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Nothing lifts the vacation spirit quite like a family camping trip in the picturesque countryside of Cornwall, featuring gorgeous cliffs, sandy beaches, and fishing harbours.
Cornwall also has a rich history and cultural heritage, and stunning landscape. No wonder there are tons of camping sites located along the Cornish coastline offering fantastic ocean views. In fact, there are so many great choices that you can easily get lost in your head while picking the best camping site in Cornwall.
That’s why we have reviewed some of the top campsites celebrating the natural beauty of Cornwall and offering top-notch facilities for a comfortable and fun camping trip.
Top 18 Campsites In Cornwall
1. Highertown Farm Campsite In Lansallos
When it comes to impeccable maintenance, and gorgeous facilities, this Natural Trust campsite can be your ideal countryside camping destination. The Highertown Farm is half a mile from the southeast coast of Cornwall. It offers a stunning backdrop of a lush green field resting in the shadow of an old church tower.
You can skip the hassle of check-ins to book camping pitches. Instead, you can camp anywhere on the beautiful meadow full of grazing cattle. You can bring caravans, small motorhomes, campervans, or tents to set up camp. Once you settle in, the National Trust (NT) rangers will come to check if everything’s well.
Electricity ports are available on-site for easy electric hook-up, along with shower and toilet facilities. The campsite is only a 15-minute walk from the secluded and mesmerising shingle beach at Lansallos Cove. However, you won’t find any restaurant nearby, so make sure to pack your camping kitchen to whip up something to eat.
2. Perran Sands Campsite In Perranporth
If you want to go glamping in Cornwall, Parran Sands can be a perfect choice, thanks to its beautiful safari tents, yurts, and geodomes. Sprawling over 500 acres, this camping site features gorgeous sand dunes forming an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). You also have modern shower and toilet facilities with running hot water and electrical ports for a comfortable stay.
The glamping and touring area are located separately from the actual holiday park, with static chalets and caravans. So, you can enjoy a peaceful and calm family time and avoid the crowd of caravans in the holiday park area.
You can also enjoy quiet walks by the golden beach, which is within a ten-minute walking distance of the campsite. There are well-stocked supermarkets, trendy restaurants, and other entertainment facilities within a five-minute radius walking distance from Perran Sands. However, no camping tents are allowed in this campsite because it already offers the necessary camping amenities.
3. Pentewan Sands In Pentewan
Pentewan Sands is an award-winning campsite in Cornwall where you get the luxury of enjoying a private beach for outdoor activities while camping with your family. This beautiful campsite is five miles from Mevagissey and offers a large pitching area for camping. You can rent holiday caravans that come with electricity ports making your camping trip comfortable and fun.
It has the feel of holiday parks with well-stocked markets, takeaways, and family restaurants. Plus, the site has tennis courts and water sports and bike hire centres near the beach where you can enjoy kayaking, paddle boarding, and windsurfing. You kids will also enjoy the adventure playground and have fun on their school holidays.
4. Sun Haven Holiday Park In Mawgan Porth
You might feel like this camping park is located in a remote area, but it is perfect for some peace, away from all the traffic noise. The beautifully maintained camping grounds feature a collection of small yet smart-looking shepherd’s huts and holiday homes.
The touring and camping area offers a magical landscape of a bubbling stream, coastal valley, and gorgeous woodland with hills surrounding the entire area. Furthermore, the stunning Mawgan Porth beach is within easy walking distance offering cute shops and restaurants. Not to mention the campsite is dog-friendly and has modern facilities, including shower and toilet facilities and electricity ports.
5. Beacon Cottage Campsite In St Agnes
Glamorous camping or glamping in Cornwall becomes much more fun and exciting because of beautiful and well-maintained campsites with modern amenities and gorgeous sea views. However, few campsites can offer breathtaking panoramic vistas of golden sandy beaches like the Beacon Cottage Farm. You can enjoy the mesmerising views of the Wheal Coates, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the St Agnes Heritage Coast.
This is a friendly, family-run site having a working arable and beef farm sprawled across 300 acres. It is completely uncommercialised, but the pretty outhouses and farmhouses can give stiff competition to any high-end commercial camping site. This campsite is ideal for a summer stay when the coastline is shimmering with colours and is smothered in daffodils, wild broom, and heather.
However, since the camping site is located on the lower slopes of the St Agnes Beacon, only a few yards from the cliffs, the elevated position makes mild winds feel like a strong gale. So, you might need a sturdy camping tent with expert pegging amidst strong westerly winds or a sudden summer storm.
6. Southwinds And Tristram In Polzeath
Polzeath is a paradise for surfers and houses the Surf’s Up headquarters, one of the largest surf schools. The Tristram campsite overlooks the gorgeous beach of Polzeath, while the South West Coast Path is right next to it. However, only touring caravans and campervans can set up camp at Tristram.
If you’re a traditional tent camper, you can visit the Southwinds campsite, which is located on the village outskirts but is close enough to the beach, offering gorgeous sea views. Both the camping sites are equipped with top-notch facilities, such as a toilet and shower block and electrical ports so that you can enjoy comfortable camping holidays.
7. Trevornick In Holywell Bay
Trevornick offers stunning panoramas of the Cornish north coast and the Holywell Bay Area. This large camping ground is spread over 200 acres and divided into various fields with different characteristics. You have beautiful terraced pitches and private pitches with hedges between them.
In fact, Trevornick Holiday Park offers six types of pitches for different campers. There’s the regular grass pitch where you can set up your camping tent alongside Super Plus Pitches. If you’re out camping with your family, the Super Plus Pitches can be more convenient and comfortable because they have separate waste and water connections, TV connections, and electric hook-ups.
The campsite also has a well-maintained golf course, so you can engage in an exciting game of golf right on the site. But if you want to take a refreshing evening stroll with your loved ones, Holywell Bay is just an easy ten-minute walk from the camping site.
8. Sennen Cove Camping And Caravanning Club Site In Sennen Cove
You won’t find any suitable camping site further west than Sennen Cove. It is almost in the middle of the south and north coasts with nearby tourist attractions, like the Geevor Tin Mine Museum and the Minack Theatre.
The closest beach is at Gwenver within a 25-minute walking distance of the main campsite. You also have the golden sand beach at Sennen, but it takes 45 minutes to walk from Sennen Cove.
This family fun campsite has a cosy and homely feel to it and is maintained by the Camping and Caravanning Club. It also offers 72 camping pitches for motorhomes, touring caravans, and camping tents with breathtaking sea views.
9. Polmanter In St. Ives
A camping trip to the popular Polmanter Touring Park at St. Ives is pretty convenient. You can take the shuttle bus that regularly runs to the town or enjoy a refreshing walk in the Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve.
The Osborne family has owned and run this touring park for over 50 years and garnered various accolades and awards. This family-run campsite offers a wonderful view of the Atlantic Coast that you can gaze upon while enjoying your morning coffee and croissants. Plus, it has a family-friendly ambience, making it a perfect camping destination for a relaxing family vacation.
10. Hendra Holiday Park In Newquay
This holiday park sprawls across 80 acres offering over 500 camping pitches with a separate area for static caravans. It also has state-of-the-art facilities, such as a large leisure swimming pool complex, along with several activities for adults and children. If you want to avoid the crowd, you can choose a quiet paddock south of the campsite facing gorgeous valleys and hills.
Moreover, the park is known for its eco-friendly and green energy system. In fact, it uses solar power to fulfil 70% of all its electrical requirements. Similarly, the campsite has a fuel-efficient biomass boiler that keeps the water well-heated in the pools.
11. Treveague Campsite In Gorran Haven
This campsite offers stunning views of the Cornish coastline while maintaining a no-frills, basic, and minimalistic approach, which truly celebrates nature without crowding the place with several on-site entertainment. You can explore the three stunning beaches, all within walking distance of 30 minutes from the camping site.
The South West Coastal Path is also adjacent to the park, and St. Austell Bay is within walking distance. You can indulge in freshly cooked food at the on-site restaurant known as The Secret Garden. It serves delicious home-cooked food and local beers from the St Austell Brewery.
12. Treloan Coastal Holidays In Portscatho
What’s a camping trip without eating some s’mores with your family sitting by a campfire? Treloan offers an excellent vibe for having fun and cosy campfires. The site allows personal fire pits and also has a weekly communal campfire where all campers sit around the crackling fire, sharing their stories and having a gala time.
It’s within a small distance from Portscatho and Gerrans on the Roseland Peninsula of Cornwall. The campsite has an open-plan design with brilliant sea views, and you can enjoy a fun day at the beach, two minutes from the camping area.
You can also participate in creative family workshops during the day, while your kids can help out the park owners with feeding the chickens and sheep and collecting the eggs.
13. Lovelane Caravans In Helston
If you’re a fan of retro designs, the period caravans of the Lovelane camping site will be your instant mood-lifter. The caravans have been carefully restored and feature several nostalgic elements, like a Goblin Teasmaid, golden-rimmed cups from the time of the Queen’s coronation, hand-embroidered tablecloths, and so much more.
It’s a short bike ride or stroll from Roskilly’s farm, known for its mouthwatering ice creams. You can try delicious ice cream flavours like trifle, apple crumble, and clotted cream at the farm’s courtyard cafe. Two beautiful beaches, the black sands of Godrevy Cove and Coverack Cove, are also within walking distance of the site.
Furthermore, the caravans surround an open fire pit in a beautiful meadow where you can enjoy fun campfires. The site also has a fully equipped wash block featuring toilets, baths, and shower cubicles with a constant hot water supply. Even though the campsite has no electricity, you can experience a romantic ambience created by candles and paraffin lamps while viewing the star-studded sky on a cloud-free night.
14. Treen Farm Campsite In St. Levan
Treen is a family-friendly camping site with two open camping fields perched near the cliffs offering gorgeous panoramic sea views. Even though the camping facilities are pretty basic, they are clean, tidy, and well-maintained.
The site also has a superb shop to ensure a comfortable stay since it’s located in a relatively isolated area. You can visit two beautiful beaches while camping here – Porthcurno and Pedn Vounder. The Minack Theatre is also close by if you want to enjoy some soulful entertainment with your family.
15. Cornish Tipi Holidays In Tregeare
This campsite offers a much more rustic camping experience with its 40 tipis or bell tents set across a 16-acre wooded valley. You can explore the diverse micro-habits by taking a stroll along the winding tracks. The site features a meadow, marsh, woodland, scrub, and crystal-clear lake for fishing, swimming, boating, and kayaking.
You can also engage in physical activities, like chopping your own logs or cooking on an open fire. Hot showers and fully functional toilets are only a short stroll away. However, since you’ll live in a bell tent, you need to bring mattresses and bedding. Pack a torch as well because there’s no electricity on the camping site.
16. Namparra Campsite In Kuggar
Namparra is a family-run camping site sprawling across a six-acre area with exceptional sea views. It is ideal for exploring the natural beauty of the Lizard peninsula, having deserted sandy beaches, dramatic outcrops, and secret coves.
The gorgeous beach of Kennack Sands is a 20-minute walk from the campsite, where you can enjoy family bathing and rock pooling. You can also explore the stunning beauty of the South West Coast Path while camping here.
17. Bush Farm Wild Camping In Saltash
This family-run camping site offers a unique camping experience to adults and children, thanks to its extraordinary biodiversity. It has wildflower meadows sprawled across 100 acres and crops for wildlife across 20 acres. You can also visit the nearby Whitsand Bay and the Looe harbour town.
The 40 camping pitches are more than enough to hold multiple campers. However, the site’s facilities can be a letdown because they are pretty basic and not very well-maintained. There are only two hot water showers, two toilets, and one sink for all campers.
18. East Crinnis Farm In Par
The camping site at East Crinnis is ideal for a peaceful countryside retreat and offers gorgeous views of the Cornish coastlines. You can explore the nearby Charleston Harbour and have an exciting day trip to King Arthur’s castle in Tintagel and the Eden Project. There are also local eateries and pubs close to the campsite where you can enjoy traditional food and ales.
Even with its rustic ambience, the campsite has all modern amenities, including Wi-Fi, washing machines, fully equipped kitchens, toilet blocks and showers. You can also enjoy campfires and barbecues on the site. A small shop at the reception called The Shack offers groceries and takeaway food.
Conclusion
Even though we’ve tried to cover as many gorgeous campsites as possible to enjoy glamping in Cornwall, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other choices stretched from coast to coast in this small yet gorgeous county.
Furthermore, you can easily book a motorhome in Cornwall if you plan to take a road trip to the countryside and explore some of the best camping sites. Taking a campervan is the most convenient way to go on a long family camping trip without leaving behind any travel essentials.
You can hit the campsites recommended in our guide or roll up your sleeves and dig around some more to have a fun camping experience in Cornwall. So, pack your bags and get ready to hit the road!
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