visiting Bath You’ll find this peaceful retreat in a sheltered spot on Bathford Hill above the Limpley Stoke Valley. Perfect for those who love the tranquillity of nature, it’s filled with wildflowers and natural hedge plantings. There are pitches for tents, motorhomes, and touring caravans together with camping pods and shepherd’s huts for hire. In the centre is a smallholding area where goats and chickens wander about. 

Within five minutes’ walk is Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve, which is fabulous for family ambles and dog walking. The village of Monkton Farleigh is idyllic, while the pretty town of Bradford-on-Avon should not be missed. Bath can also be reached with a canalside walk from Bathampton in one hour. Pets welcome Y Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £25

Best for stargazing A sweet little site set in two small paddocks surrounded by hedges. There is little to distract — it is devoid of entertainment facilities and there is no light pollution, so this is an ideal place for those who enjoy starry skies and a sense of being “in the sticks”. Two camping pods are available to hire. The countryside, on the eastern fringes of the Cotswolds AONB, is some of the prettiest in the locality with ample opportunities to head for the local footpaths and quiet lanes. This site is great for exploring the pretty towns of Charlbury (with direct trains from London), Chipping Norton and Woodstock.

Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £17

Best for adult-only Field Barn Park, with 600 or so trees on site, always looks fantastically green and vibrant. It’s divided into four rectangles and the greatest impact as you arrive is made by the spectacular hedgerow of miscanthus that splits up the plots, providing screening and privacy and the sense that you are not pitching in the middle of a giant field. But the overriding feel is that of peace and serenity. This is an adult-only site, exclusively for over-30s, without the frills of leisure centres or reception areas. Charming Bourton-on-the-Water, with its many cafés and riverside tea rooms, is less than two miles away and Stow-on-the-Wold five miles.

Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £22

Best for children The only noise at this tucked-away campsite, four miles from Bath, is likely to be the chatter of birdsong and that made by other campers (amplified music is disallowed). Suited best to campervans and tents, there are only six hook-ups spread between three grass camping areas so, unless you book in advance, anticipate that you’ll be off grid.

It’s the woodland that is the draw here. Privately owned by the campsite, it’s a great place to allow kids to explore and there’s a Woodland Trail to follow along with a Sculpture Trail. The timber buildings are attractively rustic and fit into the woodland surroundings perfectly. 

Pets welcome N Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £25

Best for keeping active Its name is a giveaway really — the site is on top of a high spot overlooking a vast swathe of countryside on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds AONB. Strictly speaking, the best views are from the site entrance as the main camping fields, set well back off the road, are surrounded by mature hedges and trees to give the 54-acre site complete seclusion. Behind the site are many more acres of farmland. There are three lovely play areas in the centre of the site along with an outdoor gym, tennis court, disc golf and football pitch plus the Old Shed Café.

Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £17

Best for a garden setting This adult-only site just three minutes’ walk from the top of Burford’s High Street is one of the cheapest tickets you’ll find to visiting one of the Cotswolds’ most beautiful towns and the nearby Cotswold Wildlife Park.

The site is both spacious and cosy — pitches are individually enclosed with hedges to provide privacy. The site looks immaculate and inviting, filled with flower borders, mature trees and hanging baskets; it feels as if you’re camping in someone’s lovingly tended garden. There’s an element of road noise during the day but there’s no shortage of birdsong. 

Pets welcome Y Accessible N Shower and toilet facilities N Electricity ports Y Price from £20

Best for glamping As scenic Cotswold villages off the tourist trail go, Notgrove (near Northleach and Bourton-on-the-Water) is one to savour. It’s also a place where you can rest your head on the 1,500-acre family run Notgrove Estate. Guests staying in the fully equipped camping pods or luxurious safari tents are actively encouraged to explore the estate, meet the farm animals (including alpacas and Highland cattle) and enjoy the serenity of the surrounding countryside.

Try your hand at foraging courses, photography and creative workshops, and even drystone walling courses for beginners; the Cotswolds drystone walls are a significant characteristic of the landscape.

Pets welcome Y Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities Y Electricity ports Y Price from £100

Best for social enterprise If you’re strolling the Cotswold Way, Star Glamping is perfectly situated nearby. You’ll be among a select number of guests; there are just four camping pods for between two and four people, and a two-person yurt on site. Reserve a table at StarBistro, within the grounds; alternatively order a gourmet breakfast or barbecue food hamper, with fresh, local produce.

This is social enterprise camping at its best. All profits go towards National Star, a college assisting young people with disabilities, while StarBistro provides those youngsters with valuable work experience.

Pets welcome N Accessible Y Shower and toilet facilities N Electricity ports Y Price from £140

Inspired to visit the Cotswolds but yet to book your trip? Here are the best options with Sykes Holiday Cottages* and Expedia*. Alternatively, try a tour of the Cotswolds with our preferred partners, here*.

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